I've been very interested in getting into Internet marketing, and I've read a lot from different forums and blogs on how to begin. One strategy which I've read about repeatedly is to blog about the product I wish to market. This is what stumps me. First off is choosing a niche. Do most marketers go into a niche that they are familiar and have experience with (which I think would give you a good advantage), or is it just as easy to pick a niche that sounds interesting to you, learn all you can about it, and then find affiliate programs that fit that niche? Here's an example. Let's say I look on ebay pulse and find that a real popular item is coach bags. I think it would be interesting to sell coach bags, but I don't have any myself. I'm not a collector, nor do I have any special contacts for obtaining coach bags in bulk. But I have found some affiliate programs where I could sign up and promote these bags. Does it make sense for me to begin in this type of market, meaning one where I have limited or no experience? I think logically, it makes sense get into a market where you have some sort of advantage. At the same time, however, many people make money buy selling whatever they can get their hands on. They diversify into several affiliate programs that span a multitude of different products. I wouldn't think they have some advantage in either resource or knowledge of all these products, but they select them on the basis of popularity- where they believe they can get the most sales. Having said that, I'm confused by it because I can't get accepted into many affiliate programs without first having some sort of site that complements their offering. So, using the coach bag example, if I wish to go the blog strategy, does it make sense to create a blog that maybe reviews coach bags, discusses the history of coach bags, or handbags in general, and then applies to the affiliate program to monetize the blog? I know there isn't one successful formula, and I'm not looking for a quick way to monetize, or even a general template to copy. Just maybe some ideas on how to start, and hopefully some validation that yes, one can successfully market products that you may know little or nothing about to start with, but have a desire, interest, and passion to learn about. Accordingly, if you go the blog route, can you blog about retail products as a way to promote? If you were promoting jewelry, do you blog about your different products? It doesn't seem like there would be enough content to sustain a blog about a retail product daily. Or, for retail, are there better methods to promote than blogging? Thanks for any help.
Man, that was a lot to take in. First off, coach bags might be a smaller niche, or it might work out great never really tried it. You can do search marketing for key terms on the blogs and redirect to the blogs or a landing page. I personally think that advertising the actual products is harder than advertising a service, such as a store, to get them. You can advertise the actual products through Amazon, if you choose. Promoting jewelry...my favorite way to promote that is through Bidz. They are an awesome company, like the eBay of Jewelry you can get some great deals. Plus, if you get a user to JUST register in a FIVE FIELD form, its $8 at Pepper Jam currently. A long form, which involves a purchase can be as high as $34 on Hydra Media. Other than that, try and be a little bit more narrow and I'll be able to help you more. It is 3:40 in the morning...lol.
Thanks for the response. I'm not really looking at coach bags or jewelry as products to sell, those were just examples. But thanks for the tip on advertising on Bidz, if I were to go the jewelry route. I wasn't sure what you meant by doing search marketing for key terms on the blogs and redirect? I agree that advertising the service is much easier. What I'm really interested in is vintage video games. I have knowledge of older 80s and 90s games, and some ideas for narrowing the niche. I guess the approach is what I'm trying to figure out- whether blogging would make sense or not. I do know this - if I were searching for older video games, I would start on ebay first. So I joined ebay's affiliate program. But that's me. I think a big part of affiliate marketing is knowing your customer from all angles- like the person who isn't very experienced with the Internet- maybe someone older. How would they search, if they didn't have an arsenal of search knowledge at their disposal. But my real issue is how to promote products I know nothing about, but ones which I know are popular, or seasonal- ones which I think I'll get the most sales. I'm not sure how to approach that, and I just wondered if there were any tips about. How does the super affiliate gain his status- by selling in volume the product he understands the most, or by diversifying into many different markets, especially ones he may not be so familiar with? And if he diversifies, how does he gain knowledge of his market so quickly? Wikipedia can only help you so much, lol.