I’ve often said there are 3 good ways to choose a niche for an online business. But today I want to give you another idea – a 4th way that just may get you past your niche-discovery hurdle for good…

The most popular advice is to “do what you love”, or go with a niche you are passionate about. This most likely includes a hobby or lifestyle choice.

This is a great idea because you are already knowledgeable and experienced on the topic. You’re also less likely to get bored with it than niches where you don’t have a personal interest.

The second suggestion is to choose a niche where you have professional experience or expertise. Another great approach, except that most people are already burned out on their chosen profession, or still doing it as a day job, and can’t get excited about spending their nights and weekends at it as well…

The third way to select a niche, and one that I recommend a lot, is to choose something you’d like to start doing. A new hobby or lifestyle, or something you’d like to collect or get into.

Since you are just getting started at it yourself, you actually are your target market. This puts you in an ideal position, and gives you insight and empathy with your market – you can easily connect with them on their level.

You’re in research phase, finding resources and discovering what works and what doesn’t – or the best way to do this or that. Sharing all of that information becomes your “content”. And it’s very easy to generate since you’re already actively collecting information on the topic.

Of those top 3 ways to choose a niche, the last one would be my favorite. I have often started a new online business based on new personal interests. I find that it makes work fun, and that fresh enthusiasm for a topic will take you a long way.

With all 3 of these viable niche-selection methods, you are limited to choosing from what you already know or feel comfortable with…

4: What would you do if there were no limits?

Life is full of limits: physical, financial, situations & circumstances, you name it. Often we’ll dream big only to remind ourselves of all the reasons those dreams can never become a reality.

But just for a moment, let’s imagine that there are no limits. Maybe you’ve always dreamed of spending your winters in New Zealand, owning a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, going on an Alaskan Cruise, or backpacking across Europe.

This is what they mean when they say “think outside the box”.

They are talking about your box.

Your box is your current frame of reference. It includes your personal experience, things you’ve experienced by association, and all of the elements you draw from to make choices and decisions.

Your box is not the same as mine, or anyone else. It’s also not real. We are all drawing from a unique combination of circumstances and experiences. So it’s basically just perception. And perception is not reality.

Let’s do a quick exercise…

Step outside of your frame of reference for a second, and consider everything that the world has to offer. What appeals to you most?

Dismiss any negative thoughts that appear, and allow yourself to just imagine your ideal life. How would you spend your time? How would you spend money if you had an unlimited amount at your disposal? Jot down everything that comes to mind.

(don’t think or hesitate, just jot it down)

Your next step is keyword and market research. Find out if there is interest in that niche, and whether it is a buying market.

This exercise will open up a lot of new options for you, new niches you may not have considered before. And just imagine getting to wake up every day to work on something you can really get excited about!

You may just be amazed at the things that present themselves along the way when you start thinking and working outside of your current frame of reference. Things that were once outside your reach may quickly become real possibilities – and even options.

We’ll go back to the example of New Zealand vacations. You may be a single mother that lives in a small town in Tennessee. You have a work schedule, your children have a school schedule, and New Zealand is just a fantasy place in your mind that you realize you’ll probably only ever see on tv or on the internet…

You do this exercise, your market research, and you start an online business around New Zealand Travel and Vacations (over 57,000 combined searches each month). You see that it’s sort of competitive, hesitate for a second, and then decide to just go for it. This is what you want, and you’re willing to put in the work to grow this business into an online authority.

And you do.

Now you’re in a position to take that trip to New Zealand, and it’s no longer a personal expense. It’s a tax deductible business trip. You meet people, take photos and videos, blog about your experiences. And before you know it, you’re getting VIP invites from airlines, hotels, restaurants etc that would love to be reviewed and featured on your popular travel & vacation website…

See how that works?

Dream big. Choose your niche… and make it happen!

Best,

Dianne asks: What would you suggest as far as affiliate programs when you are just getting started? I understand there’s CJ, ClickBank etc. Did you start out with one affiliate program and eventually add others?

This is a great question Dianne. I actually addressed this in depth in a post on the best affiliate programs (video/text) as it’s a very common question.

I like to create niche affiliate sites around topics, not around products or merchants. And so you’ll want to choose affiliate programs that are a good match for your topic and your target market.

When you’re just starting out, it’s best to start with the larger networks like: Commission Junction, Share-a-Sale, LinkShare, etc. I’m not a huge fan of ClickBank or Adsense, but they do have their place in some niches…

By going with the larger affiliate networks you can work with multiple merchants, and get paid for all commissions in one payment. This gives you a variety of merchants and products to work with, and helps you reach your minimum payouts easier by combining merchants from one network. It’s also easier for tracking & organization as all of your stats are in one (or just a few) major affiliate networks.

For each niche affiliate site that I create, I usually have a minimum of 3 affiliate merchants. I made the mistake of creating my first affiliate site around ONE merchant (great merchant – high conversion, good payout, awesome products, etc). That merchant closed their affiliate program within a year, and I was stuck with an un-monetized site. I’ve had a hard time replacing them too!

