Personally delivered to you by Steve Lindhorst, author of
"Selling on 'the River' and "The Niche Book"
There are only a few topics this issue, but they're good ones. On a side note, if you're a book seller on Amazon, they have restricted the listing of books as "Collectible" to approved sellers. There are still lots of questions, so I'll cover that as more information becomes available. On to the newsletter...
In This Issue
- Official Geezer Guides - an Interview with Skip McGrath
- How to Find a Really Good Domain Name
- Recently on GenuineSeller.com...
1. Interview with Skip McGrath, Creator of "Official Geezer Guides"
Skip McGrath has been teaching people to make money online for many years. He and his wife Karen are friends of mine, and they actually sell products online, they don't just talk about it.
Last year Skip and I were talking and I mentioned that my dad was retiring. I said that it would be nice for people like my dad to make a little extra money with the internet. Skip was way ahead of me. He was already working on a project that would help seasoned citizens make "extra" money. The final result was the "Official Geezer Guides" line of products. I was glad to have a part by adapting my eBook "Selling on the River" to the Geezer Guide format.
Recently I interviewed Skip about this new project of his. I hope you enjoy it.
Steve: Why did you create Official Geezer Guides?
Skip: As I got a little older and realized I would be retiring soon, I also realized that I didn’t have quite as much money as I had hoped to have to retire on. This got me to thinking about ways to supplement my income. As I talked to others who were about to retire I realized there were lots of people in the same boat.
Once I did a little research I realized two things: 1- that baby boomers were retiring at the rate of 14,000 day and 2 – unlike when my mother retired 20 years ago, this generation of retirees had computer skills. This looked like a business opportunity to me: I could help people find legitimate ways to make money online using the computer skills they learned in the workforce.
Steve: Who is your ideal reader? Just older people?
Skip: The books are aimed at recently-retired and soon-to-retire folks who have some basic computer skills and are looking for ways to supplement their income. But really anyone can learn from them. I have had email from some younger folks who bought a book and were pleased. It is not so much that the information is strictly for older folks –it’s just that my research showed that older folks like to buy books that are aimed specifically at them which is what I have tried to do.
Steve: What kind of income potential should an average reader expect?
Skip: I have always been conservative when it comes to telling someone how much money they can make. These are not get-rich-quick schemes. Our programs are designed to be low risk, have low start-up costs and give a person a chance to earn reasonable returns –anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand per month.
Steve: What titles are currently available?
Skip: We have three titles now:
The Official Geezer Guide to Starting an Online Business – In this book we review and show you the basics of how to start 6 different online businesses.
The Official Geezer Guide to Selling on Amazon is, of course, your book. It is the Official Geezer Guide version of your best seller – Selling on the River and shows how almost anyone can make some extra money selling on Amazon.com
The Official Geezer Guide to Creating and Selling eBooks is aimed at people who have some type of skill or knowledge they can share. We show them how to create and sell an eBook online. One of my readers is 77 years old. He and his wife just launched their own website selling their own eBook and it is blowing the doors off. I think they had over 100 sales the first week at $29.95 each.
Steve: Are these all eBooks? Are print versions available?
Skip: The books are offered primarily as eBooks, however we offer a print option for a few dollars more. And –most importantly, all of our books come with a money back guarantee.
Steve: Are you a geezer?
Skip: I keep getting AARP solicitations in the mail --and my wife says I am “too young for Medicare and too old for women to care” –so I guess I qualify.
Skip is publishing a newletter just for the Official Geezer Guide crowd. I know for a fact there are other great titles coming soon, and I'm looking forward to a couple myself (even though I'm not officially a geezer yet.) Sign up for the FREE Official Geezer Guide Newsletter
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2. How to Find a Really Good Domain Name
Many readers have asked about choosing a good domain name for their own websites or niche affiliate sites. I started writing about how to do that when I remembered a great post by my friend Mark Hansen at theNicheStoreBuilder.com. I asked Mark if I could borrow some of his content and he gave me permission. I reworked it a little for my readers, but it's hard to improve on such a good article. If you have not visited Mark's site - it is an absolute must for anyone working on niche websites to earn extra income. You can find a link at the end of this section. - Thanks Mark!
Choosing a Quality Domain Name
If you are planning on putting some serious work into a quality website, you should keep some guidelines in mind. Your domain name is important. It identifies your site and makes an impression on your visitors. You should realize up front that most of .com domain names are taken if they contain a single word, or if they are less than five characters in length. Generally, the shorter they are, the more valuable they are. People buy domain names just to "flip" them later for big bucks. There are still quality domain names available however. How do you spot them? They are generally shorter in length, contain high volume “general” phrases, and tend to stay in the .com or .net arena. I prefer .com, but will quickly buy a .net if it is a high volume phrase or catchy in the way it sounds! Here some guidelines to follow:
- Primarily .com but .net is great with the right words!
- Short and easily remembered are much better!
- Dictionary Word(s)
- High Volume Search word(s)
- Easy to Spell, with little to no chance of a misspell!
- No hyphens or special characters in the name!
- NEVER use a Brand name or trademark in the domain name!
- NEVER risk deindexing with these domains!
- Examples: cheapshoes .com, baseballgloves.net, ibuyit.com, etc.
Mark says: In my never-ending quest to find a million dollar domain name, I tend to buy more than I should! The result however is several 4-letter domains, many 5-7 letter dictionary domains, and even more (hundreds) of domains with high volume dictionary terms! The one thing that alot folks ask me is… How do you find these great names? The short answer… is that I spend at least 1 hour EVERY NIGHT looking at expiring domain names ($5 ea) and the second answer… involves using the free tools at your fingertips!
