Picking a Profitable Niche

by Internet marketing for seniors team | Nov 3, 2014 | Affiliate Marketing

Picking a Profitable Niche Shouldn't Stress you Out

There is no doubt at all that many newbies make a matzo pudding about of keyword research and niche selection. Niche selection is important and because aspiring Internet marketers know that it is imperative they tend to dither about it.

The first sticking point about niche selection is actually what is a niche. I hear that many people say they are in the weight loss niche or the money making niche, or the gardening niche. Technically these are not definitions of a niche at all but they are examples of markets. Think about that for a while, if you were selling goods in the real world, hard physical goods that you could touch, you may well have a gardening centre which stocks the kitchen sink regarding garden tools, garden plants, garden soils, garden containers etc you get the picture.

Growing roses is a niche in the digital world, it is aimed at a specific group for people interested in one thing, having the best roses on the block. Now this is where niche selection gets sticky because it does not mean that rose growers don't have lawns, or they don't like dahlias or carnations. However, you are not interested in those aspect you are interested in a tight and focused aspect of gardening .

Examples of niches within the weight loss market are slimming for a wedding, how to lose baby fat, is there such as puppy fat and developing six pack abs, or kettle bell fitness. Weight loss after having a baby, weight loss for vegans, weight loss for carnivores, diabetic weight loss. All of these examples are a more focused and specialized aspect of different typesl of weight loss in the weight loss market.

You may well ask why a niche is very specific and very focused in affiliate marketing .The answer to that lies in two different definitions the difference between a demographic and a target market.

What is a demographic?

Now the term demographic is actually a statistical analysis, no whoah come back here, don't go all glassy eyed on me, this niche selection thing is really very simple. Demographic is a study of a portion of the population based on geographical differences, or economic buying power, age, gender, cultural or racial ethnicity. A demographic is used to characterize one section of the population and is often the basis of market research.

So for instance if Nescafe came up with a new coffee for those under 25, with a university education, they would want to test to see of their target market was buying the product. So a demographic is a description of your target market. Put simply your target market is the group of people most likely to buy from you. So for instance this blog www.jobsfor seniorcitizens.net has a target market of the 50+ group who know at some are going to have to increase their income or pension or both.

That does not mean that my main product which is wealthy affiliate won't be bought by a thirty odd year old single mother, they may have found my blog by accident or they are looking at their parents history or some other reason. For the same reason if you have a blog about roses you should not be talking about carnations unless they are companion flowers of roses. That does not mean that there are not a few people who like roses and carnations and may buy two products on your recommendation.

However, those small number of people you should not even be talking to

Why niche selection should be specific.

I have no doubt you all know what a funnel is, once of those v shaped plastic utensils in the kitchen that you put liquid or granules in to transfer to a bottle or narrow necked receptacle. Now as you know if you filled a funnel with salt there would be more grains at the top, because the top is wider. These grains are your potential readers. Some will be interested, some distracted and some bored, because they have not found what they are looking for.

Some will leave leaving more room in the top for other granules. However, some will be interested and will stay, they will be weighted down by the weight of the granules above and forced nearer to the bottom. They are becoming more weighty as they are more interested in what you have to say, they may have visited your blog three or four times, they may even have bookmarked it. As they become more interested, they tell other people and share their finds on social media, by word of mouth by email.

Leaving a greater number of people at the top squashing those down at the bottom. Now assuming that you have chosen a product with a compelling sales funnel that sales funnel will do the job and make them become buyers. They your potential customers and buyers have gone through the process the correct way and you have converted them into buyers. What happens when you try to talk to too many people is the fact that you are not narrowing down why your product would benefit a specific group of people.

As you are not convincing them or connecting with them specifiically they leave, so you have actually put them in a colander and not a funnel, and they escape through the myriad of holes, to go and find the information they really want on someone else's website, and that is why niche selection is so crucial. Niche selection is up there with the major decisions in your life, like what subject to major in, who you want to choose to be your life partner, etc.

That is because once chosen your wedded to your choices. I often hear people before they go to Wealthy affiliates to get their training say, there is no room in that niche for me . My reply is why not, you are not in it so how come everything has been done to death. Saturated markets does not mean that you can't make money, – it just means you have to fit exactly where you fit inside that niche, and if you have to wiggle around it to find your place then so be it.

Don't attempt to follow the crown because then you will just get swallowed up in the rush, spend six months trying to make money and then eventually give up because you have failed to stand out from the crowd. Your readers are fickle, they demand better, so give them better. Really drill down into your market, go into forums and feel their pain, find out what they really want and deliver it to them.

