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Am I wasting my time: hungry buyers vs info seekers??

by digigirl
12 replies
Hi - I'm trying to work out if my market I'm an expert in will buy my info products and services if I build an authority site and market through my list. I've been blogging on my passion for a year and building a targeted list of qualified leads...And had great open rates and people seem to really like my free advice. But it's only now I'm properly getting into market research to step up my game and offer info products.

The problem is:
1. I see no successful money making role models selling similar info products in the training side of my sport in an online IM business model.
2. I checked cpc commercial intent guesstimate and the words only bid for .80 to 1 dollar per click! Only DVDs rank the highest for an info product BUT my market are going for biography not training DVDs as such.

Good points:
1.amazon sells training books to my target audience and there are many magazines on the subject....good news BUT advertising is ALL for equipment NOT training.
2.Target audience are old enough and income high and spend good money on the equipment even though affiliate coms are very low.
3. Most hang out in forums and do have training problems plus I get questions on training all the time through my blog...but it's free advice.

The question is IS whether people on my list I may take years to build, actually BUY info products like video course, DVDs, online ecourse, membership site...or am I wasting my time?

I'm thinking of this as a business NOT a hobby now.

Any help would be greatly appreciative.
#buyers #hungry #info #list #seekers #time #wasting
  • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio
    Hmmm... How about digital info products where you provide specific advice and useful programs your target audience can follow, for them to learn to maximize the benefits they can gain from those tools/equipment? Perhaps include links pointing to your site pages where they can learn more details about each equipment mentioned in the digital info product by reading those detailed reviews you posted on your site? Then, insert affiliate links into those review pages, so you can also earn from affiliate commissions? Oh, how about collecting discount coupons/vouchers and other free incentive/reward offers bundled with those equipment, then including it in your digital info products?
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    • Profile picture of the author digigirl
      Hi Marx. Thanks for getting back so quickly.

      There are many review sites in this market who just write about equipment then make money on selling ad space. The big review sites are turning over good profit but its not the area Im in - Im in the training part of the sport. But I m perplexed as to why no good info product authority sites? Or am I the first to do marketing the modern way in this sport??Many of the sites are behind in list building or don't list build...so finding partners or doing ezine directory/ad swaps is unlikely for example.. I'm thinking I'd be better off time wise to move into women's fitness who work from home niche and put my own USP or spin on it to make a viable business might work..doing my head in! thanks for your ideas.
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      • Profile picture of the author azmanar
        Originally Posted by digigirl View Post

        Hi Marx. Thanks for getting back so quickly.

        There are many review sites in this market who just write about equipment then make money on selling ad space. The big review sites are turning over good profit but its not the area Im in - Im in the training part of the sport. But I m perplexed as to why no good info product authority sites? Or am I the first to do marketing the modern way in this sport??Many of the sites are behind in list building or don't list build...so finding partners or doing ezine directory/ad swaps is unlikely for example.. I'm thinking I'd be better off time wise to move into women's fitness who work from home niche and put my own USP or spin on it to make a viable business might work..doing my head in! thanks for your ideas.
        Hi,

        Have you ever thought of contributing to Print Magazines ( which have Online Versions for sale as well ) ?

        Probably you could visit:
        -> Health & Fitness Magazine Subscription Discounts & Deals | Magazines.com
        -> Zinio - The World's Largest Newsstand

        You can even build bigger lists from there. Soon you'll be considered as an "authority" in your niche. Then convert your lists into clients where you are their paid mentor.

        You mentioned equipment review section (with Amazon, Ebay & Google Ads ) can make money but seems to be not your cup of tea.

        How about creating a membership site with drip video content, private forum, file downloads and articles. That might match your wish as an actual sports trainer / mentor online.

        And also develop a social community at www.uniiverse.com with real people around it. It is totally unlike Facebook & Twitter. You get to meet people of similar interest ( who want a trainer ) - physically face-to-face.
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        • Profile picture of the author Ralf Skirr
          1) The fastest way is to create a small digital info product quickly and offer it to your list for little money. Not for making profit, but for testing your list.
          2) After that initial offer you could create a short survey to get direct feedback. Keep in mind though, that people's real buying decisions differ from what they answer in surveys. Still: surveys directly to your list can give you some insights.

          Creating a small product might take you not more time than the research you're doing now, and give you better results.
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          • Profile picture of the author Yusuf the Craftsman
            If its training and workouts you probably want video, something someone can watch as they exercise.

            So, dvds that they can watch as they work out in their tv room?
            No, you want to be selling a digital product on the front-end. It will scale much more quickly and much more easily. You can sell dvds on the backend as your high ticket item.

