Micro Niche Finder does a great job at helping you find hot potential niches, but we have noticed that there are some theme keywords that people use when they are in a buying mood. While any keyword could be a money making keyword, some words are more indicative of purchasing than others.

For example, localized keywords tend to fare well. Instead of a keyword like “living room furniture”, “Living room furniture in Chicago” will do well. Someone who adds a localized keyword is hungry for a product – be it informational, which you could cover via an article or blog leading to your product – or a tangible product, one that can be purchased. It doesn’t have to localized on a city level…county, state, even country in some cases works (ex: “Beer Steins from Germany”).

Another kind of keyword that does well is brand names…but this is a fine line to walk. Generally, with brand names, your domain name cannot include the brand name within it because the parent company owns the brand name. So, www.childrensnikeshoes.com would probably NOT be a good idea, because “nike shoes” are included in the domain name and Nike has every legal right to either make you shut down the website or hand over the domain name to them. But if you optimize the keywords “childrens nike shoes” on your website, the brand name keywords (nike shoes) will bring traffic to your website. While Nike serves well for this theoretical example, it probably wouldn’t work as well in the real world without dedicating a lot of time and resources to overcome the stiff competition. Fret not, there are an innumerable amount of brand names to choose from! Furthermore, someone searching for a specific brand name has most likely already decided that they wish to make a purchase, so all you need to focus on is positioning yourself high in the rankings!

Keywords the denote a bargain tend to do well too…examples being “cheap” , “discount”, “sale”, etc. Keywords that highlight uniqueness also do well too, examples being “antique”, “unique”, “special”, etc.

On the other hand, words like “free” generally mean the person isn’t looking to make a purchase, otherwise they never would have included “free” in their search terms. However, free is a great segue to other purchasable goods – maybe the person is looking for a free ebook, which you provide, and then you upsell them either by getting their names on your mailing lists or by offering them a related product at a good price, for instance.

Remember, these are just tidbits of interesting info we’ve picked up along the way, nothing set in stone. The best bet to conquering a niche is to take into account all the factors and data that Micro Niche Finder conveniently organizes for you.

Have you ever wondered how users interact with a list of search results? In the world of internet marketing and SEO we know some aspects of a webpage are important (page rank, title, keywords) mostly through repeated, real experiences and intuition. A study from Cornell University gives scientific facts and figures to support tenets of SEO that we (as in, internet marketers) already knew to be true.

Before delving into what Cornell’s study reveals, it should be noted that this study was done with a limited amount of participants (26 people in total) so the results should not be taken as an immutable law. This study, besides being interesting, is really just a foundation for more scientific analysis to come.

Let’s pretend we are looking up the term “Moroccan furniture”. The Google result will be as such:

Moroccan Furniture - Search Results

This is the entire first page of the search results. The Cornell study illustrates what users will do when presented with the information provided by the first page. They developed a “heatmap” that shows what links were most likely to get clicked and what links people would spend the longest amount of time on. Here is their sample:

Heatmap

The heatmap shows that on average, more than half (56%) of all people will click on the first link, and these people will spend more than a quarter of their allotted time on that website. For internet marketers this is important to know! The next tier, still hot but not on “fire” so to speak, only gets a click through rate of about 13%! That is a tremendous difference in the sheer volume of clicks and visitors, but once clicked through, the link in the second tier still retains visitors for almost as long as the top ranked (25% as opposed to 28%). As the heatmap goes down the list, the percentage of people who click on a link and the amount of time spent on that link decreases with each tier.

If we combine the principle of the heatmap to our Google query about Moroccan furniture, the result would be thus:

Moroccan Furniture - Search Results Combined With Heatmap

According to this study, the higher ranked your website, the more visitors you will receive and the longer they will spend perusing the website. This is certainly a good rule to follow, but understand there are variations. For example, I personally have a “root for the underdog” mentality so I’m more likely than most to give the lower ranked links a fair try. Another example of a variation: sometimes the title on link number 3 is more compelling than the (better optimized) title found in link number 1, so the third link will receive more visitors than would be typical of other examples. There are many variations so don’t fret if your website isn’t the top ranked search result!

Also, this study did not take into account the “Shopping Results” and so its effects on the heatmap are not known. This is also why in the above example there are no colors surrounding it.

