We have already covered 8 steps to start your online venture; however, the odds are high that you won’t be the first and last to enter that particular niche. In order to really start making money and create some sort of authority, we need to figure out:
By far the most important step is figuring out who your competition is. What are these people doing, how are they trying to make money, and does it seem like they have a good following? You can do this by performing a Google search. See why you think they rank high for certain keywords.
It is important to remember that just because they are competition does not mean that they can’t benefit you? Feel free to ask them some questions. Most people online like to feed their ego, and asking them questions on how you can be successful is definitely stroking their ego.
Who are the top players in your niche? While these people may be a little bit more preoccupied, it does not hurt to try and shoot them an email. It would be best to constantly track the content they put out. The best method to do this is through an RSS reader, such as Google Reader.
Probably the best and somewhat easiest way to gain authority and notoriety is by actively being involved in message boards and forums. You will usually find that most of these community members are the real fanatics of the particular niche. If you can make a name for yourself with them, then it will go long ways to gaining traffic and authority to your site.
There are so many different type of affiliate programs out there (AM Certified Affiliates), and you are almost doing yourself a disservice if you don’t sign up with them. Your affiliate manager has tons of experience with gaining exposure, and they are dying to help you out. After all the more money your bring in, the more money they make as well.
The internet is definitely moving from text to other multimedia outlets, such as podcast and videos. Scour services like YouTube and iTunes to see what is already available. Depending on your niche, you may be the first to break into this class of your niche.
Bottom Line: So we have covered the basis of trying to figure out how we should go about trying to overtake others already in the niche
Tags: planning, research, start a business, Steps to Success, Tips