How to Find Niche Keywords

Affiliate Marketing Kings is here to help you to get a grip on finding your niche. It looks that that is one of the greatest obstacles that people have in starting their online business. If that is a difficult subject for you, you will find yourself slipping and sliding through hard times instead of getting a firm grip on the basics.

Let me tell you a secret, because it looks like that people think that there is this “secret” niche out there and once you would have find that, your big profitable online business will fly. Here is the secret: “there is absolutely NO secret”! I can tell you it has less to do with what you promote and more to do with how you promote it.

For example, if someone was looking to buy a Kindle Reading Device and you direct them to a Burgundy Kindle Cover, you are not going to make a sale.  Although relevant at first glance (both are Kindle items), they are not precise to what people are looking for.  Was this the niche or the way it was promoted?
The WAY IT WAS PROMOTED!

To get a good grip on a niche it would be good that you begin with promoting something that you have a strong interest in or a hobby in. The reason for this is that when you are interested in something, you are a consumer. You understand the audience because YOU ARE the audience…meaning that you will be able to build more relevant and targeted campaigns with half of the research (than if you were promoting something you were not interested in).
So, let’s talk about how you can find niches. Again, please remember that it is not the niche that makes you a profit; it is the way you promote it.
Although you can go looking in stores and magazines and listening to people to hear what they are interested in, we are going and look online for our niche, ok?
The place I usually start when looking for a niche is dmoz:
www.dmoz.org
This place is everything you need for niche marketing…you can find just about anything within this directory. Take time to look around and be alert when something stands out to you.
First you choose your niche market and then you will look for products to fill the void and turn the discovery into a gold mine! There are a few resources that you can take advantage of to easily find information about niche markets.  You can take advantage of focus groups and social networking sites.  Below are a few examples.
(1) Groups.google.com (2) Groups.yahoo.com


In Wealthy Affiliate University we are constantly in contact with other members through the Forum, and one question that always comes up is “How do I find Niche Keywords?”. The usual definition for a “niche keyword” is a search term that receives high volume traffic, is very targeted to the product/service you are promoting, but does not have many advertisers promoting it.
I like to say it this way: “A niche keyword is one that contains 3+ terms and is directly relevant to the landing page and product that you are promoting.”
OK, let me walk you through this.  This is NOT a niche keyword:
“diet review”
And this is a niche keyword:
“low carb diet reviews”

The problem with the first search term is that “diet review” could relate to any type of diet…and this is not what you want.  These people are very early along in their research and likely do not have an idea what they want or should be looking for yet.
The second keyword however is much more targeted and will be more profitable.  I know this just by looking at the term as it fits the criteria.
The people already know they are interested in a “low carb” type of diet…now they are looking to see which low carb diet they should go for.  If you deliver this information, then you will have a winning campaign.  Relevance converts!
This is just a simple example, but this sort of “niche keyword” marketing should be applied to any industry that you promote.

(1) Over 3 words in length
(2) Relevant to what you are promoting
(3) Relevant to your website

Keyword research is a highly profitable component within any successful Internet marketer’s repertoire.  We have keywords that generate several thousands of dollars each month in revenue because they are marketed correctly.  A niche keyword doesn’t convert; it is all about the marketing!
If you take anything from this, it is the understanding that it is not about the “niche”…it is about how you target that niche with your ‘marketing’.  This may be a huge revelation for many (there is nothing wrong with that), but you can make a living with pretty much any niche online.
In other words, it is not about what (the product) you are promoting, it is about how well you understand who (the niche) you are promoting to.

So, I hope you will get a grip on your “niche finding adventures”.

3 Steps On Starting an Online Income Pt 2

 By now you should have purchased a domain, updated the DNS settings, and researched 10 Internet marketing related concepts. I hope that you found one that suited you ok.

Now, we are going to be gearing towards getting your website up, choosing the look of your site, getting your site up on your domain, and then doing some other cool stuff with the “plug-ins” inside your WordPress site administration area.

