The internet has removed many barriers to getting started in a particular niche market however, you still need to find ways to beat the big guns in your area of expertise, to compete successfully on the global scene.
Although the strangle hold that the big well established players had on the marketplace several years ago is not near as great; small companies still need ways to beat the “big guns” and compete successfully in their niche markets.
One thing is definite, 7 or 8 years ago, it would have been next to impossible for a small Internet marketing company from Australia, to globally compete successfully with the big boys in that market; today it is being done regularly.
Tackling the top niches, is more achievable than you think.
Do not misunderstand. Climbing to the top in a competitive niche market is not a snap to accomplish. It requires a lot of determination and tactical thinking, but although challenging, there are ways to beat the big guns.
The first and most obvious idea to consider is to know your target.
What does knowing your target have to do with climbing to the top of a competitive niche?
A Lot! Does the phrase, ‘know your enemy’ ring a bell?
Strategically it’s the first thing you need to do before beginning any business or campaign.
An example of a little player who successfully took on the giants in the marketplace, is Subway.
Subway successfully took on Mickey Ds (McDonald’s) and Burger King to eventually become a player in the fast food industry niche.
They did it by researching, and knowing their market better. Instead of copying Burger King and McDonald’s marketing plan, they discovered that many customers wanted healthier fast food options.
Subway targeted this hole in the market to become successful in the fast food industry and out do McDonald’s and Burger King in the U.S.
The way to beat the big guns is to duplicate this same strategy in whatever market niche you are involved in, to more thoroughly know your target market.
For instance; my sister has been trying for years to quit smoking. This niche can be targeted by using Subway’s successful strategy and learning about the following.
- Find out what products are new in the ‘quit smoking’ niche, and which are the most popular.
- Find out what smokers are talking about, in order to quit.
- Find out what smokers who quit and start smoking again think about ‘quit smoking’ products.
- Find out about other smoker’s concerns.
- Listen to what the smokers are saying, and disregard any preconceived ideas you may have about how to quit smoking or ways to quit.
Clinging to preconceived assumptions, can cost you a potentially lucrative market presence.
Of all the ways to beat the big guns and become competitive in your niche market; the most important is to know your target market and keep up with the latest market trends as they develop.
Here are a couple of SEO tips on how to get quality backlinks to your website without breaking the bank.
We all know that getting quality “do follow” diverse backlinks are the key to search engine optimization.
The real trick is where to find the places to get these powerful, high quality backlinks.
When people are asked how to get quality backlinks to their websites; the most common response is to create several blogs, Hub pages, Squidoo sites, or to use forum posting strategies.
This is all well and good however, you can be assured that Google also knows that most marketers are using SEO strategies to rank their websites in this manner.
It also makes good sense, that Google will be giving the highest rankings, to websites that use a more diverse SEO backlinking strategy.
You can use the following two SEO tips to get quality backlinks to your website, in addition to the most commonly practiced strategies.
1 – Setting Up Profiles In Web 2.0 Sites
There are now a great many high page rank, Web 2.0 sites, that allow their members to create their own profile and interact with each other.
These sites provide “do follow” links to the website that is listed in the user’s profile.
When you join one of these Web 2.0 websites; you can create your own unique profile and include your website URL, which then becomes a quality backlink to your website.
This SEO tip can be used to get quality backlinks to your website in every niche market that you are involved in.
Some quality Web 2.0 sites that we have used, include www.flickr.com, www.linkedin.com, and www.twibs.com. There are many others out there you can use; just run a Google search to find them.
2 – Using Squidoo Lenses to get quality backlinks.
Most people don’t realize it, but Squidoo.com is a great place to get quality backlinks to your website.
If you do a Google search for a list of Squidoo lenses; you can include your website with your custom anchor text, to a lens that is associated with your market niche.
If you use the Firefox web browser, download the SEO plugin called SeoQuake.
Seoquake is a valuable SEO tool that allows webmasters to investigate many important SEO parameters “on the fly”, including page ranks.
You can use the tool to find the high ranking Squidoo lenses, where you can get quality backlinks to your website by adding your site, with your anchor text.
Type the following query into a Google search to get the best results:
“add+to+this+list”+”XXXXX”+site:squidoo.com
Substitute your keyword, or keyword phrase, for the “XXXXX” to specifically target your niche market.
If you are into internet marketing, use this query:
“add+to+this+list”+”internet+marketing”+site:squidoo.com
As of today, you should get about 18,600 results from Squidoo.com which will get quality backlinks to your website for some time to come.
Ebook marketing is one of the most popular and profitable ways to make money on the internet.
Selling ebooks at a reasonable price, and marketing them on your blog, mini site, or website, can produce a tidy income. However, there are other methods of marketing your ebooks that you should also consider.
Ebook marketing using PPC is effective, but may not be as profitable as other methods, if you have no prior knowledge or experience using PPC advertising.
Not targeting keywords properly can cost you dearly; and unless the subject of the ebook is extremely popular, or it is a high ticket item, you can actually lose money.
Ebook marketing using various free sites, such as Squidoo lens, or Hub pages, can be unbelievably productive and profitable.
These sites get indexed by the search engines almost overnight, and the volume of traffic that is generated by these sites, can improve your ebook sales immediately.
Many people use Clickbank to put together a team of affiliates, to help market their ebooks. This is ebook marketing to the Nth degree, and can be the most profitable way to make money with ebooks on the Internet.
An ebook marketing strategy that is a less obvious way to make money, is to give away free ebooks.
Branding the ebooks that you are giving away, starts a viral marketing process that can produce astonishing results in a relatively short period of time.
You can multiply these results, by offering the branded ebooks for free, to increase subscribers to your mailing list.
Your mailing list is the bread and butter of ebook marketing, and offering your ebooks to people subscribed to your mailing list, is a great way to sell your products.
Without a substantial mailing list to offer your products to, you are at a severe disadvantage. Anyone that has been around for a while, will tell you that “the money is in the list”.
A clean compiled list will always provide you with a source of buyers interested in what you are promoting. Hopefully, they will be eagerly awaiting your next ebook.
However, care should be taken not to “turn off” individuals on your list, by aggressively over marketing your digital products.
The best advise I can offer to anyone without a subscribers list, is to start one today.
Ebook marketing is accomplished much easier when you are selling to targeted customers that already know you are credible and an expert in your market niche.
