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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.

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Between this and other successful information publishing ventures I had going I knew I could do this full-time so I quit my job in 1999 and pursued my Internet businesses.

I currently own over 40 web sites, but my primary businesses are my newsletter for Internet entrepreneurs called, "Little Known Ways To Make Money Online" at InfoProductLab.com and PublicDomainReport.com where I write a weekly newsletter on how to profit from works in the public domain.

People ask me all the time, “How did you learn what it takes to succeed?”

Number one: I needed to be successful.

When I quit my job I just never gave myself an option to "fail". I failed a lot of times, but kept going, never quitting and never getting down on myself for failing.

For every 10 hair-brained ideas I get only 2 or 3 ever really become successful so I figured that if I really want to be successful I should *fail* more often so I can discover the winners faster.

The Internet makes failing easy.. and faster. That's part of my success-just going out and doing it. If it doesn't work I stop doing it… if an idea I have starts working I just do more of it.

Another very important aspect of being successful is not being afraid to sell something. I've learned that people (including myself) hate to sell.

They get really nervous selling themselves and their products.

ou gotta get over that if you're going to be successful in any business of your own- you basically have to be totally 'fearless' when it comes to marketing your products ... you have to believe 100% they will help people and be good for them, or why sell them at all?

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90) JV With Those Who Already Have Business Relationships – I mentioned at the start of this section that some of the best companies to JV with are those whom you already have a preexisting relationship with. What if you don’t have any?

You can JV with those people who do! Put an ad in your local paper. Go online and network with people who do have these relationships. Then cut them in on the deal and let them introduce you. It’s the difference between a cold intro and a warm or hot one.

91) Start Small – Do you have a big idea for a deal but no relationship with the potential partner company? You can always start out small, with a test to validate your experience and the results before moving onto the big deal you had in mind. By the time your small deal is validated, you know have that relationship to move to the next level.

92) Let Them White Label You – Let’s assume you are an IT consulting firm, and you decide to JV with hardware companies to access their customer base and have them endorse your services. The trouble is, you want to JV with several hardware makers, and each one wants you to use only their hardware. How do you get around that and still have access to all of their lists and endorsements?

One way is to let them “white label” your services. In other words, when you consult for their customers, you represent that hardware company. So every time you go out, you change “shirts and hats,” so to speak. That way each hardware company has you representing them. Basically, they would sell your services as their own. Think of it as a “private label rights” situation, where you sell your works to other companies that they can in turn repackage as their own. If you’re looking to drum up more business, this one approach alone could bring you more than you can handle. In other words, you may have to hire more staff. It’s that powerful.

Listen, do you think all of the “Geek Squads” and such are all owned by the companies dispatching them? No, many are contracted. These are large-scale corporate deals, but nothing says you can’t do something similar on a smaller scale to start.

93) JV the Costs – Whether it’s an office you share, or a receptionist, or an administrative assistant, or standby conference call lines, you can make deals with other businesses that may not need a full-time receptionist, for example, to keep the costs down. A local school supply business shares an office with a surveyor. A small downtown Hartford mail order firm shares office space and conference rooms with an advertising agency. A New York investment consulting firm shares the mailing address with a Florida realtor who is also licensed in New York and wants a local presence. Things like office and mail services, help desk support, and other shared services are becoming more common. If you can’t find one that makes sense for your business, why not invent your own solution?

94) JV to Build Your List – Your list is your greatest asset, right? But if you only have 1,000 names where 50,000 or 100,000 is the norm (more is better, right?), then why not JV a list exchange. Bear with me. It’s true that you may not have much to offer to the list owner of 100,000+ names, when you only have 1,000. But it can be done.

One way to do this? Ok, let’s pretend that I convince a speaker to do a teleseminar with me that I know at least 2 or 3 other 100k+ list size owners would love to tell their subscribers about. Let’s couple that with the fact that these list owners want to build their lists even more. And you do too. You could make a deal with some of these list owners that whoever opts in to your teleseminar, you’ll do a solo mailing of a product of their choice to the entire list if they promote the call. Remember they’re delivering a message to their list that their list would be interested in, and they’re interested in getting the names of the other list owners that will opt-in. So you act as the middle-person and make all sides happy, while greatly adding to the size of your list.

I’ve personally done this, and I’ve got some big promotions on the way that will grow my list even further. All you need to do is to contact these people and let them know how they benefit from the arrangement. Will everyone welcome the deal? No. But there are plenty who will. And everyone wins (those are the best kinds of deals, by the way). This is one of those ideas that will work just as good online as they do offline.

95) School Deals – You can contact local community colleges and other educational learning institutes and offer to teach a course for free or for a salary. While you’ll teach them valuable skills, the logical outcome of your course is for them to purchase your full-course and other information products. While I haven’t personally done this, I know of others who have, and it’s a great way to both establish you as an expert and make money on the back-end as well. And the inevitable publicity doesn’t hurt, either.

96) Company Speeches/Seminars – Lots of companies give in-house speeches and seminars. Most charge a nominal sum. You can do the same, and sell your products and services. It’s a great way to get into a company and do your pitch.

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92 Give your customers more than they expect. Send thank you gifts to lifetime customers. E-mail them online greeting cards on holidays or birthdays. You could always send a back-end product offer with any contact you make. Award bonuses or points to your customers who make big purchases.

93 Always be polite to your customers. Use the words ‘you’re welcome’, ‘please’, and ‘thank you’. Be polite to your customers even if they are irate with you. Always apologize to your customers should you make a mistake. Admit your mistakes quickly and make it up to them in a big way. You can make it up by giving discounts, rebates, refunds, gifts, etc.

94 Reward customers one point for every dollar they spend. Let's say your customers can get a free com- puter for 300 points. That means your customers will spend $300 on your products and services to get enough points to get the free computer. You will make a bigger profit off each customer in the long run.

95 Build strong relationships with your customers. Invite them to company meetings, luncheons, work shops or seminars. Create special events for your customers, like parties, barbecues, dances etc. It will make them feel important when you include them in regular business operations and special events. Treat them like you would your best friend or family member.

96 Utilize holidays to increase your visitors or sales. You could give away free electronic greeting cards, hold discounts, send customers holiday cards, etc. Also don't forget to reward your employees on most holidays. A happy employee can help you increase your sales and visitors too.

97 Become well-known by speaking or chatting at seminars. The seminars could be held offline, in a chat room, by telephone or via e-mail. You could charge a fee for the seminar or hold it for free and mention or sell your products at the seminar.

98 Start a free e-book club on your web site. People could sign up to receive a free e-book from you each month. Just include your product’s ads in the e-books. Allow them to give away the free e-books too. All those e-books floating around will increase your traffic and sales.

99 Give away your products or expertise to Internet business newbies. Just ask them in return to place your link on their web site. Those newbies are the future of online business. They could become your friend, ally or strategic business partner down the road.

100 Trigger your visitors to buy your products by using colors. You should totally relax and think about which colors would compel prospects to order. For example, if you were selling a business product, you could use green as it usually represents money and prosperity in the business world.