SAVE AFTER READING

State-of-the-Article: Part One

How to Find a Ridiculously Profitable Niche
By Anik Singal

In previous months you’ve been instructed to burn this newsletter insert after reading.
This month, and for the next three or four to follow, I highly recommend you do the
complete opposite and keep this insert safely under lock and key.

What you hold in your hands is part one of an article marketing system that took me
nearly three years to test, refine, and perfect. Collect each insert from this series and
you’ll have compiled a step-by-step guide to constructing your own version of this
system, driving traffic AND profits into your business. Just like a snowball rolling down
the side of a mountain, as the system runs, it moves and grows at an ever quicker rate.

Do NOT under any circumstances assume that you know what to expect from the
contents of this insert and the ones to follow. Article marketing may be a familiar
subject to many but, even if you’re an experienced marketer, I’m going to reveal some
very interesting methods that in all probability you’ve never seen before. Additionally,
while most article marketing methods focus on the goal of driving traffic or building a
mailing list, my state-of-the-art system also delivers profits.

Before I get into the details however, I should probably take a moment to introduce
myself…

As you’ve probably gathered from the by-line at the top of the page, my name is Anik
Singal. If it sounds familiar then you’re probably connecting it with my initial multi-
million-dollar online business Affiliate Classroom, and more recently the expanded JujuQ
company it has become.

I’m a great believer in the power of persistence and I tend to describe myself as a
“fighter.” Not in the literal sense, but in the sense of refusing to give up, maintaining a
positive attitude, and sometimes being just plain stubborn! It is this drive that helped
me continue to tweak and improve my article marketing system until I had it down to a
science.

You may have noticed that I keep referring to this as a “system” rather than a
“strategy;” this is very deliberate. The two words are often used interchangeably but I
believe they have a very important difference. To me, the word “strategy” suggests a
general approach or angle that doesn’t have many specifics. A strategy can be
aggressive, defensive, passive, thoughtful, and so on. A “system,” however, conjures the
idea of a carefully crafted step-by-step process that accomplishes a goal time and time
again, with little, if any, chance of failure.

I stress this because if you view this series of inserts as a system, you’ll appreciate that
to achieve the best results you need to follow it to the letter. The system is simple and
cost-effective but please resist the temptation to skip or leave out certain steps. I’ve
worked hard to remove any padding so you can be certain that everything described
from hereon is included for a reason.

This system achieves much of its profitability from affiliate marketing. I’m going to
assume you already know most of the basics but if there are terms or phrases that you
don’t understand, jump forward in this insert and you’ll find a detailed glossary to help
you get started. At whatever level you consider yourself to be, I still recommend at least
having a glance through the glossary as there may be one or two expressions that had
previously passed you by.

For the first part of this series I’m going to start you off very gently, so take your time
reading and comprehending the contents of the next few pages. You'll need those basics
once you hit the advanced levels!

Let’s Get Started…

How to Find a Ridiculously Profitable Niche

Think of a niche as a topic that appeals to a segment of internet users. We’re looking for
a focussed area but one that isn’t so narrow that your articles only attract five readers a
day. A healthy-sized audience is a great start, but it isn’t the only factor to think about.
You also need to consider whether the niche is going to be searched by people with
money to spend on solutions, interests, hobbies, or passions.

I may have spent almost three years refining my article marketing system, but I’ve spent
MORE than five years testing and improving this method for finding profitable niches.
This is the place where every article marketing campaign begins. Before you enter into a
niche it’s important to find out if it attracts any interest and, more importantly, profit.
Our assessment isn’t going to be built on personal preference or gut instinct, it’s going to
have a foundation of careful and in-depth research.

Believe it or not, the research is one of the most exciting parts of the system, especially
when you dig up a red-hot niche that is fresh and growing rapidly. We’re going to
become absorbed in the research next month. Between now and the next issue, put a
little time aside each week to gather some ideas for topics that you want to research.
You don’t have to go nuts with this but aim to have at least half a dozen ideas ready in
time for next month.

Getting Ideas for Niche Topics

Don’t you just love online marketing? How many jobs are there in the world that require
you to start out by watching TV!

As crazy as it may sound, this is a great place to find out what people are currently into
or what they might be about to get into. The average household has the television on for
28 hours a week, so it’s of little surprise that as well as catering to people’s interests,
television also has the reach to create and drive new interests of its own.

#1: Watch the News!

Turn on your local news channel and CNN and keep your eyes and ears open. Focus on
ALL the stories - not just the news items - and pay attention to sports, health features,
entertainment news, technology and gadgets, human interest… everything! If any of
these areas are engaged in any kind of controversial story, then take extra special note.

If a story is popular, then you can be pretty sure that there is a volume of online traffic
available for you to tap into. The trick is take a popular media story and try to find some
twist or angle that can be tied in with a niche you’re interested in. Here are some quick
examples to help you to get the idea.

 At the time of writing, England and Australia were competing for the 2009 Ashes. In
both countries this meant that a large number of people, who wouldn’t normally take any
interest in cricket, were suddenly glued to their televisions and radios and, crucially,
searching the internet for cricket news and information. Consequently, vendors of
cricket memorabilia, replica clothing, equipment and so on, looked for a spike in interest
and sales.

 A few months back there was a story about Christian Bale having a tantrum on the set
of the Terminator Salvation movie. An audio recording of the incident was leaked and
while most people viewed this as an amusing story, other more savvy people quickly
began selling t-shirts printed with quotes from Bale’s rant.