I now have at least 2 back-up merchants for any site I create. Amazon.com is one of my common back-ups as they carry most products you might want to promote.

Dianne asks:When you started out did you put an affiliate link in EVERY article you wrote or what did you find that worked the best after you got started?

Not all of my niche affiliate sites are content-based. Some of them are set up more like a basic ecommerce site or online store that features specific products.

Some of my other affiliate sites are content-based. See affiliate site options for more on that. Also see: Affiliate Site Options Q&A

To answer your question, every page or piece of web content that I create does has a specific objective. So yes, I include a link on every page – whether that’s a link directly to the merchant, or a link to a related page on my affiliate site. You always want to include a call-to-action and give your visitor the “best next click”.

Dianne asks:When you do have that handful of products, do you recommend putting them on a rotating cycle in articles that you write (i.e. use #1 on first day, #2 on second day, etc. until you get to # 5) and then start over again with #1? Or do you recommend putting them in the sidebar as widgets or both? And then, slowly add in more products?

I wish I was that organized with my schedule! LOL

First, I rarely use sidebar widgets. The best way to market affiliate links is to put them in the content areas of your blog or site. So I create pages about products, or content about topics that lead into a buying decision for the visitor.

The recommendations (and affiliate links) are right there in the article or blog post, within the actual content of the page.

I actually work on my affiliate sites from my keyword list instead of my merchant or product list. I start by choosing a Primary Keyword Phrase for the main page of the site/blog. This is the phrase I most want the main page to rank well for in the major search engines.

Then I choose categories or topics I am going to cover on the site, and use those keyword phrases to create the navigation. The more specific keyword phrases, ie long tail keywords, are used to create the content or product pages within each category.

Once I create the site structure (see example in my Web Page Optimization post) I begin working on the content. And from there I add in the affiliate links or product recommendations as they fit into each content page.

I hope this helps, and gives you an idea of how to create your own niche affiliate sites. Everyone does it differently, but I use the SEO model and work with long tail (super-specific) keyword phrases. For that reason my strategy revolves around keywords, and what the market is searching for specifically. From there I create the site, target those searches, and connect the buyers with the merchants.

Best,

p.s. The absolute best investment to shave months – or even years – off the learning curve for getting your first affiliate site off the ground and actually making sales: Download the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. She turned me into a successful Super Affiliate, and her model is the one I still use today.

See In-Depth Overview of the Super Affiliate Handbook
^ click here ^

Writing Content is one of the easiest things you have to do in your online business, and also one of the most difficult at the same time.

Anyone can write words and create content. But writing SEO Content that converts visitors into buyers does take a bit of skill & intuition.

It’s easy enough to write optimized content to get rankings & website traffic. But traffic alone doesn’t pay the bills. You want to write content that attracts buyers and makes sales…

“I’m researching keywords, writing content, getting backlinks, have some good rankings and I’m even getting traffic – but still no sales. Help!”

All Long Tail Keywords Are Not Created Equal

Long Tail Keyword Phrases are phrases with 3 or more words. In some of the broader niches, a 3-word phrase is barely considered “long tail”. The phrase will be a very specific search, compared to the usual broad searches.

So it’s less about the number (“3-5 words”) and more how specific the search is.

These more specific phrases convert at a higher rate than general search queries, because the searcher knows exactly what they want. Writing content or creating pages around these long tail keyword phrases gives you a better opportunity to create a strong message to market match.

Imagine the difference between creating a page for “shoes” and one for “jimmy choo bridal shoes”. Even though “shoes” gets a lot more searches, it’s too general to target. You have no idea what kind of shoes your website visitors want to buy.

To give you an example, I recently wrote a blog post for an 8-word long tail keyword phrase. The phrase is How Can I Promote My Website For Free? which gets approximately 235 searches a day according to WordTracker.

That blog post ranks in the top 10 on Google for that phrase.

Mission accomplished, right?

Commercial Keyword Phrases vs Informational Keyword Phrases

In the 8-word phrase I gave above as an example, there are two words that peg it as an informational search: how and free. The searcher is obviously looking for free information (credit card tucked firmly away in wallet).

Compare this to a phrase like “buy online advertising” (15 searches/day). Or “should I buy a website template” (30 searches/day). These searchers are trying to make a buying decision (credit card close by, if not in hand).

While it’s tempting to use long tail keywords with higher search volume, if your goal is to make sales then you want to target the commercial keyword phrases. And don’t let low search volume deter you – write the content once, and let it continue to work for you for years. It is worth it. If your target market is searching for it, you are doing them a disservice by not ‘responding’ to that query with content.

It’s not impossible to convert visitors who are looking for information, into buyers. But it is harder – and you’ll see a much lower conversion rate. When you are writing content specifically to promote a product or to make sales, you want to target and optimize for the commercial keyword phrases.

