Letter to Irene on Niche Marketing

Posted on November 11, 2004

If you don’t have a lot of money to start up then don’t buy Front Page. Although I love it and use it every day for the past 9 years (so I feel as though I couldn’t live without it), last time I checked it was about $200.
That $200 would be better spent somewhere else if you’re just starting out with a limited cash flow.

Let’s try to figure out what you could market so you could stay at home.

We’re looking for the right, best fit for a gal like you. Since fellow truck drivers aren’t online much we’ll have to dig deeper for other interests…although goodness knows there’s probably a niche for that market, I’m too far removed from it to envision anything.

Before you hit the road, what were your passions?

Any trials in your life that you had to overcome?

What things do your friends tell you that you’re good at?

Have people come to you consistently in your lifetime and said “You’re so good at that! Can you show me how it’s done?”

The easiest way to get started in this type of business is something that is ‘close to home’ - something that you’re already passionate about, knowledgeable about, interested in. For instance my first ebook was about
raising chickens. I already had raised chickens for a few years but I wanted to know more so I bought a book from an expert - as I added more knowledge I put my experiences and knowledge (new and old) together and
wrote my ebook. I don’t suggest doing a book on raising chickens, although it still makes me an extra $200 month on autopilot it didn’t exactly replace my old income. But it was a great start! And the money that I made I poured into products to learn more about marketing online. Which is how I got here today.

Alright, I got sidetracked. Sorry about that.

If you can’t think of anything personally right now, then start paying attention to the oddities of the world. For instance a year or so ago there was a story on the television, USA Today, about how people were starting to keep pet chickens. Now that strikes most people as odd - city and country people alike, it’s an oddity! But it’s also a market! If the fad had continued stronger taking my ebook on raising chickens and re-writing it for the Pet Chicken market could have been a viable enterprise. The fad didn’t grow much and research said I could better spend my time on other projects, but you get the idea right? Keep an ear and eye open for oddities.

Anyway, think these things through, I’m happy to help you in any way I can, I hope you know that. If you have an idea or need help researching or anything let me know.

When you decide on a market and want to build a mini-site I’ll help you get your first site off the ground so you don’t have to buy frontpage right away. I’ll show you were to get free templates and you can choose a
design you like and I’ll flow your text into the template for you. You can worry about the nuts and bolts later - learning to get your pages online, learning to create websites, etc. Right now, focus on your market, your
product ideas, etc.

Truly, Laura

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