How to compete in a super competitive niche starting from zero?

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I don't even want to say the niche here... Basically a tourist product specific to my geographic location that is world famous and always in demand.

Excellent commission (my first one earned me $132.08) and I understand the business as I sold it in real life for years.

problem is the cpc is $2.50-$9.00+

The top pr sites have been around for 20 years almost about as old as the first www sites.

Any ideas how to get traffic?
I don't understand Facebook marketing enough to see if my links are converting

My last campaign went
Facebook - my site - affiliate link
The cpc was 2.50 and I've no clue if the sale even came from a fb ad.

All my site is is a WordPress landing page with a good layout and affiliate links that do not look like it (they are nice graphics to click for Info)

I have used Craigslist local ads... And am really stretching here.
#main internet marketing discussion forum #compete #competitive #niche #starting #super
  • You may want to check out fellow Warrior Jerry Banfield YouTube channel
    for some great tutorials on Facebook Advertising.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtJ...jC3HuboTIkn7ew

    -Ray Edwards
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • Also Amy potterfield. She is good at FB marketing
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Ty for both of you appreciate that.
  • I specialize in super competitive markets the bigger the better, and the answer to your problem is Joint ventures and strategic alliances.

    Also you shouldn't worry about high Cost per clicks. Build a funnel where you can pay any amount per click that you want. So your gonna need a high ticket offering most likely something in the $2k to 10K range
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    • Okay well the nature of tourism means that they aren't really in my newbie experience "sales funnel" type deals.


      When someone wants to say, book a trip to take a helicopter or glass boat or scuba over the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, you get them when they are shopping and sell them in the moment.


      My limited knowledge of a funnel had them being on a list... But I understand the concept of a funnel too, so right now it's dead simple.


      Ad creates a lead
      Lead clicks on the ad
      Lead ends up on m site which has nothing more than a super clean landing page where they select what they want a tour via option a, option b or option c...


      From there they click and to right to the sales page of the actual tour operator, and they are cookied and if a sale of anything happens (I think I have a 30 day cookie even) it's commission to me.


      --


      As for cpc I am not afraid and yes we cost money to make it. Hey if I had the funds would I be asking of new ways to get cheaper traffic?


      Obviously Someome somewhere is paying the price or else google would charge a dollar.


      That's why I posted...
      Joint ventures and strategic alliances.
      What an awesome set of great sounding marketing terms. Maybe if I had the capital to offer a joint venture, or if it was not such a competitive niche.


      As it stands, everyone who could "partner" with me is already selling what I have for the same rate of commission or better.


      Still good ideas though
      • [1] reply

  • Steven,

    Truth be told, I can't see that you're doing much of anything at all to stand out, get noticed, nurture your prospects and follow-up. You're expecting prospects to "open the door" at your site and immediately drop a few thousand at your suggested affiliate site.

    What have you done that other marketers aren't doing? How are you rising above the competition?

    Put yourself in the shoes of your perfect customer. Then ask yourself: "Why should I take this offer?" "What's in it for me?"

    You're focusing on the venues of your advertising (which can be important, no doubt). More important, however, IMO, is the message you're sending (or lack thereof). What is compelling about a landing page? (Don't say affiliates are not supposed to "sell" because that's the job of the site I'm referring my traffic to)

    Just a few things to think about.

    Steve
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • If you want to observe super competitive markets in the tourist industry, get yourself to Honolulu and hang around the cruise port when the cruise ships come in. You'll find a gaggle of vendors hawking excursions to people waiting to board the ship. There's not much to differentiate one from another, as the common tours are well known. Most of the sellers devolve to hawking price.

      Yet, for popular tours, the cruise lines sell out fast at sometimes much higher prices. How? They don't talk price, they talk security. You see, if you book one of those discount tours and something goes wrong and you miss your boat, you're S.O.L. If you book one of the tours aligned with the cruise line and something goes wrong, they hold off sailing until you get back aboard.

      This happened on out last trip (not to us, though). One of the excursions that amounted to a jeep tour of the jungle had a vehicle blow a radiator hose and it took a few hours to get another vehicle out to the tour, pick up the people, and get them back to the boat. The boat sailed two hours late, but those people were aboard.

