What Do You Want To Know About The Internet Marketing Niche?

Hi Anna,

Here are my irst thoughts. All apologies, as my first cup of coffee has not taken its full effect.

Why does it seem new people are so quick to believe the pitches for instant riches, when there are more feasible alternatives?

How come the entire industry gets a black eye from the gullible, after one bad experience?

What is the real percentage of scams vs. legitimate offers?

What can we do to put the odds back in our favor?

I admit, those questions may be nearly impossible to quantify, so here are a few more.

How many people are coming online for the first time each day, week, or month?

How many people turn to making money with online methods after losing their job?

How much are they willing to spend to learn how to do it?

Okay, that's all I could think of off the top of my under-caffeinated head. Looking forward to answers you may come up with.

All the best,
Michael

New people believe it all because, they're new to it and therefore oblivious to how scams work on the internet, or they are desperate and at that time will believe anything to put their mind at rest.

And to turn odds in our favor, fight back against the amount of crap there is out there counter-attacking with valuable well priced or free info.

The Idea is to flip the failure-rate of this industry the other way.

Thanks for the questions. Eager for more, so don't be shy folks!

Remember, the question is for marketers who are involved in the IM niche, so you may have questions about the target market, competitors, industry trends, etc. So...

What do you really, really want to know about the Internet marketing industry/niche that will help you in your business?

My questions would be about security and protection - the IM niche seems to be more prone to issues than my non-IM niches.

Hi Pat - thanks for posting. When you say security and protection... what do you mean exactly?

Gee, Anna, couldn't you have asked a simpler question? This one makes me think too much and now I have a headache!

I am always fascinated by the psychology of the sales transaction, i.e., what does it take to get into somebody's head to make them interested in what I have to sell? Everybody knows you need a "hungry market" but that is like a hungry person; the person might be hungry but that doesn't mean he/she will like the food you offer them.

So here is the question... what are some of the very best ways to get the information needed to create a valuable product (valuable to the buyer because it works) that will appeal to the most people in that hungry market? Surveys? Forums where they hang out?

I have considered creating a Wordpress blog in a targeted niche and simply posting in the blog and ASKING people what they want, "Hey, I want to create the very best resource on weight loss that I possibly can. Could you please comment and let me know what YOU would like to learn from a weight loss program" or something like that.

What are some ways to reach those people who can tell you what they want?

And, Anna, don't you EVER ask a hard question like that again!!!!

Awww heck, that thar shore nuff is an easy thang. Whut I wanna be knowin is when in tarnation is that thar Crazy Sue Ann gonna be a makin a nother internat marketeering video again? That thar woman is downright smarter than the average bare when she gets to talkin bout stuff even iffin she do be a havin a funny accent when shes a talkin!

Yew be a takin care now, ya hear?

There are a number of tongue-in-cheek comments about vendors in the IM niche here--I understand. And this would probably be hard to survey, but here is a question that, while I know the answer, I still wonder about.

Yes, there is a lot of junk in the IM niche. But how many of the people who buy Internet marketing related products ACTUALLY TRY THEM? My suspicion is that it is very low. A lot of people who complain about the products never actually put them to the test.

When people say that they didn't make any money with this system or that, I'm wondering how many of them actually took the steps to execute the plan. Execution, just as in any other area in life, no matter what you know--if you don't execute--you don't win.

Often the desire, the craving, the wanting of a thing is more intense than the joy of actually using of the thing. This is no different than people who go to a book store, buy a book, read 10 pages and put it up forever. When someone asks them if the book was good, they might say, "Na, it didn't change my life." But the fact is that reading 20 pages of any book isn't likely to change one's life--the same is true, I believe about IM related products.

Great question Mike - thanks for your contribution. Definitely something to investigate so we can gather some data that's more substantive than the usual opinions.

Anna,

I'm trying to get my first cup of coffee down so I can get my brain to start firing on 8 cylinders, right now it's only firing on a 0.05 cylinder. :p

But here goes anyway.

1. How effective are "large authority" sites on 1 topic verses a "large authority" site on many topics for producing advertising income?

2. Are the "electronic readers" such as Amazon's Kindle and others a true marketplace for selling short reports 10-20 pages, plus longer e-books for "How To" or similar products?

3. How to determine the most effective type of membership site?

4. How to determine most effective price point for long term retention of members?

5. Do the SE's prefer blogs or static sites for contents?

6. How frequently should you contact your list with free information verses marketing a product?

7. What is most effective for sale pages "In Your Face, Blazing Gun", "subtle laid back marketing" or combination of both? (Please Warriors I know you have to test)

8. When determining actual site competition for a keyword (topic) are you competing against all 2,000,000 sites or you only competing against the ones that actually show up in the search engine?

Perhaps a little clarification is needed on the last one. Using Google as an example let's say you search for ""how to get back with your ex girlfriend""

Results: 581,000

But click through to the last page that comes up for the search and it shows that only 476 sites actually are ranked for that phrase. Then does this mean you only have to beat out 446 out of 581K to rank on the first 3 pages of Google for the phrase? Not sure that cleared it up but I hope so.

9. Is the Microsoft (OCI) (or Online Commercial Intention) index a true measure of the searchers intent to possibly make a purchase?

O.k. all my cylinders firing at one time have worn me out. It's time for breakfast.

Ken Leatherman

The Old Geezer

Hello Anna,

Ken asked my main two but would like to expand on those.

1. Authority sites and the advertising that Ken asked. Do sites that focus on more specific topics as opposed to broader appeal really convert better for product sales vs. advertising?

2. Are there better (more accurate )sources for user search data than we find on SEO related sites now?

Lastly, in response to some of the others wondering about why most don't use the material they buy from us.

I don't believe we should take on the responsibility of dealing with serial compulsive hobbyist just because they bought our products.

If we create our products to the best of our ability and then these uncommitted dreamers purchase and refund then so be it.

Just because Frank Kern and John Reese want to talk to Tony Robbins about how to get people to act on the information provided by us does not make it necessary for me to diagnose and heal compulsive individuals.

If you know your product information is truthful and it does work when followed then that is the end of our products "promise".

We are not psychologists. At least I'm not.

Matt

Hmmm.
IM is not a niche it is just internet marketing as opposed to offline marketing but it actually crosses that line because offline comes online

having said that. What percentage of businesses actually make what they claim they make and how realistic is it for someone to experience the results they claim.
-WD

Hi WD,

Looks like we have a differing viewpoint in regards to IM. It is a niche. You would target IM differently than offline marketers, you would tell them different things, sell them different things, etc.

I suppose one could argue that IM is a subniche of marketing in general. I guess that makes sense, and I would prefer going after the more narrow subset of IM than just trying to reach out to marketers.

However, you would also promote some things to offline marketers that you may not to IMers.

Okay, my opinion is that IM is its own niche, with similarities to offline marketing. To me it would be like saying there is no aquarium niche, only pet owners.

Anyway, not trying to argue, just stating the way I see things.

Good questions in this thread so far.

All the best,
Michael

What do you really, really want to know about the Internet marketing niche/industry that would help you in your business?
Best way to take your Internet Marketing product offline, 2010 and this decade with be then the rest of the retail world will be wanting to learn more about Internet Marketing.

Now we are rolling - thanks for these great questions!

WD Mino - Michael pretty much summed up my concept of IM as a niche. Sure, Internet marketing is what we do i.e. it's marketing via the Internet. But there's also the "Internet marketing niche" which is the community of buyers and sellers buying/selling Internet marketing related products and services.