Should You Blog? For Most Small Business People... Blogging Is the Wrong Choice To Build a Business

The best way to assess the severity of a problem is to assess its solutions. Many bloggers who use blogs to create niche sites turn off the "archive by date" indicator and the date of the post. For software that was originally supposed to deliver a time-sensitive journal, it surely seems to be "kludging" its way to "look" like a website.

SBI!, though, was designed from the ground up, to enable its users to "build them right." No kludging necessary. So SBI! owners do not post a bunch of disjointed, undated posts about a topic. They create one, excellent article about that topic, which they periodically update. Take this "thought experiment"...

Pretend you are visiting a site in search of information about incorporating an offshore company in Anguilla. One has an excellent, up-to-date, comprehensive article. The other has a mish-mash of new laws, commentary, older posts, and so forth, some scattered under "offshore" as a keyword and some under "legal."

Which site earns your loyalty?
Google knows the answer.

Theme-Based Content Sites "Lock" Into the Web More Fully and Multi-Dimensionally

Google explained, in a post dated March 4, 2008 in their Public Policy Blog (a good use of blogging!), how their "information retrieval experts have added more than 200 additional signals to the algorithms that determine the relevance of websites to a user's query." 200 factors!

While bloggers focus on linking, Google actually tracks how humans respond to quality, original content. They track everything from the original Google PR to bounce rates to social media presence to... well, one can only speculate.

Unlike the blogosphere, well-executed Theme-Based Content Sites integrate into the Web steadily and deeply. Theme-Based Content Sites address the total "Web integration" picture, naturally and powerfully, without manipulation.

And Google tracks it all. Unlike blogs, real sites do not depend on intensive interlinking between each other to build their reputations in Google's eyes. Their integration into the Web is deeper and stronger, making their traffic surer and contributing to the traffic momentum.


And Now... SBI!'s Content 2.0 Accelerates That Momentum

Site Build It! sites have natural traffic momentum. And now its recently released Content 2.0 ("C2") module, which enables your site to grow totally through the efforts of visitors (bringing "Web 2.0" to the small business person), pushes that to an even higher, still-natural, level of traffic momentum.
It leaves blogging far behind. Blogging is not really Web 2.0. It is closer to broadcasting (or "narrow-casting"). There is no true user-created content and little interactivity ("commenting") at most blogs.

Blogging is "weak Web 2.0" when compared to SBI!'s C2, where your visitors create genuine, high-quality content for you in a variety of ways. Click here for more information about SBI!'s Content 2.0.

The traffic momentum of true user-generated content and viral spread is pronounced.

The "Blog or Build" Bottom Line
Blogging is for a very small percent of the population. It is an ideal medium for highly talented writers and clever thinkers with the time, inclination and skill-set to "develop a following" in certain particular sets of circumstances. On the other hand...

A Theme-Based Content Site springs from personal knowledge and passion, something we all have. It is something that anyone can do at his or her own pace. And it can be used to start an online business "from scratch," or to support and grow an existing offline business.

The Three Fatal Flaws of Blogging
There are, of course, some highly successful blogs. Well-done, news-oriented blogs, for example. And blogs that are not really "blogs" in the usual sense but that merely use the software to build more traditional Theme-Based Content Sites. In both cases, it takes the truly exceptional to succeed without a complete step-by-step process and all the tools needed to execute flawlessly.

These successes are the exceptions that prove the rule of blog failure. There are fundamental reasons why typical blogs fail in such high numbers...

Fatal Flaw #1) Blogs Do Not Deliver Useful Information Resources
A blog is like a stack of hundreds of dated back issues of newspapers. Aside from "today's snippet," blogs are generally not useful resources for information. And information is what people search for; it's what they crave on the Web.

Blog posts are created and stored in chronological order. A good blogger will produce a post that is useful today, but who will read it in three months? Even when bloggers go to the extra effort of archiving their posts by "keyword categories," the articles are dated and not rewritten into coherent definitive articles. Usefulness plummets with time.

How does a Theme-Based Content Site differ?
Instead of a stack of old newspapers, each resembles a good resource book about its theme, composed of useful, original articles ("Web pages") that cover related topics in some depth.

Written in each small-business owners's unique voice, and based upon that person's experience in the field, they are useful resources that visitors return to over and over.

To summarize, Theme-Based Content Sites are evergreen, useful and usable, long-term momentum-builders. Blogs are short-term "today's snippets." The differing results are profound (skip up and re-read Google's analysis from its Google Analytics 101 course).

