One of the biggest mistakes I see new marketers make is to jump into a niche or market without proper research. In the physical world, most people would never dive head first into murky water without first checking to see how deep it is, right? However I’ve been asked by marketers numerous times that are trying to figure out why they aren’t make enough sales online. The first thing I ask is how did they choose their niche. Most of the time, it was because they had a “great idea” that they really liked, or persued something they were passionate about. I then ask what type of market research they did. This is usually where they get kind of embarrased and admit they didn’t do much research.

OOPS!

I’m not saying that your “great idea” or favorite hobby can’t be profitable. They most certainly can be. However, you MUST do your research first in order to make the best decision! I’ve collected 13 of my favorite ways to research niche/market viability.

Google Trends

http://www.google.com/trends
Obviously, Google is the search authority, so their tools are always going to be instrumental in your market research. Google Trends is a great place to start. It shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.

Google Keyword Tool

http://www.google.com/sktool/
When you have various ideas regarding niches or products you are thinking about they Keyword Tool is a great way to see how many people are searching for your keywords, and also it will suggest other related keywords that will give you additional niche ideas!

Google Insights

http://www.google.com/insights/search/
Google Insights takes your research to the global level, and breaks down search interest with visual tool that you can see various countries/regions, times, etc. A great way to see if your niche/market is just a local thing, or if it has worldwide interest.

Yahoo Buzz Trends

http://buzz.yahoo.com/
Although at first Yahoo Buzz seems to be mostly pop culture and celebrity focuses at first (hey, that is what a lot of peopel search for!), you can use the menu to choose various categories that you want to explore. It’s just one more way to identify trends and markets.

Microsoft Keyword Forecast Tool

http://adlab.msn.com/Keyword-Forecast/default.aspx
This is a very interesting one that I just recently started using. It actually uses Microsoft’s data to help predict continued level of interest in various keywords. It can help you see if your target keywords are on a potential decline, or hopefully, a huge increase!

Trends Buzz

http://trendsbuzz.com/
This is a cool place where various other trend websites are combined into up-to-the-minute information about top searches!

Ebay Pulse

http://pulse.ebay.com/
This one is pretty self explanatory. It shows what people are searching/buying on Ebay. Hellooooo. This is what people want! These are buyers, saying we want this stuff!

Shopping.com Consumer Demand Index

http://www.shopping.com/top_searches
Wow, now this is an awesome one! You can see the top 100 hottest product markets and emerging trends. Make sure you use this one. It gets updated very regularly, so it doesn’t hurt to come back here once or twice a month and see what’s hot.

Amazon Gifts Most Wanted

http://www.amazon.com/gp/gift-central
Thanks to a friend for a tip on this one. On the main Amazon page, goto “Gifts & Wish Lists”. Then on the left hand side of the page, look for “Most Popular, Most Gifted, Most Wished For”. These are the things people plan to buy, bought for someone else, or are asking someone else to buy for them. Just like Ebay Pulse, this is a great way to identify things that buyers are hungry for.

Amazon Movers N Shakers

http://www.amazon.com/gp/movers-and-shakers/
Another part of Amazon that helps you idenfity hot products. Sometimes these things can seem rather random, they might not be specific niches, but you would be surprised at some of the great ideas you can get while browsing through here.

WordTracker Labs Keyword Question Tool

http://labs.wordtracker.com/keyword-questions
Love this one! Once you have some simple product ideas, niches, or markets, punch the basic keywords into this tool and it will show you related questions that people are asking the search engines! If you can supply a product that answers these questions for people, that is a great place to start for identifying a niche.

Spyfu PPC Spying

http://www.spyfu.com/
This one might be a little on the advanced side for some, but it can be very powerful. There are other tools out there like this, some paid, some free. This one has a free option. What it allows you to do is put in a specific website or search term and then see what PPC ads are being run for it and how much they are paying! Now that is incredible. This can show you exactly what your competitors are up to and how much they are spending. Don’t be afraid of competition. If other people are out there selling it, that means is IS profitable, which is exactly what you want to know.

Nichewatch

http://www.nichewatch.com/
Another way to check out your competitors. Very cool free tool that tells you what sort of SEO techniques are being used for a specific domain, like backlinks etc.

Well guys, this is a great start to your research. I know it may seem like a lot to do right now, but it is WELL worth the time you spend. Following these tips can help avoid kicking yourself later for getting into a market that will keep you struggling. If you have your own special research techniques that you didn’t see listed here, I’d love to hear about them. Leave me a comment or email me via my blog!

Think you know the best day and time to send your email newsletter?

Ever wonder if your fellow email marketers are all sending at the same time you do?

