Day 2
Well now, you've learned a powerful technique in the last chapter. It allows you to tap into your subconscious and drill for ideas. If you use that technique consistently, it will only get more powerful… just like a bicep muscle does when you exercise it!
The “ Kumar Method ” is excellent for generating your own, original ideas…one’s that may be VERY profitable…or ones that may be a big flop! That's why we spent so much time and effort on learning about niche research. With an original idea, you MUST find out if there is, not only a market for your idea, but if the market is willing to pay you for that idea.
I hope you're thinking … ” There HAS to be an easier way to do that if I'm going to eventually have dozens of products out there for sale!”
Well, there is! But, please don't discount your subconscious. Even if you decide to use this second technique I’m going to teach you, that “ drilling for ideas ” thing … the “ Kumar Method ” … will help you refine it, put a new twist on things…and…make you a LOT more money!
A friend, and exceptional marketer, John Reese, is famous for saying, “Sell what people are buying!” Now, that’s so simple, you may just miss the power of the statement. Let’s put it another way: Don’t re-invent the wheel…just make it roll better.
Today’s work will help you do just that.
Think, for a minute or two, where you'd go to find out what people are, first of all, looking for…and secondly, what they’re buying. The first part is pretty simple. There are several sites that will show you the top 100 or 500 or 1000 searches for that week. WordTracker has a free service that you can sign up for…they send you a great list once a week. The list has the “ trendy ” searches, as well as the searches that are continually in the top of the rankings.
The trendy list is highly influenced by holidays and news events. WordTracker calls this list its “Surge Report”. If Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston are in the news, you can be sure they’ll be in the trendy list. Same with hurricanes and mine disasters. All of these subjects spark very high search numbers, but they're almost impossible to predict … and usually go away so quickly that it’s just as impossible to create a product and get it out in time to capitalize on them.
The second list is where the smart ones go to drill! WordTracker calls this their “Long-Term Keyword Report”. These are the traditional, everyday top searches. That's the list you want to work with! If a keyword is continually in the top 200 searched for items, doesn't it make sense that a LOT of people are searching for it every day?
Let's take a look at a typical Long-Term Keyword Report … this one is for November 1, 2005 and covers the 130 days prior to that date.
The #4 position goes to the keyword phrase Paris Hilton. In the 130 days prior to November 1, 2005, 159537 searches were done for that phrase. That means that each and every day 1227 searches were done! Since that phrase is a real person, writing a book with her name in it may get you in trouble, but the phrase is instructive because it shows you how to evaluate and interpret the list results.
The # 15 result is a good example for us to work with. Its in the top 20…it’s a big, wide niche…and there are a lot of sub-niches there.
If you go to the WordTracker free trial and just type in the word “dogs”, you’ll find a gem! It has a KEI of 385! So, maybe an e-book about dogs isn’t such a bad idea! That means that people are searching for information on dogs … AND, that there isn't a lot of competition out there in this case!
If you do the same thing with the word eBay, you’ll find another gem … a KEI of 703 … but with a BIG number of competitors … 34 MILLION! Is that something that should scare you off?
Absolutely not! In this case, for a couple of reasons. First, the KEI is so high, and secondly, the number of searches in a 24 hour period is so high!
So look, out of those 5 WordTracker list results, we’ve found 2 gems…and maybe more! See what those lists can do for you?
WordTracker isn't the only tool to use to find out where the action is, by any means! David Guindon has developed a tremendous tool for examining another widely used site that you’ve probably heard of … eBay! What better place to see what people are interested in buying? And…if they’re interested in buying something, could it be that they’d be interested in getting some information about that item? You know, how to take care of it…how to use it best. There’s your e-book!
David’s program is called Hot Item Finder…and that’s EXACTLY what it does … easily and quickly! It's VERY inexpensive and pays for itself with one use. If you’d like to find out more about it, you can click here. I use it almost daily.
There are a TON of free places to do your market research. Just take a moment and think about where you’d go to see what people are buying. Did you come up with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CNET, Tucows and a host of others? Then, good on you!
You’re thinking along the right lines.
The whole idea here is to find out what types of things people are already buying…and buying a LOT of! Once you know that, you’ve taken a giant step towards your first e-book! That's a good place to stop today. Tomorrow, we’ll refine your research even more!