The main point is that you analyze the keyword phrases from the searcher’s perspective, and determine the intent of the search. What is it they are most likely looking for? Your goal as a content publisher is to offer them exactly that.

Using Informational Keyword Phrases

When writing SEO Content, you want to make use of both Informational and Commercial Keyword Phrases. You’ll focus on the latter for creating content that contains a strong call-to-action for a specific product or service. But info-searches have their place in your web content development plan as well.

It takes both types of content to fully serve your market.

Informational search queries can be used to create content or copy for:

• Opt-in Incentives (reports, guides, etc)
• Newsletter Titles
• Internal links for your “money pages”
• Articles for Article Marketing
• Forum Topics (for inbound links & networking)
• Squidoo Lenses

…etc. In addition to being a great source for content ideas that can generate quality inbound links, the info keyword phrases are good to use on a blog where you are trying to build a loyal readership or establish a reputation as a market leader.

But when it comes to making sales… target the keyword phrases that show obvious intent to buy.

This is really only a slight shift in mindset when you are doing keyword research. We’ve been taught to focus on the search volume, analyze the competition in the search results, and if it looks like an “easy rank” then create a page or blog post and get backlinks.

It’s easy enough to stay busy going through the motions and create keyword-optimized content that ranks well. But if you’re getting good search engine rankings, and you’re starting to get traffic to that content, and still not making sales – this (the intent of the search) may very well be the missing ingredient.

Continue to target your market through their queries for info, but use that content strategically to build up your “money pages”. And put a strong focus on creating commercial content for those in your market that are specifically searching for help in their buying decision.

We’ve actually discussed SEO Content & Long Tail Keywords before in great detail, but over the weekend at the NAMS Workshop I discovered it still wasn’t super clear for everyone. Understandable – it actually took me awhile to wrap my head around the concept as well. But boy did it ever make a difference!

Here are two recent posts on this topic that contain even more examples and ideas:

SEO Content | Affiliate Marketing Tips

I put together 4 downloads for those that wanted guides to work with after my presentation at NAMS. You’ll find both of those posts as PDF Files, along with 2 others, in the protected post. The password is “nams3″.

Study the tutorials & posts, look over your own keyword content strategy, and then let me know if you have any questions – you can leave a comment below. Include the link to your site in the comment field for your URL if you would like me to take a look as well.

Best,

p.s. Next we’ll discuss Keyword Qualifiers to help you identify and cater to the buyers in your niche. Subscribe below to receive email notification of this and more great tutorials that will help you take your online business to the next level:

Those of you who subscribe to the Internet Marketing for Smart People email newsletter found out on Monday what Brian and I have been up to for the past few months.

We knew it would be cool, because, well, we designed it to be cool.

We wanted to build something people would really get value from.

But still, when we saw what people were doing inside after the first day, we all looked around at one another and pulled a Keanu.

Whoa.

Inside the Third Tribe has been active for just under two days now. What’s been happening so far?

• Artists and SEOs and copywriters and entrepreneurs of every stripe are all giving each other business advice, feedback, encouragement, and ideas.
• Nitty gritty conversations are springing up about promotional tactics, how to manage entrepreneurial stress, getting past roadblocks, finding our niches, and dozens of other topics.
• Chris Brogan and Laura Roeder have been helping a Triber see how he can measure social media ROI in the real world.
• A Triber mentioned frustration in putting the final graphic touches on his blog — and within a matter of minutes, another Triber stepped forward to lend her own resources and expertise. For free. Just because it felt like the right thing to do.
• One passionate Triber decided to pull together groups of “Niche Tribers,” who are already working to form cooperative bands to support and grow each other’s blogs and businesses.
• Tribers are arranging to meet up in Austin, London, Toronto . . . and more to come.

Here’s the coolest part for me:

We didn’t make this stuff happen

We provided a comfortable, user-friendly space. We’re providing educational seminars. We’re hosting Q&A sessions. And the four of us who founded the Third Tribe — Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, Brian and I — are part of the conversation, answering questions and sharing our perspective. But that’s the key . . . we’re simply part of it.

The other part is the collection of entrepreneurs at all levels. Some of them are names you recognize, some are new to the game. But all of them are energized by the Third Tribe model of kumbaya respect and community combined with razor-sharp marketing strategy.

If you want to know more about how the tribe works and how you can get access for a very attractive price, here’s where you can find the details. (If nothing else, you’d be smart to go check out Brian’s copy approach — it’s prompted a huge discussion among members on its own).

On Friday Feburary 5, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Central Time, the price goes up to $47 a month. So if you’d like to join in and check things out, this is a really good time to do that.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and a co-founder of Inside the Third Tribe.

Conversation in social media is supposed to be “open source,” right?

We’re supposed to gain energy and excitement from being open to the entire internet, to ideas that come to us from literally every corner of the globe.

But too often “social media” turns into a predictably closed circuit of the same people having the same conversation.

Finding your own tribe can be a wonderful thing. It can also make your blog unbearably boring.