Step 1: Create a new blog
To build the site/your blog, you go login to your webhosting and install WordPress on your server. This is a free install.
I can tell you here how to get started on wordpress, but I think you are better off with the tutorials that they provide. There is a forum available where people will answer all the technical questions you might have.
You can also choose to become a member of Wealthy Affiliate as I did where you will be guided step by step through the process. WA has just released their amazing new WordPress tool!  Create WordPress blogs in seconds…comes fully supported with hosting and is a 3-step process to get your very own WordPress blog up and running!
Ok, then you will choose your ‘Blog Name’ and ‘Theme’ in the next step. Choose a theme that you like. A theme can always be altered later on so don’t waste too much time choosing one…try to do it in a maximum of 15 minutes. There are so many nice themes, but for now just make a choice.
Step 2: Activate Plug-ins
Somebody explained to me what a plug-in was like this: it is like all the attachments on a vacuum cleaner. With the attachments you clean up the little corners and the stairway and all those things. That is what a plug-in means. It makes the blog more manageable plus you can do some cool stuff that you couldn’t do without them. Makes sense?
So, plug-ins are “add ons” in WordPress that make it very easy for you to improve the functionality of your website in many ways.  WordPress Plug-ins are open source, meaning that people from all over the world develop them for the platform. They are also free!
You will learn a lot on www.learn.wordpress.com but when you would install a WordPress site on your domain within your website or Wealthy Affiliate you would notice that they would have already installed 5 of the top plug-ins for you.
Here are some very important plug ins though
1. cbnet Ping Optimizer : Saves your wordpress blog from getting tagged as ping spammer.
2. Akismet: Used by millions, Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from comment and track-back spam.
3. Robots Meta: This plugin allows you to add all the appropriate robots meta tags to your pages and feeds, disable unused archives and nofollow unnecessary links.
4. W3 Total Cache: The fastest and most complete WordPress performance plugin. Dramatically improve the speed and user experience of your site.
5. All in one SEO... This one is going to be a little bit more complicated than the other ones, but don’t worry, I will get back on this.

Step 3: Create email account
The next step in the process is to set up your own unique email address for the domain that you have purchased, and this will help to add a professional touch to your campaign, as well as providing your visitors with a point of contact.
To create your email account you will first need to login to the host service you have created from the main hosting page.
Please note that your login details will be:
Login – your domain name or username (example: marksmarketinghub.com)
Password – your password
(You can find this information in the confirmation e-mail you received from your webhosting   service).
As noted in the “Control Panel Info” (Cpanel) on the hosting page.
Once logged into the Cpanel, at the top of the screen there is link to “Create Mail Account”, and from there you simply have to enter a few details and your email address will be created.
If you require further help with setting up your email address, follow the steps indicated by your hosting service or consult the FAQ in the cpanel section.
Well done…you’ve made excellent progress today!
The one last thing that we suggest you do today is to spend some time getting familiar with the WordPress admin area. For many people it can be daunting getting used to a new interface, but WordPress is actually very easy to use once you get familiar with your surroundings.

Todays Task Overview:
(1) Install Your WordPress Express Site (theme, name, install)
(2) Activate Plug-ins
(3) Set-up the All-in-One SEO Plug-in for your site (read tutorial)
(4) Set-up an email account for your domain in the cpanel e-mail section
(5) Become familiar with the WordPress admin area
Have Fun in Getting A Grip on Affiliate Marketing; very important!
Thank you for your reading!

3 Steps On Online Income Pt 2

How did the domain selection task go for you? You can read part 1 by clicking here.

By now you should have purchased a domain, updated the DNS settings, and researched 10 Internet marketing related concepts. I hope that you found one that suited you ok.

Now, we are going to be gearing towards getting your website up, choosing the look of your site, getting your site up on your domain, and then doing some other cool stuff with the “plug-ins” inside your WordPress site administration area.

Step 1: Create a new blog
To build the site/your blog, you go login to your webhosting and install WordPress on your server. This is a free install.
I can tell you here how to get started on wordpress, but I think you are better off with the tutorials that they provide. There is a forum available where people will answer all the technical questions you might have.
You can also choose to become a member of Wealthy Affiliate where you will be guided step by step through the process. WA has just released their amazing new WordPress tool to create WordPress blogs in seconds and comes fully supported with hosting and is a 3-step process to get your very own WordPress blog up and running!
Then you will choose your ‘Blog Name’ and ‘Theme’ in the next step. Choose a theme that you like. A theme can always be altered later on so don’t waste too much time choosing one…try to do it in a maximum of 15 minutes. There are so many nice themes, but for now just make a choice.

