Announcing The Open Niche Project

by Mark Mason | Aug 22, 2011 | Internet Marketing | 40 comments

Niche Marketing Example Well, it's time to announce a new project!

I am calling it the Open Niche Project, because I plan to openly build and promote a niche website (sort of a niche marketing example) right here on MasonWorld.com.

For a several months now, I have been looking for an opportunity to “fully re-engage” at MasonWorld.com. As usual, I am interested in creating something that is really valuable to both me and my readers. To be honest with you, nothing else ever works on the internet (you can quote me).

If the thing being created is not valuable to the creator and the user, it will eventually die. To have a sustainable business, you must create value. It really is that simple.

But I digress…

With that in stuff mind, it occurred to me that I could do something fun with Andrew Hansen's new Unstoppable Affiliate course. A few weeks ago, I reviewed Unstoppable Affiliate, and told you that I thought it was the best Affiliate Marketing course that I had seen in a long time.

Easy for me to say, right?

My Project Idea — Niche Marketing Example

So, it occurred to me that it would be fun to see if I can do several things at the same time. Basically what people needed (it seemed to me) was a detailed niche marketing example.

Work on a new affiliate site for about an hour every day for a month or two (or three).
Log my progress on my Facebook Fan Page every day.
Blog about creating a new affiliate website from scratch (one blog post per week).
Mainly follow along through Unstoppable Affiliate and add in other resources as I go.
Create a free resource that people can use and learn from.
Answer people's questions along the way (that is my favorite part).
Prove that someone with a job can build a business online.

That makes is clear what my readers would get: A great resource (when I am done), a roadmap to follow, and inspiration.

I think a “niche marketing example” is exactly what a lot of new marketers will need to get started. Right now I am thinking about a product site — but that is still open for discussion during the research phase of the project.

But What Is In It For Me?

But what do I get? I said before that there has to be value for the creator.

Well, I like helping people. I know that sounds totally cheesy, but it is true (ask anyone that knows me).

But to be completely honest, that is not the only reason. A project like this will increase reader engagement (if done well). And that will almost certainly result in making this blog more valuable. I'll probably use some tools to make this project happen, and that will result in affiliate sales. I'll also probably sell some copies of Unstoppable Affiliate.

The best thing is that I will feel great about those sales because I will be selling stuff that I believe in and people will be buying the stuff based on my example (not my sleazy sales pitch).

Niche Marketing Example Deja Vu All Over Again

It is true that I have sort of done this twice before (more or less). Many years ago, I did a project I called the “Niche Super Site Project”. In that project, I decided to do a site about Elvis. That site gets lots of traffic but does not make a lot of money. This was one of my first projects, and I created it before I knew how to select niches. It turns out that there are just not that many people searching for “Elvis Presley Collectible Neckties” and the like.

Once, I did this in a forum run by Lynn Terry. I never really finished that project. Not sure why.

I also worked on the Niche Site Duel alongside Pat Flynn. There, the goals were different. The chose the “learning guitar niche” which was cool. When that all went down, I was really busy, and I was trying to compete by outsourcing everything, and quite frankly, I lost interest. I never even monetized or promoted the site, I do plan to get back to that site some day.

So, this time I am serious. LOL.

The Open Niche Project Plan

For those of you that are new to affiliate marketing, this is basically what needs to be done.

Commit to the project and announce (this post)
Review the niche site duel and unstoppable affiliate materials
Keyword research and niche selection
Domain purchase and site building
Content creation and monetization
Promotion
Promotion
Promotion

Never forget that Internet Marketing is mostly marketing (more on this later). That should become clear to everyone in this open niche marketing example.

So, here we go. Right now I am looking at Thursday as the official update day. So stay tuned.

