Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:02 pm Post subject: Newbie needing guidance..please
Hi there,
Sorry beforehand if anything I say sounds silly but I am new to this and have many questions but will start with the this first...
Thinking to start a site on womens fitness and eventually sell related afffiliate products... vitamins,supp, small new trend exercise equipment making it a fun site for those who like to keep fit and healthy too not so about obsessive weight loss or fad diets but healthy living and covering things that us women come up against fitness wise. Of course I have to start small and build up to that but just wondered what your thoughts on the idea itself?
Bit worried whether this is a saturated market for a newbie (fitness that is but i have the knowledge though) or whether I would be best starting first on my other interest aromatherapy/natural remedies.
I KNOW you can't tell me what I should decide but I supposed I am just hoping for a little guidance from an experienced affiliate marketer/succeeding newbie to another newbie as to which market(s) maybe (not easier) but more viable I suppose for a newbie with her first site who would like to make an income from this not just to be a hobby...or is it just the way I approach it that matters! I don't want to be too blinded by my passion (fitness/health) but want to be sensible too as I do succeed at IM.. thank you for your time and any input!
Have a lovely day!
mell
Joined: 04 Aug 2009 Posts: 221 Location: United States of America
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:14 am Post subject:
Before you do anything make yourself a plan.
Figure out who really buys what you want to sell before you build anything. How many sites are already in the niche? How popular are they? What software do they use? What customers are leaving feedback and what does the feedback say about the products?
Really spend some time figuring out who the customer is and what they want. When you have done that you will start to uncover niches you can pursue.
So many people think all that Internet Marketing is about is looking up some keywords, throwing up a site, then trying to get links.
Marketing is about uncovering customer behaviors. Selling is about profiting from those behaviors.
Until you can really determine if there is a market, and how you can ADD VALUE to the people in that market there is not point in building.
I agree with making a plan, but if you don't have the basic skills of affiliate marketing, then you don't know what you're supposed to do with a plan because you have no foundation and no direction.
I learned this the hard way. If you're going to learn affiliate marketing, take the time and spend the money on a good internet marketing coach. Honestly. you might as well get training from the ground up that's continuous and done right.
If you buy an ebook, it's usually gonna contain one strategy so you buy another and another and another and just get confused.
Or...what's even more confusing is that you'll get exact step-by-step guidance, you follow the steps, everything seems to be going fine, then you get stuck, or you don't see results you were expecting because no one explained to you the big picture and how to operate in those conditions. You have no idea how to analyze what you've done wrong.
There are basic skills you need to know with affiliate marketing: how the search engine works, how to attain traffic, how back links wrok, good keyword research, how to build a list, etc.
I learned these in bits and pieces overtime, but when I got into a coaching course that explained it to me simply and put it all together, it was easier for me to determine what kind of plan to create for my particular product.
As far as your niche is concerned...don't worry about it. I'm in the internet marketing niche which is almost as saturated as health and fitness, but people are still making money money with it. So it must be profitable. You may find that one traffic strategy works best for your product while another traffic strategy works better for mine. But you've got to have the foundation to even determine which is the best route to go for you.
Trust me. It was a 2 year struggle going it alone and learning from bad mentors.
My coach says that for beginners, it's best to choose markets that are already doing well FIRST while you're learning then boil down into the small non-competitive ones. The top three best selling markets are: health, wealth and lifestyle. Always has been.
Joined: 04 Aug 2009 Posts: 221 Location: United States of America
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:44 pm Post subject:
To "get your feet wet" I can suggest you pick a self hosted site like HubPages or Squidoo or even Blogger.
If you want to do your own thing and have some investment money and can commit a few hours a week for a year I'd suggest that you give Site Builder - Site Build it, SBI whatever the proper name is - a look. They have a lot of tools that help you learn as you go. It's basically a turn key package. I don't use it but I know that Allan knows a lot about it.
Too many people jump the gun and try to do everything themselves at first and then never get anything really done.
All the above are good ways to get started. _________________ Write Simple Articles - Get PAID! - People are making easy money... why not you?
Thank you for the replies I am taking it all in and am busy working on this as I want to take action using small steps to guide me, but I am regularly reading at the forum to learn more..I am sure I will be back with more questions and again thanks for the welcome and detailed answers...heres to success!
A lesson i learnt when i first started was to not listen to those who say a market is saturated.
If a person doesn't do well its because they are attacking that market which is the same as everyone else.
You have to look for other ways, sometimes that means focusing on 1 or 2 items within that market and then from there growing it instead of attacking the entire product line.
Think about consumable items, the things people buy consistently vs a want. _________________ The Affiliate Entrepreneur - Over 560 Pages, additional videos and custom bonuses ( 3 Live Examples!)
http://www.theaffiliateentrepreneur.com/
1 - There is lots of competition so look for another market
2 - There are lots of people making money so there are opportunities
Personally, I look at #2 and try to find ways to compete in smaller niches within the market. Look at some of the sites in that market for some niche ideas. Go to an article site and see what topics people write on in that niche.
Doesn't mean it will be easy, but no successful business is. _________________ Need help getting out of debt?
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