Internet Business Marketing

In offline business you’ve no doubt heard the phrase “location, location, location” as it relates to its importance. Well, that’s because it’s true. If your “brick and mortar” business relies on a constant flow of fresh traffic than you need to be were the traffic already is right?

Translated to an online market you can pretty much say the same thing about keywords which of course is the phrase people search to hopefully find your web site. Since your web site does rely on traffic it needs to be where the traffic already is which online is almost always dictated by keywords.

One of the first mistakes many make is to think they already know what to offer the world, how to offer it and what keywords people are searching to find it without doing any research. You might as well hand a shotgun loaded with buckshot to a blind man at the county fair and tell him to shoot the duck with the red dot.

Keyword research is VITAL to your online business because done correctly it means always being where the traffic already is. It is also probably the most difficult step. You probably know of online tools to find keyword data already but when looking at a list of hundreds of keyword phrases which ones are really worth the time and effort to pursue? The answer can be found in learning how to cluster them.

Whenever someone enters a keyword phrase into any search box they do so with some intention right? They are looking for something… ultimately trying to solve a problem. They are looking for a solution. Sometimes the solution is a new pair of shoes but what they are really searching for is the best place to buy that new pair of shoes.

Learn to group your keywords by this intention (a.k.a. cluster) and the path to your profitable business becomes much more clear. Be careful not to confuse intention with topic because there is a considerable difference in this context. For example…

The following keyword phrases all have different intentions but would be considered of the same topic… not a cluster:

• The best organic dog food stores
• How to grow organic dog food
• How is organic dog food better for your dog

… and here are keyword phrases that share the same intention… a cluster:

• How to build a dog house
• Tips building a dog house
• Dog house construction plans

Do you understand the difference? Everyone searching any of the terms in the cluster all have the same intention in mind which of course is to build a dog house. In the first group, although all the phrases are closely related to organic dog food the searchers do not share the same intention.

Why is this important? Because with phrases organized by intention you can quickly determine the number of people that are searching for what type of information. This is so you have no doubt as to what specific problems active internet users are trying to solve and what the demand is for solutions to these problems. Answer these questions and you have successfully identified a profitable business opportunity.

This process is simple but not always easy. Identifying a profitable niche especially within a specific topic can sometimes take weeks or even months of around the clock research. But if you respect the importance of this step and understand the value of the information you obtain here you’ve just learned how to turn a blind man at a county fair with a shotgun full of buckshot into an Olympic sharp shooter without spending a dime.

Almost everyone I talk with has an idea of a new product or service they want to offer online which is why they came to me in the first place. Some times they already have a business, or some kind of experience related to this product. Other times they just have an interest or a “gut feeling” that makes them believe it’s a worthwhile project.

When this happens the first thing I advise is to forget about the product you think is so hot, or that great idea for a web site you think you have and concentrate on why you thought of it in the first place…. to make some money right?

Now this doesn’t mean your idea is a bad one by no means. It just means you have to come to terms with the fact that you really have no idea at this point if it is or it isn’t. Also, even if your product or service is needed you don’t really know how you can reach the people who need it and can afford it.

In other words, if you start with a product idea without any idea if there is a need for it or how to get it in front of those who need it then you are most likely facing a long and rocky up hill path. However, if you first find a hungry market with a problem needed solving that is relatively easy to reach you have already won the largest battle before it was ever fought.

This is not easy to do especially when you feel that your hot idea is why you are reading this article in the first place. Again, I am not saying your idea is not a good one. I am only saying you will be doing yourself an incredible favor by identifying a market (group of people who will buy your product) you can afford to reach first. This is what defines rather you are on a path to success or failure regardless of how good your product actually is. If you can’t get it the people who want it, nothing else matters.

So, how do we do this? We first have to identify a niche market in which we will be targeting. It is extremely expensive and actually impossible to market to everyone and there is no such product or service that everyone needs or even wants to buy… at least not from you. So, you must first identify your niche, define what it is that niche is looking for and figure out how to provide it to them.

Here’s a true example…

The late Corey Rudl, an undisputed pioneer of marketing online, after buying his first Ferrari he learned of a common problem among Ferrari owners of Ferrari emblem plates being stolen off of these sports cars all over the world.

Instead of “going with his gut” and quickly creating a website offering these emblems for a price he thought to be fair and marketing it to the world he decided to send a simple survey to Ferrari owners asking if he supplied them with replacements at a specified price would they purchase them? It was only when he analyzed his responses did he decide to source the product and put up the web site to solve their problem.

His website, which was nothing at all to look at, quickly brought in well into the six figures in sales in a very short time making it one of the most successful ecommerce sites of its day. Why? Because he knew he would be successful before he spent any amount of time or money and knew exactly how to reach his market long before he made his first sale.

In my next post I will discuss what exactly a niche market actually is and how you can go about finding yours.