Which of these should I start?

18 replies
Hey,

I've just spent the last 2-3 weeks selling a dating product on clickbank.

I made my first ever sale, but I feel like the content I'm writing everyday isn't really any good because it's not from personal experience.

I feel like I can't offer the readers full value and I think it's effecting my conversion rate.

It was a great experience to learn the process of getting that one sale though.

So now I'm thinking it's essential I become an expert in a niche, or only write on things I have personal experience with.

So I have 2 options:

1.Study a niche/subject in which it will be profitable to become an expert in.

2.Start a webpage on how to make your first sale.

That is the only thing I could honestly say I have first hand experience in, I know the process and I've done it.

The reason I ask is the two things I've ever tried I've become unstuck due to content.

1.I wrote about 20k words on a Bodybuilding E-mail list but didn't have enough knowledge to continue.

2.This dating product I've promoted, again come unstuck with knowledge because it isn't first hand.


At least with writing about making that one sale I can be honest and sincere and tell them exactly what to do.



Joe
#start
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by BenArfa View Post

    So I have 2 options:

    1.Study a niche/subject in which it will be profitable to become an expert in.

    2.Start a webpage on how to make your first sale.

    That is the only thing I could honestly say I have first hand experience in, I know the process and I've done it.
    I think you should go with the first option.

    I'm not trying to be rude to you, but I think the second one's bizarre. (I even checked the date on your post, to make sure it wasn't 1st April.) Having made one sale isn't nearly enough successful experience to advise other people how to make their first sale. What happened to work for you on one occasion might not work for them in the same way. Don't you think that when you've made 10,000 sales you'll be a little better placed to be advising people?

    And then there's also the fact that getting involved in IM-related and/or MMO-related niches is the single commonest mistake that beginning internet marketers make, and the single commonest reason for their failures. It's because so many people get drawn into doing that, that the overall success-rate is so very low. Internet marketing is difficult enough as it is: there's really no need to stack the deck against yourself to so great an extent.

    Originally Posted by BenArfa View Post

    At least with writing about making that one sale I can be honest and sincere and tell them exactly what to do.
    It's perhaps because so many people think so that the general standard of "information" in "IM-advice products" is what it is. :rolleyes:
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    • Profile picture of the author kilgore
      I agree with Alexa. Why take on a project that you have little expertise in?

      Being new here, I'm constantly amazed by the number of people who seem to think the best way to create an online business is to target other people creating online businesses even though they really know nothing about it.

      There are 7 billion people in the world. Very, very, very few of them will, want to, or do run an online business. But lots of people like sports. Or cooking. Or music. Or books. Or hiking. Or travel. Or cars. Or... You get the idea. Why not create your business around something you know and love? You'll be better at it and more importantly, you'll probably work harder at it too!
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      • Profile picture of the author BenArfa
        Thanks for the advice.

        Well, I could probably try sell a an E-Book on playing Fifa 14 (A football game).

        However, how many people would buy it?

        I was thinking it was best to in either the dating, health and fitness and money making niches.

        Joe
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          Originally Posted by BenArfa View Post

          I was thinking it was best to in either the dating, health and fitness and money making niches.
          Joe, don't imagine that the niches/markets with the most money in them are going to be the ones in which you can most easily make some money. The exact opposite is a far more likely outcome, and there are reasons for that (and they're pretty good and pretty reliable reasons, too!).

          Key concept: contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, it isn't about "the size of the pie" - it's about "the size of your slice of the pie". That's what pays my mortgage and bills, every month. The only relevance to me of "the size of the pie itself" is that the bigger it is, the harder it's going to be for me to cut out any slice at all, let alone the big, rich, nourishing slice I want.

          Niche selection, ultimately, is about whether you want to sell metaphorical "jeans" (huge demand, but everyone else sells them too) or metaphorical "skating videos" (small but enthusiastic market and very, very few other suppliers). Most people try to sell jeans "because that's a huge market with plenty of money in it". :p

          In other words, they're making their decisions according to the size of the pie - and perhaps that's why so few of them ever really succeed. :rolleyes:

          It's explained in more detail here: Niche Selection Roadblock

          And here: Weight Loss Market: Still Profitable ?

          And here: Most Lucrative niche in Internet Marketing?

          And here: Guess who is going to have the most profitable business?

          .
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          • Profile picture of the author johnweyer
            Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

            it isn't about "the size of the pie" - it's about "the size of your slice of the pie".
            .
            Such an important concept. Obvious in hindsight. Be a big fish in a small pond.

            Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

            It's explained in more detail here: Niche Selection Roadblock
            .
            I love cauliflower soup.

            Nice to see you, Alexa.
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  • Profile picture of the author NK
    Originally Posted by BenArfa View Post

    So I have 2 options:
    1.Study a niche/subject in which it will be profitable to become an expert in.

    2.Start a webpage on how to make your first sale.
    You actually have more than two option, like continue working on what you already have, dabble in a niche you're passionate about, or find a niche that is both profitable and interesting to you... the list goes on.

    There are always options, the key is knowing which option you want to take.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    I've just spent the last 2-3 weeks selling a dating product on clickbank.

    I made my first ever sale,
    So why not keep going with that? Do you know how many people never sell one thing?

    I feel like I can't offer the readers full value and I think it's effecting my conversion rate.
    Outsource, do some research, figure it out.