The Blogging Exceptions That Prove the Rule
There are talented writers who use blogging software to create high quality, full articles about various topics related to a theme. As explained above, they use blogging software to create Theme-Based Content Sites. But there is a more effective and cost-and-time efficient way to do that... Site Build It!!

Humans respond to blogs and Theme-Based Content sites differently. And Google measures those reactions in hundreds of ways, rewarding your ranking accordingly. That is why Theme-Based Content sites are easier to create and build longer-lasting traffic. Continuing this analysis...

Fatal Flaw #2) Blogging Navigation and Internal Organization Are Inherently Awkward
Generally, blogs have no immediately logical organization of material by categorical tiers, sub-tiers, etc. At best, there may be a collection of "keywords" under which posts are filed. The various posts on a topic are never pulled together into cohesive articles, since they generally start as news pieces or thoughts of the day.

Theme-Based Content Sites are organized more logically. And Web pages are updated, not re-issued as new posts. These sites are easier to find and are simpler and more fruitful to explore by your "human" visitors (your pre-customers!).

And what about your "spider" visitors (the Search Engines)? Site Build It! makes it supremely easy for all engines to spider and list your pages. And critically, superior human response becomes obvious to all engines (as mentioned by Google itself above).

"Spider and human" work synergistically together to build substantially greater long-term traffic momentum. And the beauty is that all you have to do is "keep it real." This has nothing to do with "SEO" or any kind of Search Engine manipulation. The results are natural, long-lasting, and evergrowing.

Fatal Flaw #3) Blogs Do Not Meet the Natural Needs of Most Small Business Opportunities
Some fields of business lend themselves well to blogging. For example, there is an overload of bloggers covering and commenting on even the most minute developments in the fast-moving, Web-savvy field of Internet marketing. Most of it is "noise" that will ultimately mean nothing.

Nevertheless, "Net marketing" is a natural for blogging.
But the nature of your business and its related subject matter is most likely inappropriate for blogging. Your own business is almost certainly better served by a Theme-Based Content Site.

Why? Because your future customers will be better served by information delivered in this manner. Theme-Based Content Sites flex to meet the goals, knowledge and circumstances of everyone...

Whether you are a dentist or asphalt sealer...

Whether you are a copywriter or java programmer...

Or perhaps you are a stay-at-home mom or pre-retiree who wants to start an online business from scratch...

Whatever your business or plans, build a Theme-Based Content Site, not a blog.

Here's how to get off to a great start, to understand how and why only this approach builds a profitable online business, no matter what that business may be...

Robert Kiyosaki LIVE - Part 3

Just a quick note to let you know that part 3 of my interview with Robert Kiyosaki has just been posted.


I look forward to getting to know you and networking
to grow our businesses.

Talk soon,
Frank Tocco--Marketing Mentor
Get Paid To Generate Responsive Leads--Free Videos
Free Website Traffic Tips
Social Media Networking Tips

Robert Kiyosaki LIVE - Part 2

I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know that part 2 of my interview with Robert Kiyosaki is now live.

In this segment, Robert explains the B-I Triangle and why context is just as, if not MORE important than content. By context I mean the mission of the company, the team involved and the leadership.These pieces are more directly responsible for the success of the company than anything else.

The content is the product, legal, systems (business, IT),communications (PR, marketing), and cash flow (accounting). Theseare what Robert refers to at the MBA portion of the business. All of them are extremely important.

However, the one thing new business owners focus on the MOST, is the product.

In this clip Robert explains that the product is the smallest and most insignificant piece of a business.

The example he uses is McDonalds. The hamburgers they sell are really, very bad. But the business systems and context they have created makes it a great business. In fact, one of the best on the planet.
Check out the video here I hope you enjoy the interview.
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS
Take care -


Talk soon,
Frank Tocco--Marketing Mentor
Get Paid To Generate Responsive Leads--Free Videos
Free Website Traffic Tips
Social Media Networking Tips

Why Should You Build A Business?--Robert Kiyosaki And John Seiferth Interview

My good friend John Seiferth worked for Robert Kiyosaki for 8 years at The Rich Dad Company.

If you have never heard of Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and creator of the game CASHFLOW, then hear him talk to one of his ex-employees in this interview about the economy and why it's so important to keep learning how to generate cashflowing businesses.

