It all starts when some well-meaning (yet misdirected) person encourages a budding internet entrepreneur to "start in a niche they know alot about", or base their business around "something they're passionate about"...
As horrible as it may sound - they've unknowingly sent the hopeful entrepreneur down a path of false expectations, poor results and eventually - failure. In fact, the myth of "do what you love and the money will follow" has been responsible for more failure than likely any other influence - perhaps even more so than laziness or a lack of perseverance.
Because the simple truth of the matter is that the only way you're going to make real money on the net is if your business is based around two crucial things:
1) Large Demand
2) Buyers
In other words - you aren't going to get rich selling a $15 ebook about growing square watermelons - even though that might be a great passion of yours.
The demand just isn't there. Maybe there's a few searches a day on Google for the topic, and perhaps there's some interest in the online "gardening enthusiast" communities - but you'd be hard-pressed to make even a few hundred dollars a month from ebook sales.
Similarly, you also aren't going to have a particularly easy time getting rich by building websites about some seemingly "popular" topics like humor, jokes, funny pictures and so on. And while there are a few ways to "monetize" your site (with AdSense, CPA Offers, CPM Banners, etc.), it takes literally millions of website visitors to make even just a few thousand dollars in markets like that.
The demand is huge - but the visitor value is extremely low...
Instead, if you want to make it big online - pulling down an impressive six-figure income - you need to tap into markets with tons of demand, where the majority of the visitors are valuable.
You need to capture tons of traffic that wants to buy something. If you take this approach, you'd practically have to hijack your own order links (or affiliate links) not to make a sizeable income.
In fact - did you know that some affiliates make several thousand dollars daily just by promoting a single product in hot markets? (Just imagine what the merchant is making...)
In some markets there's actually so much demand that the vendors are quite literally selling over a thousand units - or more - per day. Digital products, with practically zero overhead/delivery cost.
But it all comes back to tapping into valuable demand. In most cases, it takes no extra effort or "skill" to market to a valuable market than it does to struggle along with something you're passionate about.
These two factors - demand and buying traffic - are what seperate the "wannabe" marketers from the millionaires. Because there's no real secret - you just need to sell what thousands of people are already buying.
The ball is now officially in your court. Are you tapping into markets with massive, valuable demand?
Or are you struggling to simply make a few dollars occasionally with a business that's based on your own passionate interests?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Rempel, author of "Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate", reveals 5 of his most effective traffic strategies and niche-targeting tactics in full detail at http://reallylikes.com/?Lazy-Super-Affiliate
"Never part with your dreams. When they're gone, you might still exist, but you cease to live." - unknown
The Two Biggest Reasons Why Most People Will Never Make a Full-Time Income Online...
Affiliate Disclosure
Read the amazing true story of how one woman, with no previous business experience, earned 436,797+ in 2002 and now earns MUCH MORE than that ... just by selling other people's stuff online!
In her down-to-earth, sincere and often humorous style, Rosalind Gardner guides you through the entire process of building an affiliate marketing business on the 'Net.
Frequently revised and updated to reflect industry changes, the Super Affiliate Handbook now consists of 235 pages and 235 screenshots that will show you step-by-step how to become a Super Affiliate. , you'll learn how to pick the best programs, negotiate a commission raise and save time, money and effort on everything from affiliate software to web hosting.
To learn exactly how she does it, Click Here.
I couldn't agree more with you here. If you want to write about those square watermelons (and seriously, who doesn't), that's fine. Write a blog or join a forum and talk about them until your fingers fall off. But, before you spend any time building a product, like an ebook, you need to step back from your passion for the topic and consider how popular the topic is to the rest of the known world. Lead with your head, not with your heart.
I could not agree with you more. It is however difficult to find these markets that people are falling all over themselves to buy what you are offering. The higher the demand the more saturated the market. I will definitely read more of your blog to see what your solutions are.
Hi John and Denise,
Thanks for visiting my blog!
It is so true...just because something is popular, if the market is saturated, then you usually will not be able to make very much money with it. The same goes for something that very few people are interested in. You have to find that middle ground product.
It does take research to find that middle market, but it can be done.
I will be posting ways to find those markets soon.
Thanks again for stopping by!