    I don't think you should give up so easily. I made most of my money online in a niche I knew nothing about when I started.
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    • Profile picture of the author BenArfa
      Originally Posted by Brent Stangel View Post

      So why not keep going with that? Do you know how many people never sell one thing?



      Outsource, do some research, figure it out.

      I don't think you should give up so easily. I made most of my money online in a niche I knew nothing about when I started.
      Hey,

      I'm never going to give up, one sale alone will keep my motivated forever!

      This isn't about giving up.

      I was thinking about outsourcing.

      The problem with outsourcing is I'm currently making content everyday to drive traffic to my website.

      Maybe I should look at other ways to drive content and outsource for my E-mail list.
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      • Profile picture of the author The Great Gordino
        Personally, I don't think writing about your first sale is a bad idea at all!

        You have the personal experience you talk about, and there are plenty of newbies who have never made a single sale and/or think it's all a scam.

        You could even do a WSO around it, I agree you should be in a niche you are interested in, so why not!
        cheers,
        Gordon
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  • Profile picture of the author DesV
    I agree with many of the points made here.

    Certainly, the niches I've made the most money from over
    the years, have also been ones that I've also had a good
    level of interest in (but not necessarily passionate about),
    along with a clear path to commercial success and making
    a good income.

    And it's certainly good advice to NOT get too narrowly
    focused in IM and related niches. Many of the IM gurus
    somehow forget that many of us (others) made a great
    living BEFORE the internet came along!
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  • Profile picture of the author Anne Laidlaw
    Find a niche you are pasionate about. With hard work doing research the rest will come.

    Anne L
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  • Profile picture of the author ninjawarrior
    So why don't you just hold course with what you're doing and stick it out till you reach that next significant milestone. Like 10,000 sales as Alexa said? By then, you'd have gathered so much experience with what you're doing you've then become an authority on your thing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Trey Morgan
    What is stopping you from going out and getting some dating experience?

    Even if you go out and fail you can write about what doesn't work and even test some of the theories and ideas that other experts have came up with it and write about your personal experiences.
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  • Profile picture of the author Luke Dennison
    Hey, just because you only got one sale don't be disheartened. One sale proves that it works, so just carry on what your doing. You dont even have to scale up. Just carry on. Articles are like LIVING traffic source. It will probably never stop getting traffic.

    Heres what I like to do to get motivation for writing articles on sites.

    After 50 or so articles, find out the average ammount of traffic you are getting per day, and then divide it by how many articles you have. so if your getting 100 hits per day from 50 articles, you know that each knew article is getting you on average 2 hits PER DAY. Thats 14 new visitors a week from writing that one article!

    hope you feel more motivated to carry on. (BTW, i make over $3000 a week now with clickbank, and im 21)
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  • Profile picture of the author Marco Moeschter
    A first sale is always a beginning and it feels good doesn't it? I would get more experience in the niches you wanna promote that you really can write about it.

    It always comes down to learn,do and than you can teach or in your case write!
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    • Profile picture of the author sunrider
      The idea you had about writing about your first sale is not bad.Thousands of people out there who have tried to make a sale and failed,would love to know how you made your first sale.So you have nothing to lose.
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  • Profile picture of the author BenArfa
    Hey,

    thanks for the replies.

    I've learnt how to make a sale, albeit one.

    My idea was to now learn how to build a list.

    I could literally help people for free. I could show them how to set up their website and the steps to make a sale.

    I came in to this thinking I had to do everything at once.

    Set up a website, get traffic, make a sale bla bla.

    But now I'm starting to thinking learning the skills individually will be priceless, then once I've gained the experience of that I can bring it all together to set up my business.

    It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world to build a list for $0 and not even have the intention of making money short-term.

    It would teach me how to build a list if nothing else.

    Joe
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  • Profile picture of the author osamaye360
    Originally Posted by BenArfa View Post

    Hey,

    I've just spent the last 2-3 weeks selling a dating product on clickbank.

    I made my first ever sale, but I feel like the content I'm writing everyday isn't really any good because it's not from personal experience.

    I feel like I can't offer the readers full value and I think it's effecting my conversion rate.

    It was a great experience to learn the process of getting that one sale though.

    So now I'm thinking it's essential I become an expert in a niche, or only write on things I have personal experience with.

    So I have 2 options:

    1.Study a niche/subject in which it will be profitable to become an expert in.

    2.Start a webpage on how to make your first sale.

    That is the only thing I could honestly say I have first hand experience in, I know the process and I've done it.

    The reason I ask is the two things I've ever tried I've become unstuck due to content.

    1.I wrote about 20k words on a Bodybuilding E-mail list but didn't have enough knowledge to continue.

    2.This dating product I've promoted, again come unstuck with knowledge because it isn't first hand.


    At least with writing about making that one sale I can be honest and sincere and tell them exactly what to do.



    Joe
    Hi Joe,
    i admire your sincerity. i would advice you go with your number 2 on making your first sale while you choose a niche you enjoy and study it. Even if you dont have an experience in something, it doesnt really matter mostly. For example, you might know the challenges people go through from other people's experience and complaints. Then you can just go ahead and start finding out from people what has made their relationships successful. This time you are not using your own experience but the experience of others.

    The bottom thing is providing a solution for your target market.
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