Don't think small and don't think grand think specialised niches, really specialised niches . Investigate these niches by going to Amazon and drilling down into their sub headings .Talk about one of those sub headings for a week, yes I mean it every day for a week. When you have done that you will quickly find that about eighty percent of the traffic about that one thing will come to you . How do I know this because if someone wants a buggy they will type in best buy buggy, but if they want a buggy for twins, they will know that the kids will wriggle and they will compete for space and they will want one with a plastic canopy because the kids will get wet otherwise, when it rains because they are less likely to sit still than single kids.

So look at the problem not the product, in this case kids that need more room and cover so they don't get wet. Your target market will use much more refined search terms and they will return, because you have made their problem your own. It's not necessary to own the marketplace, just a small section of the market, don't try to talk to the market through a megaphone because you will lose them just find out what that small number of people really want within that market and make sure you put it on a plate for them.

Get the Right Mindset for Online Business Success

by Internet marketing for seniors team | Nov 2, 2014 | Affiliate Marketing

Anyone can make money online! How can I make such a bold statement? One of the reasons I can, is the fact that I have been making my living online for twenty years, and none of the full-time Internet marketers I have met are remarkable, and yet they are…………. What is the Mindset of an Internet marketer? Is it important to get into the right mindset for online business success?

The only thing that sets apart the mindset of a fulltime internet marketer and a wannabepreneur is the fact that they have taken action. They have not been worried whether it is the correct action or not, whether it is the way forward or not, they have just jumped. They have grabbed the opportunity to have an internet marketing training within a community of like-minded people at Wealthy Affiliates. They have taken the decision for their talent and individuality nurtured.

What is Wealthy Affiliates?

It is a community of over a hundred thousand people who learn together in the training and from each other. It differs from any other in the sense that the whole community is prepared to put you squarely on the road to financial success. Here the co-owner of the site, Kyle, is extending to you his personal invitation to become a free starter member. He will welcome you himself to the site, and offer you his personal support. Positivity and Mindset is everything. He knows that you can achieve a sustainable online income.

He knows that because he started the training here in 2005 and from that time Wealthy Affiliate has gone from strength to strength. The reason Wealthy affiliate has gone from strength to strength when so many other online training has failed is the fact that the whole ethos at Wealthy Affiliate is to market with integrity and transparency. Funnily enough, the whole success of affiliate marketing as a concept first introduced by Amazon is also the reason for its terrible reputation.

There are always people who make money from the misfortune of others. There always has been and there always will be. In the years following the civil war in America unscrupulous businessmen migrated to the South to exploit the economic and financial climate, in others words, they came to make a quick buck. Today the very name carpetbaggers mean a group of people who move to a new area to exploit a situation caused my temporary uncertainty.

Well, it will come as no surprise to you that there are carpetbaggers within the Internet marketing community. There are thousands of people who promise you an untold amount of money without doing any work. This is the magic button approach, this approach encourages wannabe Internet marketers, that they need the latest software, the latest gadget, the latest scammy program to make any money.

Shiny Object Syndrome

The irony behind this super dooper new shiny object syndrome are many programs actually will work given time. Wealthy affiliate offers an internet marketing training that works every single time, if you put the work in. It is not a quick rich scheme it teaches you how to make a sustainable online business over and over again.

That is not to say that there is anything stopping you from using your knowledge to become a carpetbagger! In practise few people do, why should they when they are taught how to make a transparent living online every time, without shortcuts or cheating or manipulating the system.

I am often told by newcomers to the program, that it is alright for me to make money with my list and my contacts. Well that is true, but I was not born knowing that information. In fact I was in my forties when the Internet was born. So I do understand what it is to make money online as a senior. I understand people’s frustration when they say I have been doing this for two weeks when am I going to make any money.

Some people do fail at Wealthy affiliate despite the excellence of the training and the one to one help. Why do they fail, well it is usually for the same reason. Many seniors think that the demographic of a full time Internet marketer is a male under 25, and nothing could be further from the truth today. The setting up of a business is a learning curve, and as with any learning curve there are challenges. For instance I set up this blog nearly a month ago and so far it has not made any money.

My challenge for the next month November is to blog every day. The reason for that is because I know you have to blog consistently and I have not been doing that. That does not mean that it is everyday but consistently. Most people fail, because they fail to take consistent action and they give up too early. Many people can’t see a result in their third month and they think this online business success story is a con – it is not working for me and yet if they put another month into it they would have started to earn an online income.

There is nothing as exciting as your first sale mine was $1.27, I think although it was a long time ago and I have to be honest no amount of money since was as exciting even my first $1,000 day was not as thrilling. You have to believe that there are some people at Wealthy affiliates who regularly earn a five and six figure income, they do not have anything about them that you don’t have.

Take Action Big Style

The only thing they have achieved is the ability to take action. Once you have taken action, it may be the wrong action, but you can change a course of action. Just believing can be the first step to achieving. A positive mindset is the first step. The people that succeed the most are the ones that step up and ask the questions. At least five people a day ask me and the community as a whole why their pages are not converting as well as they should be.

