Home Based Business, Make Money Online, but how???

One of the most common questions I am asked when I talk to people about how to make money online is: How do ‘I' make money on the internet? What could I write about and how would that make me money? Well last nights works team webinar addressed that topic in their usual professional way.

Finding Your Niche and Target Market

Synopsis: Writing content on your website or online articles to a niche market is a very effective way to market your business. However, people often struggle in finding the best niche for them - something they have a passion for, can write a lot of content on AND ties in to their network marketing or affiliate programs so they can grow their businesses. For tonight's webinar, bring your list of interests and passions - whether your passion is horses, golf, art or fashion, we will show you how you can use those passions to promote your business. If you have started work on a SiteBuildIt site, you are thinking of doing so, or just starting to write online content like blogs or hubpages, this will be a webinar you won't want to miss. Also, for those who have already developed your niche market, you may get some ideas for other niches you can expand into or get some ideas that will help your downline or associates.

Start by brainstorming: Make a list of your interests and passions. Most people underestimate what they know and/or underestimate their own abilities. Often your ‘gift' is so second nature to you that you don't consider it as special. When something comes naturally we assume that, "Oh everybody can do that." Not true. I learned at a seminar that there are 24 sacred gifts and that we all have at least 4 or 5. These gifts are not a talent or a skill although they may evolve from there. Sacred gifts are for the benefit of others. A great example is Paul Potts. You may have seen him on YouTube. He auditioned for UK Idol. Here was an everyday bloke who when he opened his mouth the most amazing operatic voice emerged bringing many in the audience to tears including one of the judges. I believe this course will soon be available on line. Let me know if you are interested.

Think of topics that relate to a particular product or service you promote for website and online articles. Think of something that sets you apart; something that you are interested in or have knowledge about. If you have an interest you can always do the research on the topic to become an expert. List possible target audiences. You want to narrow your niche. A term like network marketing is too broad, which means there is a lot of competition. We've gone from the old broadcasting of the 50s with 3 channels to narrowcasting with 100s of channels. We need to change with the times. The one size fits all method has gone the way of the dinosaurs. It doesn't work that way anymore. We have to be able to adapt and change. Many of us have been taught the old school methods of anyone within a 3 foot radius is your target market. Well your computer screen is within that radius but you are tapping into a much more sophisticated audience. The good news is that now instead of having just your local community to tap into; you now have access to the whole country or even the world for potential clients or business partners. The bad news is that you need to grow and change with this rapidly evolving world of the internet.

Once you have brainstormed all your interests and passions you can now tie into any mlm. Eg. One of the presenters, Cammy has taken her passion for horses and chosen her target market, those in the horse business. Anyone that has ever owned a horse knows it's expensive. This is an area that Cammy is knowledgeable about. She also knows about the internet. A lot of horse people are intimidated by technology. She gives resources to make it simple and takes the fear out. She adds valuable content; ways to take their business to a higher level. Most horse trainers have to take on a 2nd job. With Cammy's help they can incorporate her strategies into their business or take their business online. This opens up their market. One example given was breeders of Andalusions. They have gone from having a 200 mile radius to now having international business thanks to SiteBuildIt. Cammy teaches us to be creative and think long term. Think of ways to monetize their web-site like network marketing and internet marketing. Often those in the horse industry get hurt and if they stop working their business stops. Whereas they could have learned leverage along the way. Learn to dig the well before they need it.

So write down your ideas. Perhaps you are a golf fanatic. Ask what does golf have to do with my MLM? How can I make money from my passion for golf? Perhaps write articles on how your own home business allows you to play more golf. Your side business allows you to travel around the country to play all the famous golf courses.

Many MLMs have only one product. Think of ways to add income streams to original idea. One product may have multiple benefits; say it gives you more energy. You become passionate about how it's helped you or your friends. Think about who else can benefit from more energy, those working two jobs, older people, stay at home moms for example. This leads to what you can write about.

Say you have a passion for helping network marketers. Maybe you are a stay at home mom who wants to help others be stay at home moms. Perhaps you are an executive that got downsized and now have a passion to help other executives before it happens to them. Or maybe you got injured on the job and aren't able to work anymore.

