by jbsmith » Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:47 am
Great discussion everyone, after all - finding the right market and then focusing in on the right demand within that market is really the key to any successful online business.
What I have been doing for the last 12-months, for markets that I may be interested in but do not have a great deal of experience with yet, is to setup a content site (adding articles I've written and 3rd party articles I have had written for me), product or program reviews, a blog, etc... - with
the focus on 2 main things: 1) Building a list through offering a variety of
giveaways - software, ebooks, or 21-part course, etc... 2) Experimenting
with affiliate programs, not with the primary intent of making money, but
more with the intent of seeing what people are most likely to purchase.
After a few months of driving traffic to these sites, I have a very good idea of a) market viability, b) what the market wants c) their spending habits.
In some cases, if I still don't see evidence of strong demand for aff products
and when surveying my list, no clear buying pattern appears, I'll simply
turn it into an Adsense site or portal.
Most cases, I've seen clear evidence of what the market wants, then I
can re-structure my offers, pages, etc... around demand.
This is a very low-risk, high return approach to entering markets you may
not be 100% (ok even 80%) sure of.
Hope this helps...
Jeff