How To Turn Your Passions Into A Successful Internet Business
Do you want to launch an Internet business but have no idea where to begin? It’s easier than you might think!
What else do you need besides just a passion?
Well…
You need to have two more things besides just passion… a computer and a strong desire to make money. But that’s it, so where do you go from here?
Believe it or not, that’s all you’re going to need. Honestly!!
Everyone has some knowledge or expertise that can become the basis of an online business, and you definitely don’t need a million-dollar advertising budget to be successful on the Internet (although a small investment will be necessary, but we’re talking only a few hundred dollars here)!
In fact, you might be surprised to learn that you’re actually better off if you start out with an open mind… not clouded by vague ideas of some great product you think everyone is going to want.
Why is that? Because in the world of Internet marketing, you start by looking for people, NOT products.
Rather than trying to hunt down a hot product to sell online, you’ll be much better off looking for a market with a common problem that people are trying to solve.
THAT’S the essential first step to setting up a profitable online business: Finding a group of people who share a need, then coming up with a product or service idea that will satisfy that need.
Most people are surfing the ’Net for solutions to their problems. So once you identify a group of people with a common problem, you can start to think about what kind of product or service you might offer as a solution to that problem.
Then, all you have to do is put your product or service in front of your potential customers and set yourself up for an incredibly successful business!
Now all this might be a little overwhelming to you but don’t get discouraged at this point. You will have a total understanding of it all with the courses I recommend to you and the articles I post on my blog.
As you already know, in a recent post, I told you to let your passions guide you. If you haven’t read that article or finished the quick exercise yet, click here to read it now (it will definitely help you figure out what you’re truly passionate about), then come back and continue reading this article.
Let your passions lead you
So, how do you find a market with a common problem?
Look for people you have something in common with! People who share a passion or interest with you. You’ll enjoy your business much, much more if it’s based on something you’re passionate about.
If you don’t love what you’re doing, you simply won’t find it as satisfying, and you’ll be less likely to spend time on growing, developing, and continually improving your business.
So whether it’s information you picked up on the job… skills you developed as part of a hobby… knowledge you gained from a previous business… or anything else that’s a big part of your life, you probably have some expertise that could become the foundation of a successful business.
Once you’ve determined what your passion, hobby, interest, idea or expertise is, it’ll be time to explore your topic further. If you’ve done the exercise I gave you, you should have written a list with the four or five topics you’d like to explore further. (If you haven’t done the exercise yet, click here to read it now.) You should then have a few potential subject areas you can use as a jumping-off point for your research.
Look for a problem to solve
The key to making sure your online business is successful is finding a group of people who share a common problem, then coming up with a product or service idea that will solve their problem.
For example, you might find a group of people who want to build their own doghouses, but can’t find any plans to do it with. Or the group could be made up of apartment owners who want to redo their kitchens, but don’t want to spend a lot of money doing it.
These narrowly defined groups of people are referred to as “niche” markets.
I use the phrase “Niche Market” a lot – and you have probably got a decent understanding of what I’m trying to say – but it’s worth going over it again, because until you can successfully define your niche market, you will be stuck spinning your wheels.
The term “niche market” means different things to everyone. Traditional marketers will define it as a large group of potential customers sharing several characteristics (for example; men aged 30 to 35 earning between $50,000 and $75,000). On the other hand the most successful Internet marketers along with me define a niche market as “a group of people who are searching the Internet for a solution to a problem and NOT finding it.”
Please understand that, a niche market is not:
• A demographic group (women over 40, African Americans)
• A geographical segment of the population (residents of New Jersey)
• Or a social group
I don’t define it as a large group of people who share a similar occupation or trait (men with thinning hair, bank managers, small-business owners, people who like to fish).
For example, the following might seem like good niche markets at first:
Golfers; People on a diet; People over 65; Pet owners…
But the truth is that these markets are WAY too big! Try entering the word “golf” into a search engine. You’ll get over 300 million results!
Can you imagine trying to compete in a market like that? I don’t think you’d want to.
Narrowing your focus to a small, niche market gives you the following advantages:
• There’s WAY less competition.
• Small markets are much easier to dominate — so you can become the main source for your product or service online.
• Since niche markets are often tight-knit communities, your reputation can quickly spread by word of mouth — providing you with an ever-growing base of potential customers.
• You can easily gain the loyalty of your customers — which gives you plenty of opportunities to expand your offer with related products and follow-up offers.
Remember, people go online to find information and solutions to their problems.
You need to determine what problem your future customers are trying to solve and what you could offer as a solution.
How do I find a niche market?
By now, you should have a list of a few general topic areas that can get you started on defining your niche market. But how do you narrow these down?
Right at your fingertips you’ve got the best market research tools ever invented ― the search engines!
Think about what you do when you’re looking for information. You go to Google or Yahoo and enter a few words that describe what you’re looking for. Those are called “keywords.” For instance, you enter “fix golf swing,” click Enter, and then the search engine gives you a list of relevant results. Now here’s where the market research comes in…
Every single time someone does a search, the search engine records the keywords they used. And all that data is available to you if you know where to look!
