Need your guys advice on a new idea and if there is a demand for it or not?

cool and congrats on your local trucking business

what does the keyword research yield?

did u find interest?

id start there

-Ike Paz

sounds like a good idea.

you know the business

you know what it takes..

why not test ,as you mentioned, with a local ad and see what kind of demand is out there.

-Ike Paz

Theres a few different ways you could approach this, and just because you choose one doesn't mean that you are limited to only that, marketing is about possiblilities.

One first way to test the water that might be feasible for you is to write an e-book guide detailing how to accomplish your business plan. This would be more of a general guide that could show people how to do it themselves, which you could sell for probably xx.xx$ but maybe higher you never know.

You would likely market it the same way a make money online method is marketed, but it would be a different way to do things. The success of this would honestly depend on how hard / well you market it, just like any other MMO product. If you convince people that it can work for them, you might succeed.

Thats just one idea though, but a good starter. On the flip side you could go for a higher dollar conversion, and have some sort of e-course set up. It might take warmer leads, but if they are higher converting it could work as well.

Obviously you would want to start building up a long term brand, and really there are alot of different ways to market this. It could easily be marketed locally, as well as on classified sites for example.

There are alot of possibilities with this, I hope mine helped.

I think there may an opportunity here but the only way you'll really know is to get a basic site/product going and do some testing.

I think there are a lot of different areas that could be touched on, either as part of a big package, or in bite-sized pieces. For example:

• How can people with slight injuries do this job? For example, a bad shoulder may keep someone from throwing weight around but they may be able to drive just fine.
• How can older folks looking for some extra income do this?
• Try to make it appealing to women by answering their specific questions that may be totally different than what a man may ask
• How to deal with uncertainty. You buy a 2nd hand truck and it breaks down for 2 weeks so you are out of work. How do you deal with that?
• How to do little fixes or tricks to make things easier. For example, what's the best way to eat a hot meal while working without eating at a restaurant so you can save money. (May not be possible but hopefully you get the idea.)
• How to understand all the local, state, and federal laws that may apply even to local trucking.
• Safety, first aid, safe driving, staying awake, etc.

Now, none of these may fit your particular opportunity. But my point is if you are going to do this don't do a boring trucking book. Do something that someone might actually read.

And when/if you write, remember that today's truckers may not be the typical type you think of when you think of a trucker (no offense of any kind intended to anyone). The potential trucker may be a lawyer that is tired of being tied to a desk or learned she hates judges or it may be a doctor that hurt his hand lifting a patient and he's tired of all the poop and bodily fluids of medicine.

But as I said, the only way to really know is to put something up and see what you can to promote the thing and if anyone is interested enough to visit/signup/buy.

Good luck.

Mark

I know there are digital training packages for various things like passing the CDL and it seems I've seen some things about how to get a trucking job too. Spend some time with Google trying to scope out the competition.

Mark

I wouldn't get into this Jason. Self driving cars and trucks are coming in the next few years.

If you are looking to make a quick buck... maybe this can work.

If you are looking to go beyond that and play the long game, I wouldn't touch this.

Do you think there's enough demand for people specifically looking to start a local trucking business? I know there's plenty of people looking for qualified truck drivers and people looking to go to truck driving school though.

I would use a keyword research tool to see if anyone is typing it terms related to starting a local trucking business just to gauge the interest.

If you see there is no proper info/guidance on this topic or if you can provide more value and detailed direction to the newbies, it would definitely be a good thing to start with. I remember Patflynn mentioning about his website 'foodtruckr.com' being started as a similar site, aimed to help local food truck business owners. You may take a look if you haven't already.

Most of the first moves that come to mind have already been mentioned like give away an ebook, keyword research, etc. My suggestion is to interview owners of trucking businesses (I'm guessing that you have some access since you are interested in this niche) and learn what got them into the business in the first place. It's easy to assume the motives of entering into this business is (i.e. get out of the 9-5, got into the family business, etc.) but it's best to make sure of the motives from real people in the business. This is important because this would determine from what angle you are going to attack this niche from (i.e. financial freedom angle, improve your trucking business, hot business trend, etc.). Just my 2 cents.

Jason,

Congratulations for the success of your trucking business in TX! My uncle is a truck driver in CA, and if you could sign me up for your affiliate program, then I'd gladly share your blog and content to him, and also ask him to share it across his colleagues there -- I think they'd have interest in what you intend to offer ...