Step 2: Activate Plug-ins
Somebody explained to me what a plug-in was like this: it is like all the attachments on a vacuum cleaner. With the attachments you clean up the little corners and the stairway and all those things. That is what a plug-in means. It makes the blog more manageable plus you can do some cool stuff that you couldn’t do without them. Makes sense?
So, plug-ins are “add ons” in WordPress that make it very easy for you to improve the functionality of your website in many ways.  WordPress Plug-ins are open source, meaning that people from all over the world develop them for the platform. They are also free!
You will learn a lot on www.learn.wordpress.com but when you would install a WordPress site on your domain within your website or Wealthy Affiliate you would notice that they would have already installed 5 of the top plug-ins for you.
Here are some very important plug ins though
1. cbnet Ping Optimizer : Saves your wordpress blog from getting tagged as ping spammer.
2. Akismet: Used by millions, Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from comment and track-back spam.
3. Robots Meta: This plugin allows you to add all the appropriate robots meta tags to your pages and feeds, disable unused archives and nofollow unnecessary links.
4. W3 Total Cache: The fastest and most complete WordPress performance plugin. Dramatically improve the speed and user experience of your site.
5. All in one SEO... This one is going to be a little bit more complicated than the other ones, but don’t worry, I will get back on this.

Step 3: Create email account
The next step in the process is to set up your own unique email address for the domain that you have purchased, and this will help to add a professional touch to your campaign, as well as providing your visitors with a point of contact.
To create your email account you will first need to login to the host service you have created from the main hosting page.
Please note that your login details will be:
Login – your domain name or username (example: marksmarketinghub.com)
Password – your password
(You can find this information in the confirmation e-mail you received from your webhosting   service).
As noted in the “Control Panel Info” (Cpanel) on the hosting page.
Once logged into the Cpanel, at the top of the screen there is link to “Create Mail Account”, and from there you simply have to enter a few details and your email address will be created.
If you require further help with setting up your email address, follow the steps indicated by your hosting service or consult the FAQ in the cpanel section.
Well done…you’ve made excellent progress today!
The one last thing that we suggest you do today is to spend some time getting familiar with the WordPress admin area. For many people it can be daunting getting used to a new interface, but WordPress is actually very easy to use once you get familiar with your surroundings.

Task Overview:
(1) Install Your WordPress Express Site (theme, name, install)
(2) Activate Plug-ins
(3) Set-up the All-in-One SEO Plug-in for your site (read tutorial)
(4) Set-up an email account for your domain in the cpanel e-mail section
(5) Become familiar with the WordPress admin area
Have Fun; very important!
Thank you for your reading, and look out for part 3!

Are You Prepared for Self-Employment?

There must be many people around you who speak about self employment in glowing terms. No wonder you might be looking at jumping into the self employment bus too. But it might be too soon for you. Pause and think. Are you ready for self employment yet?
A difficult question to answer, right? But wait, here are some of the things that can help you to assess whether you are prepared or not.

1. How informed are you about the business you are planning to enter?
If you are going to employ yourself, one of the biggest drawbacks you would face will be that there will be no one to guide you in there. That is the reason why you yourself should be informed as much as possible. The barest knowledge you would require is to see how the production of your business goes, how strong the market is, what kind of strategies are adopted for selling, what the prices of the products are, and how many skilled and unskilled services will be needed for accomplishing the task. Now, you have to make sure you know the answers of at least these many things, and if you don’t it is better that you work for someone else for a little more time till you get the information.

2. Are there resources at your disposal?
You just cannot enter into a self employment business if you do not have the resources to begin. You will probably need a workspace, a computer, some stationery, some kinds of specialized equipment, packaging materials, and there are so many other things that are specific to the business you are planning to enter. You have to make certain you have access to these things before you take the big step of quitting your day job and entering into a self employment venture.

3. What are the financial aspects of your self employment opportunity?
Money will always be a prime concern, and you have to make sure you have the right kind of money before you begin. Make a calculation about the kind of money you will want. For self employment, at a minimum, you will need to have rolling money for at least the first three months, and some money kept aside for contingencies. Many financial institutions give money for self employment ventures. If you do not have your money, you should be at least equipped with the knowledge of where and how to get it.

4. How much of the work will you do, and how much will you delegate to others?
Even if it is a self employment thing, you must know that you will not be able to do everything yourself. There might be some specific points of the affair that you will have to give to someone else. Make a rethink on how many people you will be able to afford for your business, and how you will get these people.

These are the basic things on which you must be prepared when you are planning to be self employed. If you do not have all these things ready at your disposal, you are taking a very big risk quitting your safe job and starting your own business.