 Recently, thanks to the epidemic of swine flu, the Tamiflu drug overtook Viagra as the
most popular item for spammers to push. OK, that’s an example, not a trend for you to
try and follow, but what about people looking for advice on how to manage flu
symptoms, or people looking for gift baskets to send to sick relatives.

Get the idea?

Also remember that “news” doesn’t have to mean just the headlines of the hour. The
results of product tests or research, new product announcements, offbeat or crazy new
ideas – all of these can be labelled as “news.”
You can also use the Google Alerts service to get news links - based on keywords of your
choice - emailed to you. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts to sign up.

#2: Watch the Talk Shows

All those funny, weird, interesting or controversial talk show hosts who spin opinions on
everything under the sun, are a great source of ideas. All Oprah has to do is mention a
product or a topic on her show and millions of people start searching for it!
Trust me, watch Oprah’s recommendations and guest names; the search volumes on
those skyrocket the day of - and the day after - they appear on the show.
#3: Watch “Niche News” Shows
You can get a lot of great ideas from those entertainment and celebrity news shows,
financial news reports, business news segments and technology news shows. Remember
that you’re looking for a way to take something “newsy” and tie it in with your niche.

#4: Watch Infomercials!

It’s 3:00 a.m. and you can’t sleep? Do some niche research by watching infomercials! If
a product developer is paying to promote their gadget, weight loss system, self-help
system, etc. on TV, then there’s a very good chance that it’s a profitable niche.

Keep a pen and paper next to your TV and as you start to get ideas for topics to
research, jot them down. If the above examples were all current, your list might
include:

cricket memorabilia
ashes 2009
cricket rules
celebrity quotes
celebrity bloopers
swine flu
flu remedies

Keep your list handy and next month we’ll begin our research. If you haven’t already,
browse through the glossary in the next section and make sure you have a basic
understanding of all of the terms included.

Coming Next Month:

State-of-the-Article: Part Two
Digging Deeper – From Research to Profit

Affiliate Glossary

A glossary of words and terms associated with Affiliate Marketing. All the words
presented in italics have their own individual glossary entry and definition

Affiliate
A person who makes money by sending leads to online merchants.

Affiliate Link
A web address or URL that is unique to each affiliate. By sending leads to the affiliate
merchant through their personal affiliate link, the affiliate is flagged as the source of the
traffic so they can be identified and rewarded appropriately.

Affiliate Marketing
A method of gaining web traffic and sales by rewarding affiliates for sending leads to
your website. The reward is usually monetary and is paid when an affiliate sends a lead
that takes a desired action such as submitting contact information or, more commonly,
making a purchase.

Affiliate Merchant
A business that utilises affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Program
A set of terms and conditions that define how an individual affiliate merchant requires its
affiliates to behave, and specifies when and how they will be rewarded. Working as an
affiliate for an affiliate merchant usually requires that you register or “sign up” to their
affiliate program first, in so doing expressing your agreement with the terms and
conditions.

Commission
A percentage or fixed fee paid to an affiliate in exchange for referring or directing a lead.
See also Two-Tier Commission.

Contextual Advertising
See Pay-Per-Click Affiliate Program .

CPA (Cost Per Action)

An affiliate program that pays a commission for each referred lead that performs a
desired action such as providing some contact and personal information. Also known as
Pay-Per-Lead.

CPA (Cost Per Action) Network

A collection of affiliate merchants that operate a CPA affiliate program. Many CPA
affiliate merchants require their affiliates to be capable of providing a certain volume of
traffic and leads before accepting their application.

Hybrid Affiliate Program

Variations, or a combination of two or more types of affiliate program. For example, 10
cents per click and then 15% on sales made after someone clicks, bonuses or higher
commission after a certain number of sales.

Lead
In the context of affiliate marketing, this is an internet user who performs a potentially
profitable action (e.g., visiting an affiliate merchant’s website, or clicking on an advert)
after being referred or directed by an affiliate.

Pay-Per-Click Affiliate Program

An affiliate program that pays a commission when a lead clicks on an advert that resides
on the affiliate’s website. Some affiliate merchants in this area provide static image or
text links; others vary the appearance of the advert based on the subject of the host’s
web page, using a technique called Contextual Advertising. Google AdSense is the best
known example of a contextual advertising program.

Pay-Per-Lead Affiliate Program

See CPA (Cost Per Action).

Pay-Per-Sale Affiliate Program

An affiliate program that pays a commission on each sale made by a referred lead. This
is the most common type of affiliate program. Pay-Per-Sale affiliate programs in the
internet marketing niche commonly pay a higher commission percentage than most;
50% is usual but higher commissions paying as much as 100% of the sale are not
unheard of.

Pay-Per-Search Affiliate Program

An affiliate program that pays a commission when a lead performs a web or localized
search, either on the affiliate’s website, or on the affiliate merchant’s website after being
referred by an affiliate.

Recurring Revenue Affiliate Program

See Residual Income Affiliate Program .

Residual Income Affiliate Program

An affiliate program that pays a recurring commission for sales, made by a referred lead,
of a product or service that requires multiple payments. This type of affiliate program
can commonly be found for services, such as web hosting and mailing list providers.
Depending on the terms of the affiliate program, commissions are paid to affiliates for a
specified period, or for as long as the referred customer continues to pay their monthly
fee. Also known as Recurring Revenue.

Single-Tier-Commission
See Two-Tier Commission.

Two-Tier-Commission
Commission paid on sales made by referred leads AND on any subsequent affiliate
activity by those referred leads. For example, you may get paid a 25% commission on
your own sales, and a 5% commission on affiliates you refer. An affiliate program that
only pays commissions on sales made directly by referred leads is more common but is
sometimes referred to as single-tier to differentiate it from the two-tier model.