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS

You may use this article to post on your blog or website as long as you do not change anything in the article including the links and full give credit to the author. Copyright © Frank Tocco 2009 Discover How To GET PAID To Generate Leads For Your Business

What does a Trillion Dollars actual look like Stacked Next to a Human Being?

Posted by Ken Laitinen

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"... A billion dollars...A hundred billion dollars...Eight hundred billion dollars...One TRILLION dollars...What does that look like?

I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats.Stay with me ... to get a sense of what a trillion dollars looks like.

Take it slow....We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them; slightly fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for a week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere... $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars)

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing about so much. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros. You ready for this? It's pretty surprising. Go ahead... Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...
(And notice those pallets are double stacked and how small the man looks.) So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about. Make sure you pass this on so everyone can see how much our government is really spending!!

Networking Newbie With Zero Experience Replaces $90,000/Yr Income In Just 23 Days...

Wow it feels good to be back at work! I know that might sound a little nuts, but after spending the last 3 days moving into a new house, going to work is like taking a vacation ;) I'm going to take some pics of the new pad today and will send them to you later this week!

Anyway, I have TONS of really cool stuff to share with you later this month, but TODAY is about celebration... Yep... We're celebrating another family that's been set free from corporate America, and who now lives a life of freedom, and without limits thanks to a little ebook you've probably heard of ;) So please help me congratulate John Seiferth, (who's never been involved in networking before), on replacing his corporate income in just 23 DAYS.

(And you'll never guess where he worked before!!)

THANK YOU John for sending me your story and allowing me to share it with the rest of the world.

Here's his story for you... - Mike

It Was The Summer of 2007...
I had been working for about six years as the IT guy at The Rich Dad Company for Robert and Kim Kiyosaki. That’s right. I know what you are saying because I get it all the time, “That must have been awesome! What an experience!

Well, you would be right. It was awesome and it was one of the most educational and exciting periods of my professional life. I learned more working for Robert about business and investing, than I did in my Bachelors AND Masters degree programs combined!

And those were Business degrees!

Needless to say, when it comes to money, real business, entrepreneurship and investing, you don’t learn jack in school. And I found that out when I came to work for Robert and Kim.

Actually, the way I landed the job was an accident. I had never heard of Rich Dad Poor Dad or Robert Kiyosaki and had no idea what this business was about. Well that changed quickly.

From the first day, it was clear that this was a different kind of company. In fact, one of Robert and Kim’s goals is that everyone working for them will eventually leave and start their own business and put their education to work.

Well, that is where this idea of “networking” really comes into play.
I met someone, who introduced me to someone, who introduced me to a guy by the name of Mike Dillard. At the time, that didn’t mean anything to me. Who in the blazes is Mike Dillard? Again, I was completely clueless.

I had always been allergic to network marketing, direct sales, and all of that garbage. I felt that if I did not REALLY believe in the product, there is no way I am going to be able to sell someone else on it.

Call it my sales/marketing conscience. I don’t know.

But here was this guy Mike who was making more money in a month than I would make in five years! There HAD to be something there.

So Mike and I started talking. I asked him for some feedback on some Rich Dad stuff we were doing and he was gracious enough to help out. He never pushed anything on me. In fact, the first time we met, he came to Scottsdale, AZ to the Rich Dad offices so we could talk about doing something together. Well, he walked into that office in true Alpha Dog style. (He actually took that picture of me above during his visit).

Here I am thinking he’ll be impressed that I work at Rich Dad and be falling all over me, just like everyone else does that walks in the door.

NOT!

I’ve never seen anyone so confident and on task. Over the next 1.5 hours, he completely tore apart the Rich Dad website and found an estimated $30,000,000 in sales revenue we were missing out on.

It was like watching someone with X-Ray vision who could just see all of the missing pieces without effort.

Obviously that made a big impression on me.

Now fast forward 12 months.
In July 2007, I was finally ready to put my training and on-the-job education to the test. Could I literally jump head first into a entrepreneurial venture and make it work?

Well I was about to find out, because that week I put my job at Rich Dad behind me. I was officially on my own, with no other source of income.

The first call I made was to Mike. He was the smartest, most successful business owner I had ever known. He should be able to steer me in the right direction.His first assignment for me? Read

Magnetic Sponsoring.
What? You don’t understand here my friend, I just left a $90K a year job to start something from scratch and you want me to read a book? This does not sound promising.

All I can tell you is that my mind made a QUANTUM shift that day. I was staring down the gullet of an entirely new paradigm. One that I had no idea existed.

