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How to use your research
Now that you know where to do your research, it's time to go into how to use that research for maximum benefit.
The first thing you do is go into the sites listed above and get used to using them. If they have archives of their statistics, study them and see if you can come up with useful trends yourself. For example, don't just look at the lists of keywords. Look at all the other info as well. Like the news stories, the analysis, etc. and make a list of topics that interest you personally.
Now take that list and read up on all the latest news you can find on the subjects. Technorati is great for this, since you can visit the blogs linked to in their site and actually get a feel of how passionate those bloggers are about the subjects.
How big is the community around the subject? Are there frequently updated forums or fan sites out there with large memberships of active users? Is the subject talked about in the mainstream media and online news? Are there hundreds of independent sites on the net that are current or updated frequently?
Use all this to gauge the popularity of the subject.
Key Point: Forget about the standard “keyword research” you've learned about or heard about for now. What's more important than keywords is the people and the passion in the community.
By now you should have a pretty good idea of what's hot right now and what has been consistently hot over the long term. Now use that research you've already done to scope out what's already available online in the niches you've been researching.
How are other people setting up their sites? Are the most popular sites in the niche forums, blogs, info sites, online stores, social networking sites, spinoffs of social networking sites, etc.?
What other slipstream sites are out there? Are there news sites that feed off the popularity of the subject or niche? Are there people offering support services or products to that community already?
Use your imagination and do exhaustive research of the community. Forget about the hard stats right now. Get a feel for the people.
Once you've used your brain to go through everything I've mentioned previously, you should have a good idea of how at least one or two niches tick, and what the people in those communities are passionate about.
Now it's time to determine what type of site to set up.
Jumping Into The Slipstream
Key Point: Do not try and copy the popular sites in the niche. All you'll be doing is creating your own competition that way. Rather, play off the success of the big picture to come up with something the community can't help but to want.
All the while you've been doing your research, you should have been doing most of it from the inside out. What do I mean by that?
You should have been signing up for all the forums, reading and commenting on all the blogs, subscribing to all the RSS feeds and newsletters and generally immersing yourself in that niche. You should already have started getting to know some of the people in that community. After all, the best ways to find out what people are thinking is to talk to them one-on-one or in small groups.
You should already know what these people want. You should already know what the community, the very slipstream you're getting into, wants from new people and sites entering that niche.
If you don't, go back to the beginning of the research chapter and start all over again and don't stop researching until you do.
Now that that's out of the way, lets look at what types of sites you can create.
Probably the easiest site to begin with is a blog. Get yourself a cool domain name related to that niche, get hosting, download Wordpress, find a cool template that reflects the subject matter you'll be writing about (something you know the community will think is cool) and start posting.
You already know almost everything you need to know about that niche, where to get fresh news to talk about, what the community likes, dislikes and are concerned about... from all that research you've done right? ;-)
Key Point: Don't look at the community as a group of people to sell stuff to. Look at them as your peers, as friends and real people. You know them and they'll be far more open to visiting a friends site than a marketers site. Get it?
Which brings me to this point - how do you get that initial traffic to your blog?
Why, you tell all your friends about it, of course!
Now, you have to keep those friends interested enough to keep coming back to
your site over and over. You have to impress them enough to make them want to tell their friends about it. They need to want to blog about it, email or IM their friends and let them know about it, etc.
The best way to do that, is to write something new and interesting at least once or more every day. Write something that you know will get people interested, like what's really hot in that niche right now and your opinion of it. Write about a subject you saw on a forum post and expand on it. Write about the issues facing the community, etc.
For the first few weeks you write that blog, be part of the community. Be one of them and be the coolest or most controversial or most agreeable, just pump out really great content to keep them coming back for more.
Notice how I haven't even mentioned money yet?
That's because most tight knit communities totally shun anyone trying to sell them something or make money off them. And that's a fact.
Your goal with that new site is to get yourself a following, to become a voice that community will listen to. Once your traffic starts building and you've built trust, then you can start recommending the odd product or service based on how useful you found it when you used it.