Interesting things gleamed from the heatmap – the top two links get more than half the traffic. Position number 7 actually gets the lowest amount of clicks (check the Cornell Google heatmap – .36% of all people clicked on 7^th place link, but 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th place links all received more clicks – 2.91%, 1.45%, and 2.55% respectively). Why is the 7^th place link receiving so few visitors compared to the rest of the page? Well, the answer is unclear for certain, but it seems like because it is located right at the point where users must scroll down to see the rest of the results it gets lost in the shuffle. In fact, only one person out of the study even clicked the 7^th place link. If this holds true after more tests, it will be safe to say that although  being on the first page of Google is great, being the 7^th link is not so good after all!

The 7^th position is even more interesting when you take into account the scanning process, as illustrated in this map

Scan Results

The black line in the middle denotes the rank of the link. So for link #1, the black line is that place value…that’s why there is no gray bar above it, because nothing can be ranked above #1. This is also the same reason why link #10 has no gray bar beneath it – because nothing is ranked lower than #10 on the first page. #10 has a high gray bar above it because all links are ranked above it. Understand?

So when looking at this graph, it becomes clear that being ranked #7 is not entirely beneficial. The first 5 listings are clicked after browsing through 1 to 2.68 listings above and below it, while the 7th listing is clicked after the entire page is examined! This is probably due to the need of the user to scan down and #7 getting lost in the shuffle. You can also see that the number of listings scanned above the clicked result is much bigger than the number of listings below. This indicates that users browse the list from top to bottom, but this is something internet marketers have been fairly confident about for a long time – I don’t know anyone who scans search results from bottom to top.

While this is an interesting study, it’s not concrete so don’t fret if you are ranked the (un)lucky #7 in the search results. While it’s definitely best to be ranked really high (as in, first or second) on the search results, there are all sorts of variables that come into effect that will determine how successful your website is, no matter where you are ranked.

The entire findings are available at: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/People/tj/publications/granka_etal_04a.pdf

Micro Niche Finder is a fantastic software that digs up hot potential niches. Since you have used it to find niches and profits for yourself, you may want to consider becoming an affiliate and market this product to others for a slice of the profits. The commissions for all sales on the front end (meaning directly derived from Micro Niche Finder) is 50% and commsission for sales reoccurring on the backend (meaning Niche Informant) is also 50%. Yes, you can earn HALF of every sale merely for marketing the product, which you already know works and saves valuable time.

First and foremost, to be a Micro Niche Finder Affiliate it is necessary to have a clickbank account. Setting up an account is easy but absolutely crucial to being an affiliate, so if you are not familiar or don’t have a clickbank account, click on the previous link to get you started!

Once a clickbank account is secure, there are tools available for you to get started. Naturally you can write blog postings, market on your own website, spread the word via social marketing, etc. We do provide ideas on successful emails that have been used, videos,  squeeze page tips, graphics, etc. We want you to do well (of course!) so we have provided valuable tools that you can use as you see fit for your success.

An important aspect to having success on Kindle and other e-readers is to have an eye-catching cover. Most PLR ebooks already have a cover image included, and if your book has a cover image it is an easy process to simply upload it.

If an ebook you wrote, commissioned, or purchased does not include a cover image, there are several options to remedy your situation.

You can always create your own ebook cover image. Simply Googling “software to create ebook covers” or “how to create ebook covers” will generate pages of software (some free, others at various price points) that will enable you to custom make your own unique ebook cover. With this method you have the greatest artistic control of the cover, but there is usually a learning curve associated with becom ing fully confident using the software.

If you desire a one-of-a-kind cover image but have no time or talents for making your own image, it’s generally inexpensive to outsource the task. Once again, Google is the best resource to find people willing to make your cover image at a reasonable price – and sometimes, you can even negotiate your price!

You can also find an image to use via the internet, but BE CAREFUL. You must find an image that is Royalty-Free and give you full rights to use the image as you see fit. Most images found via Google or other search engines do NOT fit this category and thus are unfit to use. Copyrighted images are obviously not fit for use either. Failure to find a royalty-free image with full rights can result in legal issues, including copyright infringement. Legal issues stemming from illegally using images are expensive and are best avoided.

When we need an image we found the website www.sxc.hu to work in a pinch. Performing a search using a keyword related to your ebook topic will generate professional, beautiful images that are mostly useable (always read the print next to the image to make sure) and look great on e-readers. For images like these, it’s not necessary to add text so that your title is on the book – unless your software is good, sometimes it cheapens the look of the cover.  We have not found any evidence that covers without texts do worse than covers with texts, so use your personal judgement.

While most people still use Windows operating systems (amongst others) and PCs, we do get the occasional question about the compatability between Micro Niche Finder and Mac computers with various Mac operating systems.