Remember, I had no network marketing experience, no internet marketing experience and I’m scared out of my mind! Not to mention the fact that I am taking my family along for this ride as well.

No pressure.
Well, the secrets, mindset, techniques, education I gained from Magnetic was PRICELESS! I can’t put it any other way. That book saved my life. Literally. I know that sounds corny, but it is true. So what's the bottom line here? By implementing the things I learned in Magnetic Sponsoring (as well as Black Belt Recruiting, Traffic Formula, Building on a Budget, all of which I picked up immediately), I was able to FULLY replace my income from The Rich Dad Company within 23 days of getting started.

And since then, I’ve been averaging over $10K a month. Remember, I had no idea what the heck I was doing. I simply followed the training, Mike’s advice, and maintained my “do whatever it takes” attitude.

In fact, I received a leadership award from the Co-founders of our company at our recent event in Lake Tahoe, CA. How cool is that!?

There is no question in my mind that without Magnetic Sponsoring, the community and my friendship with Mike, I would have failed miserably and taken my entire family down with me.
I was thrilled when Mike asked me to share my story with the Magnetic Sponsoring community. I am so grateful for everything Mike has done for me and I want to publicly thank you, Mike for your mentorship. I hope you don’t think it is too strange that I now refer to you as MY rich dad (even if you are 9 years younger than me). ;)

With gratitude - John Seiferth

=====================================

So how did John pull off such a feat? Well I can tell you because I watched him every step of the way, but you might be disappointed because it's not sexy or unique.

John simply did everything I told him to do without question or hesitation. He'd go through the training courses, implement what he learned every night, and never make excuses. 23 days later, he had replaced his income.

I wish there was something new and cool that I could tell you about, but there wasn't, and there still isn't. It's all sitting right there in the pages of Magnetic Sponsoring. Please understand that the training in that course isn't experimental. It is THE blueprint for achieving success in this industry, and John's one more living case study that proves it, which is why I'm not going to sit here and waste my time trying to sell you on it. If you can't see the value in this kind of knowledge on your own, there's nothing I can say that will change things.

I'll just say that if you haven't read it yet, I'd urge you to give it a chance. You can have it in your hands within the next 5 minutes, and it comes with a 12 month, no-questions-asked guarantee so you have nothing to risk.

The call is yours to make... http://shop4dreams.magneticsponsoringonline.com/letter.html

How The Simple Addition Of Real Personality Can Bind Customers To You Forever

"Making The Sale" Lesson #2:

How The Simple Addition Of Real Personality

Can Bind Customers To You Forever.

From: John Carlton "The most ripped-off and respected copywriter alive."
Howdy...

This lesson in advanced, "take no prisoners" style marketing may be the most powerful wealth-accumulation tactic you ever learn.

It's simple, and it's basic: Your number one weapon in advertising, especially on-line, will always be superior salesmanship.

This is the mostly-overlooked art of figuring out what your prospect desperately desires... earning his trust and establishing your credibility... and delivering your sales message in a way that nails his "passionate sweet spot of need."

This should be common sense for all marketers... and yet it will be your secret weapon.
Because most of your competition will forever ignore the fundamentals of good salesmanship, or screw it up (since they've never bothered to pay attention to the lessons).

It's relatively easy to create an ad that gets a prospect to say "Hey, that sounds like a great product". But that doesn't mean they will become a customer.

No. You want your prospect to say -- after experiencing your sales pitch -- "Wow! How do I get one of those?"

All buying decisions are made in an emotional part of your prospect's brain. He may explain his purchase in rational terms, giving you reasons why he considered it a great deal.

But getting someone to take money out of their wallet to pay for something is a much more complex process.

You don't have to understand the biology or chemistry that goes on... but you DO have to realize that closing any deal requires a little skill.

It's not difficult. But it's not something most people naturally learn to do.

There are a few key secrets to salesmanship that -- once you master them -- will guarantee that EVERY sales pitch you create is empowered to close the deal.

That's how fortunes are made.

However, most marketers "sell from their heels"... meaning, they blow it when it comes down to asking for money. They mumble and stumble and often just blurt out the price, without helping the prospect position this purchase in his mind.

The marketing graveyard is crammed with great products that failed because the advertising didn't elicit that all-important desire to buy RIGHT NOW.

However, when you master the basics of great salesmanship, you can persuade a prospect to desperately desire a product he didn't even know existed before he came across your ad.
Whatever results you're getting will instantly be multiplied many times, as soon as you apply the secrets of great salesmanship.

