Day 3: Brainstorm Your Site Concept
Goal-of-the-DAY: Identify the top 3 Site Concepts that you know and love.
Day 3 is important because it is a preparation and planning session to decide how you want to spend your time, if not, just like Benjamin Franklin said:
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
2.1. PREpare, Not Repair
You have just arrived at the most important part of your entire affiliate business. Yes, I know some of you haven’t started yet. And I know you really want to get going! And yes...
Wrapping up the necessary preparation work before you begin “doing business” on the Net will, of course, delay your grand opening. But it’s important that you take your time to prepare well now. Then there’ll be nothing to repair or repeat once you launch. You’ll just roar ahead!
Most people fail in any business because they don’t plan adequately. That’s
three times as true for an Internet business and five times as true for what you are about to do. Here’s why...
If you pick the wrong concept, if you develop the wrong topics, if you pick the
wrong affiliate programs... you’ll get the wrong results.
So many small businesses fail to start at the beginning with Content. Instead, they start at the end with Monetization.
They spend time and energy setting up a shopping cart and a merchant account or some other way of “collecting the money.” That’s putting the (shopping) cart before the e-horse of traffic. As we saw earlier, Monetization comes last. It’s the final result of doing everything else (C -> T -> P) correctly.
The hardest part, where 98% of small businesses fail, is in attracting Traffic, the visitors who convert into income. Yet many start with the cash register!
The solution? The only solution?...
Content -> Traffic -> PREsell -> Monetize
SBI! sites follow the process and succeed…
http://buildit.sitesell.com/sbi-businesses/traffic-alexa.html
This part of The Affiliate Masters Course focuses on what you need to do
first. It guides you past the barriers and hazards and sets you on the road that is right for you…
Your road to success.
You are embarking upon a truly rewarding journey. Have no doubts -- this is
“winnable” e-commerce. It’s totally under your control.
What you are about to read is likely a radical departure from what you have been doing. Take your time and read carefully. Receive the key to becoming an Affiliate Master.
OK, enough “kung-fu grasshopper” stuff.
Back to real-time preparation. You have already started your journey in the right direction by completing the first preparatory step, the foundation for all future actions...
• Understand PREselling and its Effect on Conversion Rates (DAY 1 & 2). There are three more preparatory steps...
• Brainstorm Your Site Concept (DAY 3)
Brainstorm a high-potential idea. Discover the best Site Concepts for you.
Then narrow them down to the one with the most potential. Remember... it takes just as much time to build a low-potential business as a high-potential one. So invest the time now to maximize your returns later.
Coming topics:
- Develop HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics.
- Plan Your Monetization Models.
So, don’t rush through the preparation DAYS. They are easy -- so it’s tempting to zoom. Don’t. Even though they are not difficult, they do require thoughtful consideration.
I hate to be a nag, but please remember what I said before... Building a
profitable business is a process.
Take as much time as necessary to do each DAY properly. There is no stopwatch ticking. Some careful planning and fine-tuning will pay you big
dividends down the road.
2.2. Find Your Passion
Everyone, absolutely everyone, has a special interest... a passion. Everyone
knows something that is of value to others… something that others on the Net seek.
Passion makes work fun and easy…
• What is it that you love to talk about? Read about?
• What is your hobby?
• What do you do for fun and games?
• What are your natural talents?
• What special body of knowledge have you learned from your job?
• What do you do day after day, without even thinking about it (ex., child-rearing, taking care of sick parents, renovation contractor, customs inspector).
Think about what you do in a typical day, and what you’ve learned from it…
• What sections of a bookstore or a magazine shop do you automatically
gravitate toward?
• What kind of TV shows do you tend to like most? Movies?
What activities do you enjoy most about your current occupation?...
• Is it research?
• Helping customers achieve their goals?
• Managing other people?
• Teaching or explaining things to others?
• Talking/selling on the phone?
• Organizing things?
• Making a process easier?
• Discovering or creating new products or services?
• Marketing products?
Problems are also a good source for ideas because problems need solutions!…
• What bugs you?
• What’s tedious?
• What does not work?...
We all encounter obstacles, problems, and nasty people in the course of whatever it is that we do every day. What are the three biggest problems in your work place? What are your biggest pains as a parent, or as a stepparent, or as a gardener, etc.?
Now repeat all the questions above, except pretend that you are in a “five years ago” time warp. Yes, ask yourself the same questions, except place yourself here you were five years ago. Next, repeat for ten years ago. To paraphrase an old saying...