As far as PC’s are concerned, Micro Niche Finder will run under Windows XP, Vista and Windows 2000. However, Micro Niche Finder is not outright compatible with Macs. Fret not! This is not an insurmountable protoblem. Micro Niche Finder will run on Mac operating systems with some type of PC Emulation software such as Parallels and a Windows operating system.

There are many emulator options available to Mac users to make PC compatible programs such as Micro Niche Finder function properly on a Mac. The previous link provides a website to help Mac users find the right emulation solution for their needs.

There is an interesting feature being tested in Google Labs right now called “Google Squared”. For the moment it is an experiment, but one day it may “graduate” and become a full fledged feature on Google.

After exploring this feature, one advantage we see is that it helps users research topics and generate content very easily.

For example: Let’s say I am an affiliate of some company that supplies products for twin babies, and I want to write original content (which Google appreciates and thus ranks higher!) for my niche. The problem is I know only a little bit about twins, but not enough to write plenty of unique articles about. Research is clearly necessary to writing high quality articles, and Google Squared makes this a quick process.

Click on the text to find Google Squared . For my example, I typed “expecting twins” in the search box and then hit the button that says “square it”.  I chose these keywords because I suspect, although I don’t know for certain just yet, that there is more than enough information to write about when it comes to expecting twins.

Google Squared my results as such:

Google Squared - Expecting Twins example

I now have several channels to pursue in my quest for more knowledge: I could research about important food to eat during pregnancies with twins, delivery classes insights, how to know if multiples are on the way, risks associated with twins, etc. Right away I have many (this is only a snapshot – there are more) avenues to read and research so that when I write my unique articles they can eventually  dominate the rankings.

The United States Federal Trade Commission recently updated its guidelines. If you are not a citizen of the United States and if your business and servers are not based in the United States, the following law may or may not apply to you (depending on the laws  in your country of citizenship).

While the guideline is very technical and long, the new update, in brief, is of paramount importance to bloggers. Some bloggers will write reviews about places or products, often favorable, and in the past the blogger did not have to reveal if they were paid to write a (presumably favorable) review or if the product or place was given to the blogger for free.  Seemingly legitimiate and unbiased views were in actuality paid advertising and consumers, intentionally or not, were being mislead by these cash-for-kind practices.

This practice is now illegal – and if the offense is serious enough, the FTC can go to court and get an injunction against your website and force you to pay redress to consumers “injured” by your advertising practices. This quickly adds up to a lot of money, so it’s best to follow the FTC guidelines to avoid the hassle and headache. If a company gives you a “freebie”  product or pays you, your review is actually now considered an endorsement. And like all products, endorsements need to be made public, so just tell the truth! There is no shame in saying, “Company ABC gave me a product for free and I think…” or something to that extent. Nor is it shameful to state that “Company XYZ has endorsed me this blog”. And just because you have been given freebies or paid some money, remember it is not wrong to write a less than steller review on a product given to you for free or that you were paid to endorse. Your customers or viewers appreciate candid, thoughtful insights and companies (yes, even the one that ‘hired’ you) appreciate the same sort of feedback. Honesty is always the best policy.

If you previously engaged in these practices, your business strategy obviously has to change. And if you never engaged in this sort of behavior, it’s still a good law to understand so that you never cross the line. Furthermore, this law serves to protect the consumer, which may be YOU in some cases.

Click on the following link to make sure you become familiar with the new FTC guidelines!

Micro Niche Finder gives you very valuable data when hunting for niches, but once you have found your hot potential niche, it doesn’t hurt to do a little bit more research…especially if you are trying to drum up traffic via articles, blogs, and other content related means.

Google has introduced Google Fast Flip, a handy way to scan the internet quickly and easily to see what your competitors are writing about your niche topic. Fast Flip is a “reading experience” – it appears much like a printed magazine, and you can browse through bundles of recently published news and articles. This type of navigation is helpful because a viewer can read the articles without actually clicking on, and committing to, the webpage on which the article is published.

Google Fast Flip is still in its experimental lab phase, so it’s not yet certain what direction Google will take this in. Could it become a source of revenue generator? It is possible but only time will tell. Google is still accepting feedback on this experiment, so if you try it out and have an idea, you can share it the Google team if you want.

In the meantime, it’s good to use for two reasons. First of all, perusing through the internet in the way Google Fast Flip is arranged is actually rather fun. But secondly, it’s a good tool to help you brainstorm about content to write about and to give you a feel for the content your competitors are producing.

To check out Google Fast Flip for yourself, you can either visit the website: http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/  or peruse around Google Labs to find this feature and others that are still being developed: http://www.googlelabs.com/