Now, I was not a "born salesman."
I had to learn the hard way, making embarrassing mistakes, blowing deals right and left... and going to outrageous extremes to find world-class salesmen who would teach me their tricks.
I’m going to share one of those killer tricks with you now. A proven multiplier of sales to use on your web pages and emails is...

Personality!

A good, solid sales page will bring you orders. Add some personality to your sales message, however... and sales go through the roof.

I recently wrote a short note for a client who was emailing to his "inactive list", trying to stir something up. I insisted that the client personalize each note with the prospect’s name.

Here is how the letter starts out to, say, Bob Jones:

Dear Bob,
Just now, I was sitting at my desk going through some stuff, and I had a sudden thought. So I called out to my long-suffering secretary...
"Hey Barb! What the heck happened to Bob Jones?"
As far as we know, Bob, you’re still alive and kicking. But we haven’t heard from you...

Now, let’s dwell on this opening for a second. Most advertisers -- if they had the sense to email inactive former customers at all -- would have adopted a holier-than-thou tone that reads like the warning label on a bottle of medicine:

Dear Mr. Smith,
It has come to our attention that your account has become inactive blah blah blah...
Yeah, I wonder why that customer stopped paying attention.

Now go back to what I did.
I created a scene, complete with some drama and script and -- very important-excellent use of the guy’s name.

It’s lighthearted, yet still brutally-effective salesmanship. It also doesn’t go on and on.
Just a brief, personalized little dash of slang-driven personality.

Now here’s the kicker:
If you can inject some personality into your emails and web pages and letters... you’ll be light years ahead of the competition.

The client above took the leash off me years ago, and I have created a personality in his copy that keep readership at astonishingly high levels.

He’s a funny guy anyway, but he’s not a writer, and has never attempted to translate his own personality to his marketing. So he pays me a fortune to do it for him.

When people on his list get an email or letter from him the response is not "Oh, yuck, another sales pitch", but...

"Hey! Let’s see what outrageous storyhe’s got to tell me today."
Personality works. It will multiply your sales.

People are inundated with SPAM and boring websites and bad radio, TV and print ads all day long.

It's good salesmanship to put yourself in the shoes of your prospect. Most people live lives of quiet desperation. They don't get to do anything interesting, go anywhere interesting, or hang out with interesting people.

Yawn.

So that's your opening: Be the ONE thing he reads today that really gets his blood moving.
Be the one marketer who says something worthwhile and exciting... and your customers will reward you handsomely.

This gives you the opportunity to become the "go to" guy in your niche -- the dude who knows what he's talking about, and talks about it in interesting ways.

People don't want to deal with anonymous corporations, or marketers who sound like they have a bug up their butt.

Trust is a hard thing to manufacture -- but it's a heck of a lot easier when you allow your prospect to see that he's dealing with someone who shares his passions, understands his situation, and communicates without nonsense.

People like to deal with people.
Especially people who have a little personality. Think of the emails you get each day -- there are surely some people in your world whose emails you open immediately, happy to see them in your inbox.

And probably, it's because you enjoy reading email from those people. They have something to say, and you enjoy hearing from them.

This is personality in action.

That’s it for this lesson.

Don't forget to jump back over to www.SimpleWritingSystem.com/blog/.
There's a lot more specific info -- including tactics you can use -- waiting for you. And it's the place where you'll learn how and when you can immerse yourself in my Simple Writing System.
Stay frosty...
John Carlton

How A Small Bit Of Market Research CanSave Your Butt,And Reveal The HottestTarget Audiences You'll Ever Find

Simple Writing System Basics

"Making The Sale"

Lesson #1

How A Small Bit Of Market Research CanSave Your Butt,

And Reveal The HottestTarget Audiences You'll Ever Find.

From: John Carlton "The most ripped-off and respected copywriter alive."

Howdy...

Does your current Website suck?

Don't despair. You still might do OK?

How? Read on...

To begin, I want to reveal a rather embarrassing little secret shared by all top copywriters:
A poorly written ad sent to the right market... will do better than abrilliantly-written ad sent to the wrong market.

Seems simple, right? Don’t try to sell ice to Eskimos, but do offer ice water in a desert.
And yet, I see countless entrepreneurs make this very same mistake repeatedly.

Take, for example, the story of a guy I met while doing "Hot Seat" consultations at a Dan Kennedy seminar.