Regards,
Mark

TEST

40 Comments

Chuck Brown on August 22, 2011 at 11:41 am

Sounds interesting, Mark. I will follow this. I don’t think I’d find any significance in building niche sense for AdSense in quantity myself. But I have met with very mixed success in attempting this with sites I did sort of care about. So I look forward to benefitting from your experience here.
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- Mark Mason on August 22, 2011 at 3:12 pm
  
  Thanks Chuck. Just to be clear, it will be an affiliate product site — not AdSense.
  Reply
  - Chuck Brown on August 22, 2011 at 3:36 pm
    
    Trust me, Mark…after Panda and whatever-the-heck-Google-did-to-AdSense-clicks-in-April…I’d much rather look at other options anyway. Affiliate is something I’ve never been able to get the hang of. So I’ll be looking on with great interest!
    Reply
    - Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 5:56 pm
      
      I understand completely. Should be fun. Mark
      Reply
Kent F on August 22, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Hey Mark – I bet you can guess my response. Sounds fantastic. Let me throw out one thing to chew on…. and many will disagree with me….. IMO 90% of niche failure is based on an improper selection of a layout or theme which gives you a fighting chance to make money. Yep – that’s my belief and I’m sticking to it – for now.

The assumption out there that everyone is a whiz at WordPress, Thesis, Genesis, etc. is way off base. We get frustrated and confused in our site set-up, OR the site is generating good traffic, but the traffic has no reason to convert -thus it leaves.
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- Mark Mason on August 22, 2011 at 3:13 pm
  
  Great points. I will definitely plan to cover that. Thanks Kent!
  Reply
  - Peter on August 23, 2011 at 10:51 am
    
    Kent,
    
    This is the first response that’s made sense since I’ve been involved in affiliate marketing for 20 mths. now. Earnings equal less than $35.00 | Expenses exceed $500.00. I can get visitors to my sites, yet no one ever buys or clicks on my ads. I’ve struggled with design and feel that it is one of the biggest reasons for my lack of success with WP and internet marketing. Not to mention the recent phishing attacks one of the themes you mentioned. Of course they won’t admit it nor offer a solution.
    
    My other comment is to Mark. Is this going to be another how-to promote a learn how to make money on the internet product / website? Because I have yet to see anyone show how to set up a site that promotes tangible goods i.e. golf clubs etc.
    Reply
    - Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 5:57 pm
      
      Nope — no internet marketing products. Not sure what the products/niche will be yet, but definately not Internet Marketing related.
      Reply
Sandra on August 23, 2011 at 10:53 am

Hi Mark:

This is a wonderful idea and I’m sure lots of people will benefit from this. I’m really excited about it. I have also bought the Unstoppable Affiliate and would love to read your blog posts – are they available anywhere else or only on Facebook?
Reply
- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:02 pm
  
  Well, I will be doing full blog posts here weekly and daily short posts on facebook. Does that make sense? How do you like UA so far?
  Reply
Tom Ewer on August 23, 2011 at 5:57 am

Mark, it’s good to see a fresh post here! My RSS reader has been feeling lonely 😉

I’m really excited about what you have planned here. I have been doing something similar myself, and it is a whole load of fun (and is starting to shown signs of great potential).

I will be reading with great interest!

All the best,

Tom
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 5:59 pm
  
  Yep Tom, I know. One reason that I am doing this is to get some focus back on the blog. Been distracted by lots of other junk. Sorry about that. M
  Reply
Levada Pendry on August 23, 2011 at 10:58 am

Hello,
I am very interested in this project. I feel experienced in all the steps until you get to promote, promote, promote. I need to get a lot better at that!

Thanks for your information. I have several sites to apply those promotion steps to!

Sincerely,
Levada Pendry
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:10 pm
  
  We all can get better at that. Traffic can be the hardest part, and it requires patience. One of my first discussions will be about mindset and expectations. We’ll be talking about how to prepare mentally for the “promote” part. –M
  Reply
Peter on August 23, 2011 at 10:58 am

Mark,

Can you show how to promote something other than a “How to Get Rich on the Internet” product. I want to promote golf equipment and the only sale I’ve made so far is to myself in order to keep my CJ account from being deleted.

