Nelson Tan asked:


I have a feeling some niche marketers found success in a way that is not publicized on the Net.

What is typically publicized is the way of the “niche blitz”: Cover as many niches as possible en masse and monetize related information. This aims for quantity. Under the duress of time, strategization is sacrificed, and the emphasis is on a repetitive pattern of setting up online systems for monetization through product sales, paid clicks and lead generation, but each one of these niches or systems are not going to pay highly by itself because of a certain ‘herd’ factor pertaining to this idea of a “niche blitz”. Moreover, the maximum human effort that can be possibly expended comes most likely from only 1 person, the marketer himself.

In the Internet Business Manifesto, Rich Schefren had stressed you’re going to hit a limit with all the work done solely by yourself. That’s not how companies grow. I’m already lying to myself when “I AM the company”.

Not only that, the end of your “niche blitz” can come when your niche sites become stale and die down because of one-time setup-and-leave-it effort or “repetition fatigue”.

Of late, because of the expertise I’m known for, business associates have come to propose ideas and work in need of a collaboration to generate leads online. So instead of chasing niches, I’m attracting them. Second, the economy of these offline businesses my associates are involved in definitely deals with a lot more money and possibly have a lesser degree of competition due to its lack of Internet pre-eminence (it may be the same case with competitors in the same industry), but if I should bring the business online, it will certainly be presented from a unique angle and with a unique taste.

The crucial characteristic to note is [b]any form of business that requires a team of players to run it is certainly big enough to share substantial profits for everyone even while your role within the team is a small bit part.[/b] It is what you should be looking for in evaluating a business because you can then fully focus on exercising a specialty skill (for example, lead generation) to the fullest instead of “doing everything from A to Z”, leading to fatigue and aimlessness.

So don’t be embarassed that you don’t consider yourself successful via the “niche blitz” method. Being more selective can be the more profitable way for you.

With this being said, perhaps there are highly profitable businesses within your neighborhood that with your help as an Internet Marketer and if the business permits, they can bring in a lot more profits online! You are merely piggybacking a business and injecting it with a new momentum towards Internet pre-eminence. If you’re not attracting opportunities then you should proactively approach the business owners instead and propose a win-win situation.

I was able to obtain a sample copy of a local businesses approach letter that Paul Evans has used to create an extremely successful business serving as the local Internet expert for businesses in his hometown. I want you to have a free copy.

This is the perfect complement to Andrew Cavanaugh’s special report, “Offline Gold For The Online Marketer”, about selling your Internet Marketing skills to businesses in your local city. The report starts by presuming the reader as a total stranger to business owners and how s/he goes about the process of striking a business partnership to the point when they would be happy to put checks into the reader’s pocket.

Years ago I did a little research out of curiosity and I reprint my personal summary: Out of the 95% of all US companies which are small businesses (categorized as having less than 100 workers), 66% do not believe the Web offers significant opportunities to fuel their growth just because they are local businesses. Only 23% anticipate that online sales will affect their bottomline. So if people say there’s still a lot of potential in online marketing, imagine what’s still being ignored in the REAL world!

If you know very well you would like to take the path of forging alliances with existing offline businesses, read Andrew’s special report to find out how to go about it in the most effective and efficient manner.

Lawrence Reaves asked:


What did the grape say when it was rolled over by a beer keg?

Nothing – it just let out a little “wine”!

What we drink says a lot about who we are – if you believe the marketing companies who target the mass markets with multi-million dollar commercials and campaigns. But is this really true?

Enjoying both beers and wines is not a mutually exclusive pastime – I personally drink both and conform with neither stereotypical image of either drinker – I’m not a young stud hanging out with great looking ***** in a bar while ice-cold longnecks are guzzled by the truck load nor a wrinkly, liberal-looking, spectacle-wearing foodie with leather patches on my elbows.

Beer and wine have very long histories and a deep, cultural significance which is practically universal around the globe. Who actually invented beer and wine is lost in time, but both originated from the Middle East and probably have been made since Neolithic times (around 5000 B.C.) – certainly the ancient Egyptians and various empires based to the East of the Mediterranean Sea have documented wines and beers as well as irrefutable archaeological evidence.

Certainly in those ancient times, there was no such thing as an NFL or Nascar event while cheese & wine parties were not exactly on the social menu. The division of potential consumers using marketing, and by extension, social stereotypes for beer and wine markets has created a false picture of who actually drinks them. Since wine producers in California started making headway in international markets bck in the 80’sWine was the alcoholic drink of the masses in Europe and not the upper crust – beer was drunk as water, simply because it was safe to drink due to the alcohol content and in fact, beer was not brewed for the purpose of getting drunk, at least, not in the beginning but to purify water.

Mass production of beer really started in the 20th Century – in previous centuries other forms of alcohol dominated demand for getting smashed – and wine was one of the dominant beverages. With mass production came mass marketing and for beer sales, blue collar workers were targeted with drinks which were ice-cold and quenched thirst after a hard day’s work. Girls, cars, smiling friends and being Mr. Popular in the bar were all part of the marketing mix thrown at potential beer drinkers being sold on fizzy, yellow brews. The small breweries with a good brew have been left at the margins of the beer industry and appreciated by beer aficionados.

Marketing perception is rarely an accurate reflection of reality, if you consider that wine was discovered probably at an earlier date than beer from the archaeological evidence, wine would appear to have been the caveman’s first choice of fermented brew. If a caveman preferred wine to beer, this hardly matches the marketing perception that beer drinkers do not have taste nor being a hard-working macho-man precludes you from enjoying wine. Wine is also a more potent drink than beer for those who are looking to race to a hangover fast.

On the other hand, wine experts and followers will probably point to the labor and skill which goes into creating a fine wine – the reality is that brewing beer also requires just as much artistry and imagination as producing a good bottle of plonk. The number of micro-breweries and family-owned brewers who have maintained the tradition for numerous generations testifies to the diversity of taste, skill and ingenuity when it comes to producing a pint.

The bottom line – downing a beer or slurping a wine is not predetermined by social status or marketing categorization – it all comes down to one thing no matter who you are or what you do – your own taste.