“You’ve forgotten more about some things than other folks will ever know.”
Call friends. Ask your kids. Phone your parents or your siblings… or anyone else who can jog your memory. It’s so easy to miss what others see.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it(!), and it is not as easy as it sounds, is to find a subject that you really know and like.
Here are a few examples of starting points to get your neurons firing...
Advertising
Aerospace
Agriculture/farming
Antiques and collectibles
Apparel/clothing/fashion
Architecture/buildings
Arts & Crafts
Auctions
Automotive
Aviation
Beverages
Books
Chemicals
Children/parenting
Cleaning
Communications
Computers
Construction
Consulting
Conventions/Trade Shows
Design
Disabilities
Education
Electronics
Employment
Energy
Engineering
Entertainment
Environment
Ergonomics
Financial services
Food
Gambling
Games
Government
Health
Hobbies
Home/garden/flowers/plants
Hospitality
Information
Jewelry
Law
Manufacturing
Minerals
Music
New age
Office supplies
Publishing
Real Estate
Religion/Spirituality
Research and Development
Retail management
Science
Security
Sex
Software
Sports
Telecommunications
Toys
Trade
Transportation
Travel
Video
Weather
Take your time on this -- the final concept will, after all, form the foundation for your affiliate business. So, now that you have read this far, review all the above brain-stimulators with pen and paper (or keyboard) in hand.
Write down concepts as they hit you -- make the list as long as you can. Don’t censor yourself. Just write down ideas for Site Concepts as they occur.
Next, pick the three concepts that you love the most and that you think would have some appeal for others -- this is your “short list” of Site Concepts. Remember... if a concept really turns you on, you won’t be working. You’ll be playing. So focus on topics that you love.
For example, let’s say that your passion is the Renaissance artist, Sandro
Botticelli (1445-1510), a highly individual and graceful artist who fell out of
fashion and died in obscurity. (Hey, in art, ya gotta be good to die broke!) It’s
your passion to give this man his due on the Net.
At first glance, the focus is rather narrow. It might be difficult to develop enough HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics to attract sufficient targeted traffic. And there may not be many affiliate programs to develop a substantial primary monetization model.
On the other hand...
• that may not matter to you -- the passion may be primary, while the money is secondary to you.
Or...
• since you really are an expert, you just may succeed in developing tons of
Keyword-Focused topics to be able to create lots of high value Keyword-Focused Content Pages about Botticelli. You may end up “owning” this niche.
And, while completing the prep work, you may discover...
• a superb art gallery that specializes in Botticelli, but that gets zero Net traffic
• a stock photo service that features a comprehensive selection of Botticelli art
• a Botticelli museum in Florence.
The stock photo service has an affiliate program. You set up a private referral
arrangement with the other two. You’re in e-business heaven!
Or...
• you conclude that while you love Botticelli, there is not enough income potential for this narrow niche. So you expand it. How far?
Do you stop at Botticelli?...
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/botticelli.html
Or do you grow your idea to include all Renaissance artists?...
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/renaissance.html
Or do you grow your idea to include all artists?...
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftp.html
Or do you grow it into a comprehensive art portal?...
http://artchive.com/
Of course, you don’t have to go “the whole hog” all at once. You can start with Botticelli and widen the scope of your site over time.
How big should you grow your Site Concept? How much should you change it?
Only you can decide. And you’ll be able to do that when you finish the coming courses on...
-Develop HIGH-PROFITABILITY topics
-Plan Your Monetization Models
If the financial potential seems limited after you have finished the above, you
have three options...
OPTION 1) Expand the concept -- make it more general. But remember... you
don’t have to start huge. Build it over time.
OPTION 2) LOOP back to this point and try the next concept on your “short
list” of Site Concepts.
OPTION 3) Recognize that you’re “in it” more for the passion than the
money. Botticelli rules!
It’s all up to you. Let those creative juices flow.
Before proceeding to DAY 4, please complete your DAY 3 Goal-of-the-DAY: Identify the top 3 Site Concepts that you know and love, and take note of your Ongoing Goal...
Ongoing Goal: Revisit this only if you want to build an entirely new and different Theme-Based Content Site.
Now that you have 3 Site Concepts that excite you, let’s find out where the
PROFITABILITY lies on the following day...
Relevant Posts:
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course - Day 1
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course - Day 2
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course – Day 3
Financial Freedom?! All In Our Minds!: Achieve Financial Freedom Thru Affiliate Masters Course – Day 4
Posts
