Just Read this great article on Techflash.com. Full article can be referenced here.

Talking about more traditional businesses than the online niche marketing ones this is still a very valid read for all those of you out there who are trying to build up your probable work-at-home online business.

The reasons come from a lecture by aQuantive founder Scott Lipsky who came up with a list of 721 reasons, however for his talk at Entrepreneur week he shortened his list to just 10.

He maintains his reasons are in order of importance and I would argue that they are just as important for us Niche Marketers as they are for traditional businesses, although the order may be slightly different.

Below are his reasons with my comments:

1.) WRONG TEAM. For affiliate marketers that really means wrong products and more importantly wrong joint venture partners. If we choose to promote the product of someone who is providing crap or overpriced or out of date information we suffer too.

2.) NOT FOCUSED: This is absolutely critical and I would argue for affiliate marketers this is number one. If we lack focus we will just leap from project to project and from course to course. Make sure you do one thing at a time and remain laser focussed on that one idea.

3.) NOT AGILE: Again this is tied in with focus. You need to make sure you know when to quit. If you are not getting signups and you are not getting sales it means you are focussing on the wrong project. Its easy with sites like flippa.com to offload niche sites that aren’t working. MAke sure you do so until you find the areas that you are strongest. If you don’t you will just waste time and money. If you can’t be flexible as well as focussed your chances of success are limited.

4.) PRODUCT MANAGEMENT ISSUES: If you aren’t providing what the customer wants you are wasting your time. Listen to them and provide what they want.

5.) POOR MARKET TIMING: This is interesting and it is always tempting as niche marketers to jump straight into the biggest and most succesful niches. It is certainly possible to come in to the market late as Google showed with search engines, however the so-called Gurus have an early adopter advantage and huge lists which makes life much easier. I suspect if many of them were starting out now they wouldn’t be where they are today. Still find the right product, ideally one that has been tested but that you can do better and away you go.

6.) WRONG CHANNEL STRATEGY: A lot of people today tend to be focussed on the wrong channels. Ultimately you have to get a good website and get traffic to it. Don’t get sidetracked by glitzy technology and make sure you are selling your product where the market is.

7.) WEAK EXECUTION PLAN: “I will leave Scott’s words here: “If you don’t have a plan to execute and if you don’t have a way of measuring your own success … you will lose your business.” This in my mind is number one for affiliate marketers.

8.) UNSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL: Make sure your business can grow. I can think of numerous wannabe gurus whose product launches left them in the lurch because they were unable to cope with the demand. Also be aware of what else is going on and who else is out there.

9.) FUNDING PROBLEMS:

This isn’t such a problem when first starting an online business, but still you really need to have money to invest in websites, software and some training.

10.) BAD IDEA: I have been following Eben Pagan’s course about becoming a modern guru. One of the most important things he teaches is to make sure there is a market for your product and to test it.

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To start any business to dramatically increase your chances of success you you need a business plan, sure there are exceptions to this rule but without planning it is extremely unlikely. Online Niche Marketing is really no different, whatever the glossy websites and hard selling copy would have you believe there really is no substitute to hard work.

Just to recap niche marketing is marketing product or services to a small portion of the market that is not easily covered elsewhere. Online Niche Marketing is typically analysing gaps normally through keyword analysis, more of which I will be covering later and then creating a website to fulfill the needs of that gap. Everything from Macdonalds to Walmart to the intriguing Frank Kern began their businesses to fill perceived market voids. Niches can be anything from specific areas, to genders to drilled down demographics like owners of Weimeraners.

Before thinking about writing your plan you need to ask yourself:

• What Niche Markets you wish to serve. In the case of online Niche Marketing it is often a question of choosing a number of different niches with highly targetted keyword research.
• Make sure a business is compatible with family and professional goals
• Determine what resources you have
• What resources you lack, and how to fill them

You then need to write your business/marketing plan.

This should cover:

• General description of the business
• Market analysis
• Mission statement
• Objectives and strategies
• How you will operate the business
• Projected sales
• Financial plan
• Sensitivity or risk
• Sources of help

I will cover this in greater depth in future posts so please do stay posted or just sign up to our mailing list on the left.

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Just because there are thousands of websites out there telling you you can make money overnight with niche marketing online I am afraid to tell you that it simply is not true.

For sure there are some very useful resources out there, but most of them are either rubbish or just tell you a very small part of the story. I am afraid to tell you that there is no such thing as easy money on the internet and to make it you have to work very hard.

Before you decide to do anything you really need to have a business plan and a set of goals.

My next post will talk a little about Business Plans and I will then be talking about Goalsetting. Both are incredibly important and without them you won’t really have much of a hope unless you are exceptionally lucky!

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