Convinced your open rate is too low (or amazingly high)?

Some recent statistics pulled from all AWeber users may help you answer these questions:

What Kind of Open Rates Are People Getting?

If you’re sending HTML emails, you probably use your open rate to help gauge your success.

Even though it’s not a perfect measure of whether people are actually opening and reading your emails, it’s useful as a relative measure:

If it goes up over a short period of time, more people are probably reading

If it falls over a short period of time, it’s almost certain fewer people are reading.

Plus, all other things being equal, it can give you some motivation (if your open rates are lower than other senders’) or satisfaction (if your rates are higher).

So, here goes…

When Is/Was The Best Day To Send?

You’ll often hear (at least, I often hear) that Tuesday is the optimal day to send, because on Monday people are catching up from the weekend, and that on Tuesday morning you’ll have their undivided attention before they jump into their work for the upcoming week.

Do the numbers back up that theory? Let’s see.

The breakdown of open rates by day of the week:

Last month, Tuesday was actually the second-worst day to send, at least if you’re measuring by open rates.

(While we’re breaking assumptions, I should point out this, too: the hour of the day that got the best open rate was not 8-9AM, or 9-10AM, but in fact 2-3PM Eastern Time — email newsletters sent during that hour last month enjoyed a 19.1% open rate.)

Does This Mean I Should Switch My Campaigns To Thursdays?

In a word: No.

In both March and February, Thursday newsletters got the 3rd-worst opens vs. the rest of the week.

I hesitated a little to publish these stats, because I’m concerned that people might flock to sending their newsletters at the day or time that happened to get the best results lately.

Please, don’t drastically change your sending times/days just because you see that the average last month, or any month, happened to be higher on a different day or time.

Yes, you might eventually be able to shift your sending schedule, or split test some broadcasts, but if you up and move everything, you may throw off subscribers who are used to hearing from you at the usual time.

“It’s So Busy, Nobody Goes There Anymore”

To get at the other reason for not shifting your sending based on these stats, let’s paraphrase Yogi Berra (see above).

If everyone switches their sending schedule to send on say, Thursday, then recipients will start getting a ton of email that day, and start paying less attention to each individual email.

One possible reason for Thursday’s success last month may be that it wasn’t as popular as say, Tuesday or Wednesday for sending email:

Those higher-volume days mean more emails in readers’ inboxes, which might contribute to reduced open rates. Following that reasoning, some people may look at the low weekend volume (more email newsletters were sent on Tuesdays than on Saturdays and Sundays combined) and see an opportunity to get their audiences’ undivided attention.

My main point in showing these is to point out that our assumptions about what works are often quite wrong, and that you ultimately have to test for yourself to see what best suits your audience.

Some Inspiration… And Some Help

Are you getting better open rates than this?

If so, GREAT! Give yourself a pat on the back…

…but don’t get complacent. Open rates aren’t the be-all, end-all of email metrics. They don’t guarantee that people are reading your emails, only that they have images turned on and that they probably saw your email for at least a moment.

Plus, there’s always room for improvement, right?

Some ideas that can help you raise your open rates:

Ask people to add you to their address books. Some email programs will display images from senders who are in the recipient’s contact list.

If you are putting pictures in your emails, use the ALT text for those images to pique readers’ interest in what the picture is, so that they enable images. Or, just directly ask readers to turn on images!

Add a picture of yourself to your emails, near/next to your signature. People like seeing your smiling face, and if they see it in one of your emails, they may be more likely to turn on images to see it again later.

Posted by Justin Premick

1. In your sales copy, insure that browsers pay attention to your main points by using formated subheadlines, bullet points, and/or graphics. Many people just skim through text and don’t read it carefully, so you need to have the main ideas jump out at them. Just be careful not to use too many or you risk making the page look cluttered.

2. Keep the sales process as short and simple as possible. Every page inserted into the sales process is a potential chance for the customer to lost interest and click away. Of course it is ok to insert pages such as upgrade offers and upsell/downsell strategies, but make sure you plan your process carefully.

3. Offer “basic” and “full” options to your offers. Some people always want the bargain priced product, and some people always want the top of the line, so having a two-tiered pricing setup gives you the most opportunity to monetize that visitor. Keep it simple and clear. You can also use terms like “lite”, “standard”, “advanced” and “pro”.

4. Earn their trust. Make your company contact info easy to find, and if appropriate, add an “about us” section or page to identify you or your company.

5. If you have one, tell a story. A short, simple, interesting story that vistors can relate to can really grab their attention and convert them into buyers.

6. If it is a high ticket item, for example over $500, offer more than one payment option if possible. This will help you retain potential customers that might not have been able to afford the full price all at once.