This dude had posted a gorgeous-looking Website and -- after several months of attempting to corner his market... was chagrined to get not a single blessed sale.

"What’d you pay to get the site up?" I asked, innocently.
"Ten grand," he said, without blushing. "But that included getting the product produced."

This guy was walking around like a wounded gazelle in hyena town. He was a one-man charity system for art directors, designers, web hosts and manufacturers.

Don’t be this guy. He had violated the most basic fundamental in business: Do the simple stuff first.
As it turns out, I know something about the market he was after. In fact, I know a LOT about that market.

And you know what?

It didn’t matter how good the deal was on his Website.

It didn’t matter how efficiently the site could capture visitors, or how easy it was to buy using the online ordering system.

It didn’t matter how gloriously wonderful the product was.

And it wouldn’t have made a difference if God himself descended upon earth and wrote this guy’s sales copy.

None of this was relevant.

Because there was no market there.

This guy spent ten thousand dollars to find out something he could have discovered for FREE.
And it would have taken him all of about an hour too... instead of the months he spent creating the product, writing the copy, and wrangling with the website technology.

It's called... (drum roll, please)...

Market Research.
I cover a lot of ground in the Market Research section of my Simple Writing System for a darn good reason. It's the FOUNDATION of everything else you do to bring in money.

But here's something you can use right now:
Do not create the actual product until AFTER you get a pulse from your intended market.

How do you do this? Here are just a few of the simple ways I can share with you:

(1) Go to Google AdWords. You can "test" most online markets without even signing up for the service.

It’s easy, too. The system will automatically reveal to you how many hits certain words and phrases within your target market were registered. It will also suggest other words and phrases, based on what is actually getting the big numbers.

This is free market research. Just figure out what a prospect might put into a search engine in order to be in your target audience... and see if the action justifies your foray into this market.

If the words and phrases you come up with are not among the most used, Google will tell you, and help you find the better ones.

And... if your AdWords best efforts come up with pitiful results... then you are fishing in an empty pond.

Time to move on.

(2) Get your hands on a copy of the SRDS. (That’s "Standard Rates and Data Service".) These are the phonebook-sized catalogs of all the mailing lists available to rent, and all the magazines that take ads.

Even if your business is strictly web-based, this is the book that -- once you take a few minutes to understand it -- will heap massive wealth and rewards on your head.

Because this is the book that instantly tells you which markets are hot, and which are not.
What’s more, if you’re too cheap to buy the service (sign up at www.srds.com and they will send you a brand new updated version quarterly), you can check the SRDS out for FREE at your local library. It’s in the resource department.

They’re not hiding it.

You don’t even need a recent one, in most cases. If your prospective market has existed for a while, you can get your answer from even a years-old SRDS.

Cuz all you need, at this basic stage, is a thumbs up or thumbs down on how "hot" the market you're targeting is.

There’s either a mob of cash-rich people who actively buy stuff in the market you’re considering... or there aren’t.

That’s all you’re looking for right now.

In this guy’s case, he had decided to go after what he thought was a huge untapped part of an existing market. He didn’t "need" to research it -- heck, his own common sense told him he on was the right track.

See, everybody was already marketing to the men in this market.

So he decided to go after... another big drum roll... the women.

Genius!

Except for the inconvenient detail that there WEREN’T any women in this market.
I checked it out myself, once I got back to the office. The SRDS had the goods on over a dozen magazines that catered to this niche.

The subscriber numbers were huge... that’s why the guy wanted to go after the market... but they were also 97% male. This detail is plainly revealed in the statistics of each entry.

Just as telling, the available lists of direct response names had a premium of $12/thousand for male names. Female names were dirt cheap to rent.

This is a blindingly obvious hint: The men in this market are the ones who buy. The women barely exist.

Bang! Slam the SRDS shut, scratch the whole idea of going to that market.

Research job is complete. Even if you had to take a bus across town to the library, your total time expenditure has been minimal.

And you’re not out any serious money, except for bus fare and lunch.

Of course...
... if your research had revealed that your target market was a profit-rich riot of unmet needs (with scant competition and lots of low-hanging fruit)...

... then you've just identified a niche you can go after with the throttle wide open.
This is how fortunes are made... and kept from being lost.

This mini-lesson is just a "taste" of what's in store for you when you allow me to show ALL the tactics, secrets, strategies and inside unfair advantages I've mastered in 25 years as a top copywriter and marketing consultant.