Yesterday I talked about the 5 steps to success. Step one was to find a niche. And unfortunately, this is the step that hangs up most internet marketing newbies.

Here is a great article by Michelle Stahl at BeginnerMillionaire about finding your niche.

Here is how I did it: my main niches are physics students and beginner guitar players. I chose these niches because these are the things I know the most about and are things that I enjoy. I have no trouble writing about these topics because I am already knowledgeable about the subjects.

Michelle talks about finding high-paying keywords and blogging about those. One in particular that she points out is “calcium coral.” If you’ve read my blogs enough, you’ll know that I think coral calcium is one of the biggest scams on the planet. And supplements in general are a waste of money. But that keyword PAYS.

I know because I’ve blogged a few times about Kevin Trudeau (he’s the guy that was initially pimping this crap), and just from those posts alone I was receiving $1-$2 clicks through Adsense.

So of course, I learn from this that maybe I should start a new niche blog: Exposing supplement shysters for what they are. A lone scientist bringing light to a dark region of the internet … ok, I’m getting carried away. But you get the point.

You need a niche. So write about what you know and what floats your boat. You MUST choose something you enjoy, because you won’t make any money from your efforts for a while.

An email from a reader prompted me to write this blog post. This reader purchased the Musical Instrument E-Bay Powerseller course, read it, liked it, but decided he wasn’t into “doing E-Bay”.

That’s fine. I gave him a refund. He’s interested in selling information products, and not physical products. And you know what, information is the best product to sell online.

Now I actually make most of my money selling physical products, not information products. Selling musical instruments on E-Bay pays my bills, not the course, which is why I have limited the release. (BTW, I’m pulling the Musical Instrument E-Bay Powerseller course from the market soon. And by soon, I mean in the next few weeks. So get the course before the holiday rush. Come January when you’re counting your money, you’ll thank me.)

I have recently started earning extra “selling” information, but I make most of my “information” money through content sites with Google Adsense. I’m pretty good at setting up these sites, though. I’m a computer geek

But my information business is growing, and at a rate that will surpass my instrument business soon.

There is a simple 5-step formula for making money online that I learned from Jeff Walker:

1) Find a niche.
2) Build an email list for that niche.
3) Ask your subscribers what they want.
4) Create it.
5) Sell it to your subscribers.

Sounds easy. The hard part, though, can be building the email list.

I’ve got a few methods that I use, but the most successful method involves using E-Bay.

You may be wondering what my niche is. Well, for readers of this site, obviously my niche is internet marketing. But I don’t make a lot of money with this niche. I run this site and my email list more as a journal that I hope people can get some good information from.

My profitable niches are: beginning guitar players and physics students.

I have a list with over 800 subscribers, all salivating for something that will help them survive their physics class.

I sell guitars to hundreds of people a month, most have never even picked up a guitar. Would they reach for their wallet to buy a DVD course that teaches simple methods for quickly learning to play?

Anyway, the cat is out of the bag now. I’m working on two new products that have launch dates sometime in late December or early January. They have nothing to do with internet marketing. And I plan to chronicle the launch of these products right here on my blog.

I’ll be using techniques I’m learning from Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula. So stay tuned to see what I can do with a niche, a list, and a product.

The Google Page Rank for this site has climbed to 3/10. Not bad for a site that has been around for only a few months.

My stats show over 3,300 visitors so far this month for keyliberty.com. But for some reason, www.keyliberty.com is only registering 5 visits, and none since the 5th over October. I think it is broken!

I’m like a kid on Christmas day!

First, my Hokies beat the Turtles last night — a convincing 28-9.

Second, I start my motorcycle class tonight, which has me teenage-giddy.

And finally, I just won a copy of Jeff Walker’s “Product Launch Formula” course!

This is big. Out of more than 400 entries, the Yanik Silver picked my essay as the winner of what I hope will be a dynamite course. Check out all of the entries.

I’ll let everyone know what I think of the course once I receive it. I promise I won’t put it down until I’m through. After that, you should get a nice, first-hand view of the principles being put into action.

To find out more about this (hopefully) killer course, check out Jeff’s sales page:

Product Launch Formula

I’ve noticed that all the big guns have finally discovered Lulu.com! I subscribe to the lists of some of the top internet marketers (you know, the guys making millions a year) and over the last few days my email box has been flooded with tips about Lulu. And the way they are writing their reviews leads me to believe that they have NEVER used Lulu.

This is surprising, since I’ve been using Lulu.com’s services for over 2 years now, and I am in no way a “guru” or “top internet marketer”. In fact, almost ALL of my printed, physical information products have been published through Lulu. I very rarely sell them through Lulu’s venue, but I have them make my products and then I order 10-20 at a time at cost.

I don’t know what took these marketing “geniuses” this long to discover the best print-on-demand service. But now that you know it exists, make sure you use it.

Here is your homework: Begin writing your first (or next) information product today. When you’ve finished it, take it over to Lulu.com and have them print it up for you. Now sell it. It is 10 times easier to sell a real hold-it-in-your-hands book than an ebook.

I only need two words to tell you what I think of The Rich Jerk:

Buy It!

I paid $97 for this ebook, and I have to say that it was worth every penny. I’ve begun implementing some of the ideas in the book and I have already seen results. In fact, this blog post contains several profit pulling ideas I gleaned from reading The Rich Jerk.

I’m sure you’ve heard of this ebook. It’s the most hyped producted I’ve seen in a very long time. After reading it, I know why. It is internet marketing gold.

If you’re serious about making money online and will actually implement ideas that you learn, then you have to buy The Rich Jerk NOW!