7. If you are a member of any certified or accredited business organizations, make sure to display their logo.

8. Near your call to action, have a graphic that reminds your customers that their information is safe and confidential.

9. Make your customer aware that they will be supported. A small box or set of bullet points explaining your support options helps customer feel comfortable with their purchase.

10. A video demonstration of your product is and excellent way to increase conversions. It is pretty easy to use a slide-style presentation with voice over if you don’t want to appear on video yourself. Just make sure the quality of the video and audio is clear and concise.

11. Use specific case studies if possible. Verifiable proof is a great way to earn a potential customers trust.

12. Optimize your site for fast loading. Be aware of your image sizes and other larger files that might slow down load time. Even though your connection might be very fast, many of your customers might still be on a slower connection like dial up.

13. Guide the visitor down the path. Make sure the steps you want them to follow are clear. Confusing navigation is a major reason people get annoyed by a website.

14. Rehash to minimize loss of sales. Have a small box or bit of copy that refreshes your valuable offer and guarantee in the customers mind right at the point sale.

15. It might all make perfect sense to you, but you would be surprised what an inexperienced 3rd party might be confused by. Have someone that is not familiar with your project go through your sales process. Their feedback might surprise you!

16. Highlight your guarantee. A guarantee is a great selling aid, but not if the customer doesn’t notice it!

17. Use real testimonials. You can have both testimonials from users that are similar to your potential clients, as well as testimonials from industry experts or peers. Split test to find out where they are most effective on the page. Many times it is near the call to action.

18. Use specific numbers instead of generalizations. People pay more attention to specifics. Notice that the name of this article is “18 Easy Ways To Increase Your Website And Sales Conversions”, not something generic like “A Bunch Of Ways…”.

Hope you found this information valuable! Feel free to share your own tips in the comments section.

-Devin Chipman

There are many entrepreneurs and small businesses that do very well simply selling a product or a line of products. They start out by learning how to build sites and drive traffic to affiliate offers (someone else’s product). After they have built up a significant list, they build their own product, which increases their profits and expands their business. However, many of them fizzle out around this point, and just continue to make product after product, and never really advance to the next level.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Don’t dig for gold, instead sell shovels.”

When it comes to that time in your business when you decide to reach for a new level, you might consider building a website that provides some form of automated service instead of just a new product. While this type of website typically has a much higher time/money investment into building, it can provide excellent benefits over a simple product.

In the online market, some of the most incredibly successful and fastest growing companies are the ones that provide a service to other businesses. Rather than create products, they created a service that helps other people facilitate their own business. PayPal and Clickbank are excellent examples of 7-8 figure companies that were built simply by providing a service to other companies. If you can find a “need” that many businesses share, it is a very easy sale if you can provide a service that fits that need. A business already knows it has to spend money in order to get things done, unlike a typical consumer that is usually views their spending as a luxury. The business HAS to spend in order to grow, so purchasing services is almost a necessity.

Take a little time out of your day to watch this video. It features David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of the Ruby on Rails framework and Partner at 37Signals giving insight into creating a profitable startup company.

Remember, “Bells and whistles wear off, but usefulness never does.” Create something useful.

Whenever you are trying to sell something you must consider that prospect WILL have reservations about buying your product. On the internet this is even more prevalent because buyers are trying to be cautious of cons and scams so they are very, very careful before clicking your “Buy Now” button. Being aware of this fact gives you (the marketer) the upper hand. You must use your ‘copy’ to pre-empt the prospects objection and gain their trust. This is the only way to “Win the Sale”.

In face to face selling or telemarketing this is a bit easier to do because you can read the customer’s buying and non-buying signals. You can read these signs by the tone in their voice or in the body language they display. So how do you compensate for this lack of interaction within the sales copy on your website? Well, you must put yourself in your customer’s shoes and read your sales page back to yourself over and over again. Take a highlighter and section off the areas that may give rise to objections and reservations from your prospects. Then go back and address those objections by adding the info to your copy or “sales pitch”.

Regardless of how silly an objection may seem to you, they are very real for the prospect and they must be addressed accordingly. There is no generic rebuttal for all objections but there are key phrases that should always be used when rebutting an objection. The main thing to remember is that an objection is an opportunity. The prospect is testing your credibility and product knowledge. It is a chance to shine in the eyes of the prospect but it is inherently also a chance to blow the deal completely. Always be prepared for an objection.

