How To Make Money Solving People’s Problem

24 hours left here on the farm and then I’m off again on another 7-day tour…

…this time to Germany for a jam-packed schedule including Oktoberfest in Munich followed by some race car driving.

(Wait, that doesn’t sound safe. I guess we’ll see…).

And while all of this goes on, I’ll be making some money through my “online oil wells”.

You see, part of my vision is to have over 200 products by the end of 2012, and 300 by 2013.

What’s the point/benefit?

Multiple streams of income and multiple ways for customers to get into my follow-up sales funnel sequences. If they see the massive value in my first product, then they will want to get more help and results from my other products.

This week alone I’ve added over 1000 new customers because I had 5 affiliates promoting 5 different offers.

If you can’t win by having a big idea, another way to win is volume. It’s not as good as having a BIG IDEA (nothing beats this), but it’s a decent replacement as you keep looking for the big idea…and you might even stumble across the BIG IDEA based on feedback to one of the many products you created.

It’s not even that much work to create all of these solutions to my customer’s problems.

As my friend and Virtual Mastermind Member, Rick Kaselj, said about creating products:

“Looking back, I think my first product was the hardest as I over-thought everything and spent way to much time and energy worrying about details instead of just getting it done.

“And I also should have realized that my greatest work would not be my first product. Each product would be part of the journey. No different than Steven King, Johnny Cash, Denzel Washington and other content creating machines. They get better with everything they create.

“With every product it gets easier. Much like learning how to drive a standard vehicle (manual) or ride a bike.

“Each product is part of the journey. Enjoy the journey.”

Well said, Rick.

Okay, now let’s show you how to identify the right market so you can create lots of products, solve people’s problems, and make money all day and all night, no matter where you are.

Q: My question is, how narrow should you enter into a niche? What would be indicators of enough potential (search volume, other products selling, etc)? Thanks! – Marc

Answer:
In reality, ‘narrow enough’ is that someone else is profitable in that market. If everyone is out of business, that’s a sign. If nobody is advertising on Google Adwords, that’s a BAD SIGN. Many people make the mistake of thinking it’s good. But in reality it means that there aren’t enough paying customers.

As an example, Google ‘choosing the right dog’ and you’ll only find paid sponsors from those who want to sell something else (so those ads will be ineffective).

‘Big enough’ depends on the price point of the product. The smaller, more precise problem you’re trying to solve, the more they may be willing to pay. The bigger the market, the more price pressure there may be.

Q: The biggest problem that I personally have is just making the initial decision on a online niche. In the offline world, I followed the typical path of becoming an expert in various things first and then figuring out the market… so I focused on me first, instead of the market.

Any thoughts on how to determine a starting point are welcome. Or any suggestions on how to choose a niche/subniche that will be profitable quickly? I realize this is a broad question. Thank you for any input.” – Marc

Answer from Mike Whitfield, CTT:
I’m still learning myself, but for me, I chose my product, Workout Finishers, due to several things:

1) I’m very passionate about them and love writing them

2) I know the subject very well and how they are utilized, so I can leverage my time by creating more products easily.

3) Based on feedback from my offline clients, this product needed to be in the market.

So, my advice is choose something you are very passionate about, you know very well, what your offline clients rave about, and then carve that niche really deep.

Also, there’s nothing wrong with choosing one of the niche’s and seeing where it goes. That’s the whole point of failing forward…You try something and if it doesn’t work, at least you’ve learned something.

I suggest just choosing one and follow Craig’s proven formula.

If you find after a while that it isn’t something that interests you or it’s not a viable product, then you’ll know and so you can switch gears. It’s best to start lean though… Ie. Don’t drop a ton of resources into it right away.

Q: I have what I think is a big idea and I articulate this through my USP. Can your USP, big idea, and hook be one in the same? – Dr. Kevin

Answer :
Dr. Kevin, yes. For example, back in the day, Domino’s USP was the first to offer “fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes or less”.

That’s the USP, big idea, and hook all in one.

However, your big idea and USP are the items that differentiate yourself from the others in the marketplace. Think of it as your elevator pitch for the niche you are going for.

And then Jeff Schneider, our COO at ETR, chimed in with:

“In my opinion, they are similar and the Big Idea is really a more thorough analysis of why your USP is needed in the marketplace.

The hook, however, is the emotional engagement you use to draw customers toward you. In some cases, the hook is a tease toward your Big Idea. My guess is that it’s not the same thing. Big Idea and USP focus on the benefit your business provides where the hook is going to identify the core need that attracts people to it.

Big Idea = benefit    —-  Hook = emotional connection”

Thanks Jeff. Great team work to cover these questions on the ETR Virtual Mastermind Forum.

Choose wisely,

Craig Ballantyne

“Before you are a leader, success is all about yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch