How do you come up with a sure-fire, red hot, online business success? You don't -- no matter how much hype you've heard to the contrary. Internet business success is based on careful, patient, data-driven research. Even with careful research, online projects fail -- though their chance of success goes up dramatically.

Doing the proper research is the best insurance there is to finding and forming a successful niche business online. Without research it's like "pin the tail on the donkey" blindfolded. Too many entrepreneurs make up their mind early and begin without research -- a fatal flaw that causes a staggering death rate of new online businesses.

Just how do you conduct research for a proposed online business? The answer sometimes seems shrouded in mystery. This 49-page book published November 15, 2005 peels back the layers so you can understand the process, spot the potential problems, and select research software appropriate to your needs. This book is not the most detailed research guide available, but it points the way with clarity so you can see the next step. Here are the chapters:

1. How to Discover a Promising Internet Business Niche

This chapter discusses the five key principles of niche research in some detail, with the goal of making the research task clear:

Principle 1. Make Your Knowledge and Passion Work for You

Principle 2. Identify a Niche that Is in Sufficient Demand

Principle 3. Discard Niches with Too Much Competition

Principle 4. Make Sure Your Niche Has Adequate Profit Potential. This section discusses the research goals involved in assessing potential revenue from (1) online sales of tangible products, (2) affiliate commission revenue, and (3) advertising revenue.

Principle 5. Create Your Site's Own Uniqueness and Voice

The chapter also includes two sidebars: The Myth of Online Franchises and Sidebar: Opportunities in Fads, Trends, and Opportunities.

2. Formulas and Ratios to Judge Profitability and Potential

What do ratios and indexes really tell you about. What are the weakness and fallacies? This brief chapter discusses the R/S ration, the KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index), the PPCEI, and various profitability ratios available with different research software programs. It also discusses the value of bid prices and number of advertisers in assessing competition and potential.

3. Problems with Niche Research Software

A discussion, with the help of niche research pioneer Ken Evoy on the problems to watch out for in keyword and niche research software. This chapter focuses on terms of service violations leading to possible data feed blocking, supply calculation inaccuracies and some work-arounds, a caveat about being "number bound," and a discussion of how an emphasis on site content figures into the goal of niche research.

4. Keyword Research and Niche-Finding Software

In this chapter you'll find names, brief descriptions, pricing, and contact information for 24 different keyword research and niche-finding software programs, both desktop (client-side) and hosted ASP (Application Service Provider model, server-side) applications. Several of these which stand out. Four have been awarded the Web Marketing Today Award of Merit 2006 for Excellence in Niche Research Software.

Reviews

Most of the keyword research software ignores profit margins that are vital to online merchants. The final three chapters are reviews of product-centered approaches designed to help online merchants determine which products to sell in their online stores.

5. Review: Market Research Wizard from WorldWide Brands

Market Research Wizard has several features that make it ideal for research potential products to sell, compared to the keyword focus of many research programs. This program produces an analysis percent, a rough estimate of how well a product or category of products is likely to sell online.

6. Review: P.I.P.E. Product Idea Profitability Evaluator

P.I.P.E. has still another twist to research products to sell and assessing their potential profitability. It uses supply, demand, keyword PPC price, conversion rate, and average sales total to determine an Overall Profit Potential (OPP) score to compare the potential of this type of product with others.

7. Review: Online Research Guide to Picking Products that Sell

This review of Matthew Hedges' Online Research Guide to Picking Products that Sell outlines his research method and the tools he uses to discover which products are likely to be profitable on the Internet.

This report won't do you research for you, but will provide an important guide to the methodology, the software, and the pitfalls involved with research to find profitable online niche business opportunities. It is the author's prayer that it helps guide you in particular to a profitable online business.

	E-Books differ from Printed Books Here's how. If you don't already have Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, you can download a FREE copy here

Here's some information about ordering:

• Secure transaction protects you.
• Privacy protection against identity theft.
• Why is the price so low?.
• About the author
• How does an "e-book" differ from a printed book?
• Shipping costs and policies
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• Detailed table of contents

There are several ways to obtain this book. If you're one of my paid Web Marketing Today Premium subscribers you can download the e-book immediately at no extra charge.

You can purchase this these two volumes either as an e-book or a printed book -- or receive the e-book version as a free bonus as part of a special offer. Let me explain....

	E-book format, $14.95. You purchase the e-book and can download it within minutes. You can read it on your computer in PDF format if you like, or print it out on your printer. No tax is charged on e-books.
	Printed format, $18.50 plus shipping. The book is printed in black and white on 8-1/2" x 11" white paper, bound with a plastic spiral binding. California residents pay 7.25% sales tax. Shipping weight 5 oz.

Subscribe -- before the end of May 2008 -- to Web Marketing Today Premium, my premium e-commerce e-mail newsletter, and get this book in e-book format free plus several others for only $49.95 for the annual subscription.