            Your predicament reminds of another idea i saw on the web the other day. I have been seeing a lot of cooking iphone apps that are really just "video sites" and that are basically just filming of the "event" of cooking a meal. A simple front but very revolutionary in the teaching-of-cooking industry. The idea here being that the apps users will watch and cook at the same time which is quite frankly very innovative and highly intuitive.

            So whatever you do make it as simple, direct and as minimalist as possible, something like long engaging youtube work out videos now that google dropped the 15 minute limit for youtube videos.
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            • Profile picture of the author digigirl
              Hi all, thank you so much for getting back to me! I've almost got my head in my hands, but I'm not giving up because unless I really keep going I'll never know my potential with this - yet, I have so much knowledge to give and got a whole plan I want to implement as you'll read below..

              I've just done more research on SpyFu and see advertisers 11-16 for my sport training programs and there are sites out there advertising quite hard each month so it seems - but few products on Clickbank so perhaps I'm staring at a big gap in the market that hasn't caught on yet to the digital 'way'. Hopes are going up.

              Yes, building credentials is key - writing for various offline mags is one of my goals for this year as you can then put 'featured in...' which always looks good - as is creating a few low end programs (free even) to get some case studies behind me to 'show' my strategies work and I get results...and can get basic testimonials on the site...

              Winsenken: - yes, my idea is to pull a community together and put together a membership site (or two) and offer unique content and services as a higher tier backend product based on my more advanced knowledge I've kept up my sleeve. The idea of selling the m/site once fully mature is something I've had in mind too something I learnt off the great Yaro Starak - thanks.

              Revstan - cheers - yes the video side I'm utterly inspired to get into as I see the big potential right now. I have the idea of creating mini q and a sessions from readers and posting as a vid each week free to my blog from my newsletter:-)...also creating mini video clinic technique vids as a series as a product or mini e-vid course. There's much I could do...There are plenty videos on YouTube for my sport but little for the training side.

              Monika - Ebooks - yes, I already wrote one to test and got a 5% conversion rate from my list. Wasn't a lot of sales and I think I initially believed I'd failed miserably, but I think I've only touched the tip of the iceberg. My lesson here was how important the list was - the conversions came from the list, so the bigger the list....etc...the list is the heart and soul of my business plan as that's where the money really is made - and my strength (so I believe from feedback) is in the relationship building...yes, I plan to add a few more opt in forms in my blog. Next time I see that Kindle is the place to put any ebook or report (free or to sell) - I see the Amazon connection for SEO... thanks.

              Joeluka - yes to videos - see above! And your idea on a simple cooking vid was fab. I will definitely try that and see how it sits - as my audience DO have an appetite :-).

              There's webinars too - something no-one in my niche are doing at all...or interviewing people as podacst - correction, I think there is one...yet there are MILLIONS of people doing my sport...!

              So, as you can see I have the strategy laid out, my plan and my goals are written in a 15 page A4 :-).... yet, I have almost fallen at this last question...Will the audience REALLY buy digital products?

              I guess the only way to find out is to keep going and action my plan. At the very least I'll learn tonnes and take this template and apply it to another market if all fails. Thing is I love my topic, love making a difference in peoples' lives AND love the internet - with all its ups and downs.

              Many thanks again guys - and I'll keep you posted as to how I get on.

              All the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author dsouravs
    Why not sell training videos?
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    • Profile picture of the author Monika Morley
      Hi

      It seems you are very knowledgeable in your niche and people appreciate your advice. Might be an idea to publish an e-book on Amzon. Another way could be to offer a free guide on your blog, but do it with an optin form, to build your list this way. If you have a lot of people commenting on your blog, you're welcome to contact me, I have a plugin that can help with listbuilding. Of course I am offering you this for free. Would be glad to help.

      Monika
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  • Profile picture of the author winsenken
    Hi, I have seen some people are actually making a good amount of money by selling the membership based site. Maybe the keyword you target is not a buyer keyword.
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  • Profile picture of the author revstan
    If no-one else is making video's on your subject but there are books/wso's/ebook's on it, that is a good thing.

    That means people ARE interested. Because most people are lazy, they prefer video's over books, the people that are buying the ebook's now will probably prefer your video if they had the chance. Making video's could also increase the market in wich your niche is situated as the people can enter the market more easily thanks to your video's, it gets more attractive.

    Simple Stan
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  • Profile picture of the author jacksonlin
    If it sells well on Amazon and there are a lot of books with a lot of reviews, then you've found a goldmine!
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