Controlling The Noise
Serenity now! Serenity Now!
Remember the Seinfeld episode when George’s Dad used this expression to control his stress level?
That same level of frustration is what most of us deal with on a daily basis when we are starting and growing our businesses.
It seems there are messages coming from every angle:Â Guru’s, mentors, discussion forums, books, training programs, your friends and family, other business owners – SERENITY NOW!
Of course the challenge with the high level of noise and confusion is that it stops us from taking action (or at least slows us down considerably)
In today’s issue, we are going to cover a few topics where Noise typically dampens progress and profit…CLARITY is the key objective of this issue.
In reality, there are some very simple principles that will dramatically propel you ahead in your market – some entrepreneurs take years to figure this out, but you will have this knowledge in the next 3-5 minutes.
Let’s start with a BIGGIE…how to identify Desire and Commercial Potential in a market, which if you really think about it is the very foundation of your future business.
Two Simple Steps To Finding Surefire Demand
We’re all told to target desire, tap into niche market demand, focus on solving the “pain” our customers have and we can write our own ticket to profits.
Easier said than done though right?
I get asked often how we FIND this mysterious ‘Pain’ and ‘Desire’ in a given market. And yes, most people go about this all wrong so it’s not surprising they are getting poor results.
Trouble is, you get this part wrong and you completely miss out on the biggest market demand it doesn’t matter how good a marketer you are or how much effort you put in or how much money you throw at your marketing campaign, you will fail.
So, how do we get it right?
1. Following The Money Trail
The single best way we have found to quickly identify hot selling product opportunities is to find products that are already selling like gangbusters and reverse engineer the desire, pain and frustration behind the buying activity.
This method works because you get to follow the money-trail…you KNOW that there is not only demand, but that there is money being spent NOW which means your only job is to quickly tap into that wave of spending.
It all starts by finding products that are already selling well.
From information product point of view, finding top ranked Amazon books and ebooks in non-fiction niche markets is one solid way to do this.
For example, let’s say you are interested in diet and fitness…you search Amazon under “Top Selling Diet & Fitness” titles and study the top 30 or 40 (they show their search results starting with most popular first by default).
#3 on that list today is “10 Day Green Smoothie Cleanse:Â Lose Up To 15 Lbs in 10 Days”
In fact this book is #1 in every Diet and Fitness niche and ranks an incredible #83 (as of publication time) in overall books on Amazon (which means they are selling TONS of this book)
So, what can we learn about the demand, desire behind this book that we can use to improve our chances of being successful if we decide to enter this diet and fitness niche?
What you learn here is that
a)First, we see that one of the primary motivations for people to buy a book around diet and fitness is to lose weight quickly…while that is perhaps not an amazing insight in its own right, still I see many people trying to break into the diet and fitness market by target far less demanded outcomes (Ex look thinner, be healthier, etc…) No…what this tells you is that people want to shed fat, lose weight and do it quickly.
b) Even more interesting is the use of “Digestive Cleanse” as a very popular way to lose that weight. Perhaps 2-year ago you would have seen Low-Carb diets in the top 1-3 results, NOW you see a Cleanse as the approach that people resonate with. This is VERY important. I call this an “Idea Mash” – you have two popular topics (Losing Weight and Digestive Cleanse) combining with the result being massive popularity (and profits)
The point is you can learn a great deal by reverse-engineering the desire behind successful products, then go about targeting that same desire for transformation with a differentiated product.
In this case, you may want to explore different methods of Digestive Cleanse or put together a Fat Loss plan that combines Cleanse with 10-minute workouts that results in fast weight loss + muscle toning.
Going about differentiating an offering to target a known, high-demand target is much easier than when you are uncertain of what the demand, desire or target really is.
2. Niche Market Desire Mining
Another method we often use is to “mine” discussion comments on Forums, Blog posts, Social networks, Amazon customer comments, etc…where we see a question, frustration, or concern that gets significant participation (many comments) and many reads (most forums show you the reads and posts).  This type of “mining” is a terrific way to uncover “hidden” pockets of demand.
For example, take a look at this Topic on a popular weight loss forum – this topic received thousands of view and dozens of comments (one of the higher rated topics on the Board in fact…
If that isn’t a question that “screams” “I want a solution to a very emotionally charged, frustrating problem” I don’t know what is.
The fact is, you will find thousands of these types of posts on discussion forums, blog comments, and social networks that you can search which will literally HAND YOU a product idea that you can turn into your own profit stream.
Now – What Marketing Technique Should I Use?
The other area that we all struggle with to find the best help, techniques and strategies through the noise is marketing methods.
