What it REALLY Said in My Newsletter Today
Sheesh! My autoresponder woes never cease. Today, I sent out a newsletter that was cut off part way through the email...so I had tons of people emailing me that I left out the "punchline". No kidding! Talk about leaving you hanging. I'm sorry.
Anway, I'll post it here for those who are craving the whole story. And sure -- give me your autoresponder recommendations, but I'll look at them all with skepticism. :( At this point, I have an autoresponder installed on my server, have a monthly fee shopping cart/autoresponder service PLUS a monthly fee newsletter management service -- and none of them make me happy. Thus, I am working between the 3 trying to figure out what the heck I should do.
But I digress. Here's today's newsletter:
============================
....Today I thought would be a good day to get back to answering questions from my subscribers. I love it when my subscribers submit questions because then I don’t have to decide what to talk about. Hee hee! If you want to submit a question, you can anytime at:
http://www.aliceseba.com/ask-alice.html
Of course, I get a lot of submissions and I try to get to as many as I possibly can…so do be patient with me.
Today’s Topic – One of the Biggest Mistakes Online Entrepreneurs Make :(
===========================================
I’ve actually been receiving a few questions on this topic. The fact is, A LOT of people have serious trouble with this. We’re told that we can come online and turn our passion into an Internet business. In some cases, that’s true…but that certainly doesn’t mean that every passion or hobby will become a profitable business. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.
You need a target market first. If you’re the only one who shares your passion…you might be in big trouble. If your passion doesn’t require you to spend money…you might be in bigger trouble.
Here’s a couple of the questions I’ve received:
“Hi Alice, I'm at a crossroads because I have so many interests that I'm trying to explore and develop and I would love to turn one of them (or maybe a combination of them) into a homebased business. So my question is, how do I find what online business would be right for me when I have such a broad range of interests?”
“…I know I can do it but WHAT to do and what idea to come up with is what is killing me, just cant find the right niche...any suggestions?”
I also get questions like this:
“How do I get people who are interested in what I am offering to my website?”
“I'm not quite sure where to advertise to reach my target audience. I have a database of close to 1,000 customers that have used me at one time or another during the past 9 years, but some have changed addresses and are unreachable…So far, I'm getting many congratulory phone calls but very little sales.”
Well, let’s back up a second and I’m going to give you the best advice I ever got on target market research. That advice came directly from Frank Kern (whom I’m going to talk a bit more about in a few minutes). He says that you need to do the following:
> Forget about products to start with. Don’t start by trying to decide what products you are going to sell online because products don’t buy from you --- people do. So, you need to focus on a target market of people first.
> Look at magazines to see what kind of target markets are out there. I mean there’s magazines for horse lovers, motorcycle enthusiasts and so on. Frank says that if there’s a magazine for these people, there must be a market because there enough advertisers who are willing to pay to advertise in the magazine. People don’t pay big bucks to advertise in a magazine if they aren’t going to make sales.
> Make sure that this target market is passionate about this topic (yes, passion does come into play!) and very importantly, that they pay good money to pursue their passions.
> Then, you can go online and check out where these people hang out – on message boards, email groups, etc. See what they are talking about. What problems do they have? What problem could you solve?
..and so forth. So, please don’t jump in without doing your research first and be aware, that sometimes our passions won’t become businesses – but that can be a good thing. They can still stay your hobbies and the things that keep you sane and away from working on your business. :)
I have some more good news. When I told you that the best advice I ever got about market research was from Frank Kern…it was very true. Of course, I can only give you part of what he told me, because that wisdom belongs to him. There is no sense in me regurgitating it for you.
You may also remember that last week, I told you Frank was holding a teleseminar today and “coming clean” about what happened with the FTC and how he’s rebuilt his business stronger than ever.
Even if you aren’t interested in listening to the call, I have to insist that you go and sign up for the list because a little Kern-birdie told me that if you’re signed up for that…a couple days later, you’ll receive access to his “Info Millionaire” course for free.
This course is step-by-step information (including detailed video presentations) on finding your target market and then goes into showing you how to develop information products to sell to that market. Even if you don’t want to do info products, get it to watch the information on finding your target market. It is absolutely brilliant.
So, go here to enter your name and email address. The course info will arrive via email a couple days later *Alice's note -- teleseminar has passed since I posted this -- but go sign up anyway!*
http://underachieverseo.com/frankcomesclean
The old adage is true – “Look before you leap.” Even though the startup costs of starting an online business are minimal, your time invested is priceless. Make sure you have the right market first and you’re off to a great start.
http://underachieverseo.com/frankcomesclean
Let's chat soon,
Alice Seba
http://www.AliceSeba.com
P.S. If you're interested in attending a chat on the "Power of Press Releases" this Thursday, register here:
http://www.contactlistbuilder.com/seminar_registration.asp?ref=INCREDIBLE
Anway, I'll post it here for those who are craving the whole story. And sure -- give me your autoresponder recommendations, but I'll look at them all with skepticism. :( At this point, I have an autoresponder installed on my server, have a monthly fee shopping cart/autoresponder service PLUS a monthly fee newsletter management service -- and none of them make me happy. Thus, I am working between the 3 trying to figure out what the heck I should do.
