Where to look for ideas

Do you have a particular expertise? It doesn’t matter what it is or how restrictive it may appear to you because you can bet your life there are thousands of other Internet users who would place a value your expert knowledge. Is it a skill you would be prepared to share and make some money from?

EVALUATE YOUR EXPERTISE

Ask yourself these questions.

o       Do other people show an interest in your expertise?

o       Would it have an appeal in cyberspace?

o       Is it marketable?

o       Could you sell it on the Internet?

If you answer yes on all four counts, you have just created a benchmark upon which to plan, launch and manage an online Internet business.

LOOK RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU

Here are three actual case studies to illustrate that looking right in front of you may well be all that is required to find a suitable idea.

1. Seeing further than the end of his nose paid off handsomely for Douglas Maxwell.  Douglas has been running the four-star Craigroyston Guest House in Pitlochry, Scotland, for over seventeen years. Two years ago he signed on to the Net as a novice and to enhance his limited knowledge of computer facilities embarked on a series of training courses covering word processing, spreadsheets, databases and desktop publishing. Midway through his instruction he hit upon the idea of using the Internet to attract visitors to his guest house. It didn’t take long to discover that cyber communications were tailor-made for this business and now thirty per cent of the Craigroyston reservations are effected via Douglas’ Web site.

2. ‘Angie’s List’ was conceived and developed out a housewife’s frustration over no-shows and poor service from local trades people. So incensed was she that she set about researching, compiling and grading her own list of dependable operations. Like Topsy, Angie’s List just grew and grew. It now has a global significance as it contains thousands of recommended contractors in over 250 categories. You can learn more about ‘Angie’s List’ in Chapter 5 where it features as opportunity Number 20 in a range of tried and tested ideas for an online business.

www.angieslist.com

3. Your author has a friend in Preston, England, who is about to launch an interesting new home based Internet business. He’s retired now but for over forty years he worked as a sales representative and stayed at B&Bs all over the United Kingdom; not just once or twice but on repeat visits spanning all of his working life. Now he is putting his accumulated knowledge and experience to good use by constructing a Web site that will list in excess of 1000 recommended B&Bs from Lands End to John O’Groats. His market focuses on overseas visitors and (resulting from initial research) he has already formed valuable contacts in over 30 foreign tourist boards. The competition will be formidable but he has one distinct advantage over all of them - he’s actually stayed in most of the establishments for which he will be providing details of location, amenities, rates, availability, etc.

CONSULT WEB SITE DIRECTORIES

Another good source of information is the plethora of Web site directories now available in bookstores and public reference libraries. One of the best where I live is UK Directory, the definitive guide to British sites on the Internet. It contains 70 pages listing over 2000 business Web sites and the range of interests and expertise covered is staggering. Spend some time researching similar directories because a good number of the entries relate to home, shop and office based operations.

If you have a skill you could determine whether:

o       Other people are doing it on the Internet

o       How they are doing it

If you’re looking for an idea you could establish:

o       What’s on offer

o       Whether there’s anything that appeals to you

USE THE INTERNET SEARCH FACILITIES

Using the search engines is another excellent option for sourcing ideas - but stick with the majors - otherwise you’ll spend a lot of time going around in circles and getting nowhere fast. For best results, concentrate your initial searches on such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Fast, Lycos, Teoma, Alta Vista, Jeeves. Here an example of what you might expect to find when you use keywords and key phrases such as ‘bizops’, ‘Internet bizops’, Internet - business opportunities’, ‘Internet - affiliate programs’.

Yahoo>business and economy>small business information> (keywords: Internet - affiliate programs)>26 sites

Just a few simple manoeuvres, a few seconds of your time, and you’ve hit the jackpot with 26 business opportunity sites (try out the underlined formula above for yourself and you’ll see what I mean). Best of all, the very first on the list fetches up ‘Commission Junction’ http://www.cj.com offering a choice of 396 free affiliate reseller programs with leading Internet retailers.

ü      Use the major search engines when you source for opportunities

ü      Employ key words and phrases

ü      Follow the path of the Yahoo example illustrated above

ü      Create your own path e.g. ‘business opportunities- Internet’

ü      Print out those opportunities that interest you

THERE’S PURE GOLD IN CLASSIFIED ADS

There are literally hundreds of thousands of classified ad Web sites on the Internet; some paid-for, but most of them free of charge. They all represent valuable sources of information for the opportunity seeker in search of ideas. Here is a list of five such sites with aggregated users running into millions:

Micro

http://linkplace.com/micro.cgi/1025-7585

SmallBizFFA

http://www.smallbizffa.net/ffa.pl?10100

Ad Network

http://www.adnetwork.nu/st/2635967.htm

Leading Edge

http://www.Websitings.com/classads/sites/2639315.htm

FFANet

http://www.ffanet.com/links/jim333.htm

VIRTUAL VISITS TO SPECIALIST OPPORTUNITY SHOPS PAY OUT BIG

We visited a specialist opportunity house when Yahoo took us to ‘Commission Junction’. Now let your computer direct you on virtual visits to several of the dozens of other such operations to be found on the Internet. Here you will find opportunities in every conceivable product category.

While you’re on the way, stop off at Jim Daniel’s site http://www.bizWeb2000.com

Jim quit his job in 1996 to become a home based operator and is now acknowledged internationally as one of the leading Internet gurus. His book Insider Internet Marketing sells all over the world and his helpful cyberspace marketing tips have assisted over 100,000 small and home based businesses to profit online.