The move from “wonderful” to “boring” happens when we fall into a pattern of always interacting with the same people, always talking about the same topics, and always reinforcing existing networks. There’s no growth, only stagnation.

I’ve seen this happen often with myself. I think that I’m growing and cultivating, but all I’m doing is reinforcing what’s already there.

So, here’s another idea.

If you’re an existing leader . . .

• Give someone else a chance to use your platform.
• Let a new voice guest post on your blog.
• Tell your network about an up-and-coming blogger.
• Bring a different perspective to the conversation.
• Introduce a new or relatively unknown participant to your circle.

If you’re not a leader yet (but you’re working on it) . . .

• Make an effort to bring in new ideas to the conversation. Be willing to talk about what no one else is.
• Push the boundaries of what’s expected in your field.
• Proactively connect with people outside your niche, or in overlapping niches. Sometimes the best ideas come from an intersection of unexpected opposites.
• Don’t just blindly follow established leaders. Actually make a conscious decision to follow them if you think they have value to offer. In other words, don’t follow someone just because everyone else does.
• Guest post for someone you don’t already know well. Bring your ideas to a totally new audience.

Awesome things can happen when we consciously branch out beyond our habitual circles of association.

Instead of just aligning with people with the same skills and strengths as us, we can seek out those with different talents that complement our strengths.

Instead of reinforcing the same patterns of conversations, we can move beyond our comfort zones and make more meaningful connections. We can find new and interesting ways of approaching tired problems.

Instead of reenacting the same mental synapses, we can actually diverge and possibly . . . just maybe . . . innovate.

Get remarkable by getting out of your comfort zone

Who knows, maybe a lawyer could teach you how to build a better case for selling your product. Perhaps a teacher could help you communicate better with the beginners in your audience. Maybe a politician could teach you how to better dodge questions and avoid dealing with real issues.

OK, just kidding with that last one.

When we make a conscious effort to continually bring in fresh ideas and voices, we grow. We break the patterns that we’ve created. We move beyond plateaus to higher ground.

We can only change the game when we change the rules we play by.

And if we do, then just maybe, we can create something that’s really new. And isn’t that what we live for?

About the Author: Jonathan Mead is a writer, martial artist and trafficker of truth. He recently released a free ebook called The Zero Hour Workweek, aimed at helping people find freedom from the 9 to 5.</p

Ever found your eyes glazing over when you read through your own copy or blog posts?

I hate to break it to you, but a lot of the products, services, or niches that we write about just aren’t that thrilling. Although the finer points of search engine optimization might keep you glued to your screen, most of your clients or blog readers aren’t feeling the excitement.

So what can you do?

You bring in a register which deals with excitement: the heroic. We’ve all read advertisements encouraging us to “win the battle” with our email, or our paperwork, or our tendency to procrastinate. They grab our interest by making a frankly unexciting activity sound like a heroic quest.

The use of heroic language in decidedly non-heroic contexts isn’t anything new. Poets have been doing it for centuries, though generally in a satirical context (if you’re interested, Alexander Pope is a great example of the mock-heroic with The Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad).

You can definitely still use heroic language for comic effect. (It’s possible to do this unintentionally, too, by going over the top in your copy.) But the heroic is a powerful way to tap into our need for drama, for excitement, for a story, a quest . . . and a hero your reader can identify with.

So how do you do it?

Heroic Words Work

Certain words can turn dry topics – like writing, personal finance, small business and marketing – into something that makes you feel a frisson of excitement. You can almost hear the rallying notes of a battle horn, and see the sun glinting from swords. A few favorite heroic words are:

“Battle”

(Writers seem especially fond of this one: I think we just like to make our struggles sound more exciting than they really are…)

• “I have had my battles with writer’s block.” from Writer’s Block … A Thing of the Past
• Also see Battling Blogger’s Block on Problogger

“Dragon”

• “You can think of each project like being sent on a big quest to slay a dragon. Your client is the king of the realm. The project is the dragon threatening his kingdom. You go out and slay that dragon, and the client will give you a nifty monetary reward. You fail, and so does his kingdom, and he is justifiably pissed” from The Dragons of Writing and How to Fight Them on Men with Pens

“Enemy” / “Nemesis”

• “Blogger’s block is the arch nemesis of productivity” in 10 Simple Productivity Tips for Bloggers on Daily Blog Tips
• “When it comes to taking payment from international clients, your number one enemy is processing fees” from Taking Payment with PayPal, Escrow and Other Online Options on Freelance Switch

“Fight”

• See Grow Up, Green Up: How to Fight the Impulse Purchase on Dumb Little Man
• “When you feel as if your head’s underwater, don’t wait to drown. Kick and thrash like a motherf*cker. Fight like your life depended on it.” from Johnny Talks about Motivation on IttyBiz

“Quest”

• “Has your quest for project efficiency ever led you to rely on outdated tools and methods?” in Why Every Freelancer Should Slow Down and Brainstorm on Freelance Folder

“Treasure”

• “Your library website and departmental webpages should help you find the treasure,” in Research via Google alone: Are you crazy or just lazy? on The University Blog

“War”

• “Having one day can give you the space to zoom outside of the war zone” in 10 Lesser Known Ways to Increase Productivity on Pick the Brain

Metaphor, Hyperbole, and Overkill

Heroic language can become a running metaphor when you theme the entire post around it – see Taylor’s The Dragons of Writing and How to Fight Them series on Men With Pens. Like using pop culture references, this gives you a hook to hang your post (or series) on, and potentially a structure.

