New businesses start and end every day. Why? Because potential business owners don’t do their research!

A quick rout to running a business into the ground is picking a niche that doesn’t have the potential to bring in the profits you need. However, picking your business niche is easier than you think. You just have to do your research.

First, choose a niche that you’re personally interested in. Even if you don’t know much about it yet, you can always learn what you need to know. However, if running a business is too technical for you or you find the topic boring, you’re going to be as happy working on it as you would be getting a tooth pulled.

Don’t you want to be excited to get up and work each day? I know it’s easier to get out of bed each morning knowing I get to do something I love.

Choose a niche that not only interests you, but one that you feel excited about working on. That way, you’ll stay pumped up and eagerly look forward

What are the hot selling items? You don’t have to know this off the top of your head. Look for these top selling items on sites such as Amazon or eBay or other market websites. to growing your business. You can look at the big businesses to get an idea of what to really look for in your own business ideas.

The bestsellers in any category on those sites will tell you what is popular with the people. So for example, if you see that on Amazon, a product sells well enough to be in the top ten, you know you’re onto something. Let’s say one of those products was a brand new fitness gadget and they were selling like hotcakes. You’d find plenty of potential by tapping into that market.

Check your niche’s top products

You’ll want to check out the self-help books to see what’s selling there. Books on depression, weight loss, and relationships always sell well and that’s a clue to let you know that the market is and always will be wide open for self help niches and the products that you can buy dealing with that subject.

If you become an affiliate, you’ll want to pay attention to the dollar amount you’ll earn by becoming an affiliate rather than the percent of commission. You’ll earn more money that way. Look for tangible products for your niche as well. Being an affiliate is an awesome way of running a business and there are many people who make good livings doing only affiliate marketing.

Make sure you don’t make the mistake of setting up a niche based on what’s considered a here today, gone tomorrow item. Remember the Beanie Babies? They were all the rage and people just couldn’t get enough of them. But where are they now? They fell off the scene because they were just a fad.

You want to find a niche that has long term potential, that is evergreen.

So that running a business will keep you excited and making money!

Related articles

• Niche market matters (kickasswebsitecoach.com)

Using a couch table right behind the sofa is good for displaying photos, adding a lamp, or you could put some storage cubes there also to keep extra blankets, shoes, pillows.

What about using a low bookcase there? Keep more books and use the top just like you would a table?

My other favorite place to utilize couch space is under it. Put extras into those low profile storage boxes or baskets and then slide them under the couch!

]]> http://www.alexshares.com/organize-your-living-room-sofa-space/.html/feed 0 http://www.alexshares.com/sell-your-knowledge/.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sell-your-knowledge http://www.alexshares.com/sell-your-knowledge/.html#comments Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:54:47 +0000 Alex (Jenn) http://www.alexshares.com/?p=2675 Mom’s stick together. The support system created by a mom network can be invaluable and often coveted. So, when considering businesses to start, why not help moms and make money while you do it?

Think back to the last time you helped another mom, or saw another mom getting help. What about the last time you needed help? What was it that you needed? You probably know something that can help another mom out, and I bet you can figure out how to monetize it too.

 I began seeing several years ago, that moms needed help setting up websites and places on-line to sell their products and services. I already knew how to do this and decided to learn more. Now, it’s a good business for me.

• Thanks to the last few years of hard work and experimentation, I’m at a place with business that I can write a book about what I know.
• Thanks to the publishing business and the Internet, I don’t have to hire a publisher to sell my own books.

So, what do you know? More than likely, you know a lot about a subject or two and you could get a short ebook or even a report written and sell it. Not a fan of writing? Again, the awesome internet gives us options. You can hire someone to ghost write it, edit it, or even find pre-written content similar to your idea that you can buy the rights to. Then, you add or edit your own content to make it your own.

Your format? Ebooks!

Okay, so everybody has heard of them but you might not know exactly what they are. An eBook is essentially a book in digital form which you can create and publish yourself. Digital form? A document turned into a PDF and loaded to the internet.

Pretty much, once the work is done, the work is done. Whatever money you make from the sales of it, are pure profit.

I built on my experience helping other moms with their websites and blogs by writing my Kick Ass Blogging for your Business eBook recently.

How long is your ebook?

