"What Should *I* Sell Online?"
With the US economic outlook getting bleaker by the day, more
and more folks are beginning to look to the internet as a way to
earn extra money.
And why shouldn't they? The hours are great and I've never had
such an agreeable boss!
But the key to online success is much more than millions of
dollars in venture capital funding - history proves that. No,
the quickest road to a big fat online paycheck is your
*product*.
Let me put it as simply as I know how - if there aren't buyers
for your product on the web, you won't sell very many products.
Makes sense, right?
Here's a quick and easy way to determine the approximate size of
*any* market online.
First, get yourself a copy of GoodKeywords (from
http://goodkeywords.com). This free software is my crystal ball
into the world of desirable online products. It queries a number
of popular search engines and in many cases it will tell me
exactly what I should be selling online.
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--------------- A similar free tool is available to clients of
the pay-per-click search engine Goto. Visit them at
http://goto.com
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The best way to illustrate this process is to use an example:
For instance, I'm a musician so I'll pick a general term such as
'keyboard'. GoodKeywords tells me how many times that word was
searched in the past 30 days AND different phrases that contain
that word.
Something that catches my eye in the results is the phrase
'casio keyboard'
I know Casio is a brand name, so I'll refine my search for
phrases that contain the word 'Casio'. These results tell me
*specific* products from Casio that surfers are looking for.
Now all I need to do is find an affiliate (or
commissioned-reseller) program that pays me to sell Casio
products. Once I sign up with the merchant, I'll be able to
create separate pages to sell the individual products. AND I'll
make a commission for each product I sell.
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--------------- Finding online merchants with affiliate programs
is easy. Just visit http://refer-it.com or
http://associateprograms.com. These sites list hundreds of
affiliate merchants who will pay you to sell their products.
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Now for the hard part - bringing traffic to your individual
product pages.
Typically, I rely on search engines to bring traffic to this
kind of site. More specifically, I tend to lean toward
pay-per-click search engines (like Goto.com and FindWhat.com).
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--------------- Visit http://payperclicksearchengines.com for a
complete list of 'PPC' search engines.
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Pay-per-click search engines let you bid on your position for
your search terms...essentially buying your visitors one at a
time. In most cases a top position for a certain product costs
no more than .01 or .02 per click - and you pay *only* if
someone clicks through to your site.
This can add up quickly for certain phrases BUT the advantages
far outweigh the very small cost.
When you use pay per click advertising your link is displayed
ONLY to the web surfers who are looking for information on your
product.
This kind of 'targeted' advertising can be very profitable since
you're approaching a visitor who has asked (by searching) to see
your website!
One final note: Even the most expertly constructed web page
won't make a sale to every visitor. Studies show that many folks
research online, then buy offline - especially with big-ticket
items.
But your chances of making a sale are much higher if you present
your sales message to a truly targeted audience, rather than
'any old Joe' on the web.