Heroic language can also be used as hyperbole, to set a powerful tone. Some writers can pull this off well, but for others, it’s too aggressive. Dave Navarro uses it to great effect in How To Kick That Habit’s Ass (When It’s Been Beating Yours) on Rock Your Day – just look at these excerpts:

“You get knocked down, punched out, kicked to the curb, beaten to a pulp … hell, pardon my French, but you get your frigging ass kicked emotionally and psychologically, big time.”

“It All Starts With Declaring One Word: War.”

“Finally, build your battle plan…”

But for some bloggers, that’s too much, and would be jarring for readers. (Can you imagine gentle, pink-haired Sonia Simone writing like that?) If in doubt, go sparingly. Try using heroic language for a punchy introduction and conclusion to your post, and ease up in the middle.

Take Up Your Sword Pen

Heroic language combines exaggeration with metaphor – both powerful tools for grabbing attention. If you have sales copy which seems a little bland, why not add a touch of the heroic?

• “Solve Email Problems” becomes “Battle Your Email Overload”
• “Stop Procrastinating” becomes “Defeat Procrastination”
• “Advice to Help You Do Better” becomes “Advice to Help You Win”
• “Ditch Your Bad Habits” becomes “Conquer Your Bad Habits”

If you’ve got a blog on a topic that’s not inherently gripping (productivity, personal finance, writing, small business marketing, habit-breaking), introduce some of the heroic words. Make it a quest, not a project. Look for treasure, not results.

Let your readers, prospects, and customers be the heroes while you help them solve their problems.

About the Author: Conqueror of the keyboard, battler with the blank screen, Ali is a hired wordsmith for several blogs, as well as writing for her own Aliventures.

Continuing with the Affiliate Marketing Tips series, we’ll look at how to choose niches or products when creating affiliate sites.

This seems to be the one thing that stumps most people, or holds them back from getting started in affiliate marketing.

I have 3 great questions from the Twitter Q&A that all relate to this topic, so we’ll start there…

@MikeHays: Do you look for markets or niches when looking to start an affiliate site?

There’s not really any magic to my methods. Sometimes I start with a product that I like and then research the market for that product. Sometimes I start with a market and then locate products that are a match. So it can go either way.

For me it usually starts with a basic thought or idea sparked by something I see out and about, on television, while surfing the internet, or even something that comes up in my daily life. Ideas are literally everywhere.

I prefer to work with niches & products that I enjoy, have personal experience with, or want to learn more about (for example, if I decide to take up cross-stitching).

I also like to work with Hot Markets (think: Tickle Me Elmo) so I keep my eyes peeled for trends both online and offline.

@TraciKnoppe: Aside from keyword research – is there anything else you consider when choosing a niche or affiliate product?

Keyword Research is where I begin, because I want to get a feel for what people are searching for – and how. One of the main things that I look at is the intent of the search – is it informational, or commercial?

Also see: Frustrated with market research or finding niches?

I also look at the depth of the market. Are there blogs, newsletters, websites, directories, forums, social networks, etc on that topic? These are all a plus because they give me marketing leverage in that niche.

As for products, I like to research the options. Which merchants offer this product, who offers the best shipping and/or the easiest ordering process, which sites might appeal to my target market best, etc. I also look for alternate products that I may want to recommend, or use in comparative reviews.

I really like to get a feel for the market and the product options as a whole.

@VirtualDream: as an affiliate do you stick to one line of products or promote a variety?

I generally do not create an affiliate site around a product, or one particular affiliate program, but rather create my affiliate sites around topics. For example, instead of creating an affiliate site around HostGator, I would create the site around website hosting – or more specifically shared web hosting plans. Just as an example.

For each niche affiliate site that I create I will usually have a primary affiliate program, and at least two other affiliate programs. You never know when a program will close, cancel your affiliation, or stop offering the product. It pays to have multiple options so you can continue to make a profit on the site.

Next we’ll look at what type of site to create in different markets or situations, and when and why you might use a pen name…

Best,

p.s. I’ll be presenting at the Affiliate Marketing workshop in Atlanta this January (coupon code at that link). There are still a few seats left if you’d like to join us! If you can’t make it to a live event, but still want to learn affiliate marketing, check out my overview of Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate Handbook.

Mike Hays asks: What do you think is the best internet business model? Focusing on building multiple affiliate sites – or focusing on one thing and building a brand or an Internet presence in one market?

