Anyone who’s been around internet marketing for a while is familiar with the concepts of “scarcity” and “social proof”.
Here’s an example of these two concepts in action:
“Hey {!firstname_fix},
Frank Kern is launching Mass Control 13.0! Dude, EVERYBODY is buying this product! You better get it quick, because there are only 13 copies left!”
Note the claims that “EVERYBODY is buying this product” (social proof), and “there are only 13 copies left” (scarcity).
What a lot of internet marketers don’t know is that these two tactics come from a classic marketing text by Dr. Robert Cialdini.
Cialdini’s book (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) has a lot more good stuff than just those two tactics, so I’ve decided to post a summary of it. I highly recommend you read the book - it’s chock full of awesome examples of psychological principles in action. But in the meantime, check out my summary below.
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We all know that Google has the mother of all keyword tools. It’s free, it’s pretty comprehensive, and it now contains actual search volume data.
But the Google keyword tool does have limitations - most notably in the breadth of related keywords that it shows for your keyword. In other words, the Google tool doesn’t get inside the mind of your market and suggest all the possible keywords that could convert for your product or service.
Brainstorming keywords is a crucial step in internet marketing - whether you’re trying to optimize your site for natural search, or trying to find low-competition keywords for a pay-per-click marketing campaign. In fact, some super affiliates (like Jeremy Palmer) have said that their success boils down to this: keywords, keywords, keywords.
So how do you add to the keywords that Google gives you? Here are 15 ways you can create your seed list of keywords:
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Once you’ve brainstormed your list of niche topics, it’s time to narrow down your list to a handful of niches that have the highest potential for success. This leads to a question that’s often asked by new internet marketers: if I enter market X, am I going to lose my shirt?
While there’s no formula for calculating if a market has room for new competitors, a slew of “tools” claim they can give x-ray vision of a market. And their sales letters always make outrageous claims of how easy it is to enter a market - if you just spend a few bucks to buy their latest and greatest gadget.
The fact is there’s no way of knowing for sure if a market will be profitable for you - because profitability depends on how well you research and execute your marketing plan, and how you respond to a competitive environment that’s always changing.
Depressed yet? Wait!
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“To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal ideas from many is research.”
Wilson Mizner, playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur
How many times have you been told that you need to “get inside your customer’s head” to be able to sell successfully on the web? Countless times, no doubt.
But what exactly does “getting inside your customer’s head” mean? Simply put, it means that you need to understand the problems your market is facing and, more importantly, the solutions they’re actively looking for - what has motivated them to jump on the net and do a Google search, or direct navigate to a website about X topic.
A lot of internet marketers simply guess at what their market is looking for. They think, “Well I feel this way, so everyone must, too.” This is known as the false consensus effect in psychology. Anyone who dives into a market using this approach and still makes money is just LUCKY. Most dive in and lose a lot of money - whether they are affiliate marketers, information marketers, or small business owners.
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One of the biggest problems new internet marketers face is which niche to pursue. There are literally millions of topics and products being searched for and discussed on the web. And Google has reported that 20% - 25% of their daily search queries are unique. That means even interest in different niches on the web is constantly changing.
When I first heard that it was possible to make money online, I started to devour as much free information that I could find. But after doing that for a couple of weeks, I wanted to take action. Then I found myself staring at my computer screen thinking, “Now what?”
Finding a good niche is one of the most important steps in making money online. If you don’t find the right niche from the get-go you face some MAJOR risks:
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