By Lloyd Brown
Lately, I've fielded many telephone calls from people who have said, "I recently lost my job and I want to try my hand at the Internet." I can hardly fault them, as I basically started out the same way in 1996. As I write this, I wonder if it was not a mixed blessing there were so few resources available. Today there are magazines, webmaster forums, blogs, e-books and even television infomercials offering to assist any person who wants to put their computer to work for them. However, just because you read it on the Internet, does not make it fact.
There are, however, a few hard facts out there.
- You can make money on the Internet.
- It takes work to make money on the Internet.
- What works for one person may not work for you.
After sorting through the 1.5 billion Google results for "making money on the Internet," you discover a webmaster forum. You then decide the quickest way to get that mansion on the hill is to create your own network of websites and begin promoting online trading and a few herbal products. Of course, the only thing you know about online trading and herbal products is what you read on the aforementioned forum. This brings us to the first problem: You must know your niche.
If you try to discuss the benefits of the acai berry when your only knowledge is what you read on another blog, the broader community is going to realize that you have nothing unique to offer. All they have done is burned a little of your bandwidth. Even worse is the abundance of blogs that simply import RSS feeds from other blogs to provide content. If you want visitors to stay longer than a few seconds and return at a later time, you must give them a reason. This means providing original content. The only way you can do this is if you know your subject.
Another problem I see far too often is people getting in over their heads. They have yet to build their first website, but read an e-book somewhere that told them they needed a network of 40 sites. It should be obvious that the success rate of a venture like this is dismal. As the old adage states, you must crawl before you walk. Learn your control panel. Learn how to install a blog. Learn how to FTP files to a server before you go out and purchase multiple domains. After you become comfortable with your initial site, you can begin expanding.
Finally, consider market saturation. If we suppose the flavor of the month (acai berry, Forex, debt consolidation) happens to be something you can discuss intelligently, you must take into consideration the number of people already promoting the latest buzz word. And, since you are entry level, you might start looking for the cheapest hosting you can find. Unfortunately, this is the same route thousands of others take. The least expensive hosting is going to be on a shared IP. I can assure you if you buy shared IP hosting, and have a domain promoting acai, there are going to be dozens of others doing the exact same thing. If you share an IP with other sites promoting the same products, and get your content from the same RSS feeds, what is going to set your site apart from the others to human visitors or the search engines?
Again, it comes down to original content-knowing your niche.
About the Author: Lloyd Brown is director of business development for GotWebHost.com, a premier provider of multiple Class C hosting and the leader in SEO hosting services. Brown's portfolio includes more than 12 years of Internet marketing experience.
Finding your Market
There are a few simple ways to discover if your topic holds great potential or inevitable frustration. First, try a simple search on any of the major search engines for your topic and pay attention to the number of results returned, the quality of the websites near the top of the search page and the following two pages of results. This will give you a good idea of the market saturation for that topic, or lack thereof. Second, conduct a search for your topic on social content sites like MyBlogLog and Technorati. This will provide a good view into the online experts of your topic - how many exist and the type of content that is included. Finally, if you're truly knowledgeable about a topic, just do it. Even a saturated market has room for the best and brightest. "
