How To Identify Your Niche - Part 2

Listening.

Listening provides the foundation on which your activities must be based, if they're to be as successful as you'd like them to be. And there's a lot more to it than you might consider at first.

For example, split-testing are forms of listening. You're listening to preferences - one expressed through multiple options and the other through a binary choice of accept/refuse an offer.

You need to listen to both individuals and markets. While you do, remember: Individuals sometimes lie. Markets never do. Also keep in mind that you can tell a lie, but you can't DO a lie. Actions are always true. On the flip side, your interpretations of those actions could be completely wrong.

You'll often see threads on discussion forums about various marketing strategies. For example: People complain about pop-ups, screaming to everyone who'll listen that they'll kill your business, because "everyone hates them."

Big clue: People who dislike a thing are far more likely to complain about it than people who like it or who don't care either way. And a lot of the people who say they hate them will respond to them if they're presented in the right way.

The same thing is true with many sales techniques. One time offers, continuity programs, big red headlines, quantity limits, bonus packages, and just about everything else that someone could gripe about.

The only thing you should rule out completely is the unethical. While ethics, as they relate to business, are primarily about truth and choice. If it's clear, true and doesn't literally force people to do what you ask, it's very likely just fine ethically.

Yes, there are exceptions. Hiding unexpected terms in unlikely places can be fraud, even if they're clear. Claiming that people should read every word on every linked page isn't going to fly with government regulators. Be up front about your terms and your product. If you feel like you're being sneaky, you probably are. And that's not a sign of being on clear ethical ground.

Always Test:

Spend the time to learn how to do split-testing. It's a pretty simple process, that amounts to showing differently presented versions of your offer, and counting to see which version they respond to most strongly.

There are a lot of commercial programs you can get that will make this an easy process. They range from £8 to over £500, and cover a vast expanse of capabilities. Start with something simple.

The main things to test are your headline, your offer (what they actually get), your guarantee, and your price. Never assume you know what the results will be.

I've watched two of the smartest marketers in the world guess a headline so wrong that they were stunned when the final answer came in. (Out of 8 tested headlines, it pulled 2/3 of the total "votes." Neither of them had picked it as being a contender.)

The great thing about this process? The world's dumbest marketer could have done the same thing and ended up with the same result. Testing eliminates a big chunk of the need for experience.

I have actually done surveys to see which of 8 product ideas would be the most "in demand," and had the one I thought would be first come in dead last, while one I thought would be ignored finish in the top two - and way ahead of third place, at that.

One of the most expensive mistakes you can make is to fail to test a broad range of prices. It's very common for people to assume that a lower price will sell more copies of a product. That isn't always (or even most often) the case. Sometimes a product will sell better at a much higher price than you might have even considered for it.

Don't sell yourself short. When in doubt: Test. When you're certain: Test anyway.

Treat every opinion as a piece of data to be figured into your decisions. No single opinion, no matter how well-informed the presenter, should be allowed to make a decision for you.

And to repeat a very important point: People who dislike a thing are many times more likely to say something about it than people who like it, or who really don't care either way.

The last thing to mention is that the right answer isn't always contained in any one thing you learn. If there's a conflict between what someone says and what they do, believe what they do. Then consider why they said otherwise. That might give you clues to something more effective.

If you hear a lot of conflicting opinions or data, look for options that fit them all. You may not find them but, if you do, they'll be worth the effort to test. And always consider that sometimes the important things are hidden in what people don't say.