Do Your Niche Research Before Setting Up Your Blog

Have you noticed the popularity of Blogs? Cheez, There's a bunch of them out there. It's getting more difficult to tell one from another. Having made that observation, it's pretty safe to assume that you'd better have something pretty unique to offer and you're going to have to decide who your target market is. Or what niche are you targeting and what do you have to offer that 9000 other marketers are not offering? What will your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) be?

Once you've answered those questions to your satisfaction, you'll be able to build a loyal readership, maybe even make a few bucks, with a little luck and some hard work.

Now the Internet is an endless source of resources for finding those tasty little morsels and Blogging is a pretty simple way to get your message out there but only after you've done your research. Heck, you can set up a free blog at http://Blogger.com in all of five minutes. But answering the questions above could take anywhere from five hours to five days. Don't mean to scare anyone off, it's just the reality of the internet or any business for that matter. So if your looking for an easier, softer way? You may as well just pick up your marbles and get into a different game.

Experience has taught me that as an Internet Marketer I am in the business of solving problems. So, it is my job to find a group of people with a common problem. It doesn't need to be a huge group, actually it usually begins with a small group and if I've done my job at solving their particular problem, it can grow to immense proportions. Let's brainstorm a bit. Where can we go to discover a problem that needs solved? That's Easy. Everywhere and anywhere.

You can open up your email and scan headlines to see what problems others are solving. How to find a date, what autoresponder is best, how to use an ftp program, how to end a relationship, how to make money, who's offering the best airfares, anyone been to the Baja. I'm sure you see my point. Problems are everywhere. It's simply a matter of identification and locating the solution.

You can also lurk or post in marketing forums in your search for an idea. Good blogging starts with a good idea. Once again, scan the posts and see if there's a group of posts that has people stumped. Write an article or report and link to it in your signature. Provided the forum allows this. Make sure you know the rules of each forum as leaving a link where it's not allowed can get you flamed at the least or banned from the board at the worst.

RSS Readers are available for free at http://www.rssreader.com/ You can subscribe to as many rss feeds as you want. This is a wonderful resource for niche research. As is http://Nichebot.com/ just enter a few keywords to see how many times that keyword has been searched for.

Inventory.Overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ works the same way. Just enter a keyword and bam, there you have it. Blog directories can be found on http://Google.com. Do a search to find out what people are blogging about. Ideas are everywhere.

Get used to the idea of writing articles, reports, ebooks etc. This will be your Golden Egg. You, of course will be the Goose! (:-). Once you've decided where your going and what your doing. Go ahead and start out with a free blog. Do a search on Google. Since Google owns http://Blogger.com that will come up in the #1 spot. There are others, plenty of others.

Interject as much of your own personality into your blog. Let people get to know you. Build relationships with people. Earn the Trust of your peers. Give freely of yourself, as it will serve you well.

Getting the word out about your blog will require some effort on your part. Like I mentioned earlier, Locate as many blog directories as you can and submit your blogs address to them.

Write articles about your chosen niche and leave a link to you blog in your resource box at the end of your article. Do the same thing with Newsletter and Ezine Publishers in the niche of your choice. Don't forget to post those articles to your own blog.

Reading and Writing are absolutely necessary for your business survival. Spend time in article directories reading other authors articles in your niche. Take the time to sit down with a pen and tablet. Copy the work of noted writers like Marlon Sanders, Jim Edwards, Joe Vitale, And Jimmy Brown. I don't mean copy and use their work. Just write down their work. I cannot explain it but something happens when you write it down. I guess it puts you in a creative frame of mind and you grow in understanding. It's a wonderful thing.

Know This: Your not going to do it perfectly. You will look back on your early work and you'll get a chuckle. To Quote Marlon Sanders, "You Don't Have To Get It Right, You Just Have To Get It Going"! And whatever you do NEVER EVER QUIT!

Good Luck and God Bless,

Art Luff