And here is why: The price has just dropped. This ebook has been selling like crazy at $97 a pop. But the author has just cut the price in half. You can pick up a copy for only $47.

“But the title of this blog post says that I can get The Rich Jerk for free?”

That’s right. If you buy The Rich Jerk within the next week, then I will give you a $47 gift certificate for The Musical Instrument E-Bay Powerseller.

It’s simple. You were going to buy the Musical Instrument E-Bay Powerseller course anyway, because you know the profit that can be made from it. Buy it this week and you get The Rich Jerk for FREE!

Here’s how it works: purchase The Rich Jerk from this link

–> The Rich Jerk <–

Send my a fowarded copy of your Clickbank reciept and I will send you an invoice for the Musical Instrument E-Bay Powerseller course. The price will be reduced by $47.

That’s one hell of a deal!

Here is a nice little blog post by Kidino at MoneyClicking. He brings up an importand point that I would like to expand on.

Everytime when I blast out an email for my subscribers, I would anxiously wait for a reply from any of my subscribers. Maybe I’m stealing office time a bit, but I would keep refreshing the web page to see if I have new emails … I don’t know — I just like it. Maybe it’s the same feeling like replying to fan mails. It makes you feel like a celebrity. Heck - I do feel like one. Maybe that’s why I enjoy this so much.

Like Kidino, I always try to respond to email from my subscribers. It does make you feel good to get unsolicited testamonials.

When I write an email message and send it out to my list, I do it because I’m trying to make money. Hopefully, the information I’m sending will make the recipient a little money as well (or at least provide a little information). But I don’t know a LOT of the people on my list. They sign-up because they like what I write. A lot of my personality comes through in my writing, so my readers get to know me.

But it’s rare that I get to know my readers. And it is nice to hear from them every now and then. Here’s why: We all have self-doubt. And getting an email from someone that explains how much they like your writing and value your opinions makes you feel good and valuable. Even critisism is appreciated, since it helps me become a better marketer and helps me create better products.

Now here is why you should always respond to your email: it’s just good business.

If you have a rabid following, then they will buy everything you create. It builds trust when you respond to people’s email in a personal and informative way. You also build relationships.

I have emailed other internet marketers. When I first started, I would email with questions and most of the time I would get no reply or a very rude reply. I couldn’t tell you their names, because I don’t remember them. That should tell you something right away.

The first time I received a personal reply from a marketer was when I emailed Jason Cain about one of his products. He answered my questions and pointed out that he lived right down the road in Atlanta. Almost everytime I link to something on his site, I get a nice email from Jason thanking me for the link.

I remember his name, read everything he writes, and buy damn near everything he sells. He knows something about good business.

In my E-Bay course, I talk a lot about engendering trust. Your customer has to trust you if they’re going to send you their hard earned money. I’ve been asking people to give me $197 for a course on selling guitars and such on E-Bay. You better believe that in order to get folks to part with that kind of dough, they have to KNOW that I know what I’m talking about. I have to engender trust. And the best way to do that is to actually reply to their emails. It is that simple.

So the short version is this: don’t treat potential customers like you treat your wallet. They aren’t temporary holders of your money. Treat potential customers like what they are — people with hopes, dreams, and problems just like you. They worked hard for their money, so you better provide equal value. And before you try to sell them something, build a relationship with them.

I have gotten very little done today due to college football. But that’s ok, considering I won $80 thanks to Georgia’s under-appreciated team and their rocking of Tennessee.

I did clean my office during the games, though. So the day wasn’t a complete loss.

Tomorrow I will start and finish publishing another niche, profit-pulling webiste. I also plan on finishing my special report on putting together these profitable sites in less than 24 hours. Look for the report next week. I’m going to make the price stupid low for my loyal readers.

I’m just going to rant a little today. No business. No product to pimp. Sometimes I like to just get stuff off of my chest.

I’m not a big fan of government. I think it is a necessary evil and requires “eternal vigilence” to maintain in an acceptable form. But recently, government at all levels has started to get out of hand. I could go on and on, but I’ll stick to one topic since this is a blog about internet marketing.

Check out this report at MuniWireless.com. According to the 2005 Municipal Wireless State of the Market Report, U.S. municipalities will spend close to $700 million over the next three years to construct government-owned Wi-Fi networks. The report states the spending on municipal wireless networks will exceed $400 million by 2007, with 60 percent of the spending in large cities.

Here is the big question: Why the hell are governments spending millions of taxpayer dollars to provide services that the private sector is ALREADY providing?

Here’s how it will work. (I’m just making up numbers for illustration) About $5 per month of your taxes will go to support the governments wireless service, plus you’ll get to pay the government a $20 per month access fee to use the service.

Or you could just pay Verizon $22 per month.

The problem is you’ll have to pay the tax whether you use the governments service or not. The tax is hiden, though, so you’ll think you’re getting a better deal with Big Brother’s Wi-Fi.

It’s simple. The government should not be competing with the private sector. There’s a name we use when government owns businesses. It’s communism.

You can find more commentary on this here.

I just launched a new niche content site in one day. Check it out here.

How do I slap up amazing looking sites with multiple streams of revenue in under 24 hours? How do I get these sites indexed by Google in another 24 hours? How do I get real, content hungry visitors with open wallets pouring into my new site?

I’ll answer all of these questions in a special report I’ll be releasing soon. You’ll be amazed at how simple it really is.

In the mean time, check out the Musical Instrument E-Bay Powerseller Course and start earning now. I’m almost sold out. I’ll be pulling this site down soon. So jump on this opportunity.