Is this a reasonable plan?

[Charles L Rivera]

OK I'm really new to all this (but I've been a web developer for a long time) and I see that there are tons of different ways to get started with IM. I don't really want to buy anything unless I have to. I do have a budget but I was hoping to spend it on things like advertising and domain names.

1. Pick a niche (let's say "weight loss" for the sake of argument)
2. Pick a product from the weight loss products at clickbank - making sure it has high gravity (is that right?)
3. Find related keywords and hopefully find something with high traffic and low competition
4. Register a domain and point it to Blogger - remove the Blogger bar and change the favicon
5. Perform on-page SEO (keyword titles, headers, LSI)
6. Start writing content

OK here's where I get lost a little...

How do I take a blog with interesting (hopefully) content and put a product on there? I mean I know I can have an affiliate link to a Clickbank product but how do I make that part of my site? Just ease it in naturally... "since we're on the subject of weight loss..here is a related product"? Surely nobody would buy it?

[Alexa Smith]

Just a couple of little observations:-

Originally Posted by Charles L Rivera

making sure it has high gravity (is that right?)

Many of us think you should more or less ignore "gravity" altogether in selecting a product, because it doesn't correlate with either conversion-rate or sales numbers. Personally, I do much better with lower gravity products. They're less competitive and often convert better for me too. There are endless discussions about this on the board already. Basically "selecting by gravity" is a (very) popular myth and a misapprehension.

Originally Posted by Charles L Rivera

remove the Blogger bar and change the favicon

You can, but if they find out, your blog disappears in the night for breaching the terms of service. If you have some hosting, just host your Blogger blogs/pages on it, instead of using the free hosting at Blogspot, and then you can do what you want..

Originally Posted by Charles L Rivera

Just ease it in naturally... "since we're on the subject of weight loss..here is a related product"? Surely nobody would buy it?

With weight-loss, probably not! Generally a blog like that is "on-subject" (in its domain-name, SEO, content and so on) so that you don't have to "ease it in".

[KateD]

Charles,

You got the basics down. And trust me, with a little imagination, you can pretty recommend any product or service without blatantly promoting it.

Weight loss products? That's easy. Just give plenty of free useful information on how the blog visitor can lose weight, but if they wanted a proven blueprint to follow to really drop some pounds fast, they should check out such and such product.

I do have one suggestion for choosing a niche. Big a mega niche, and then target a small but less competitive subniche with it.

And because this is a mega niche, there are usually a few subniches that still get a decent amount of search volume without the tremendous amount of competition facing the mega niche as a whole.

Does that make sense?

And the best way to find these hidden (but profitable) subniches is through proper keyword research. In reviewing the keyword lists generated for mage niches, you will see obvious groupings of similar keyword phrases (which is your subniche).

So for the weight loss niche, you may similar results like:

- weight loss for teens
- teenage weight loss
- teen weight loss
- teen weight loss tips
- etc

You then create your targeted Blogger blog around these related grouping of keyword phrases.

Hope that helps.

KateD

[Charles L Rivera]

Originally Posted by KateD

Charles,
I do have one suggestion for choosing a niche. Big a mega niche, and then target a small but less competitive subniche with it.

Does that make sense?

It seems I have read conflicting ideas on this.

Some say pick a big target niche because it has lots of people searching for it and make sure you focus on great content and being what Google wants to find when people search for that phrase (an "authority site").

Others say choose a small, targeted niche and make laser-focused sites that go after that one buyer type. I guess the benefit here is that you aren't going for the shotgun effect and would have several sites rather than one big one.

I'm still trying to find a "method" that is both enjoyable and profitable that I can absolutely stick with long-term. From what I have read, consistent effort is a major piece of being successful.

Thanks for the replies everyone - advice is always welcome.

[pharris1]

I think the general consensus would agree that you may start with a "mega-niche" then break that down into a targeted sub-niche. Weight loss is a huge market and it would be difficult to rank with that keyword phrase, but as stated in the previous post if you break that down into a sub-niche (see above post) your traffic becomes much more targeted and less competitive.

Another thing to consider with a mega-niche is that when someone types in the words (let's stay with weight loss) into a search engine they may just be looking for information at that point and not far enough along in the purchasing cycle to really consider buying anything. However, someone that types in "how to lose weight in 30 days so I can fit into my wedding dress" is likely a motivated buyer and is far along in the purchase cycle. This person knows what they want and need - you just have to give it to them.

Make sense?

Peter

[jjthomas]

Sounds good -- but if that is all you have for your plan, you will probably only make $25-$50 in the first month. It's a good start, but not much.

[Rick Johansson]

It's a start but if you're relying on SEO results to make money - which could take months. And that's if Google decides your blog is worthy of a high ranking.

Regarding your articles you can say something like:

"For more information on how you can lose your love-handles and get that six-pack you've always wanted, click here: www.site.com."

It's a non-salesy call to action that entices people to click on your link. ]

You can also insert a 150 x 150 pixel sidebar ad as well..or an opt-in box (recommended) to build a list.

Rick

[JMPruitt]

put it in the sidebar with a link. Usually I will only put an affiliate promotion in a blog post if it is highly relevant anyway. I have tried hard selling promotions and it does not work well on a blog. Just link to it casually within the body of the post if it fits well.

if you are using a WP self hosted blog, you can get the image script from the affiliate area and paste it into a text widget on your sidebar. I also use the AdRotator widget, with 3 or 4 different promotions that it rotates every time you view a new page.

[mandela10]

Originally Posted by Charles L Rivera

It seems I have read conflicting ideas on this.

Some say pick a big target niche because it has lots of people searching for it and make sure you focus on great content and being what Google wants to find when people search for that phrase (an "authority site").

One thing I have learned about picking niches is how comfortable I feel marketing it. once you start picking niches, you will fail in some ventures and succeed in some others and that's when you start getting a feel for what works and what doesn't but even at that stage there are still some surprises.

[avandrunen]

As mentioned, you have the basics down.

Honestly...the most important part is to do it..get started and keep going, I am in the position of trying to restart after getting discouraged and its the friendly folks here that help out.

Good luck and welcome to a great forum.

Adrian

[peetred]

Originally Posted by jjthomas

Sounds good -- but if that is all you have for your plan, you will probably only make $25-$50 in the first month. It's a good start, but not much.

It's okay to start small. We all do.. on whatever scale. I would then take that $25-$50 that month and use it to outsource articles for whatever product converted for you. Believe me, when you find a product and method that really convert, you can begin outsourcing and you'll be making the money and doing only the work you don't like or can't pay for. Writing is usually the first thing to get outsourced.

I have found the most effective method to host your own wordpress blog. I would not host a blogger blog.. if you host go with wordpress.