You can find out what people are searching for… and how often… what words they’re using… and the results they’re getting. In other words you can find “groups of people searching the Internet for solutions to their problems.” And with some further research, you can find problems that are “not getting many relevant results.”
Bingo! Niche market.
Final Note
Discovering how to build your Internet business can be a lot of fun – so don’t give up! You will learn a lot about yourself, your interests – as well as the people who surf the web (your target audience).
The work you are going to start with is geared toward crafting the solid business foundation. You will perform research, and make decisions that will affect everything you do from now on.
I wrote this article to convince you of two things:
1. That finding your niche market should be a vital component to your business model in order for you to start a successful and profitable Internet business, and…
2. That you should start by doing the research necessary in order to find a profitable niche market… not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because you’ll MAKE MORE MONEY in your business.
I hope this article has given you a good understanding as to why you must follow your passions and market your business to those who share the same interests as you – but are not finding what they’re looking for.
By now, you should be ready to take the next step, so be on the lookout for my next email as I will show you step-by-step how to do the necessary research to find out who your niche market is.
Until then – please leave your comment below if you’ve got a good insight from reading this article I posted. I would love to hear what you have to say and what you’ve learned. You can also read some of the comments below to see what others have said about this article.
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Murder of Fr Louis Blondel in Diepsloot, Pretoria
The Murder of Fr Louis Blondel in Diepsloot
Monday, 07 December 2009
Father Louis Blondel was shot dead in his presbytery in Diepsloot during the night 6th/7th December 2009. Four people had allegedly broken into Presbytery. Father Louis, 70, was member of the Missionaries of Africa, a french society of Catholic missionaries dedicated to serving the people of Africa.
Three of the intruders were boys who got in through a window, which they had forced open, while an older man waited outside. Father Guido Bourgeois, who lived in the house with Father Louis was the first to wake up. He was robbed of 50 rand and his cellular phone. The intruders then went to Father Louis’ bedroom and shot him when he opened his bedroom door. Father Guido ran into the kitchen and managed to block the door with the fridge. He started screaming to wake the neighbours. Some neighbours came out but were forced back inside as there was more shooting.
After the intruders fled, Father Guido came out and discovered Father Louis Blondel lying dead in his room. The police arrived quickly as did Father Sean O’Leary, the superior of the Missionaries of Africa in South Africa.
Louis Blondel was born in the north of France. He spent the early years of his missionary life in Tanzania. In 1987 he moved to South Africa and began to work in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg. He took up residence in Zondi Parish in Soweto. He also taught Philosophy at St Peter’s Seminary, Hammanskraal. Six years later he took a keen interest in the development of the Orange Farm area. In this he was a true pioneer. He found the first plot, built a community house, a church and a trade school. Over the years he built another eight outstations. Along with the buildings was the establishment of vibrant communities that have expanded over the years. In 2008 ago he moved to Diepsloot in the Archdiocese of Pretoria where had he built a church and community house.
According to Father Sean O’Leary, Father Louis Blondel had big plans for the area. “Alas, these plans were not to be” he said. “Louis returns to his maker as a true pioneering missionary who dedicated all his life to the poorest of the poor. He remains one of our unsung heroes.”
Father Louis Blondel is the fourth Catholic priest to be murdered in South Africa this year.
The funerals will be on Saturday at 11am in Diepsloot.
We ask for your prayers for Father Louis, his family and confreres and the many communities whose life he touched.
Please excuse me if I use the word savage to describe the people who did this to Fr Blondel.
If you recall, during the so called apartheid years, the Catholic church protected savages like these. They stood up for the ANC and any other terrorist organisation and the terrible deeds, like the murdering of innocent women and children for the sake of peace.
Diepsloot is made up of a mixture of Zimbabwean and South African rebels. The Zimbabweans called it Xenophobia when they are killed in a foreign country. What do we call it when they, in turn, murder our priests.
The death penalty is too lenient for savages such as these. however, God help them when they reach the great white thrown and have to answer for this dastardly deed My heart goes out to this unfortunate man and his family.
How do the rest of the world see these murders. The majority of the religious people in South Africa, as throughout the world, are Roman Catholic. How do we propose to provide protection during the 2010 World cup to the innocent and helpless.
Catholic priests are the lowest paid people throughout the world. They receive a stipend of no more than R350-00 per month. They work long hours for no satisfaction. They protect the innocent as well as the guilty. They keep the “Seal of the Confession”. This means even if you commit murder and you confess to a priest, he cannot reveal it to the authorities. He is prepared to be jailed for his beliefs.
How does the ANC answer to this deed. This church protected them by even hiding arms caches for them. They went through trials and tribulations, with the SAPS, for the ANC. AND this is how they get paid back.
I am Roman Catholic. I know the faults of my church. I know the history of my church. I get angry when this happens.
This is the fourth Catholic Priest Murdered this year. Why is the government so silent on these murders. I belong to the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. This is how I find out about such dastardly deeds.
Its a shame our government has to be so devious that they cannot tell us the truth.
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