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by: Pat
O'Bryan
www.patobryan.com
There are three main components to
keep in mind when you're building
your Portable Empire:
1. Building your list
2. Building your relationship
with your list
3. Making products and selling
them to your list, and through
Joint-Venture and affiliate
arrangements, to the universe.
Let's talk about choosing your
niche. This is the playground where
you’re going to play- so keep it
interesting and fun.
According to the Mirriam-Webster
dictionary, niche means:
2 a : a place,
employment, status, or activity for
which a person or thing is best
fitted <finally found her niche>
b : a habitat
supplying the factors necessary for
the existence of an organism or
species c : the
ecological role of an organism in a
community especially in regard to
food consumption d : a
specialized market
When we talk about our “niche” in
internet marketing, we’re referring
to “d: a specialized market,”
although the other definitions are
relevant.
It’s important to target all of your
efforts to one specific, specialized
market. To develop a large, loyal
list of subscribers, you need to
offer a solution to a problem that
is shared by a large group of
people.
Over time, one of your most valuable
possessions will be your list of
people who are not only interested
in the solution to their problem,
but will also pay you for solutions.
If you choose your niche wisely, it
will be deep enough to include a lot
of related problems. For example,
my niche is education, specifically
in the area of internet marketing
for beginners.
That’s a big playground. I can talk
about the mindset of success, the
inner game of marketing, how to
create a PDF file, video editing,
and hundreds of other related
topics. I can provide the
information as an e-book, an audio
download, a CD, a streaming video,
or a DVD.
You might want to jot this down:
“Every problem is a product.”
As my customer solves one problem-
hopefully with a solution they buy
from me- that leads them to the next
problem. My job is to make sure
they know about the problem, and
make it easy for them to buy the
solution from me. At that point,
the client will weigh how important
the problem is to them, how long it
would take them to solve it on their
own, and, hopefully, purchase the
solution.
Over time, I’ve created a lot of
solutions. As I solve each problem
for myself, I turn that solution
into a product.
To the people who are behind us on
the learning curve, we’re the
experts.
Over time, I’ve left a trail of
solutions, and gathered a list of
people who are on the same journey
I’m on. This is how you create
multiple streams of passive income.
As you read the instructions below
for choosing a niche, keep that in
mind. Be sure to pick a niche that
has a long learning curve, with lots
of fun problems.
Let’s take this to the real world.
One of the best tools for
communicating with your subscribers
is a blog (web/log). I advertise
mine as “unedited and uncensored,”
and do my best to keep it real and
relevant, with tongue planted firmly
in cheek.
Here’s an excerpt from my blog (www.patobryan.com/blog.htm):
Recently, one of my mentoring
clients asked:
Could you please explain how you
coach people to success? I have been
down this road before trying to come
up with a product to solve a
problem. It didn't come up with
anything. ! I don't have a clue in
coming up with a product......Do you
have a specific process to come up
with profitable ideas??? I hope so,
I need the process you go thru.
I
responded:
I suspect that he's not the only one
asking this question. As a matter
of fact, my domestic partner Betsy
and I were just talking about this
over dinner. She's struggling with
the same problem.
I think we can sort this out.
First, you need to chunk the
question down and simplify it.
Right now, the problem I'd like to
solve is breast cancer- a very dear
friend is battling this demon, and
I've lost several loved ones to it.
Another problem I'd like solved is
political- I'm afraid that Ike was
right when he warned us to beware
the military-industrial complex.
Then there's hunger, homelessness,
global warming, and the fact that
there's not a real first-class
Mexican Food restaurant in
Wimberley, Texas.
Realistically, I'm not an
oncologist, a political scientist,
social scientist, or first-class
Mexican Food chef. We need to find
problems we can actually solve, and
hopefully in a niche that we can
stay interested in.
To me, that's the real danger-
finding a niche that's profitable
but boring. I think it's important
to find a niche you're passionate
about.
For example, I'm passionate about
self-actualization, and I don't
think that's something you can
achieve working 40 hours a week at a
job you're not passionate about. I
think humans were created in God's
image, and she didn't intend for us
to spend our brief time on this
spinning globe in mind-numbing
tedium. I'm convinced that we're
living in an infinite universe, and
that there are enough resources for
everyone. My solution is the
"Portable Empire" concept, which
allows you to travel, think,
meditate, and grow to your full
potential without having to punch a
clock.
So, when I'm looking for a problem
to solve, I limit my search to the
niche of "Your Portable Empire."
That simplifies the problem, and
also simplifies finding the
solution. I promote seminars,
videos, audios and e-books that
teach people to create multiple
streams of passive income.
A lot of my products start out as
conversations with my mentoring
clients.
So, step one is to identify your
niche.
