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Having Trouble Making Money? You Might Have A Nasty Case of
Do you spend the majority of your time trying to convince your prospects
that they absolutely must buy your product? Are you experiencing low
conversion rates and high negative-response rates? Are you starting to
feel like internet marketing success really is just a myth? Do you think
everyone is lying to you?
These are all symptoms of MCN, marketing in a crowded niche. If you're
dealing with them on a regular basis, chances are there are just plain
too many people selling a similiar product to your same targeted customer
base.
But don't worry--this isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, realizing
this information may be the best thing that ever happens to your business.
But now that you do know you are marketing in an overcrowded niche, you
must choose a specific path for your business if you want to acheive
profit.
You must decide if you want to a) prepare for a long fight to the top (of
your niche); b) market your same product to a different group of buyers;
or c) abandon your product, find a profitable niche, and then build a new
business around it.
Of course, there are pros and cons to each decision, but as long as you
recognize the need to make a decision--and then create a clear, honest
business plan to make money with that choice--you wont run into trouble.
Let's start with option A:
PREPARE FOR A LONG FIGHT TO THE TOP
If your niche is so crowded that you haven't broken into profit after
several of months of marketing, this does not mean that your niche is
unprofitable--it means the exact opposite: your niche is so unbelievably
in-demand and profitable that everyone is trying to build around it.
You may not be making money with this route now, but if you stick with it
and continually make progress, then you are almost guaranteed to make an
enormous amount of money when your business reaches critical mass--when
your website has a lot of backlinks from high-traffic sites; when your
webpage is ranked highly in search engines for your specific niche
keywords; when other marketers in your niche begin to seek you out for
interviews and for joint ventures; and when you begin making your own
products to fill the gaps in your niche. . .
'Preparing for a long fight to the top' also means not relying on your
main business as a cashcow--as your source of income--for the time being.
This is always a huge mistake.
Maybe you can write google adwords for affiliate programs to make extra
cash while you wait for your business to take off; OR maybe you can
budget your main business to save money; OR maybe you can pick up a
part-time or full-time job to ensure you have enough money in the bank to
live off of while you build your business.
There are a number of viable options, but whatever you choose, you must
remember that your business absolutely will not earn you a full-time
income until you become a big-player in your niche. You must recognize
this and structure your business plan around it; otherwise, you are
setting yourself up for failure.
If this is not a good option for you, then you must consider option B:
MARKET YOUR PRODUCT TO A DIFFERENT GROUP OF BUYERS
When you think of your website, you may only be able to think of a couple
words to describe it--the keywords you have been telling yourself you
must use to make money, to get rankings, to make sales.
If these keywords are not working for you--if you either have a low
conversion rate or poor rankings on search engines--then you must
consider marketing to a different group of buyers. You can sell the same
product to an entirely different group and radically change your
conversion rate and profit margin.
You can begin by finding new keywords to better target potential
customers. Pay-per-click search engine advertising is one of the best
ways to do this. You can use overture's and google's tools to create a
bigger, more specific set of keywords and then find out which keywords
reach a respectable market and which ones draw a high conversion rate.
Mix and match until you have the best possible set.
Use ad tracking as much as possible to scientifically determine which ads
are doing the best. Once you have the best set, optimize your website for
those keywords. Figure out what people are thinking when they type in
those exact words--what solution they are looking for and for what
problem--and then find those people elsewhere and market to them in
different ways.
And if this option wont work for you, then you must resort to something
entirely different--option c:
ABANDON YOUR PRODUCT AND FIND A PROFITABLE NICHE
Sometimes you just run out of options and have to switch products. I
personally would never suggest taking this route unless it comes down to
either a) quitting marketing altogether or b) giving up on your current
situation.
If it comes down to this, just switch your products and find another one
that you wont have to fight so hard to sell.
This time, when you select your product, make sure you lazer-target a
niche that will undoubtably be more profitable and easier to break into.
Again, you can use PPCs and adwords to find which niches are overcrowded
and which niches desparately need sellers.
You want to pick a specific product to market to a specific crowd with
specific keywords that will provide a specific solution for a specific
problem.
Be specific.
When you find this specific niche, build your business around it. Profit
will flow in naturally.
Copyright 2004 Isaiah Hull
Isaiah Hull is a business tips writer, a widely-published author, the
publisher of two ebusiness training courses, the CEO of two web-based
busineses, and the PTL of multiple affiliate programs. Hull teaches
others to make an income with step-by-step profit systems. Some can be
found at his site: workathomerightnow.net.
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