Still behind but catching up!

[terryrydzynski]

Originally Posted by pxfast

However I realised later that team shirts are usually sold (expensively) under franchise so is not be suited to TDC method.

have you tried to find a site that already sells them and has an affiliate scheme running? you might find that you make enough money purely from affiliate products and you might even do well enough to be able to afford a franchise one day

Originally Posted by pxfast

What we need is a product that is either a digital download or a publication such as a book. How could we sell a tenor saxophone, for example, from a website? When I checked out Commission Junction (it retails real goods) the commission is often a very low 5%.

As my boss often reminds me, its ultimately not about the commission percentage - its about the actual revenue per sale. 5% of $150 is better than 100% of $5.

when it comes to affiliate products, it doesnt matter what they are as long as they sell - someone else will worry about manufacture and shipping etc. its only when we decide to create our own product that this becomes our problem. however, you dont have to create a product if you dont have the means or inclination. its easier to create an info product of some description and they have a million advantages over physical goods, but you arent obliged to do it. as above, you might make enough from you affiliate products. if not, sell the site and start in another niche. armed with your new found experience, the next time will be 100000000 times easier and quicker!

Originally Posted by pxfast

Unless we know in advance there is an affiliate site available, how do we handle a niche if we are not running our own business?

Yes your right, I shall have to go back and read those lessons again, and find a better niche. I haven't grasped it fully yet!

yup, this part is in the videos. part of the market research criteria is to use Market Samurai to find affiliate products in your niche. if there are no products, then the market is probably not commercially viable (in some cases it might be, but for us newbies we, we just need to follow along until we have developed our own skills and intuition).

good luck. keep going!

[AndieUnlimited]

Good idea on the local shirts!
One thing I have found is the surprising!! quantity of places that have affiliate sales in place.

That is my one real 'issue' with the MS software...have yet to see it can have 'outside' accounts set up with affiliate info beyond the ones in their 'new account ' list.
anyway...I digress...

Here is a link I found and hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting

l140+ Affiliate Networks, CPA Networks :: Publisher Programs Directory

don't mean to! Possibilities are endless, and the 'linking' has to be done manually rather than MS, but if they have <ie: customized sports jerseys> you might have your "in" to the niche (should it meet the challenge standards).

Good luck!
Andie

[pxfast]

All good advice. Thanks. I shall look at it.
First, in UK football shirts are sold by local clubs in special shops to raise revenue, but there are also online sports stores that sell everything for all clubs and sports that I wouldn't want to compete with.

Clickbank from Market Samurai comes up with suggestions for manuals such as "How to Play Football" (geared to the US market!) which isn't quite what I was thinking about. However I have found some articles which I might be able to make use of in a blog on second hand goods for example.

There is still a big market for sports in general, but trying to it narrow down to a particular niche not already covered proved to be more difficult than I first thought. I am rethinking my approach to the problem.

As Ed says, one has to research the market first, but also to research the means of selling the product. No use treading on the toes of giants!

[ladyjr]

Thanks to you that commented on my post.

BoraWiemann, I have ideas of niches, but when I put them into MS and narrow it down, I end up with micro-niches that do not fit the DC30 criteria - ie, they are way too competitive (a lot of red on the seo tab) or there is no competition (gets filtered out at the traffic or PBT filter).

Andie, yes, I have several projects in MS. And yes, I have taken a day or two away, seeing that I was not going to finish by 8/31. I'm refreshed and will be starting anew tonight. My only major hurdle now is that my trial of MS will expire by 9/9 and at least as of today, I can't pay for it yet. If I have to do this the hard way, I'll just have to do it so I can purchase it later. I'm hopeful that I will have the funds to purchase before it expires.

[Isha]

Originally Posted by pxfast

How important is it to have a saleable product for a successful micro-niche?

Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2008-2009: Amazon.co.uk: Jack Rollin: Books
currently £26.49

[AndieUnlimited]

Ladyjr,
Hopefully <and when you least expect it> that 'niche' will pop up for you.
I completely know what you mean about the MS and purchasing! I had to do some serious thinking before dishing out the $ even at the lower rate. I am in the worst spot to be putting what little I have into software of any kind.
But I did it...and it will be the only one I 'invest' in for awhile; but even beyond the 30DC crowd, the MS program is applauded as the top tool with nearly everyone in every forum i've checked out across the web.
Keep us posted! believe it or not~ you might be someone else's inspiration!!
Good luck on it all and don't give up
Andie

[ShaneS]

pxfast,
Just reading thru these posts this mornin and I see you are a little discouraged with not being able to find enough suitable affiliate offers to monetize with on your sports minded site. Here are a few ideas that you may or may not know about:
1: Basic Licensing-Most retailers are looking for help in promoting their sites and their product offers. Think about contacting a franchise group or major retailer of this type of merch and convince them that you can drive hoardes of traffic to them. In this economy, they will most likely listen to what you have to say. That doesn't mean they will bite on your offer but be creative...You never know what can happen.. Look into simple licensing strategies for more info.. (I have some info if you need it)
2: There are more than just the networks that the TDC suggest we use. If you remember, there is a place in Market Samurai's content or monetize module(sorry I forget which) for adding products by their url.. This is a biggie... Go back and take a look!
3: Also remember that the sporting industry is entertainment based. And I know from experience that there are a lot of entertainment offers available for affiliates to promote. Maybe you could offer tickets to the games..Or what about offering your favorite sports movies, bloopers and books? I personally use some of these offers on my sports blog and luckily enough, I was even able to find a retailer to work with that sells Authentic apparel...
I hope that this may help you in deciding if you want to persue this niche or not, or at least helps you to re-evaluate it . I also want to say that researching all angles of your niche is key...So never stop!
Best of luck to you pxfast,
Shane in Wyo