All of these happened to me. When I first went back to work when my son was 9 months old my whole being was screaming NO! I was an older mom and only doing this once and I didn't want to miss out. I know the feeling of being trapped in a job for several years. I wasn't an executive, I worked in packaging in a dairy and then downsizing happened. My job changed. I hurt my back and was unable to do the new job so was forced to take the buyout. At least I was now able to stay home with my son however it made it very tight financially. All of these are niche markets for me.

When you begin writing content you need to use keywords & do other research. It is necessary to pepper your writing with keywords and keyword phrases to attract the search engine spiders to your content. For example the topic of archery may be too big and the topic of beekeeping may be too narrow. When you use a search tool like https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal it helps you determine other related possibilities. You will get ideas for related keyword phrases that you can use throughout your content that you otherwise would not have thought of.

For example homeschooling; lots of other words came up which will give you ideas of related topics to write on. "Oh yeah, I could write about that." As you write articles on your area of expertise you position yourself as an expert. Readers trust you when you speak their language. When you use the verbiage that goes with every industry it translates into trust. In my examples above of desperately wanting to be a stay at home mom, of being downsized and being injured people with similar experiences will be attracted to read my content. Only when you have walked the walk can you truly empathize with others.

Next determine the supply and demand: It will help you narrow a competitive word into your niche. The topic of archery may be too big with a search volume of 1,500,000. Even archery hunting may be too big with 550,000 searches. As you compare competition to search volume you will be able to narrow down your niche. When we use a search tool we are bridging the gap between passion and opportunity. It will give you an idea if you are in the ball park. Archery has huge volume; bee keeping not so much with only a search volume of 9,900.

Determine size of your niche. Network marketing is too big and therefore highly competitive. Go after a sub-section of network marketing. What are people looking for? Is there enough volume? You also want to search the competition. What are they promoting and writing about? They may not have the content that we have. They may not have the resources that we have with Ann Sieg, Renegade University and Site Build It. Cammy was able to search out the competition and fill in the gaps that other sites were missing thus creating her own niche.

Determine other websites your target market will visit. For example homeschooling moms would visit homeschooling forums; homeschooling curriculum, lesson planning sites etc. Until you start doing some research you don't know what will have good viability. And as a bonus you may stumble on stuff you didn't think of.

Some businesses are seasonal in nature so help them find ways to offset business in dormant months. With hobbies like golf and archery you can talk about how a home business gives more time to spend doing it. There may be products and services that would want to advertise. Accessories that you would use; affiliate programs etc. You can do a search to see what is complimentary to your market.

Focus on a specific niche; most sports are expensive so they may be open to getting paid to play. Taking any expense and turning it into a profit is just smart business. In a lot of sports you may suffer from aches and pains which would require products to help alleviate the discomfort. Or offer tips to help with strengthening muscles to prevent injury. Outside sports require you to take care of your skin to prevent burns and skin cancers. There is more and more awareness all the time. Even men are starting to use skin care on a regular basis.

Check out other works team web-sites. Cammy's web-site on horses may trigger an idea. "I could do that with dog grooming or dog breeding."

It is important to be a perpetual student. This will always be a work in process. As you get ideas from others the pages of your web-site will continue to grow. Understand that what you are doing is creating something of lasting value. Instead of going mall crawling for prospects you are creating a site that has people coming to you. How do you get them to cross the bridge? How do you get the government to pay for your hobby? Show people how. Your best target market may not even know they need you. Most likely they are not searching for you or for a home business. They don't see it as a solution; yet. Write articles-ezinearticles,hubpages, squidoos etc. educating people. Take them from where they are at to what you have to offer.

Wendy Mills is targeting homeschooling entrepreneurs. She has articles on internet marketing strategies and Ann Sieg's Renegade Network Marketer. Now what does that have to do with home schooling you might ask? How does The Renegade Network Marketer relate to her niche?