For instance, I get asked frequently – “What works? Should I be using blogging, list building, Twitter, Facebook, Videos, Press Releases, SEO, Paid Advertising…”
Often times someone comes to us over at InfoMarketer’sZone out of desperation AFTER they have already tried one or more of these techniques blowing significant time, energy, or money without seeing results and now they are skeptical – the wounds are still fresh.
What we have to share with this is that each of these techniques DO work, HAVE worked for others and CONTINUE to work well.
The issue is not which technique works, it is which techniques will work best for YOU.
What we recommend is that you go with the techniques that work best and match your strengths.
Just because you see Frank Kern dominate his market through brilliant videos and copywriting doesn’t mean that you have those strengths yourself today…so it’s not that what Frank teaches doesn’t work, it IS simply that it may not align with your current strengths.
The #1 objective of your Marketing is the capture the attention of your target market and communicate with them as effectively as you can in order to ease their decision to buy your product
For you, perhaps your personality and strength is video, so through video you can best reach your market, peak their interest, put them at ease, connect with them and persuade them to buy what they already want with you.
On the other hand, perhaps you SUCK at video presentation, you don’t like it and are not at ease with it…then don’t DO IT!
Stick to the marketing methods that draw on your strengths.
For example, some people come off very well on video – so they connect best with their market through video extending into social networking. People like Frank, Jeff Walker, Gary Vaynerchuck all come off very well on video, like and believe (and have put significant training in) on video marketing.
Others are best with written content where they can reach wide audiences through articles, content syndication, PR, etc…
Still others are copywriting “scientists” who are great at writing copy and testing it across different ad platforms and see very good ROI this way.
There is no one single RIGHT way for everyone, but there is a RIGHT way for you.
They all work, you want to find one that matches your strength, allows you to reach and connect with your audience and convert them from interested into buyers.
Honestly, where I see most people go wrong is they pick niches and products for the wrong reasons (because they THINK it will convert or because someone else did well with it…but they haven’t really an interest or clue) and they pick marketing methods for the wrong reasons (again because they THINK they will work, but in fact are not aligned with your strengths).  For example, video marketing works well, but if you suck at videos and hate doing them…that won’t work for you.
Your Job/Salary Will NEVER Make You Wealthy
I have the feeling I may be preaching to the choir here, but for some of you this moment may mark the exact point in your life that you can point to as that “Breakthrough” moment when your life changed and you suddenly achieved the financial success you have wished on for years.
It seems right from the time I was 10 I understood that I would have more money by MAKING more money…
Seems obvious?
It’s actually not since most of us are raised to believe that you get an education on route to getting a decent job where we can pay the bills and sock away 10% of our salary for 40-50 years and that will give us enough to live out our final 10-20 years with that same “decent” salary that sees us watching every penny for the rest of our lives.
Implicit with this view of course is that A) We will never really be wealthy B) Our ability to earn money will be capped and others will set that cap for us and C) We will adapt our life (energy, creativity, emotional health, physical health and financial health) to that ceiling which is set by others.
This is not LIGHT stuff…we aren’t talking about a temporary situation here, we are talking about a belief system and lifestyle choice that governs us from the cradle to the grave.
I have to say I was always aware of these assumptions and being someone who constantly questions rules and established beliefs, never really saw this philosophy of working at a job and saving as the only option in my life.
That’s perhaps what was behind my more intense motivation and urgency right from my teen years to start and grow businesses…not JUST to make more money but to ensure that I was never going to be trapped into one lifestyle and financial income model dictated entirely by others.
It always seemed ludicrous to me that someone else got to set all of the rules around if, when, how much and for how long I would be paid in exchange for my blood, sweat and tears.
As I did combine business building with jobs this belief in myself was reinforced over and over again when I saw employers completely mis-manage their business and, in turn, my time, energy and potential financial return.
It just didn’t make sense to completely leave your lifestyle and financial security in the hands of someone else.
It took me reading the fascinating (and sometimes Shocking) work of James Altucher to really bring these thoughts into focus for me, my guess is this will work for you too…you can read more here:
Shocking News About Getting Rich…But You Have To KNOW It!
Have a Terrific Weekend
Do me a favor, if you have indeed read to this point (and I thank you for that), leave a comment on what you thought was the most valuable part of today’s Online Marketing Tips issue.
We do our best to only include the most practical, impactful and clear information from our REAL, operational businesses – we know this can truly help you in your quest to develop your own thriving, profit producing online business.
Use this information to ease the path, give you certainty, reduce the noise and cut your time to profit down considerably.
Leave us a comment and any questions you may have so we can continue to improve each future issue.
Jeff