This is a great question, Mike. The goal is to set up multiple streams of income – and passive income if possible – so most people assume this means they should create multiple niche affiliate sites to achieve that goal.

It’s well known that I have around a dozen active sites in a variety of niches, so my answer to this question might surprise you…

One Internet Business Model – Multiple Streams of Income

Ideally you will stay focused on one project at a time, taking that project all the way from start to profit. This is quite possibly one of the most difficult things to achieve, given all of the ideas and distractions that come your way in the process.

I keep an idea journal so I can revisit new ideas at a later time, instead of allowing them to distract me from current projects, and work hard on staying focused. If you want to make money online… focus and persistence really pays off.

Once you set up a website – whether it be an affiliate site, a blog, a sales page to sell your own product, or whatever your chosen internet business model – the next step is to create and implement your marketing plan.

The development phase is fun. The marketing phase is fun too – in the beginning at least. But most people start to lose steam when they don’t see immediate results. And this is the point when they jump ship and dig into a new project, or a new niche.

What you end up with is multiple streams of junk. Hosting accounts, domain names, widgets, affiliate programs, info products on various business models, etc, etc, etc.

Not at all where you wanted to be. Right?

Sticking It Out

It doesn’t make much sense to start a second online business project, if you didn’t complete the first. And by complete, I mean taking it all the way to it’s full profit potential. What makes you feel like you’re going to get any further with a second project than you did with the last one? (ouch)

There’s this invisible hurdle that most people never make it over. Just on the other side of that hurdle is profit. The key to getting over that hurdle is in persistence, and mindset. It’s about working through the distraction, and being in it for the long haul – instead of getting discouraged that you didn’t make $10k your first month.

Tapping One Niche For Full Profit Potential

The ideal internet business model is one where you have multiple streams of income in a single niche. You can focus your time and energy on that one market, build a strong brand, and position yourself as a market leader on your topic.

Let’s say that you create an affiliate site to sell food processors. Your site consists of products organized by brand, price, features, etc plus reviews & comparisons. It’s your typical product-based affiliate site.

You properly optimize the site, get quality inbound links, and get engaged with foodies through social media and blog networking. Your pages get indexed, they begin to rank well, and you’re getting traffic and making affiliate sales.

Now it’s time to look at other ways to monetize your niche, to create additional streams of income. The first and most obvious step is to start a mailing list if you haven’t already. And if you have, it’s time to step it up with a free report (a compelling incentive to opt-in) and a well-written autoresponder series.

In our example of selling food processors, your free report could be 10 Simple Recipes For Almost Any Food Processor. Since they’re obviously shopping online for a food processor, they are either looking to replace theirs or purchase their first.

Consider their interests and their intent, and appeal to the things they want and need the most. Your 10th recipe in the report could be a real zinger (save the best for last), but one that (ideally) requires a specific food processor – which gives you an opportunity to link to the detailed review on your affiliate site from the report.

Look for ways to make your site sticky. Keeping with our example, you might start up a Recipe Swap Club. This gives you the opportunity to introduce other products of interest: grocery coupons, other small kitchen appliances, webinars or podcasts with experts who have affiliate programs for their own products, etc.

The point is: don’t leave money on the table. Before you look to new niches for multiple streams of income, look at options in the niche you’re already working.

Do I Contradict Myself?

As I mentioned earlier, I have multiple sites in multiple niches. So am I contradicting myself here? No. The cool thing is that once you take that one niche site all the way to max profit potential, and have it running as automated as possible, it will only require 5-20 hours a month total to maintain it. I say 5-20 because it varies by niche, by model, and sometimes by season.

At any rate, once you get to that point, that is when you can explore new niches if you like. Without focus and discipline, I’d probably have a gazillion half finished projects cluttering up the internet by now – especially considering I’ve been at this for more than a decade.

Create your income streams strategically, and treat it like a business.

Best,

p.s. If you need the how-to on Affiliate Marketing, see Rosalind Gardner’s guide titled The Super Affiliate Handbook. This is the internet business model that I use myself, and that Rosalind also uses to make money online.

Before we get started with the new Link Building Series this week, I want to make sure everyone understands basic web page optimization.

While link-building plays a big part in getting top search engine rankings, what you do on the page is going to dramatically influence your CTR (click-through rate) and your conversion rate. So – first things first…

Web Page Optimization Begins With Keyword Selection

The first step is to choose the keyword phrase you most want your page to rank well for in the major search engines. Each page of your site, or blog post, will be optimized for a relevant keyword phrase.

The main page is optimized for your most general keyword phrase, the categories slightly more specific keyword phrases, and your pages/posts should be optimized for very specific keyword phrases – called long tail keyword phrases.

Long Tail keyword phrases are phrases with 3 or more words.

