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This post is for you if you’ve been trying to make money online without success. It’s also for you if you’ve just been bitten by the Internet Marketing bug and want to try your hands at making money online.
If you read this post, I mention simplifying things online. Truly so.
We tend to complicate matters. And I’m saying it doesn’t have to be so.
In this guide, you’re going to read a simplified guide to making your first $100 from the Internet, even if you’re just starting out.
When converted into naira at the current exchange rate, I think $100 is N20,000 and that should be achievable if you follow the guide below.
Without further ado, let me say the 2 steps to making your first $100 on the Internet is:
- Find an Audience
- Sell stuff to them
Let me break it down.
Find an audience
The Internet has made it really easy for people to move with people of similar interests.
When you start a Supermarket or Retail chain, everybody (who can afford your products) is your market.
That is too general. With the power of the Internet, you can now specialize. You can say my business focuses on nursing mothers.
You can say my business is targetting young and single female entrepreneurs.
This specialization carries certain advantages which most of us gloss over.
* The first advantage is that you can focus your efforts on serving the market you’ve chosen; you no longer have scattered efforts, trying to be everything to everyone.
Let me give you the example of Medical Doctors. Once they are able to specialize as Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, they are empowered to charge more.
Also, they’re now Gynaecologists to their patients, instead of trying to be just Medical Doctors, treating Typhoid or Malaria Fever patients, they specialize.
As a result, they can focus their efforts (both research and practice) on their chosen field of medical practice.
They become experts in no time. And they can charge top dollar for their efforts.
* The second advantage I already alluded to and that is, you can make more money as a specialist, than when you generalize.
Just like the Doctor example I gave above. On the Internet, when you’re a specialist, you make more money, than when you try to be everything to everybody.
For instance, you stand to make more money as a Relationship coach to women in their 40’s than a general relationship coach (catering to teens, adults, married, divorced, etc).
Even though the relationship coach to women in their 40’s is a small market, you stand to make more money (as competition may not be that high or virtually non-existent).
I just hope you understand my drift here.
* The third advantage is that you get to quickly become an expert on your topic. Because you do it daily, you get to know it like the back of your hand.
And word of mouth referrals would bring you new clients. Satisfied clients would always tell their friends to check you out.
* The fourth advantage is that you’re able to create an almost cult-like following. If you do it right by positioning and branding yourself as the go-to-man-in-your-market.
You’ll have a major fan base. You’ll be the ‘Lord’ and ‘Master’ of what many call a small market.
And you know what fans do? They can spend their last penny on what they love and are crazy about. Think Man United. Think Bayern Munich.
The long and short of what I am saying is, find a specialized audience. Never choose a general audience. It can be frustrating to shine in a mass market.
What Sort of Audience Should You Look Out for?
* Look for an audience based on your interests.
This may not work at all times but I mentioned it because businesses built on interests usually do well.
However, some interests may not be profitable (but that’s a story for another day). This blog is a result of my interest in wealth creation. Some people talk about poverty alleviation but I believe in wealth creation and that is why I blog about it.
What are your interests? They can be leveraged to launch a profitable Internet Business.
* Look for an audience based on a topic you want to know more about.
For instance, if you’re at a stage in your life where you’re parenting teenagers, you may want to set up a site to talk about what you’ve found through research and implementation on your children.
Other parents who’re in the same boat would want to follow your findings and see whether they can apply with their kids.
That way, you benefits in two ways. You gain the knowledge to become a better parent to your teenagers and you also help fellow parents of teenagers deal with that stage of parenting.
Lest I forget, the parents you’re helping also help you by buying your courses, eBooks, etc. At the end of the day, everybody is happy.
* Look for an audience based on your experience.
Anything you’ve experienced in life can be a story to encourage other people. You never know who your story is going to inspire.
For instance, if you’re the child of poor parents who’ve overcome all odds to become rich, your story is going to inspire and you’ll make more money teaching people how you were able to break away from your poor background.
If you’re a married woman who endured 20 years of childlessness but now have a child, your story is going to encourage other women who’re going through the challenges of childlessness.
They’ll flock to your site for encouragement and knowledge of how to handle their challenges.
Specifically, they want to know how you were able to succeed. Also, your story is going to give them hope, that they can also overcome.
You can also read the post below for help with choosing an audience:
Choosing a Niche for Your Blog
At this point, you have to make up your mind which audience you want to cater to. I honestly don’t think any niche is more profitable than the other.
What I know is, the people in the market make the niche profitable. This is what I am saying.
Tom and Jerry may be involved in the same online niche. But because Tom has mastered the art of engaging his audience to know exactly what they they want, he makes more money than Jerry.
