I’ve been enjoying some success with creating e-books as software for distribution through software directories, and using these products as a lead in for upsells to other products. Last night I finished an outline of a new book on Internet marketing. Basically as I design any aspect of my business, I turn it into an e-book for sale or free distribution. I believe that any piece of IP you create should be used in multiple ways – articles, books, audio programs, ezines, etc. I’ve used this idea over and over. …But that’s not the snippet I’m putting out there with this post. That’s just off the cuff, some background.
The e-book I just outlined will be sold through multiple venues, including my websites (eCommerceGal.com, AdvertoLite.com, OnlineBusinessPromoters.com, et al.) and affiliate programs like ClickBank. It’s a 21-point system for online business promotion, guiding the reader through initial market research and selection, then through product promotion online, self-promotion using trend-forward tools, and ultimately celebrity. Mostly what’s required is focus coupled with effort; there’s very little cash outlay involved. These criteria can be used for promoting any product or service through the Internet, with the addition of some off-line venues later on.
What this means for marketing my businesses is that I’ve designed a portable system to identify key areas to capitalize on. If you attack an entire market, you’ll never get anywhere without a huge budget. A given market offers so much, promoting the entire offering would be like trying to promote all of a Target store instead of a single aisle or even a specific product. The campaign needs to be broken down into concepts and keywords that are manageable for the average browser with a high school education – find the traffic and put the offer in the path of those people. That way, there is no “conversion” from visitor to buyer. You’re putting your offer in front of people who are already ready to bite, “looking for the lookers,” gently leading them through a process that provides them the benefit they’re looking for. The result is that they become happy customers and we become happy vendors.
Go to http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com. Enter some keywords for a market or niche you’re interested in promoting. Take a look at the number of searches that people are performing for those words. Compare any interesting keywords you find with the results of a Google search. The ratio for the ideal niche should be high search activity, low search results. Finding low competition keyword phrases is one of the most effective ways to ensure site traffic. You can use this tactic for products, services, features, business opportunity, cash generation, anything you yourself are attracted to.
The promotion process is pretty strict an unforgiving – research first, then niche selection, then promotion equals dollars. About 99% of marketers just blindly pick a product and head straight to promotion without ever bothering to find out if they have any customers. Just as frequently, they’ll choose an entire market instead of a market niche and so never distinguish themselves. (Golf is a market. Golf vacations in Pebble Beach is a niche.)
Specialization is required. Discrimination is the key. In fact, they don’t call ‘em keywords for nothing. Specialization means that you can distinguish yourself within a niche. AND. You’ll be a lot more successful.
Once the prospects’ areas of need are identified, it’s a matter of using available promotional venues to get the word out – blogs, Facebook, advertising, etc. Each promtional venue has its place and its appeal to a specific audience. More on that in my next post. The point is, first, find the traffic.