Let me give you a quick visual example of how this would be set up on a website about nail art. Your first step is to use your favorite keyword research tool and type in the phrase “nail art”. You can use WordTracker’s free keyword suggestion tool:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

• Home/Main Page
  - Nail Art
• Categories/Navigation
  - Nail Art Designs
  - Freehand Nail Art
  - Nail Art Supplies
• Pages/Posts
  - acrylic nail art designs
  - professional nail art supplies
  - nail art step by step

That’s a very basic example, and it will vary with niches and keyword depth, but the goal is to start general and then get more and more specific as you get deeper into your site.

Note: While long tail keyword phrases generally have less search volume, they bring in a more targeted visitor and result in much higher conversion rates. Longtail keyword phrases also contain variations of shorter keyword phrases.

To give you an example one of my blog posts is optimized for starting a free online business, but also ranks well for the shorter phrase: free online business.

As that example implies, you can optimize a web page for more than one keyword phrase. I choose a Primary Keyword Phrase (the phrase I most want my page or post to rank well for) and also choose a secondary keyword phrase (or two). We’ll get into this more during the Link-Building series.

Web Page Optimization 101

Now that you have selected your keyword phrases, it’s time to optimize your pages. There are 7 places on your page where you want to include your Primary Keyword Phrase on each individual web page:

• File Name
• Title Tag
• Text Header
• Sub-Headings
• Within Content
• Within the Meta Description tag
• Anchor Text of Incoming Links

I’ll often name my images with my Primary Keyword Phrase as well, if relevant, but that’s as much keeping my images organized for which post they go to as it is “image optimization”.

I don’t pay attention to things like keyword density, keyword proximity, or any other fancy SEO terms. I simply use my Primary Keyword Phrase in each of those places, and a few times within the actual content. Usually in the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and maybe once more somewhere in the middle (a couple of times on longer posts/pages). That’s it. Keep it simple

Web Page Optimization for Blogs

Optimizing blogs is very similar to optimizing web pages. I don’t use any fancy plug-ins to achieve this on my own blog. This post actually stands as a visual example where you can see all 7 elements listed above.

Even though you are viewing this blog post in your browser, I’ll point out each of the elements here so you can get a better feel for how it is done. This post is optimized for the phrase “web page optimization” – a low volume phrase (around 9 searches a day, or 3,285/year).

With a blog, the title of the post also becomes the Title Tag or page title as well as the Text Header. As you can see, I’ve used the phrase in both the title and the file name:

If you look at the top of your browser, you’ll see the post title is in the Title Bar and you’ll also see it as the text header above the post. You’ll also see that I used the Primary Keyword Phrase in the sub-headings throughout the post:

Once you publish a blog post, the post title is also used as the Anchor Text for internal links throughout your blog – specifically to your post, from your archive listings. Your post titles will often contain additional words, diluting the keyword phrase in that Anchor Text. With this post, the additional word is “checklist”.

So my blog will create internal links to this post like this:
Web Page Optimization Checklist instead of Web Page Optimization (preferred).

This is where our link-building strategy will help, which we’ll focus on next.

How do on-page factors affect CTR & Conversions?

Ahh yes – I almost forgot to come back around and explain that.

Before anyone ever arrives on your web page, they run across your link – either in the search results or on another website. What they see in the search results is your Title Tag and your URL. Or if they find your link on a web page and hover over it, they see the Anchor Text and the URL.

Example:

What you say in those few words will determine whether they click on your link or not. A compelling title may grab their attention in the search results. Or a descriptive file name may encourage them to click through to read the topic.

As for increasing your conversions, that’s all in selecting the right keyword phrase. You want a very strong message to market match between your keywords and your content. Meaning your phrase defines what they can expect.

With this post, the phrase “web page optimization” very clearly defines what a visitor will find when they click through. This will increase your chance of gaining a new subscriber or making a sale (ie increase your conversion rate) – versus the other option: they click the back button.

Recommended Reading:

What I have given you here is a basic overview of web page optimization. For a more in-depth understanding of SEO I highly recommend that you download (and read!) SEO Fast Start, a free search engine optimization guide by Dan Thies.

Grab it while it’s free!

Best,

p.s. Also see my tutorial on writing SEO Content that outlines how to choose the best keywords & phrases for individual blog posts or web pages.

Stay tuned – this Link Building series is going to be fun

In the last post, we talked about creating websites and staying focused on turning them into a profitable online business.

Many of you commented about how difficult it’s been to stay on track, and to keep yourself focused on just one website or project at a time.

Today, I’ll share with you 5 very specific tips that I use myself to stay focused, that I have been using for years as I created my successful online business with multiple websites in a variety of niches, and multiple streams of income…

1. Patience. You’re in it for the long term.

The first order of business is to get yourself in the proper mindset. Realize that success is not going to happen overnight. You are building a successful online business, not getting involved in a get rich quick scheme.

Your expectations should be in the right place. You can’t expect to study, research, and piddle a bit with a new blog – and be earning a 6 figure income in a few short weeks, or even a few short months.

I have confessed plenty of times in the past that I worked up to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week back in the beginning. I have heard other successful marketers say the same – Rosalind Gardner on our recent webinar with her, for example. Of course, the amount of time you invest is relative to how fast you want or need to succeed.

