by Tracey on July 7, 2009
Ok, so I have followed the directions in Desperate Buyers Only and have researched my niche. I spent no more than 1 hour on this. I was tempted to use niches that I had come across during previous research that could have worked for the desperate buyer but for the sake of working through the guide, I started from scratch.
I began by brainstorming some keywords in the Google Keyword Tool. After 10 minutes, I had what looked like a potential niche. 76 keywords to work with that would generate up to 120,000 impressions per month. I also found a sub-niche within my main niche with a monthly search volume of 8000 across 28 keywords. I will write this as a seperate desperate buyer infoproduct. Naturally I’m not going to reveal my niche publicly. Suffice to say that it is within the Health/Beauty category.
Following some of the other steps outlined in Desperate Buyers Only, I researched the niche further to find angles/questions relevant to the niche to further refine my keyword search. As it happens, for this niche, the original keywords were as deep as I needed to go as they reflected the most common problem for people searching this niche.
While Desperate Buyers Only gives several methods for generating ideas for desperate buyer products, I was lucky to have found this one quickly. I’m only hoping that I’m not way off the mark and the info product I’m about to create will convert.
I guess that comes down to my sales copy. For now, I’ve got to start writing my product. I plan to spend four hours on it today and will update you tomorrow on my progress …
For now …
by Tracey on July 6, 2009
Yesterday I grabbed a copy of Alexis Dawes “Desperate Buyers Only“. I’ve got to admit it appealed to the lazy writer in me because although I am capable of writing a full length ebook (if I had a gun to my head), I’m easily distracted and have literally dozens of half finished ebooks in my WIP (work in progress) folder. I know, I feel ashamed!
The premise with Desperate Buyers Only is that you find a market desperate for a solution. Now this is nothing new as a selling tactic, as most marketers will try to cash in on a desperate buyers to generate a sale. But what you sell them is a little different. If people are desperate for a solution and you have some advice to offer, Desperate Buyers Only shows you how to create an infomation product that will offer a fix for their problem. In fact you don’t even have to know the fix yourself. The method teaches you how to find it and write about it with authority … nothing new so far, right?
BUT …
These are not lenghty ebooks however. We’re talking 20 – 50 pages max and this is where it gets interesting for me (being a lazy writer ‘n all). These products can literally be created and selling within a couple of hours.
So being curious and always up for a challenge, I’ve decided to set myself the task for July of seeing how well Desperate Buyers Only actually works.
The three stages to my challenge will be
1.Finding desperate topic
2.Writing my desperate topic
3. Promoting my desperate topic
This is how I am thinking it will pan out.
On Day 1 I will work on finding my niche. I want the most desperate bunch of buyers on this planet who will literally throw money at me when I put my great product in front of them!
Day 2, and 3 will be dedicated to writing my 20-ish page info-porduct.
Day 4, I will create the sales page, report cover and all other graphics and copy needed.
On Day 5 I will begin promotion and continue to Day 10 – forum posting, blog posting, article submissions (… maybe, as this is not a method recommended in the book) and a couple of other promotion strategies suggested.
I don’t plan to working 24/7 at this over my 10 day challenge. I don’t think it requires it. More time will be required for actually writing the product but I figure a few hours a day on some of the other tasks, such as niche research and promotion, should be sufficient.
So, I’ll go get started …
Until tomorrow …
by Tracey on June 10, 2009
It’s almost here. I got up this morning to an email inviting me to preview, Flippa.com, the new Sitepoing Marketplace. Since I first heard the announcment of impending change, I’ve been more than a little worried. When something you have been using for some time to make money announces changes, it’s bound to give you the wobblies!
So now that it’s here, what’s does the new marketplace mean for sellers?
On the upside, it’s a clean interface that follows a pretty typical web 2.0 design. Easy to navigate and manage, the site is pleasing to use. Though it’s a far cry from what marketplace users are used to, for most there shouldn’t be any problem making the transition to the new marketplace.
The big question is, why the need for change at all? The old marketplace worked fine for everybody and as they saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
The rationale for change most likey comes down to money. The new price structure which sets $19 as the flat fee for all listing seems unjust. I don’t believe that somebody listing a website for $300 should pay the same listing fee as somebody selling a site for $30,000. Typically startup sites sell for far less than established sites, so those operating in this part of the marketplace are bound to feel the impact.
Add to this the 5% success fee and those selling at low cost will find quite a large chunk of their profit diminished.
For short-term flippers, particularly blog flippers selling at the popular $297 price point, the price hike adds an extra $25 onto the cost of flipping a $297 site. For those selling below $100, as many are, I don’t see how they could continue.
The positive side of the increased listing fee and success commission, is that it might filter out the low quality websites and sellers operating at this end of the market. This may bring healthy competition back at sustainable prices for quality sellers.
Secondly, as a standalone web property, seperate from the Marekplace, Flippa.com is a far more valuable assest to Sitepoint owners. It could be sold on for a considerable sum if desired. It seems only logical that a site that facilitates sellers to flipping web properties for considerable sums, would not themselves cash in on this, or at the very least set themselves up to have that option!
by Tracey on June 9, 2009
A recent experience of mine taught me a valuable lesson that I’d like to share. I visit at least 50 domains a day during my average 10 hour work day, maybe more. Many of these are to sites that help me build and grow my Internet business. How many of them do I remember at the end of the day? Not may at all and I guess that’s why we have bookmarks. But I have a habit of dumping stuff in my bookmarks that I make a mental note to come back to. The reality is, it gets lost amid my hundreds of other bookmarks and I am very unlikely to remember to go back to it EVER!
So recently I was browsing and came across a domain called www.whopopsyourpopcorn.com. Because of the context of the link , I knew it was an IM site and it sounded fun. How many Internet Marketing sites are fun? The domain said to me, this is somebody with imagination and energy. I clicked through with a certain amount of anticipation.
Turns out the domain is for a show hosted by mother and daughter team , Shahar and Nashlah, social networking advisers who hold advanced degrees in business, ecommerce and consumer psychology. Not your typical suited up, over polished presenters, just a couple of regular women who know what they are talking about.
Here’s what they say about their choice of domain name – whopopsyourpopcorn.com
Back in the day when microwaves were not an option to make popcorn, one would get some kernels and put them in a pan. After some minutes, the corn would start to pop. At first there would be a pop here and a pop there and then the popping would be everywhere.
Social media marketing works the same way, someone starts talking about your business here, then someone else there, and suddenly everyone is talking about your business!
The analogy was such a great one, the domain instantly stuck with me. So much so, that I called my husband and kids into to look at the show and told people about it and even posted here about it.
I regularly check back to see what Shahar and Nash have going on in the show and I never needed to bookmark this domain. It stuck instantly. Why … ?
Because …
- It stood out from the crowd and caught my attention
- It was associated with a strong metaphor that helped me remember it and give meaning to it
- It fulfilled my expectations – I expected a fun and energetic website. It delivered.
- It touched on my emotions – childhood memories of popping popcorn and the joy of the experience
This domain did all the right things to grab my attention and make itself sticky in my mind. The lesson to be learned I guess is to think outside the box when it comes to choosing domain names. Sometimes going for the most obvious choice is not the best strategy. Being imaginative and giving meaning or a story to you domain, will suceed in making it memorable and meaningful.
I am now a lifetime fan of Shahar and Nash and guess what? I can’t remember the 49 other domains I visited that day!