Essentially, you’re going to make your niche profitable. Nobody can do that for you. So, quit looking for a profitable niche.
Look for a niche you’re comfortable with and wring (squeeze) it to bring out money.
Where Can You Find Your Audience?
That is where the power of the Internet lies. They are everywhere online and you can track them down in specific places.
If you read this post, I mention some ways to track down prospects. But, it bears repeating.
So, let me say, you can look for your audience through the following means:
* Niche Forums
On the Internet, there are specialty forums for any topic under the sun. From fly fishing to home repairs to paying loans to simplifying your life.
Just type your ‘niche + forum’ into Google and you’re good to go. If your niche is weight loss for teens, type ‘weight loss for teens + forum’ into Google.
I hope that is clear.
* Niche Blogs
You can also find your proposed audience at niche blogs. Using the advice above, just type ‘niche + blog’ into Google and you’re good to go.
* Niche Clubs
It would amaze you that there are clubs for virtually any topic under the sun. Just use your search engine.
Don’t be surprised at what it throws up though. Just like I said above, type ‘niche + club’ and you’ll enter the world of the people you’re targetting.
* Niche associations
My advice here is similar to the above. Search for ‘niche + associations’ and you’d be introduced to the people you plan to serve.
Go to Reddit.com and search if your potential niche has a group there. They call them sub-reddit or so.
If there is, sit down and read through all the posts on the site. You’ll be shocked at what you’ll discover. So much information to understand your target market.
Benefits of Going to Websites Where Your Audience Hangs Out
One question that would be going through your mind, having just read about the websites where you can meet your proposed audience, is, so what does that benefit me?
Well, chill. We’re going somewhere with this course. Yes, it’s a course. I could sell it and make money but I have decided to make it free (because of my passion to help others).
The benefits of digging out those sites, like I advocated above are:
* Niche Research
You get to meet the people you’re going to serve, you get to understand their problems, their joys, etc. This information is priceless.
Once you set up your site, you know exactly what the people in your market want, so, it becomes like bull’s eye to you. You don’t miss. At all.
Go to forums and you’d understand what I’m saying. People come there to pour our their frustration, hoping that someone is listening out there.
That sort of information is gold to you.
You also get to know how large or small the niche is. From your research, you’ll be able to gauge the extent of the market.
You also know the kinds of people in the niche. Are they men? How old are they? What are their pet peeves? Are they married? What if they’re young? Are they single or dating? Etc.
* Position Yourself in the Niche
Once you go to a forum, read through the rules and regulations before you post. I hope that is clear. Most forums would just ban your account if you refuse to do so.
Once you’ve done that, start answering questions of the people in your niche. All you’re trying to do is to position yourself as an authority in the field.
Answer as many questions as you can. Avoid just blasting your links on your answers. They may never get published that way.
Be discreet and when you start publishing your links, the owners of the forum won’t even bat an eyelid.
Alternatively, you may delay a bit from creating your site until you understand the market (to an extent).
From experience, I’d say you may never understand a market totally until you launch deep into it.
When you start networking in your market, begin by asking them questions on what they want, their greatest challenges, etc.
That way, you get a hang of what’s happening in the industry. You could even start a thread on the forum with the title: ‘what’s your greatest challenge as a single mom who’s dating?’
You’ll be shocked at the answers (which can form the bedrock of an eBook or course you’d eventually sell to them).
* Check Up Competition
Also, checking up your target audience online is a way to gauge the competition and decide if your site is supposed to have a slant or not.
For instance, you can always have a different slant from your competition. If your competition positions itself as the go-to-resource for single moms who’re dating, you can position yourself as the go-to-resource for single moms who don’t want to be married.
Some people don’t like competition for any market they choose. Don’t be like them.
Having competition is a sign that people are making money from the niche and if you can produce a better mousetrap, you”ll also make money.
These competitors can also form your future JV partners. You can market products for them and vice versa. At the end of the day, you all make money.
* Know Where the Shoe Pinches
A thorough networking with the people in your niche would make you know where the shoe pinches in the market.
With this information, you can have several blog post ideas and eBook ideas.
You know exactly what the problem of the market is, your job is just to provide the solution and make money. You no longer have to do guess work.
After Niche Research, What Next?
You now find a way to capture email addresses. This is gold. If you’re in a market and you’re not capturing email addresses, you’re leaving too much money on the table. I tell you. Too much money.
Don’t forget that you may not have created a website when you were doing niche research. There’s no problem with that.
Now, you have to find a way to create a squeeze page. Just a page, with an optin form, asking them to subscribe for a gift.