When selling in person or over the phone, you don’t have as much time to think about a perfect rebuttal as you do when you’re writing sales copy. You should have pre-planned responses to all the common objections for your product. “I don’t have the money.” or “I have to talk to my spouse” or “It’s too expensive.” are all examples of common objections that we here regardless of product or market. Your rebuttals to these should be quick and assertive. But some objections are not as easy to handle, especially when they are technical in nature. Remember that your credibility is being tested so you should not guess at the right answer. Instead, make a list of the prospects concerns and after each concern say “What else..” Let the prospect see that you are attentively listening and writing down the questions. Repeat the process until they have no more objections then say “Those are some great points Mr. Prospect, now I’m certain that when I satisfy all of these concerns you I will have earned your business.. Correct?” REMAIN SILENT.. (The first person to talk here gets sold so don’t let it be you) Next reassure them that you will thoroughly investigate each of these points and give them the exact date and time that you will get back with them, to close the deal. This method will always win their trust in comparison to just baffling them with nonsense answers that you made up or guessed.

Remember to always edify the prospect. Their objections may sound common or ridiculous to you, but to them they are real concerns. Make them feel like it’s the first time you’ve ever heard that concern and give them the attention it deserves. Agree with them and their objection, then refute the objection and finally, close the deal. Never argue or take an opposing stand because that will not win over the prospects trust. You get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. This approach disarms the prospect and makes you look like a helpful friend instead of a salesman. Whenever possible, you should relate their concerns to another customer’s similar situation and point out how it was resolved for them. This makes them feel like they are not alone and kicks in “The Jones Effect.”

Omar Martin is an internet marketing and sales expert. Omar & his partner Mike Filsaime help internet marketing newbies succeed online through 1 on 1 mentorship and coaching. You can get their free Cd-Rom delivered right to your doorstep at: InternetSellingForNewbies.com

Indifference is probably the most effective of all 4 impulse factors. I’ve made an incredible amount of money on my ability to convey indifference alone! If you can portray GENUINE indifference to your prospects, they will be compelled to buy now and not even think about asking if they can buy it later.

This is a basic psychological fact and it can’t be denied. If you want to compete with the pro’s then you must master indifference in your sales pitch. You can’t get around it!!

I believe, indifference is best portrayed non verbally, it is instilled in the reader by the context of your written words on a sales page and not by the actual words themselves. Face to face or in “copy”, indifference is basically something you imply. The best way I can explain this is by saying that indifference is the “It doesn’t matter to me.” or “I don’t care.” attitude. It’s the aura that you project which makes the prospect feel like it’s of no worry to you if they choose not to buy. INDIFFERENCE IS VERY IMPORTANT IN SALES!

Indifference is the opposite of being overzealous or begging for the sale. It is the cool, nonchalant persona of “Fonzy” from the television show “Happy Days.” This is extremely powerful simply because you are making the prospect feel like you don’t care if they miss out on the product. Your job is just to show them the product and nothing more.

People inherently want what they can’t have. That is a basic psychological fact. That being said, if you make it too easy for them to have it or you try to push it upon them, they won’t want it.

“You have to PULL the string… Not PUSH it!”

For example, if you’re struggling to hit a goal, you’re probably frustrated and its showing all over your face. And if it’s showing all over your face, then you have lost all of your indifference. All the customer sees in your face is desperation, “please buy this from me.” You have to keep your business posture at all times and remain indifferent about the sale. You must portray that it doesn’t matter to you if they buy your product or not.

Many times, marketers and sales people make the mistake of getting overly excited when they feel they have a prospect on the hook. Don’t get too excited until after the sale is made.

Experience has proven to me, that on the days where I was care free about hitting a goal I made more sales. That’s because I didn’t have desperation written all over my face.

It’s because I set out those days with fun on my mind. My body language was telling people: “I don’t care if you buy from me or not.” People will be drawn to that type of attitude and behavior. Prospects will want to buy from you just because they like who you are. I’ve had people buy from me when they didn’t even need or want my product but simply like me. Bottom line, you are selling yourself!!

Did you ever have a crush on someone in school but the more you tried to talk to them the more they played hard to get? Then when you gave up on them and moved your attention to someone else suddenly the first person pops up and shows interest in you? That’s because you became indifferent to them and people inherently want what they can’t have!

Home shopping channels use indifference by displaying a picture of the next product that they will be selling. Almost as if to say “It doesn’t matter if you don’t buy this because we’re about to move on to something else here anyway…”

“We’re just about done with this item but don’t worry because coming up we have …. ” Again this is impulse building through indifference, they are not done selling this product yet but they are already talking to you about the next one.

Omar Martin is an internet marketing and sales expert. Omar & his partner Mike Filsaime help internet marketing newbies succeed online through 1 on 1 mentorship and coaching. You can get their free Cd-Rom delivered right to your doorstep at: InternetSellingForNewbies.com