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WiFi SSID advertising August 25, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Passive income, Personal , add a comment

Check out the screenshot below. Someone came up with the idea of putting ads in unsecured 802.11 network names. From a marketing standpoint, I doubt this will actually result in any sales, but it’s a cute example of a low-cost way to push your content onto someone else’s screen.

wifi_80211_marketing_advertising_ssid.JPG

Your thoughts?

Back to “work” August 22, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Passive income, Personal , add a comment

With my mostly Pickup 101-sponsored European tour over, this week has been about making sure that my own business progresses before I leave for San Francisco. I finished my first attempt at copywriting, a sales letter for Dress for Success (with Women) that I’ll post here after it’s undergone a few more revisions. Lance will be helping me refine it and hone my copywriting skills. I still feel underpaid, but copywriting is a skill that will pay off big time as I start producing my own products.

I’m learning AdWords, too. I’m already an affiliate for Pickup 101, so I’m using AdWords to point people to our product sales pages. No sales yet, but the 30 Day Challenge claims you can expect one sale for every 200 visitors assuming reasonably targeted traffic, average copy, and a $50-$100 product. I’ve sent about 300 people so far with no sales, but I’m mostly referring people to a $600 product (Physical Confidence), so I expect a lower conversion rate. We’ll see.

And of course, top priority - the Thirty Day Challenge. Caught up on eight podcasts and about thirty blog posts. We’ve got our magic phrase picked out, have picked out an affiliate product for testing, and very soon will be driving traffic. John Reese, a well-known internet marketer says that once you make your first dollar, you’re 90% of the way to making $500 a day. Honestly, I’d be quite happy with $400 a day. No reason to get greedy…

Your thoughts?

Finding a niche market August 4, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Passive income , add a comment

The Thirty Day Challenge has begun with a focus on finding a market first. Find a niche market, be the only product in there, make money. Most budding entrepreneurs do it the other way around - come up with a product and then look for a market to sell it.

Craig and I spent yesterday brainstorming ideas, but the concept of a niche market didn’t really hit home until we read two articles by Mike Mindel:

So What is a Niche Market Anyway?
That Magic Feeling when you find a Niche Market

We read the articles, started over, and now have ten solid niche markets that we’re excited about. Next step: market testing?

Your thoughts?

August is going to be crazy August 3, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Passive income, Personal, Work , add a comment

August will be a month of change. I’m going to be on the road almost non-stop. My parents will be visiting me here in Seattle until I take off for London. I’ll be leading Art of Attraction in London, followed by a vacation in Stockholm, followed by a wedding in Detroit followed by a couple days off in Seattle before I head to San Francisco for the Advanced Tactics Art of Rapport. I have the option to spend the next weekend doing a workshop in Toronto, but I think I’m going to withdraw from that. Enough is enough. Though that would open up the possibility of going to Burning Man…

Besides, I’m also going to be moving forward on my plan for a The 4-hour workweek while at the same time participating in the Thirty Day Challenge, a free internet marketing course.

By September 1st, I will be an seasoned world traveler, savvy internet marketer, and successful entrepreneur. I can’t wait!

Your thoughts?

My new career begins July 29, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Passive income, Personal , 3 comments

I spent Thursday moving from the unemployed end of the spectrum to the self-employed end. Or at least slightly closer to it. Craig and I began by brainstorming our past talents, interests, hobbies, and careers. A sample:

Guitar, magic, running, triathlon, memory, electronics, computers, lockpicking, BJJ, swimming, biking, climbing, rowing, clarinet, investing, evolution, poker, home repair, drawing, college admissions, socializing, electrical engineering, Microsoft, windows security, balloons, busking, fashion, building a computer, speed reading, improv, public speaking, basketball, how to study abroad, how to quit your job, math, standardized tests, quick healthy eating, coldreading, how to learn a language, negotiating, internet banking

Next came a trip to Barnes and Noble to browse the magazine aisle. As per Timothy Ferriss’ instructions, we’re searching for a market to develop a product for, not the other way around. Our goal: discovering a niche market in an area of our expertise lucrative enough that it has one very specific magazine dedicated to it. Ad rates should be below $5000 and circulation above 15,000.

I found the 2008 Writer’s Market extremely useful. It has hundreds of pages of niche magazines, organized by subject with brief descriptions of each.

It took a couple hours to look through all the magazines. Whew! Work is tiring. And it wasn’t over yet. I spent a few more hours looking up rate and circulation information for all my prospects. But I’ve narrowed it down to eight markets that look interesting, all but one of which fall well within my area of expertise.

The next step is the fun part - coming up with a product!

Your thoughts?