The gift could be an eBook, eCourse, Video, Audio, whatever you feel comfortable to give out.
To build a list, you have to sign up with an autoresponder. There are free and paid autoresponders.
What is an Autoresponder?
It is a software that is programmed to send emails to people who subscribe to your list. For a start, you can use a free one.
But, if you really (underline the word ‘really’) want to do Internet Business, an autoresponder is a necessary expense.
If you want to start with a free autoresponder, click on the link below:
Set it up. Once you have set up the account, you can start asking people to subscribe through your squeeze page.
The squeeze page can be created using WordPress. You’ll just buy a domain name and hosting plan.
Make sure the domain name has a relationship with the topic you want to talk about.
Don’t register a name that has to do with cash when you want to talk about parenting on your site. I hope that is understood.
Once You Start Getting Subscribers, Engage Them
What makes a list profitable is the level of engagement that exists between the list owner and the people on the list.
If the relationship is cold, money would not exchange hands. Believe you me. Publish stuff that would engage them and position you as an expert.
I don’t care how many people you have on your list. It’s not the size of the list that makes you money, it’s the level of engagement you have with your people.
Many public speakers emphasize the importance of delivering a quality speech, whether you’re taking to 2 or a 100 people.
I have had a training where I had just 1 student. Yes. 1 student. But, I delivered exactly what I had planned for many people.
That student went ahead to write books and also speak in public (that made me really glad that I went on with the course, despite the shock of having just one student in class!)
Why am I telling you this. No matter the number of subscribers you have, just keep churning out quality information and engaging them.
If you decide to wait till you have a big list, I tell you, most of your subscribers would have become cold.
Most of them would have forgotten they even subscribed to your list. In this age and time when there are so many distractions, you’ve got to strike when the iron is hot.
Start building a relationship with them from day one. Email often. There are too many distractions nowadays.
Once a week email will not cut it. You have to always be in their consciousness.
Sell Stuff to Them
Once you’ve built a certain level of trust, you can start selling stuff to them. These are stuff you already know they need (from your niche research).
You could also ask them to tell you what they need in a survey or through email. You could create an eBook, Course, Webinar, Video or Audio, etc.
You could even ask them what format they prefer. In essence, let them tell you exactly what they want. You just deliver it and make your money.
What Kind of Stuff Can You Sell?
* Affiliate Products
These are products you get a commission on. There are affiliate programs for physical products like Amazon and there are affiliate programs for digital products like Clickbank and Jvzoo.
Decide which you want to promote. You can even promote products from all of them at periodic intervals, as long as the audience you’re serving finds them useful.
As an affiliate, you’re a middleman between the buyer and the seller. To promote effectively, you have to master how to write reviews.
* Your Own Products
This is where your money is really going to come from. Create your own valuable products and you can have other people marketing for you.
Instead of getting a percentage as commission, you get 100% of the profits (except when you have to pay affiliates who promote your offer).
Technology has so evolved that you don’t have to personally create your products.
You can engage a Ghostwriter to do it for you. You pay him or her off and you claim the copyright.
In the case of physical products, you can engage a company to create a product and you white label it as your own. You start selling immediately.
* Adsense
You can also use this on your site. Although it doesn’t involve selling, it can make you money if you have solid traffic.
People click on the ads and you get paid per click. It’s a money-making program owned by Google and they accept Nigerians.
Summary and Action TakeAway
* This post has somewhat simplified the whole process but there’s a bit of work involved. That is however not to say it isn’t achievable.
You definitely can do it, if you make up your mind to.
* The trick is to do a little every day. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Don’t burn yourself out. Know it’s a journey and not a sprint.
* Be consistent with the little you’re doing everyday. It does add up. Consistency is important in anything you do in life.
* Once you see some sort of traction in the market, start planning to go to the next level. There’s a always a higher level for anything you’re doing in life.
* Don’t just read this article, do ‘something’ with the knowledge you’ve been exposed to. That’s the only way to become the overnight success you desire.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to grandiose. Just do it. I’m waiting to congratulate you when you get to the other side. And lest I forget, you can do it!
Note: This 2-step formula works whether you’re targetting the Nigerian or International market.
If you’re targetting the Nigerian market, just look for Nigerian Facebook groups that serve your target audience.
Also, use ‘Nigerian weight loss + blog or forum’ when searching through Google. I hope that makes sense.
Just localize your search so you can meet the real people you’re going to serve.
PS: Below, you’ll find a box asking you to share this post for a pdf file of this entire post (it’s 9 pages or so). It’s a new addition to the blog. I assume some of us might need to check up the posts later because of the length. If you have it saved on your Computer, it becomes very easy to do.
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