How do you do that? You need to
find a subject that you're a)
passionate about, b) knowledgeable
in, and c) is broad enough to have a
large customer base.
In my case, I'm passionate about
freedom- and you need financial
freedom to acquire intellectual
freedom and freedom of mobility.
I'm knowledgeable about the subject-
I make a healthy six-figure income
doing what I teach. And finally,
there are more than enough people
interested in the subject to make it
profitable for me.
One way to work your way through the
niche-finding problem is to take a
piece of paper and draw a line down
the middle. On one side, write down
all the subjects you're
knowledgeable about. An example
could be:
Raising happy children
Maintaining automobiles
Losing Weight
Yoga
Golf
Healthy relationships
Feng Shui
Getting a good deal on antiques
Graphic design
Cleaning houses
Cooking
Art (painting, drawing, collecting,
etc.)
Music (playing an instrument,
promoting a band, making a
recording)
Poker
Chess
Stock market investing
Take some time with this- you know a
lot more than you think you do.
Then, in the second column, make a
similar list of things you're
passionate about. PASSIONATE! Not
just interested.
Then, see what turns up in both
columns. On another sheet of paper,
make another list of just the things
that are in both columns, with the
most fascinating (to you) subject
first, the next most fascinating
subject second, etc.
Now, starting with the most
interesting subject, do a Google
search to see who else is marketing
to your future customers.
If you turn up a blank, or just a
few results, go to the next one.
Just because you're passionate about
under-water stamp collecting doesn't
mean it's a good business model.
Call that a hobby and move on.
If your Google search turns up page
after page of commercial sites-
congratulations! You've just
identified your future Joint-Venture
partners. You've found your niche.
Now, let's say you're the kind of
guy who plays 18 holes of golf every
morning, and another 18 in the
evening. You've got zirconium
encrusted drivers and a putter
that's been blessed by three popes.
Your golf cart has a hemi. Your
wife would like you to kindly shut
up about golf, because that's all
you ever talk about.
You're a golf nut.
Now, let's also postulate that
you've spent a few years reading
every book you can get your hands on
about golf, studied with Tiger
Woods, and the local golf pro asks
you for advice.
You're a golf expert.
You do a Google search on "golf" and
discover that there are thousands of
people marketing to golfers.
You're in luck.
Your niche is golf.
Now, to monetize your niche, you
need to find out what pressing
problems golfers are having and
provide them with a solution. You
want to identify a problem that
really, really hurts them. I live
on a golf course, but the last golf
course I played on had a windmill,
and I was still in Junior High
School at the time, so I'm going to
wing it here...
Do they slice? Do they get tired on
hole 17? Hole 3? Is their stance
too wide? Are their pants too
tight? Have they lost their balls?
How do you find out what THE
pressing problem is for golfers
today?
Back to Google.
Do a search on "golf forum."
There should be plenty. Join them.
Lurk. Read the posts.
I do this with "newbie" internet
forums. It's a gold mine. Somebody
will post a question, several other
people will join the conversation,
mentioning that they've had the same
problem. Somebody will post a wrong
answer.
Gold mine. Home run. Hole in one.
So, hang out in the forums and
identify the one biggest problem
that golfers have. Obviously, this
will work in any niche.
Sell them the solution.
Initially, you'll probably frame
your solution as an e-book. They're
free to make, free to deliver, and
you can put them on clickbank
(www.clickbank.com)- and clickbank
will handle the accounting, keep up
with affiliate sales, send your
affiliates their money, and send you
your money every two weeks.
You may discover an olde Scottish
tome that is in the public domain
that is just chock full of golfing
wisdom. Turn that sucker into a PDF
and sell it.
Remember, we're selling
information. You can also package
the information as an audio MP3,
which you can also put on clickbank.
Lately, I've been having a lot of
fun with video. The internet is
just too slow to deliver
professional video online. That
will change. About half the
country, and a lot of the rest of
the world, is still using dial-up,
which is way too slow for video.
That will change, too, but we're in
a hurry, so, you'll have to deliver
DVDs. This introduces a level of
complexity to your Portable Empire
that you may want to avoid for now.
(www.patobryan.com/blog.htm
- 07/08/06 Selling the solution-
Every Problem is a Product)
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Imagine that your niche is golf.
That’s a great niche, because it’s
got a lot of very interesting
problems.
You
could create an “Introduction to
Golfing.” Then, an e-book on how to
choose the right golf clubs. Follow
that up with “27 Things To Ask Your
Golf Pro.” “Reports From the
World’s Best Golf Courses,” would be
my next choice- and would lead to a
nice tax-deductible vacation.
Over time, you’ll establish
relationships with a large group of
people who rely on you to provide
solutions to their golfing problems-
and pay you for those solutions.
Get the picture?
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