An Easy Way to Find Quality, In Demand, Domain Names
I don’t know if I have mentioned it or not, but Google has a GREAT tool for keyphrase research, based on actual shopping and buying terms from their index. I have been using this tool for several weeks and I have to say… it is wonderful! If you have not been there, make it a point to go today! Google Search based Keyword Tool
Aside from the dramatic benefits this tool has for niche store research, it can also string together the highest volume phrases in hundreds of consumer shopping categories! For this example, I am going to choose a topic that interests me, cars. Even though there are many steps in the process below, it literally takes 2 minutes per group of 500 domains.
- Go to: http://www.google.com/sktool/ and bookmark the link!
- At the bottom of the screen, click on the link for: “See Top Keywords across All Categories” (or click here instead)
- In the left menu, click on “Vehicles”. You will see that it expands the menu into a few subcategories for you. There are thousands of subs in this tool!
- I am interested in a auto-parts domain, so I will click on Vehicle Parts and Accessories then > Vehicle Racks. Essentially, I am drilling into a niche market!
Now I have this list of more than 800 phrases in front of me. It includes the exact searched for phrase, as well as the monthly volume, and a few other metrics. The only thing I pay attention to right now is the volume! If a phrase has more than 500 monthly searches… it’s fair game, as there are MANY related searches you can find in the keyword sanbox tool! - Click on the “Export” button just above the listings, and choose to export ALL words in the list.
(I use Excel, but any spreadsheet, including Google Docs will work!) - Open the Export list in a spreadsheet or whatever, highlight the first column… the one with ALL of the phrases in it, and copy the entire list! (No need to remove the spaces)
- Now that you have a list of words with no spaces, head over to GoDaddy and use the bulk register tool to see if any are available. To get to the bulk tool, hover over the link for “Domains” in the green menu bar and choose “Bulk Register” from the drop menu. Its about 8 links down the list. This tool will allow you to check 500 domain names at a time!
- Paste the list of phrases from your spreadsheet with MORE than 500 monthly searches, into the bulk register box. (The bulk tool only handles 500 at a time, so you may need to split your list into a few parts)
- Choose .com ONLY for this step, complete the captcha at the bottom of the screen and click on Search.You will quickly be surprised at just how many of these phrases are already registered! I ended up pasting 181 terms into the box… of those, more than 45 phrases are available in the .com version!
- Repeat the same process starting at step 8, but this time, choose only .net domains and search.This time, there are more than 124 of the 181 terms available as .net domains!
- Eliminate EVERY DOMAIN that has a manufacturer or brand name in it… you don’t want these!!
Mark continues: At this point, I usually get over excited and have to walk away from the PC for a few minutes or I will get in trouble (Including, as I write this) … Take a look at just two of these domains that are were waiting to have niche sites built on them:
carbikecarrier .com - “car bike carrier” - 1200 searches per month for the exact phrase! imagine all the brands of car carriers you could build a site around! (I registered it already, along with the plural)
carbikerack .net - “car bike rack” - 8200 searches each month for the exact phrase! (I bought it and the plural as well!)
As you can see… I have a serious domain addiction!
The point is… instead of guessing for domains to buy, head over to the authority on search, Google, and use the tools at your disposal to grab some high volume, keyword driven domains! In the last 60-90 days, Mark has found more than 60, 4-7 letter HIGH VOLUME domains like this, and he says he hasn't even scratched the surface yet! I took his advice, and wound up buying about six great domain names related to bicycle niche products. I have used this method every time I want to set up a new site for myself or a customer. - Thanks again Mark for such a great tutorial.
Visit The Niche Store Builder. I guarantee you'll learn a LOT.
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3. Recently on GenuineSeller.com
I mentioned some time ago that I started a new category over at GenuineSeller.com called "This Day in History on eBay." For those of you who are using phpBay Pro - this is a good example of how well this product works. Since I started that category, I try to post a little something each day. My earnings are up to about $10 a day on this site, thanks to the combination of a Wordpress blog, phpBay Pro, and the eBay Partner Network. There are still some discounts available for readers of this newsletter by using this method:
Special offer:
- If you've purchased The Niche Book, send a blank email to: theNicheBook@gmail.com
- Include the words phpBay Discount Code in the subject line
- You'll receive an email back, with a special link and the discount code
(Note: before you buy phpBay Pro, get approved by ePN - it can be a challenge - just be persistent.)
...And for all you frustrated eBay sellers...I posted what I imagine eBay Live! would be like if one were held this year. If you need a good laugh - or cry - it all depends.
Thanks for reading!
Steve
PS - If you're a new reader, you might enjoy some of the past issues here.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
this is very informative and helpful most especially for first timers who wants to learn more about it. it’s always to start something right and that is to choose the correct domain name. it must be understandable to the public on what you want them to expect on your website.
Good afternoon,
I’m a first time reader of your letter. Very interesting. Easy to follow and understand. I’m always amazed at the level of language that many newsletter publishers use. Like they need to prove something. The result is that they become too hard to follow. Yours is down to earth, informative and pleasant. Thanks.
On the topic of domain names, can you tell me of a place, a site or something else, where you can offer a good domain name for sale with a real chance to sell it? Any experience in that field?
Thanks for your comments
Reg Boulanger