I tried searching in Google using phrases and terms around the lines of "how to start a local trucking business in Texas with low capital"; and

There are 4 ads -- One of which offers info and services for setting up a local trucking business; another sells Texas business registration services; the other offers services in assisting businesses to go public; and another sells services and info about franchising business opportunities ...

On the other hand -- Top ranking organic search results consist of a wide variety of content pages that specifically target TX residents possibly with an interest in relevant content, services and products ...

however, this wouldn't be significant in telling me that there's viable demand for the content and offers that you intend to market; and

I'm sure you already know these things, but what I'd do at this point is use SimilarWeb.Com and SpyFu.Com to:

** Uncover the best traffic generation methods that are being implemented by top competing sites, and also popular non-competing sites with content that could most likely be catchy and interesting for my target audience nonetheless -- These traffic generation methods include direct traffic, referral traffic, organic search traffic, paid search & display traffic, and social traffic;

** Learn the tactics that are being done by those competing and non-competing sites with significant amounts of direct traffic, i.e. Are they enticing viewers to sign up to their mailing lists? How are they doing this? etc.;

** Discover the exact sites that drive significant amounts of referral traffic to those competing sites and non-competing sites;

** Identify the exact organic and paid keywords that are being used by those competing sites and non-competing sites with significant amounts of organic and paid search traffic for their SEO and paid search & display ad campaigns in Google Adwords;

** Study the ads of those competing and non-competing sites, especially those with long running ads and significant amounts of paid search & display traffic; and

** Learn about the social networks that are driving significant amounts of social traffic to those competing and non-competing sites (those that are getting good social traffic) ...

Well, I think the details that you can get from SimilarWeb.Com and SpyFu.Com could most likely keep you busy for some time --

Those are quite useful in creating your ideal customer avatar; in generating ideas for your site content, opt-in offers, info products and services; in confirming viable online places and ad networks for your ad and content-sharing campaigns; in optimizing your ad copies, opt-in copies, pre-sales content and letters, repeat business systems, etc.; and in creating test campaigns ...

Wishing you the best of luck!

P.S. I'm the non-resident chairman of an LLC in Edinburg, Texas ...

Just a couple of quick thoughts, Jason...

> I know or knew several independent owner/operators who mainly do the long-haul stuff. The number one complaint many of them have is the amount of time they have to spend away from family. Would there be enough of those who would be interested in a local business that let them be home every night?

> Pat Flynn started a site about starting a food truck business that is doing well. Might be similar enough that you'd want to touch bases with him about your idea.

> Given your experience, there might be several opportunities in helping people who already have this type of business do it better. For ideas, you might want to look at Joe Polish (carpet cleaners), Rory Fatt (independent restaurateurs) and others like them.

Many concepts are great and good value to others but I always start thinking about the end game. How will I get rewarded for my effort. Working out how to get paid for what you are proposing and then how much you expect to get in one year will help decide what level of effort you put it.

Jason,

I'm sure your head is spinning right now . . . with all the ideas, thoughts, suggestions, directions you might head. Which one is best for you?

No doubt you'll be tempted to serve a broad audience with lots of thoughts and experiences.

I just wanted to add this: focus on one thing right now.

Be very specific. Drill down into the niche as far as you can and don't try to be everything to everyone. It's a mistake that many new IMers make. They mistakenly believe that they want to attract the widest audience possible.

It's much better, IMO, to gather an audience that is homogeneous - everyone is looking for the same thing. Why? Because when you do your marketing, you can be very specific in being relevant to all of your audience.

The broader your focus, the less your prospects will have in common. Marketing to people that have no interest in what you are offering is a waste of time, money, and personal energy.

You can always "branch out" at some point (typically after your current focus and web site is running smoothly and profitably).

By focusing all your effort and energy on just one corner of the marketplace, you will have the best chance to be seen as an expert with authority in the niche. The "reach" of Internet is global and you will be surprised at the number of people that can be attracted to the tiniest of niches.

The very best to you,

Steve

Trucking business is a good way to start. You can offer your services or have your car rent out.

You can also do similar to Uber and Grabataxi application where your customer can reach you out directly and know where they are coming from and where they are headed to,


A website can help you get customers online and have a feature for reservation and booking services. You can also create your social media profile in Facebook, Twitter and IG and add all your neighbors for s start so that they will know your business.