That is because there is an industry standard, and you can measure your success at Wealthy Affiliate. One of the best things about the training is the fact it is simple. Anyone can follow it but at the end of every lesson, there is a checklist. Have a look here at the end of lesson 1  As you can see right from the start there is accountability. Finish what you started.

There is transparency we are taught to give value to others first and then the money will follow. That is the major difference between Wealthy Affiliate and the other online training programs. Kyle shows his most successful sites which you can see and copy if you want to. Not a straight copy but there is nothing stopping you taking the idea and developing it into something personal to you.

If you are prepared to spend three or four months working from home on a part time basis you should be able to see conversions and money coming in. I have seen people make money online in their first week, and whilst it does happen that is the exception rather than the rule, but I am going to show you what two friends of mine have achieved in less than a month. The ways the members have made a living are as diverse as the lifestyles and values of all the members. Some people have made a living out of niche sites and both of these are examples of those. The first is an example of creative thinking, the nurtured agnostic is an incredible site and as you can see it is only a few weeks old.

Here is a comment from the author

Hi, Kat. I just want to know that you have been MORE helpful, supportive, and encouraging than anyone else on here. I NEED a mentor, and coach, and if it’s not too much trouble, I would very mucho appreciate you still being there for me.

No problem at all there, anyone who reaches out for my help will get what they need. Another great site is a fantastic concept support for mums of single moms. Not everyone has the same skill sets, both of these women are natural communicators, you can see that shines through their work. However. it is only at the end of the first month that the are both growing into the fact that they have created a business and they can make money.

Neither of these two ladies knew the first thing about online business, or working at home or internet marketing for seniors a month ago. They have come long way in a short space of time, they have kept it super simple. Both have concentrated on giving value to their readers in different ways. This is what finding your skill set is all about. Some people like and shine at multi level marketing, but whilst this type of business is frowned upon some go onto to do it very successfully despite learning how to do things the right way.

Kyle and Carsons philosophy at Wealthy affiliate is the fact you only need three thing to start an online business is

1. 1.  A product to sell not necessarily your own.

1. 1. People who want to buy that product and

1. Connecting those two groups of people.

The last phase is learning how to drive traffic to that site to increase your business. All of those things may not require you to learn a skill set some of you will know how to build a WP Blog like this one, but if you don’t the training is there inside Wealthy Affiliate. Not only that there is a classroom for anything to do with WP. Here you can ask your questions about anything to do with WP . Normally you will get an answer from three to four people in the first ten or fifteen minutes and usually by the end of the day you will have twenty answers. Have a look here at the classrooms

We all have experience of how lonely it can be earning a living online, especially when you start it is just the computer and you. We have all been there and that is why the community at Wealthy affiliate’s is so special. Because we have all been there we know how hard it is. I personally mentor everyone who signs up to WA through my website. There are two ways to join Wealthy affiliate, the free way and the paid way. Now I mentor everyone including those that come in free. I will never pressure you, nor will anyone to go premium. We all know how good it is but you need to spend the time to investigate what is on offer for free before you take the plunge.Below is a comparison of the different types of training.

Because I know how good the program is, but I also know that many of you will have fallen for all sorts of promises before. My business is built on trust and integrity and I know that yours will be as well, all you have to do is stick it up the flagpole and see if anyone salute’s it. However within that remit there is a fair amount of steps to be taken. Nothing is necessarily without challenges.

You are given clear instructions how to make money at every step of the way. If you have the right mindset and believe that you can succeed you will, it is as simple as that. So come and join me and when you have listened to the first ten lessons I will speak to you on Skype and help you choose a niche.

This is not a difficult step, but one in which many beginners find unnecessary ways to complicate. Build your personal brand as these ladies have done in their examples and the money will come. You will have built up trust and authority and will have taken the first steps to passive income that will earn you money when you are asleep. You will learn to choose good products in any niche, products that will sell again and again.

Don’t forget your footprint online is always wider than you imagine as a beginner. You are building a business based on your reputation. If your readers don’t trust you they will not stick around. Look at the program you are promoting and see what is wrong with it and point those things out. For instance the flaw at Wealthy affiliate’s is the fact that there is so much training newbie’s find it difficult to navigate around. That in itself can be confusing but in all honesty I don’t see how it could be made more simple, there is everything you have ever needed to make a success online laid out on plate for you. Once you have decided what to do, come back to me and we will have a half an hour chat, just to check that your business is viable and together we will draw up a business plan. Maybe you are making the transition to making a living online after having a business in the real world, then you are not going to need help with this step.

Get Into the Right Mindset for Online Business Success At the start

 – The mind is a powerful thing and it can actually limit our own success, therefore we need to set ourselves up for productivity and not failure.I will help you set up your computer for success, working without distractions is important. Too often your family will want you to do things for them, after all you are your own boss.

