My One Single BEST Piece of Advice For Success with 30DC

[JasperEliot]

It is this:

1) Focus on one--and only one--niche at a time. (Ed teaches techniques to determine whether you should continue your niche or abandon it and start a better niche. But the secret is to stay focused!! You just can't do that if you're spreading your time across multiple niches. I know...I tried....I failed... I learned.)

fini

[camkid]

Good advice, but I'll also add "don't try to flog a dead horse" ;-)

Don't ignore the numbers and convince yourself the niche idea you have is what the World and his wife is interested in.

Just because you may be fixated with 'late 13th century Macedonian gnomes', it doesn't mean anyone else is. They might be, but just check first.

I've lost count of the number of people who contact me and say "Pete, my site has been up for a year, and I'm only making 8c a month. What's wrong?"

I know what it's going to be, and sure enough on checking, the top ten keywords/phrases for their site have three people a year looking for them! I always first congratulate them on achieving 8 cents...and then break the bad news.

But here's the most amazing thing. Even when confronted with the facts, a lot of them still continue with the site, convinced a market is magically going to appear from somewhere.

They have now invested too much time and money to let it go. They've let their heart rule their head, and they're now paying the price.

Ed will be showing you how to find that perfect niche, so don't come into the 30DC will a niche topic idea totally set in stone. Sure, run it through whatever tools Ed is going to show you to use in the research stage, but be prepared to let it go if it doesn't stack up.

Pete :-)

[jdlk]

That's great advice camkid. I had a "great niche idea" until I did the research. Fortunately I didn't spend any money and so it was a little easier to let go.

But it's something to get used to...letting an idea die.

[Bitcom]

Don't forget it's not just about "getting traffic"... It's about getting traffic with a "buying intention."

I've spent tons of time on niches I researched and loved and ended up with pretty good traffic. But that doesn't mean you'll make money. Sometimes that traffic has no interest in buying anything or the ways to monetize paid lousy.

You've got to include the monetization potential in your keyword research too.

Rick

[JasperEliot]

That's awesome advice, camkid. Based on your advice and experience, I've now decided to give up on my blog and focus on more profitable niches. I know that my two biggest blog fans (Sir-William-of-Edinburgh and the Henry IV, Duke of Plaster Figurines) will be rather upset, but I'm sure they'll understand. Looking forward to this year's 30DC so that I can build my new niche into one of the most visited on the Web!!)

(Jasper I removed the links - you don't want others knowing your personal niches! Bill Thomson)

_____________

Bill, thanks for the laugh!! (Did you read what those links were? I was joking with Pete's response above and made up some ridiculous domain names to give him a chuckle. Believe me, I would never in a million years purchase a domain name on 17th century baroque spatulas of northern new jersey. If anyone on these boards want to steal THAT niche, I say let 'em have it. But be sure to commit them first for psychological evaluation!! ) Anyway, thanks for looking out for us!

[Bitcom]

Bill you did Jasper (and all of us disservice) by removing those URLs. Not only were they great examples of a major mistake many people make but it was the best laugh I had all day. Please let Jasper put them back.

[wbthom]

Jasper & Rick

Sorry guys I got the laugh but there some tight guidelines on external linking. Caro is the person to ask about getting these back as she sets the rules.

Cheers,

Bill

[Caro]

Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!

Pete's commentary - spot on.

And it's actually the biggest Challenge, 30DCers will face. It's not finding the keyword phrase that works. It's the attachment to your idea and then the negative self talk, finger pointing, flagellation etc if something doesn't research as we'd like.

As pointed out here - we are after:

a) Traffic
b) Conversion

AND I see many come to the 30DC with the next 'big idea' - I did! I came into Internet Marketing wanting to build my coaching business online.

And because I believed that the experts who were making significantly more money than me, knew what they were talking about. And accepted the criteria for how to assess potential etc - I saw that I could not achieve the type of results I wanted via the avenue.

I was speaking with a dear, dear friend, who has a HUGE idea, and it was so challenging when they asked for my feedback - and I responded: well how do you plan to get traffic to the site?

What keyword phrase would you focus on?

What's the traffic like?

What sort of competition numbers are there?

Are there already people in the market? (which online is a GREAT thing if someone else is already monetizing a market).

So please - I know it's hard - it's a human condition to be attached. AND it will cause you more grief if you allow yourself to suffer from it.

Energy, passion, enthusiasm, determination, drive, commitment - ALL things that will help you with the 30DC

Attachment, negative self talk, looking to find fault - will not serve you with the 30DC

Caro

[noskire]

I'll add my two cents in here (converted to $Au 1.987).

Internet Marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. This is why many fail. Just like anything that promises great rewards, you need to put the hard yards in.

Most of those new to the 30DC have many other commitments, and time is a constraint.

But the 30DC can be completed in any time. If you're a newbie, follow 30DC to the letter. And if you have ANY questions, ask. The forum here is one of the most friendly and knowledgeable you will find.

The THREE points I suggest you vigorously follow are:

a; keyword research,
b; is that keyword profitable,
c; can I rank for that keyword.

This will make you or break you.

30DC is a course that teaches these techniques and methods. Learn.

[haitham]

I actually have a question on this... and it has to do with the pre-abandonment decision.

Let's use the VEG (vintage electric guitar example)...

The strategy we use here is 1 affiliate product, which we swap out maybe 3 - 4 times in search of conversion.... if conversion fails, we move on....

My question is this:

There are multiple types of products....

There's real tangible products like guitar strings and guitars.
There's info products like magazines and other affiliate products easy to find on Amazon ...etc (like the guitar guide we used)
There's video, and rich media products (video / audio / BluRay) (like a how to play along video to teach you how to play)

Is there a 'test' that the pros use to figure out which of the 3 (or more) types of products i should try for this market... or do you just go by intuition ?

Because otherwise i will always have the doubt that the people are looking for something else, especially if i have some personal understanding (and possibly bias) towards the niche.... Are they looking for product, information, entertainment... i don't know... so i try 3 things , but are those the right 3 or 4 things to try out, i will never know

What do you guys do to test... just any 3 interesting products, or do you try to mix it up ?