Could you do franchising of some type?

Well I would like to thank everyone for all the feedback. One last question for you guys. If you were in my shoes would you go with an eBook to start off or would you take the route of creating an authoritative site about the subject and monetize it with affiliates etc? I could always create an eBook and give it out for free I guess and offer services possibly or just go with the free info and hope they purchase some affiliate products? What do you guys think?

I advise that you read the book The Lean Start up by Eric Ries

Also, ask probing questions to many people (without directly giving away your idea) to validate the need for your services.

I think that they have already said much. To sum it up, do keyword search and see if there is a market locally and nationally.

You may also want to start a blog, and link it to your social media accounts (if you do not yet have a facebook page, then I suggest to create one). In this blog, you can post articles or journal entries about how you started. Maybe you can give some experiences you had as a truck driver and then eventually as an operator. Through this blog, you can generate interest and start getting people to know you better (as the author of this ebook or course you are selling).

Most of the responses here are good. I would put a web-site together first and starting getting content up on it. You could put together "a top 5 reasons to become your own boss offer". It would be about how to get started in the trucking business as a list builder. As the site begins to grow you than offer a e-book on the subject on Amazon. Plus your site to get more traffic to it. That would help grow you into an Authority site.

You could also wind down the road, doing a coaching session or two about creating your own 55-65k business. Maybe even start there with one of your employees. Maybe even offer to start as a small financial backer and mentor to make him a success.

Their should be interest in this type of business, notice Budget, Avis, Penske, U-haul and others all have 10-15 box trucks for rent. A market exists already. you can try to tap into it. Maybe even make a referral deal with one them or become an affiliate and promote these companies on your site.

Jason,writing a blog informing or educating people about your business put you in a position as a reliable person.I would also advise you to choose a platform Facebook,twitter,Google plus run a few survey to find out which one of those platforms are better suited for your niche .

Searching "how to start a local trucking business" in Google does bring up almost 2 million results, so clearly there are people interested in this topic - the question is whether they are willing to pay for an in-depth course?

As others mentioned, unless you can find existing competition who are already selling this kind of information, the only way to find out if people are willing to spend money on this, is to create the product and then test it via PPC (the quickest way) and see if you can generate sales.

Research! You have to use tools such as the keyword planner to research the demand of your marketplace. Then research what is selling and how much of it! All numbers

So you want to help other people start a trucking business? Having all the info they might need to accomplish this on your blog/website? I know the trucking industry is having problems finding drivers. Is this to start a local rucking business? Or a trucking company that does over the road type trucking? I know the big trucking companies (over the road) are having big problems finding enough drivers. A local company might be a better option. Like a moving company or something like that.

Whether or not it's true, let's just assume there's a demand for what you're talking about. So what? You already have a small, but sucessful business. Why would you want to distract yourself from building up that business in order to start something that's completely new?

Look at all the ideas being floated around above. I'm not suggesting they are necessarily bad ideas, but think about them from the context of the sort of things you're already doing. How is writing an ebook or creating a website about starting a trucking business going to help your primary buisiness? How is attracting customers for your ebook going to help you with your primary business? I just don't see it. Sure it might give you some "authority" with your primary customers -- but my guess is that your customers don't care about your authority. They care whether you can get what they want delivered from Point A to Point B on time and at a reasonable cost.

So to me this sort of project seems like a distraction. I guess if you just think it'll be fun, it might be worth doing for that reason alone. But from a financial perspective, it seems that this isn't a good use of your time. I'm not saying there's not demand or that you won't make any money from it. I'm just saying that you'll almost certainly make more money by spending the time you want to put into this project trying to expand and build your current business rather than trying to build a completely new one.

Why not start a blog on the trucking industry? (1k-10K ave. monthly searches; trucking companies 10K-100K ave. monthly searches). Then you can sell your book through your blog and even earn advertising from it eventually.

Lots of interesting content ideas: truckers hiring felons with convictions 10 yrs or older, trucker ladies, fill the hold with freight on the return via the "Uber app for trucking" and etc.

You are alrready an authority on theis type of business, so start a blog, promote it locally and on the web, give away an e-book to get subscribers and produce a high ticket tuition course.