I always have my workplace uncluttered and plan the day before exactly what I need to achieve for the next day.

I have a background in psychology and I know the human brain has the capacity to store any amount of data. Unfortunately it can get bogged down in the processing stage.

I don’t care how clever or focused you think you are, when you have distractions there, such as Facebook or email it is only a matter of time before you are distracted.

Get into the right attitude on day 1 –BE positive from day 1 say to yourself that no matter how challenging the task you will stick with it until you have got it right. We All need help sometimes, just ask and someone will help you.

Look inside your niche and found the movers and shakers and copy those people. Why reinvent the wheel it has all been done for you. All you have to do is copy someone else.

Don’t just have me as a mentor, find other people within the community you can look up to and trust. Reach out and ask for their help.Look up my profile and then come and join us, so we can help you achieve your online dreams

Is Fear Crippling Creativity

by Internet marketing for seniors team | Nov 1, 2014 | Affiliate Marketing

Few people ask is "Fear Crippling Creativity in my life, and yet many should.One of the most common reasons people don't find the success they want in small business is fear. Most people who have failed to make a living online will say the system does not work, or it's an illusion. Now I grant you there are many pictures of expensive cars and yachts out there selling products, and there are many people who just make a living rechurning out old information.

Fear is Insidious in the way it wraps its tentacles around us like a comfort blanket

The problem with fear it is quite difficult to identify and recognise because it is often a reflection of fears and belief that many of us have had since childhood. Most people don't want to admit about feeling scared – I mean that there is something a bit namby pamby about an adult being scared.

It's the sort of thing we told our six year old off for, what do you mean there is something hiding on top of the wardrobe?

In my experience if you have not achieved the success you feel is yours it is all down to fear.

For you to have the courage and desire in you to succeed as an entrepreneur is a unique and exciting thing. Not many people have the guts to leave the safe world of salary and guaranteed income and make something of themselves on their own – much less online!

That may be because it’s a viable business opportunity that very few people understand. They know there are websites online and they see people making money, but they have no idea how to get from step A to step B.

Once you have decided to make this step the next step is worrying what the family will think. Believe it or not there are many people that think that making money online is tainted. You are making a living by conning people and it is little better than alchemy!

Fear often keeps us rooted to a career that we can’t stand. Our desire for security is hard wired. We may well hate our jobs, or the future of our jobs, but for many of us the fear of change is more frightening than the daily grind we hate, but at least we know what that daily grind is.

It doesn’t matter what your reasons are for pursuing this path. Maybe you are out of work and looking for a job in an economy that has none to offer. Perhaps you’re a stay at home parent who would like to contribute to the household finances. Or maybe you’re retired but just not yet ready to quit being productive!

One thing is for sure. That old saying, “If you fail to plan, plan to fail” is true.

So that’s what you’re going to start with – the planning elements that go into building a business like this. Most people know at least one person who has been conned online. Whilst that is undoubtedly true, it does not mean that everyone who makes a living online is a shady character not seen out in daylight.

The method I am encouraging you to follow is based on a sustainable business plan, that works across all niches and geographical areas, it is do-able and rinsable and repeatable.

Fear is a powerful thing, it grips us by the throat and paralyses us, it bites deep into our gut in the middle of the night. It attacks different people in different ways, they may be afraid of success itself! Deep down they have been made to feel worthless and even as an adult they really don't believe  that they are deserving of success.

Others are frightened of the challenges of change. It is hard to change and the older we get the harder it is in some ways. However,  the age thing is offset slightly by the fact that the pain of knowing our pensions are not going to be enough, we are going to have to plan to supplement them, therefore the fear that without change we are doomed anyway often helps to overcome that fear.

Other people are afraid that they have no experience of business and others will laugh at them.

Whatever your reason or reasons for fear, they will haunt you until you grab hold of them and overcome them.

Does this sound familiar to you? That’s because fear is holding you back, even if you’ve never realized it before. We're going to look at some ways you can conquer those fears and become more successful. But first, you need to have an understanding of just how important this is, that there are different types of fear, and that you can overcome your fear or at least channel it in more productive ways.

Fear is a natural emotion. In the early days of man, when we all lived on the plains and had to face new challenges as hunters fear was a productive thing. Mammoth or Siberian tiger was a big animal, only the most foolhardy would have no fear.

The rush of adrenalin we get with fear is actually a response to the flee or fight scenario. Whichever you decided to do when faced with danger you had the adrenalin which served two things. The first thing it did was give you a shot in the arm to give you the extra burst of energy you needed for survival and secondly it shut down everything else in the body that was not needed at that very second of survival.

So fear can be inspirational, it is only crippling when you decide to stop it letting you try new things. Maybe you are not afraid, just sceptical, and you want to know if everything is ok before you commit to an online education then click here