I must admit that when I first got into this online marketing game, I was bombarded with countless offers of “training”, “downloads” and getting billions and gazillions of twitter followers. If it wasn’t a “tool” it was a “product” that acted like one.

So where is the meat? Obviously you have literally thousands of people selling and REselling the same ole’ stuff! Get rich schemes packaged as home-based internet business, which they are not! Not much, if anything, is really differentiating the market! That hurts everyone…

So tell me, is ANYONE getting rich?

In a word, no, at least not those caught up in the hype machine. But the necessary separating of the wheat from the chaff is a time-consuming, and usually fruitless, endeavor. I know—personally! So then what works? Real products or service that are targeted specifically to it’s particular market space. Yes, there are some REAL products and opportunities out there, but they are fighting the avanlanche of “me-too” warez disguised as marketing opportunities.

They need to be product opportunities.

So get a product, then fill a niche. Niche? Yes, the time tested niche site. You don’t need “niche site software” which is another tool disguising as a product, you can use Blogger, WordPress (self or WP hosted) and other services or communities that give you a site or a robust profile. This eliminates the upfront costs of web design, hosting and a lot of marketing. You can even do url masking, which is having a .com redirect to your hosted site and keep the .com address in the address bar. Because you are in an online community, you can list your site in their corresponding directory as well. This will drive SOME traffic from those interested in what you are doing.

But the power of the niche site is in the SEO ranking.

A general site, like this blog, covers a wide gamut of things, especially if you are mainly blogging personal content and use affiliate ads for revenue. You online audience can be too broad, and streamlining the site for SEO traffic building becomes nearly impossible. What keyword should I use? What metatags are revelant? And the list goes on. You have to brand your site to something!

Niche sites as just that—a niche, focused on one thing. If you are into Natural Remedies, then your site can target that with keywords, descriptors, metatagging, directory listings and so on. This post is not about WHAT to do for SEO ranking, but rather defining a niche so it will be easier to do. This also opens the door for targeted affiliate ads, personal products, etc., because you are only doing ONE thing in ONE niche. This will drive self-qualified traffic to your site, they will be already interested in what you offer.

In this “me-too” environment, it is always best to differentiate. There will be those who do it also, unless what you do is extremely targeted or special, but now you have less competition. With less competition in your chosen niche, your site can excell and reach the potential customers or clients you are seeking. And a rule of thumb is to check out HOW your successful competition is doing it. Check keywords, ad placement, type of content, et al, for what it takes to grow your success in your niche.

It matters.

Be blessed, be loved and be at peace,

Jonathan

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1 Comment

1. 

   Jim Wright

   July 31, 2009 • 2:09 pm

   
   
   

   You are right Jonathan it is a lot easier to find keywords for niche sites than a regular about everything site.

   Back links are important as well.

   Stay away from the hype, it will waste money and time. Find something and just do it. Most of the answers are available online for FREE