Kent: Poignant comment as I too have become frustrated with one of the WP themes you mentioned. It sure wasn’t what they sold me on and support is difficult for someone with no prior HTML / CSS design knowledge.

I’m so frustrated at this point that I stopped going into my computer room.
Reply
- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:11 pm
  
  Yep — we will not be promoting an internet product, and the niche will not be internet marketing. -M
  Reply
David on August 23, 2011 at 10:49 am

Mark

you are doing a wonderful thing here … there is so much junk being overly promoted … and most everyone is confused with too much information overload …

this is the first comment I have ever made to a blog but I had to in this case …

thank you so much for doing this … this is what I … and I am sure many others need to finally get started the correct way …

again … my heartfelt thanks and God Bless

David
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:00 pm
  
  Wow. It is very cool that I get to reply to your very first blog comment. Thank you so much. I’m thrilled to have you following along. M
  Reply
Mary on August 23, 2011 at 10:56 am

Mark to the rescue! I decided months ago that affiliate marketing was a perfect fit for me and since then I have been stuffing my poor little head with waaaaaaay too much information. I’m a great learner, but for some reason I cannot dive in and start putting things into action. I know that it will be a huge help for me to watch you taking things step by step…. hopefully rescuing me from my information overload and lack of focus. I’m really looking forward to this!
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 9:58 pm
  
  I think affiliate marketing really just boils down to a few key things. So, we should be able to make it simple. In the end, you are simply matching offers with buyers. You need both offers (affiliate products) and buyers (traffic) to generate the matches (using sales copy).
  
  Pretty simple really.
  
  M
  Reply
Loretta on August 23, 2011 at 11:01 am

Step 1.2 : your friends and blog followers will commit to harassing you to finish and document every piece of this one 😉
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:12 pm
  
  I know I can count on you! I am thinking about doing some videos, so I will be looking to you for some transcription if that happens….M
  Reply
Sean Johnson on August 23, 2011 at 11:20 am

Hey Mark

I’m watching you now! 😉
Well done for puting it on the line. Maybe I will set myself a goal of matching
your effort and see if I can get some traction also on my site.

No Slacking now…. You have put yourself out there as an example 😉

All the best

Sean
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:43 pm
  
  Keep after me. I typically need encouragement of this type. Lots of distractions on this end. Thanks! M
  Reply
Lisa Marie Mary on August 23, 2011 at 4:50 pm

Ok, this is going to be cool! Can’t wait to watch the progress and learn, learn, learn!

And another bonus for you – wrap it all up into a killer tutorial ebook when you’re done! 😉

And I second that thing about your friends buggin’ ya to finish, too! LOL!!
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:14 pm
  
  Thanks. But usually what happens is that I end up learning more from my readers. I love hearing what people have to say about stuff. There are a ton of smart people that read this blog. It should be really fun. -M
  Reply
Ellen on August 23, 2011 at 12:54 pm

Hi Mark,

I’ll definitely be watching you. I’ve been trying for 2 years now to get my website up & running. I just seem to be unable to grasp all the details of what is needed to actually monetize a website successfully.

I did just purchase the ‘Unstoppable Affiliate’ course and have learned a ton of info from it. I just might be getting some of my confidence back and will be trying along side of you.

I still do have one question though. “How do you set up multiple niches on a single server?” Maybe you can cover this as you go along.

Thanks for all you help,
Ellen
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- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:32 pm
  
  Well, 2 years is long enough. The time is now. Let’s cover the server thing right now. Do you mean “multiple web sites” on one server? Or do you mean multiple niches on one website (usually not recommended by me).
  
  For the simplest shared hosting case (like HostGator or BlueHost, etc) and multiple web sites on one server, you simply register the domains that you want to use and “point them” at your server. Then you tell your server that you have multiple domains there.
  
