Obviously, I am starting a little late but I’m sure I’ll catch up. The post is a summary of the concepts presented on Day 1 of the 30 Day Challenge in 2008 followed by a checklist of action items.

Market Research, Traffic, Conversion and Product

Ed calls these four elements the “Magnificent Symphony in Four Parts” and stresses that it is vital to follow it in sequence.

  1. Market Research: The first step is to test an idea of a product or service to determine whether a market for it exists or not. The research (mostly free) can help identify the product, its demand and the price point among other things.
  2. Traffic: Traffic is the lifeblood of an online business. The Thirty Day Challenge training shows you how to get free or cheap traffic.
  3. Conversion: Conversion is the art of translating traffic into dollars. The Thirty Day Challenge training shows you different methods of conversion and how to make money while testing.
  4. Product: Product comes last because the market will tell you what product or service they want. The key is engaging them interactively.


Getting Ideas

  1. Amazon: Amazon is a treasure trove of ideas. Go to Books -> Magazines & Newspapers. Scroll down to see the Categories section and look at the best-selling magazines in that section. Firstly, two caveats for choosing a niche 1) topic that interests you and 2) a small niche to start off with. Secondly, take note of how many magazines are in this category and how frequently are the magazines published. I choose scrapbooking as a topic and there were 15 magazines most of which is published on a monthly basis. This tells me that there must be a sizeable number of advertisers spending money in the marketplace and there is money to be made here.

    Scrapbooking niche magazines in Amazon
  2. Google News: Now do a Google news search on the topic you have identified. Thereafter, click the News Alert icon (highlighted in red) to receive news alerts within your niche via email daily (recommended), weekly or as it happens. Alternatively, you can add this into your RSS Reader by clicking the orange RSS icon on the address bar (highlighted in blue).

    Google news alert via email

    Google news alert via RSS in Flock web browser


Action Items for Day 1 - Getting Ideas using Amazon and Google News

  1. Understand the concept and sequence of marketing research, traffic, conversion and product.
  2. Use Amazon to generate 5 to 10 ideas for various niches.
  3. Use Google News alerts via email or RSS to stay on top of the niches.


Share on social media sites:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google