Special if you subscribe to Web Marketing Today Premium Edition before the end of the Month I'll give you 13 e-books worth $237.44 absolutely free if you subscribe before the end of the month. (If you're already a paid subscriber, login now at the top left corner of the main webpage to download your e-books). 1. My 89-page How to Develop a Landing Page -- completely revised and written for mid-2008 -- explains how to maximize the effect of your advertising, by pointing to a specific "landing page" that leads the shopper to decide to complete the transaction. This comprehensive guide, now in its third edition, will help you raise your conversion rate and maximize profits. It sells for $29.95 on my website. 2. Guide to Search Engine Optimization (2007 Edition) is a 97-page e-book that explains in simple terms what search engine optimization (SEO) is all about. It is not a guide for experts, nor will it make you an expert. But you'll understand how to (1) make your webpages and navigation system search engine friendly, (2) develop an effective link campaign to boost your PageRank, and (3) outsource SEO if you decide not to do it yourself. I sell this for $14.95. 3. How to Promote Your Site through Article Marketing. This 25-page report gives an overview of article marketing, that is, offering your articles to be used on other sites and e-zines in exchange for a link to your site. This approach that can be pursued for no money at all. On page 16 Dr. Wilson reveals a secret SEO experts know, but most article marketers don't, a strategy that can significantly raise PageRanks on your website. Sells for $11.95 on my website. 4. My 28-page Social Bookmarking and Marketing helps you get to the bottom of the social bookmarking phenomenon. Explains what social bookmarking is all about, outlines two main marketing strategies -- one that can get you in lots of trouble unless you know how to avoid the potholes -- reviews tools. Sells for $12.95 on my website. 5. Report on Pay Per Click (PPC) Bid Management Software. This 52-page report is a "must read" if you're doing PPC advertising using only Google's or Yahoo's native bid management interface. Bid management software can often save you 30% to 50% of your current level of ad purchases by maintaining your desired position, optimizing prices by reducing bid gaps on a frequent basis, and showing your ads only at times when you know your products sell best -- all working on autopilot. Which program should you select? This report outlines the features you should look for, compares 16 different bid management programs, provides user feedback, and makes recommendations. $14.95. 6. Research Guide to Online Niche-Finding. This 49-page book leads you through the steps necessary to discover a potentially profitable online business niche, consider the competition, and develop a unique approach that will bring traffic and revenue. We examine the 5 principles of research, examine the various formulas used to spot potential winners, consider the strengths and weaknesses of the existing research software, briefly survey 24 keyword, PPC, and niche-finding research software programs, and provide more in-depth reviews of WorldWide Brands Research Wizard, P.I.P.E. and the Online Research Guide to Picking Products that Sell. Price: $14.95. 7. How to Promote Your Local Business on the Internet. This 44-page book is designed for local business owners and marketing directors, as well as professionals who serve them -- web designers and marketing consultants. While not repeating all the Internet marketing basics, it focuses on the elements that can make local business marketing a success, localized search engine optimization, Yellow Page ads, awareness of local portals, use of local PPC options and geotargeting at Google AdWords and Yahoo Local, e-mail newsletters, etc. I sell this for $13.95. 8. The E-Mail Marketing Handbook (Second Edition). This 875-page e-book provides a broad look at all aspects of e-mail marketing -- publishing your own company e-mail newsletter, e-mail promotions, e-mail marketing programs, formatting the e-mail, ad tracking systems, autoresponders, getting through spam filters, RSS feeds, and obeying anti-spam laws. The book also includes four appendices with user comments and ratings of various programs, a directory of 250 e-mail marketing programs, and detailed vendor answers to 99 questions about their software. This is by far the most comprehensive book on the market, especially as a buying guide to software that could be used by small to medium businesses. I sell this for $27.00. 9. The 766-page Shopping Cart Report, revised in January 2004, is the most comprehensive purchasing guide to e-commerce software ever published. It provides a basic overview of carts and my recommendations of 36 particular carts. There's a shopping guide for 12 different cart applications. I provide a directory to 225 shopping cart programs, with detailed information on 50 of the top vendors. I sell this for $34.95. 10. My 135-page "Report on Affiliate Management Software 2005, looks at the basic and advance features of affiliate software, looks in detail at 48 stand-alone programs and 55 affiliate modules integrated into shopping carts. Then offers candid feedback from about 200 users and makes recommendations. I sell it for $22.95 on my website. 11. My 80-page "10 Steps to E-Business on a Shoestring" helps you see how to envision an e-business, find an unfilled niche, and then develop it a low cost. I tell you where you'll need to spend some money, and where to find low-cost services that can get you started without a high investment. I sell it for $17.95 on my website. PLUS my recent short reports: Reciprocal Linking Tools, 23 pages, $8.95 How to Optimize Your Landing Pages Scientifically, 32 pages, $11.99 But if you subscribe (or renew your subscription) to Web Marketing Today Premium Edition before the end of the month, I'll give you a copy of all these e-books absolutely free. Together they're worth $237.44 -- and if you add in the subscription price of $49.95, the total value is $287.39. But you'll receive the e-books absolutely free when you pay only the subscription price of $49.95 . Don't miss out. Subscribe now!

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