Are you waiting for success to arrive, or are you going out to find where it is hiding? -Napoleon Hill

2. Create a plan, and stick to it.

Even when it’s not fun or glamorous or even particularly engaging, you have to follow through with that plan to completion. Business is work, so be prepared to stick it out to the end – or outsource the things you don’t enjoy. If you can’t invest money for outsourcing, be prepared to invest time to get the tasks done yourself.

Your plan is going to be a loose outline in the beginning. The more you learn through experience, the more you’ll be able to fill in the details. Dedicate yourself to your one website, or one project, and commit to seeing it through to profit.

Stay focused. Treat it like a business.

Take the initiative, and you will create your own opportunities. There is no substitute for action backed up by a well-thought-out plan. -Napoleon Hill

3. Avoid the pitfall of unnecessary distraction.

Distraction is a major issue with an online business. It’s the nature of the internet with a constant barrage of incoming messages, new products, new ideas and methods.

Here are some of the ways that I avoid distraction and stay focused:

I keep an Idea Notebook and a Master Task List. New ideas should be jotted into the notebook and researched later – not distracting you from your original idea. One major project at a time, until it is running smooth and reaching it’s profit potential. Then you pop out the notebook and start on the next great idea.

Your Master Task List should be prioritized. List tasks in order of priority, then start each day by doing the top 3 from the list. I create a mini list with my 3 tasks every morning, and start my day by completing those.

Cool new plugins, programs, updates, themes, etc go on the master task list – in the proper order. Nothing new gets to jump line in front of the 3 daily tasks. Ever. Discipline yourself to work on priority tasks.

When I open my Master Task List to update, re-prioritize or pull my 3 daily tasks I spend a few minutes to scan the list and consider what I can automate or outsource. I’ll often pluck 3 tasks for myself, and 3 tasks to outsource..

Also:

• Turn off the sound when you’re working. It’s distracting.
• Turn off instant messengers while working on priority tasks.
• Close your email program. Open it when you’re ready to check/reply to email.
• Create rules/filters in your email program, and organize directories.
• Newsletters, offers and other emails get filtered into their own folder as they come in. You can search that folder to find things you need, when you need them.
• Don’t buy products (themes, software, ebooks, etc) that you don’t need. Buy what you need, when you need it, to accomplish what you’re working on right now. Period.

Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure. -Napoleon Hill

4. Stop looking for the Holy Grail of Internet Marketing.

You’ll notice that every mentor or marketer has their own methods and tools. The fact is, there is no one right way to start an online business that will work for every model or every market – or even every keyword.

This is the reason there are very few complete blueprints our outlines that teach you step-by-step how to start an online business. And of the few that are available, none of them will work for everyone. They are simply guides to further your understanding of the processes and concepts.

Commit yourself to research and to testing, tracking and tweaking in your own unique online business until it reaches it’s full profit potential. Learn the methods of research and testing, instead of simply copying models that may or may not work for you – or in your market.

Use the tools and resources, but be prepared to inject your own unique ideas and go the extra mile to figure out what will work in your own online business.

Good intentions are useless until they are expressed in appropriate action. -Napoleon Hill

5. Know when to admit defeat.

Even after 12+ years in business, I don’t have all the answers – and I don’t have all the skills. When in doubt, ask for help. There are literally hundreds of forums and communities where people are willing to share their resources or point you in the right direction. My own SSWT Forum is a good place to start.

What if you’re not sure if your business or website idea will be profitable? The only way to know is to keep at it and see it through. You can’t admit defeat if you haven’t completed all of the necessary steps. And if you quit before you do, you are not in a position to say the idea was worthless.

That said, the risk with an online business is generally very low. Most mistakes can even be easily corrected. A lot of people ultimately end up with something completely different than what they started with… so a few practice runs is no big loss. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Keep at it.

There is also the issue of skills – and of identifying your strengths. You’ll learn what you are good at, and what you are not. The things you are not good at, or don’t prefer doing (and therefore don’t do at all) are things you should outsource. You may have to do them yourself in the beginning, but make it your goal to reinvest in your business through outsourcing.

The bottom line is: ask for help, or outsource tasks you can’t do. Don’t assume failure or defeat if you haven’t truly given your all to the project. That includes correcting mistakes, or exhausting all of your options.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

These are my own methods for staying on track, and staying focused to see a project all the way through from start to profit. Figure out what works best for you, in your environment or with your unique strengths and weaknesses.

It takes self-analysis, self-discipline, self-motivation, etc. But that’s all part of being self-employed. You are in control of the outcome, good or bad.

Never mind what you have done in the past. What are you going to do in the future? -Napoleon Hill

Best,

p.s. The Napoleon Hill quotes came from Positive Action Plan: 365 Meditations For Making Each Day A Success.

A personal favorite along with Law of Success, Think and Grow Rich, and other works by Napoleon Hill…