Beginner Question: Blogging

Start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start. :-)

Frank

Daddyworks,

Business fundamentals. That's where I always start when I want to invest in something that could potentially give me reasonable returns.

>> So, start with market research.

Identify a set of industries with buyer markets on the Internet. For example, third party Windows software.

Zone in on sub industries with buyer markets where you have specialized expertise and relevant resources. For example, third party Windows productivity software for blind users with modest tech skills. I don't know yours, since I don't know what you can do and who you know.

Next, zone in on certain niches in those sub industries with buyer markets that can significantly benefit from your specialized expertise and relevant resources. For example, third party Windows productivity software products with trial versions for blind Windows users in the USA who are actively looking for accessible productivity tools and also want to learn how to use these tools as blind users with modest tech skills.

Then, create an ideal customer profile. What you can do is go to online places where your target audience hangs out and study what they're talking about, what they're reading, why they're going to those places, what they're buying and so on. Get to really know your ideal customers.

Then, use what you learned to creatively analyze to know what they exactly want, what they're exactly looking for, what'll captivate them, entice and compel them to do anything that's mutually beneficial for themselves and you.

Next, identify your top competitors and spy on what they're doing on their Web properties. Know where they're getting traffic, how they're getting them, what they're showing them, how they're converting them to subscribers, how they're converting subscribers to paying customers, how they're converting paying customers to repeat sales and viral marketers, why they're still in business, etc. Get to really know your competitors, their methods, their tactics, where they promote their content and offers, where they advertise, where they get affiliates and so on.

Now, sit down. Use your market research data to create a realistic plan that can allow you to use your existing resources so as to do the following:

* Use the traffic sources of your competitors for possible content placement and advertising opportunities;

* Find non-competing partners with traffic significantly comprised of your ideal customers for possible content placement and advertising opportunities;

* Cost-effectively reach your ideal customers in the online places where they hang out and where they're taken by your competitors;

* Grab their attention with your content in those online places;

* Entice them to become your fans and followers and subscribers through your offers;

* Compel them to trust your recommendations and buy your products / services;

* Entice them to keep on going back to you for your recommendations, content, products and services; and

* Make them recommend you to their peers ...

At this point, you have a realistic plan of action. So, create tests and monitor your results, and improve, scale up and grow your venture.

Keep in mind that identifying, building, running and improving any viable venture that can realistically give you potentially reasonable returns at a potentially reasonable time frame are creative and iterative processes that can't be written down and followed through a step by step guide.

That's why you only need to know where to start. And, starting with business fundamentals is always a good start, in my opinion ...