In Wendy's case her site is on homeschooling and Ann Sieg homeschooled her kids. When Wendy peppers the keyword home schooling throughout her content it satisfies the search engines. They won't think it's a site about unrelated stuff. It keeps her on topic. Another way used by Coach Curt Johnson, who has used the proceeds from his network marketing business to continue his missionary work is to insert a link: Click here to try our favorite support raising tool which on his site links to Send Out Cards

Monetizing

The final topic discussed was monetizing. Determine how current products/services relate to target market. If you are in a health and wellness network marketing company there could well be products that you could write about. This wasn't discussed on the call but many people are wondering how to have an online presence when most companies won't allow you to use their logos.

I know of one site that is on tea tree oil. It is well researched and provides plenty of value. Most people when they purchase the product don't even know that it is a Melaleuca product. It's a win-win. The client gets their product, the web-site owner gets paid and the company is happy because a product moves and they don't have to worry about legality because their name wasn't mentioned anywhere on the site.

Affiliate Marketing Products or Services

Look for related affiliate marketing products or services. The back end of the Renegade provides about 40 affiliate links; most of which are free. However this is just the beginning. There are tons available and its just a matter of doing a google search to find ones that relate your endeavor.

Next weeks works team webinar is tentatively slated to by on using Oprius. Another great tool which you can write an article about and put the affiliate link on your web-site. This is a tool that relates to building a business and was designed specifically for network marketers. I'm already a big fan. I found that Outlook just wasn't cutting it for business and I seriously did not want to have to learn ACT and an autoresponder program. Oprius is 2 for the price of 1 and has a 30 day trial. Site Build It

We are putting the net back into your network marketing business. There are recorded webinars on Site Build It which you can go back and review on TheWorksTeam.com web-site. Ken Evoy has a lot of insight. Just ask whoever you purchased the Renegade from for the password. If you are an orphan feel free to contact me.

Network, that's the people, the relationship part. Marketing the product, you are in sales. You have to be able to communicate to your target market. This hasn't been taught in the past. It will take sweat equity. It takes time to teach as well as do; so the old school didn't want to teach it. It was easier to get you to find people to bring to a meeting and let the guru do the teaching. However the rules have changed and the returns are huge. Once in place and you have staked out that cyber real estate you own that. And it will continue to pay you. You need to think long term. Look at having 5 leaders in your business ...duplicating what you are doing...leveraging.Leverage is the secret of the rich according to Robert Kiyosaki. 

With today's tools it is so doable. Start by generating your own leads. Start with The 7 Great Lies and earn income from The Renegade Network Marketer. Then perhaps create your own e-book; it doesn't take that long. Create a newsletter, offer top 10 tips, or a free report to those you are targeting. They will see it as value. As you begin to brand yourself people will start to seek you out. They will say, "I wanted to call you because ...you're a home school mom or you are a want to stay a stay at home mom etc. The same thing will happen for you. They will relate to your story. Your story and your words will resonate with them.

In conclusion, all this information came from a one hour webinar with The WorksTeam hosted by Wendy Mills, Cammy Stubbs & Curt Johnson. The Works Team is available as a free site with free webinars to those who have purchased The Renegade Network Marketer. It is by invitation so if you found this hub valuable I encourage you to get in touch with the person in the back of your Renegade Network Marketer eBook. If they have fallen off the face of the earth feel free to get in touch with me or The WorksTeam.

To Your $uccess! I sincerely hope this has been of value to you and has triggered your creative juices!

Irene Kirkman, internet marketing consultant, is offering personal assistance for those who have home based businesses or would like to work from home online. The biggest challenge with taking your business online is becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available. Avoid ‘analysis paralysis’, learn what you need to do next. The number one challenge I hear from people is: "I just want simple.” and “ Can’t you just tell me what to do next?" I have a solution. I know very well what not to do and can therefore shorten the learning curve substantially for anyone that is serious about escaping the rat race.

Watch this short video The Renegade Puzzle for a birds eye view.

Book your 20” complimentary consultation at http://internetworkmarketercoach.com so I can identify your needs and get you started on an action plan.

Or contact me directly at irene.paradigmshift@gmail.com or call me at 604-530-2719PST