ü      Specialist opportunity houses make a living out of promoting other people’s programs.

ü      Just one visit can net you hundreds of opportunities to consider.

IDENTIFY THE OPENINGS

As you progress in your searches the data will begin to accumulate and this is when you should take time out in a preliminary endeavor to identify those openings with which you feel most comfortable. Don’t make any hard and fast decisions yet; just pencil in a few possibilities.

REVIEW EVERY OPTION THAT COMES YOUR WAY

Leave this until the very last and at least until after you have read through the next few chapters. Discard nothing because you will need most if not all of your located opportunities for an important exercise in test marketing.

DISCOVERING GEMS IN YOUR ELECTRONIC MAILBOXES

Once you are up and running you will soon create an Internet presence, and your incoming email will gradually begin to increase in both quantity and quality. Make a point of checking all of your messages because you will discover little pieces of gold nestling among them: You will receive invitations to join affiliate reseller programs of course, but you’ll find more, much more in your emails: tips on free training, free software, free mailing lists, free virtual office suites, etc.

I was only a few weeks into my own Internet venture when I received an email offering me free participation in a ten week course of instruction on Internet marketing. The invitation emanated from an acknowledged leader in the field of cyberspace training and the knowledge I gleaned from this exercise proved extremely useful. It filled in many gaps in my appreciation of the wonder that is the Internet and the instruction cost me absolutely nothing.

Here is the syllabus for my free training course.

• Introduction to Internet marketing
• Generating traffic with free reports
• Setting up your own free classified ad sites
• Effecting sales via your ‘signature’
• Composing persuasive email messages
• Configuring email programs
• Where to find safe free opt-in lists
• How to send out bulk mail without fear of spamming
• Marketing free affiliate programs
• The pros and cons of downline clubs
• Offline marketing

There are many other free Internet training courses available. Look for invitations in your incoming email.

ü      Never trash your initial emails before reading them through.

ü      They will increase in quantity and quality as you progress and you will soon learn which to keep and which to bin.

ü      Feasible ideas for your embryo enterprise will just drop into your mailbox.

ü      Look out for offers of free training, free Web sites, free software etc.

As you progress in your search for an idea

As you undertake your initial sourcing forays into the cyberspace marketplace, you will come across several enticing looking propositions. If you look closely at them once more you will almost certainly find that they all have one factor in common.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT SELLS BEST ON THE INTERNET?

Anything and everything, which can be converted into an electronic format will sell on the Internet. Why? Simply this: the produce can be downloaded into the recipient’s computer instantly. When someone makes the crucial decision to buy, they can’t wait to get their hands on the merchandise. When that someone buys something on the Internet and it can be converted into an electronic format they can have it immediately; just as soon as they’ve handed over their credit card details.

Which types of selling proposition are of most interest to people who buy on the Internet? Whatever they perceive will make them smarter, happier, richer, healthier, more attractive and more popular; anything in fact that promises an enhanced lifestyle.

The single factor in common with all of these propositions (and with the majority of the opportunities you will encounter in your initial sourcing) is information, and information is the product category you would do well to focus on in your home based Internet business.

ü      Information products are the top sellers on the Internet.

ü      Anything that can be converted into an electronic format is a front runner.

ü      Lifestyle enhancement produce attracts Internet buyers.

ü      Instant receipt of purchase equals customer satisfaction.

When you come to analyze the results of your initial searches

Do most of the opportunities center on providing specialist expertise by way of information produce? Do some of them have to do with reselling communications software, training programs, electronic publications? It would be most surprising if you hadn’t at least encountered the propagation of information programs.

To illustrate the point, look at this recent survey published by the Harvard Business School, a survey that lists the top dozen affiliate reseller opportunity categories on the Internet:

1.    Information

2.    Books (electronic and hard copy formats)

3.    Communications

4.    Internet training

5.    Electronic publishing

6.    Software programs

7.    Educational programs

8.    Online shopping malls

9.    Personals/dating services

10.           Credit card facilities

11.           Banking

12.           Gaming

Information is the core product marketed in almost every Web site category you can locate on the Internet; for example: air, rail and sea travel, tourism, hotels, banking, insurance, postal and freight delivery tracking, credit card services, online malls, training, etc. Moreover, those sites selling tangibles are totally reliant on the information they provide because prospects cannot see, touch, or test the merchandise on offer: cars, furniture, furnishings, foodstuffs, clothes, etc.

STEPS AND STAIRS TO FINDING AN IDEA

1. When searching for ideas for your business, start first with an evaluation of your own expertise.

2. Look right in front of you. The best ideas are often so obvious that are discarded with due consideration.

3. Consult Web site directories.

4. You can waste a lot of time on indiscriminate use of search engines. Stick with the majors and be precise in your keywords/key phrases.

5. Review the classified ad Web sites listed in this chapter and sign up for a few while you’re there. It costs nothing to join.

6. It is possible to find just what you’re looking for with a visit or two to the specialist opportunity houses.

7. Identify the openings, review the options, but don’t discard anything just yet.

8. Your electronic mailboxes are goldmines of opportunity: programs, software, and training. And all for free.

9. Information products are top sellers on the Internet.

EXERCISE

If you haven’t already done so, complete the following:

ü      Undertake initial basic desk research at your local lending library.

ü      Spend some time on the major search engines, using effective key words and phrases.

ü      Visit several classified ad Web sites.

ü      Look over everything that the ‘Commission Junction’ Web site has to offer.

http://howtoproducts-xl.com