But I digress. Here's today's newsletter:
============================
....Today I thought would be a good day to get back to answering questions from my subscribers. I love it when my subscribers submit questions because then I don’t have to decide what to talk about. Hee hee! If you want to submit a question, you can anytime at:
http://www.aliceseba.com/ask-alice.html
Of course, I get a lot of submissions and I try to get to as many as I possibly can…so do be patient with me.
Today’s Topic – One of the Biggest Mistakes Online Entrepreneurs Make :(
===========================================
I’ve actually been receiving a few questions on this topic. The fact is, A LOT of people have serious trouble with this. We’re told that we can come online and turn our passion into an Internet business. In some cases, that’s true…but that certainly doesn’t mean that every passion or hobby will become a profitable business. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true.
You need a target market first. If you’re the only one who shares your passion…you might be in big trouble. If your passion doesn’t require you to spend money…you might be in bigger trouble.
Here’s a couple of the questions I’ve received:
“Hi Alice, I'm at a crossroads because I have so many interests that I'm trying to explore and develop and I would love to turn one of them (or maybe a combination of them) into a homebased business. So my question is, how do I find what online business would be right for me when I have such a broad range of interests?”
“…I know I can do it but WHAT to do and what idea to come up with is what is killing me, just cant find the right niche...any suggestions?”
I also get questions like this:
“How do I get people who are interested in what I am offering to my website?”
“I'm not quite sure where to advertise to reach my target audience. I have a database of close to 1,000 customers that have used me at one time or another during the past 9 years, but some have changed addresses and are unreachable…So far, I'm getting many congratulory phone calls but very little sales.”
Well, let’s back up a second and I’m going to give you the best advice I ever got on target market research. That advice came directly from Frank Kern (whom I’m going to talk a bit more about in a few minutes). He says that you need to do the following:
> Forget about products to start with. Don’t start by trying to decide what products you are going to sell online because products don’t buy from you --- people do. So, you need to focus on a target market of people first.
> Look at magazines to see what kind of target markets are out there. I mean there’s magazines for horse lovers, motorcycle enthusiasts and so on. Frank says that if there’s a magazine for these people, there must be a market because there enough advertisers who are willing to pay to advertise in the magazine. People don’t pay big bucks to advertise in a magazine if they aren’t going to make sales.
> Make sure that this target market is passionate about this topic (yes, passion does come into play!) and very importantly, that they pay good money to pursue their passions.
> Then, you can go online and check out where these people hang out – on message boards, email groups, etc. See what they are talking about. What problems do they have? What problem could you solve?
..and so forth. So, please don’t jump in without doing your research first and be aware, that sometimes our passions won’t become businesses – but that can be a good thing. They can still stay your hobbies and the things that keep you sane and away from working on your business. :)
I have some more good news. When I told you that the best advice I ever got about market research was from Frank Kern…it was very true. Of course, I can only give you part of what he told me, because that wisdom belongs to him. There is no sense in me regurgitating it for you.
You may also remember that last week, I told you Frank was holding a teleseminar today and “coming clean” about what happened with the FTC and how he’s rebuilt his business stronger than ever.
Even if you aren’t interested in listening to the call, I have to insist that you go and sign up for the list because a little Kern-birdie told me that if you’re signed up for that…a couple days later, you’ll receive access to his “Info Millionaire” course for free.
This course is step-by-step information (including detailed video presentations) on finding your target market and then goes into showing you how to develop information products to sell to that market. Even if you don’t want to do info products, get it to watch the information on finding your target market. It is absolutely brilliant.
So, go here to enter your name and email address. The course info will arrive via email a couple days later *Alice's note -- teleseminar has passed since I posted this -- but go sign up anyway!*
http://underachieverseo.com/frankcomesclean
The old adage is true – “Look before you leap.” Even though the startup costs of starting an online business are minimal, your time invested is priceless. Make sure you have the right market first and you’re off to a great start.
http://underachieverseo.com/frankcomesclean
Let's chat soon,
Alice Seba
http://www.AliceSeba.com
P.S. If you're interested in attending a chat on the "Power of Press Releases" this Thursday, register here:
http://www.contactlistbuilder.com/seminar_registration.asp?ref=INCREDIBLE
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