      If you want to compete, you have to find your own unique advantage. Preferably, it will be something only your vendor can offer. Do that, and you can compete. Play "me, too" and compete for the same customers with the same approach, and things could get a little hairy for you.
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    • i would totally AGREE WITH YOU.
      to be honest, i decided a month ago that if i wanted to future proof myself and the very volatile direct sales job i have, i needed to get out of that gig and build a real marketing business so here i am learning lists and facebook ads and i see that i made money from a website i build six months ago.

      that has motivated me to make this "money making machine" better, but i have not tried at all to stand out so far, just make a good looking site and advertise a few places.

      i need the unique selling position, that is certain.
  • Where is competition, there is money! Don't scare of the high CPC. If you build and manage your campaigns well, Adwords will reward you and you will be paying much less per click. In order to achieve this, make sure you have a high CTR in the beginning!

    Svetlin
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    • ty. what is your opinion of bingads vs adwords for starting out.
      The math goes that if 70% search traffic is google and 30% is bing but bing is 3x less money you get 3x the clicks for less money...

      i am learning that now using some cheap (like 12-20 cents per click) campaigns to a list and some clickbank to try and name seed money for bigger things.
  • Who travels to the destination? Where are they from? What age are they? What do they read? Who do they talk to?

    If you can answer those questions, then quit looking at competing on the global/national level and start figuring out how you can put your message in front of their faces in their local communities.

    Is it a travel destination seniors love? Can you create a video presentation that is a combination of fun and informational that you could get into the hands of activity directors in retirement communities?

    Is it a popular honeymoon destination? Try contacting bridal shops in communities and offering them a "finder fee" for buyers.

    Define your market and then break out of the traditional marketing box.
    • [1] reply
    • 1. Anyone from not my location. International as well as americans. Over 21 if they are from austrailia, uk and over say 35+ if from canada or the usa would be the demo for these tours/trips
      2. Anywhere. the only market i have never sold in person was.. well no one, i sold everyone but china and japan tend to book EVERYTHING with real life people before they get here.
      3. See point 1.
      4. A lot of them read paper guides for tourism while here. The company i am referring to is internationally the #1 company for reserving these internationally, with toll free lines from the big countries (as in a person the UK can call stateside TOLL FREE to book them even)
      5. I would assume they do a lot of referrals

      Great concept. i am in a market where very hotel in the area has the same product, not much there. I just thought of one community i may be close to, so thanks!

      No, generally it is a thing that is done in the demographics above.
      I need to start a new youtube channel and upload all over to other services and invest in some great research too for video i am thinking.

      Good idea. i have a friend that maybe can show me how to send a referral to me to see if they convert, but easier than that i can just have the people CALL ME and do it in person too. over the phone.

      many thanks!
  • Quite simply, you have to get prospects on to your AR list before you send them to the affiliate offer. You are throwing money away on ads if you are not opting people in and tracking your funnel from start to finish.

    Look at this thread to see http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...step-step.html.

    Learn how to convert prospects before you start sending traffic.
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  • I would let my competition do my homework for me.

    Reverse engineer your competition's backlinks using a backlink checker tool

    Do this with at least 5 top competitors

    Next, recreate their backlink footprint using the 'SkyScraper Method' see #17 skyscraper technique @ Backlinks: 17 Powerful (Yet Untapped) Sources (NOT MY SITE)
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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  • Properly define your market. Competition in that niche is a good thing
  • Same situation here. I run a Tax Resolution firm and the competition has always been, and still is very stiff. But we managed to turn it around - make sure you are only hiring professionals.
  • Try to go local. You should avoid trying to globalize your campaign in high competitive niche.
  • Have you tried to get traffic through the content network on Adwords?

    What about Bing/Yahoo? What about banners on high traffic sites that are related?

    This is huge problem. How do you expect to be profitable if you have "no clue" where your sales are coming from?

    When it comes to paid traffic, you need to be able to track where your conversions are coming from so you can scale up or eliminate sources/campaigns/ads.

    Otherwise you are just flying blind and based on what the traffic costs in this space, you will lose your shirt.
  • Simple DONT. Go for the low hanging fruit. Its just as sweet and easier to grab.
  • Setup a facebook page for your site or niche.
    Then join twitterfeed(dot)com and use the feed from your site to post to fb page for free.
    The other thing is go to google.com/alert
    Search for the niche keyword and use the feed from that on twitterfeed and it will post to facebook for free and is from google.
    Good luck
  • I would start a blog and give some useful tips about your niche. You could even start a list by giving away some resale right product that deals with your niche. Naturally, from this you can than start a Facebook page and Twitter. My two sense.
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