  Tell me more about your server (like do you have CPanel) and I can give you some better directions.
  
  Does that make any sense?
  
  Thanks,
  mark
  Reply
  - Ellen on August 24, 2011 at 1:59 pm
    
    Hi Mark,
    
    Yes, I want to set up multiple web sites on one server. I use BlueHost which has CPanel.
    
    I guess I need to know how to point the sites to my server. I’m such a newbie when it comes to this part. Are there any written instructions that I can follow?
    
    Thanks, Mark!
    Ellen
    Reply
    - Chuck Brown on August 24, 2011 at 2:06 pm
      
      Just to get you started, Ellen. These settings are set at your domain registrar…wherever you bought the name (for example, GoDaddy, NameCheap or wherever). It’s referred to as the DNS settings. And to know where you point them, you have to check with the Welcome letter you received when you signed up for hosting. For example, if you are using Bluehost…it might be NS1.BLUEHOST.COM in the first field, NS2.BLUEHOST.COM in the second field, etc. And keep in mind that, once you change these settings at your domain regsitrar, it can take some time (up to 72 hours) for the setting to be visible everywhere in the world. You might see them right away, but it might also take some time.
      Reply
      - Ellen on August 24, 2011 at 7:20 pm
        
        Hi Chuck,
        
        This makes sense to me, now. Thanks!
        
        Ellen
Chuck Brown on August 23, 2011 at 6:17 pm

Mark, you might also want to spend some time describing how you chose your niche, once you do so. Obviously, this process will always vary from person to person, depending on interests and strengths…but I believe this is one of the places where people get really hung up. I think there are a lot of people out there who can talk about article marketing, building a list, et al. But I think many of them skip over those first steps. How do you find the products you’re going to be pushing as an affiliate? What sources do you review to find them? How do you weigh them in terms of potential, etc? Are there concerns and fears of inadequacy that you have to address as you weigh these options (i.e., there are already other great and well-known sites in this niche…should I just skip it, or how might I compete or find a chunnk of that niche?) I dunno…maybe it’s just me. But I suspect others may struggle with the same things.
Reply
- Mark Mason on August 23, 2011 at 6:33 pm
  
  You are very correct here — I often find this to be the hardest part.
  
  Man, we have a lot to cover, don’t we. LOL
  
  Thanks for the reminder. Keep ’em coming.
  Reply
Cheryl on August 24, 2011 at 5:15 pm

Sounds like just what I need. I’ll be watching.
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Miriam Higginbotham on August 24, 2011 at 9:26 pm

I think this is a fantastic idea Mark!! I will definitely be following along and try to learn as much as I can from you. You and Andrew Hansen are both great marketers but more importantly you two are people I follow because of your desire to help others. I appreciate all that you do!! Looking forward to this!!
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Sandra on August 26, 2011 at 8:43 am

Hi Mark:

I’m enjoying UA. However, I’ve not been able to find any good keywords to target so far. I think Andrew has given us many options instead of finding keywords within strict parameters so I’m floundering a bit. I like Josh Spaulding’s “strict rules” when doing research as then I know whre I am! I’m now considering using one of the keywords in the niche pack he gave us.

This is why I think it’s brilliant you’re going to go through the system and it’s exactly what would help the most.

Thank you so much
Sandra
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Sandra on August 26, 2011 at 3:45 pm

When will you be starting this project?
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Jonathan McShane on September 1, 2011 at 8:05 pm

Very interesting idea and I will be following this closely.
Thanks for letting us ride along.
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Marijan Sivric on September 5, 2011 at 6:01 am

Great idea! I have become a fan on facebook, so I can see your progress! I hope it will work and I also hope I will get some ideas from this! Thanks man!
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Sean on September 6, 2011 at 10:59 pm

Awesome Mark! I like your altruistic attitude and know that it will come back to you with dividends.
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