A typical eBook can have as few as 25 pages or as many as 150. People will pay more for longer eBooks, generally. Keep in mind that when you go to the book store, you’ll find books in all shapes and sizes – and amount of words. Some books also contain forms or checklists or even software.

Ebooks are no different.

EBooks are popular media because they can be downloaded or printed in an instant. As soon as the payment is processed, the customer gains access to the eBook. No storage space other than what is on your computer or flash drive is needed to house the eBooks you buy. They can be printed and read like traditional books in print, or downloaded to your ebook reader or tablet computer.

Structure of your eBook

Consider your market – in this case, other moms. Let’s say that the subject of your eBook is getting a toddler through the terrible twos and threes. Fill your eBooks with information that moms want to know:

• Tips for bedtime

• Disciplinary tips

• Going out in public

• Dealing with mom stress

• Testimonials – interview your network of moms!

• True life examples – use yours, and your network’s but don’t include names

Sell your eBook

Those same bullet points can be selling points for your eBook. When you make the page on your website that helps sell the eBook, include the following.

• Snippets from the stories in the book
• Testimonials from others who have read the book – shoot it to a couple of people before it goes for sale.
• A partial list of chapters in the eBook as advertising on the page.

 To  help you out with your own Survival Kit, I’ve made a package of downloadable, printable forms that will help you start your business and track your business as it grows. Get the Idea Evaluation Worksheet for free right now.

So, what type of information can you put into an EBook? What can you help other moms with?

What does WAHM stand for?

•  Work
• At
• Home
•  Mom.

Besides working longer hours to achieve the same pay and credibility as their male counterparts, they also had to contend with the housework and the kids. After a long day at the office and doing the household chores, the kids sadly got what was left over –  which was usually a very worn out mother.

That has greatly changed over time, though. Women now see  how they can provide financially for their family and be there for the kids and their husband without being totally worn out. It isn’t the perfect solution for every family, but with exploring the options, many find that it beats the hell out the stressful situation they live with now.

How to get started?
  Before you talk to your family, get an idea of what you actually want to do, how to do it, and how it might affect your family – good or bad.  There are lots of places you can research online. There is everything from blogging to direct sales. Check out sites like justaddsweat.com, internetbasedmoms.com and wahmtalkradio.com. They offer helpful hints to moms getting started with a work at home enterprise and also a network of opportunities for connecting with other WAHMs. Plus, follow the WAHM series here at AlexShares.com

Has your income been a large part of the home economy? Be sure you understand how that will change when you quit your current job. Be sure there is enough financial cushion in your bank account to weather the first six months of your new career. Working part time is possible, but explore how that will affect your ability to get the new business launched and actually bringing in money. It will take time to establish your business.

Opportunities

Again, you have options. Maybe you have valuable skills that you can sell as services to other businesses, both online and off. WAHMs can find business opportunities to work for someone else doing everything from audio transcription to writing articles and accounting.

Maybe you’d rather buy stock and start your own business? You could supply anything from makeup to books. SomeBalance is hard when you work at home.  Guess what, just because you’re at  home all day, doesn’t mean you have time to do it all. If you are managing your business, it’s much like working a job.  The main difference is that you can actually schedule your time differently to fit with what you need. This doesn’t mean you don’t need help from the family just like any other WAHMs

• • Develop a set schedule for work and play on a weekly basis
• • Discuss dividing up household chores between you, your spouse, and older kids
• • Do pre-work such as fixing lunches, prepping breakfast, choosing clothing the night before
• • Hire a babysitter once or twice a week
• • Separate home office space inside the house

There are advantages to being a WAHM.

Plan carefully and be patient.

Here are a few more that I just love for their simplicity or pure ingeniousness.

So this lovely bed is just an old grocery or dry goods pallet with some wheels attached. It could even be dressed up with a coat of paint and I see potential for storing books, shoes, or trinkets along that front edge. In fact, I really want one for myself now!

What about repurposing the intended use of the furniture, like with this chalkboard tray? It could even be hung on the wall as a message center – and there is peel and stick chalkboard paper out there now, so you don’t have to paint if you don’t want to.

So, the next time you are out and find an old set of shelves, even if they are falling apart, pick em up! Add a few nails and several layers of new paint, and you have a brand new set of shelves. Even if the shelf can’t be salvaged as a whole, use the pieces of wood as foundation for another art piece. Paint or decoupage the wood and turn it into something new and special.

What have you repurposed lately?