Day 2: Find Your Passion!Now it is time to choose the right target to shoot for. The more clear you are on what you're shooting for, the better your chances will be of hitting the mark.
I would lock myself in my room and take the phone off the hook...or even better, find a place away from your normal environment, a quiet peaceful place, preferably around nature - in the woods or a nice park, etc.
Once I'm there, I would take a few moments to relax and soak it all in. Get your mind to a calm, comfortable, relaxed state. (You can use the relaxation technique mentioned on day 1.) Then, I would start by making a list of all the things I enjoy doing, all of my interests and hobbies, all of my passions. Since we're starting from scratch, we might as well pick a subject/business that we would enjoy doing, right?
I would spend at least a good few hours on really getting this information out of myself. Think of what your ideal jobs or careers are. What have you enjoyed doing in the past? What did you enjoy a lot as a kid? What are the things that really make you come alive? Add everything to the list. Don't worry about how you're going to make money doing those things yet. Just put together as thorough a list as you can.
See...you want to do what you enjoy, what you love.
Pick the kind of lifestyle you want first - then build the business around that!
Only after your list is done, should you think of turning those hobbies/interests/passions into a business. Pick the top 5 choices out of your list and think of how you can help others by doing them. For example, if you really enjoy cooking and that was one of your top 5 choices, you can now start thinking of ways to turn that into a business.
You could, for example, share your recipes with others, teach them to cook like you, or you could even cook for them. Personally, I love selling information. So, I would probably decide to sell an informational product, say a book of recipes, a 'learn-to-cook' type of manual, or something along those lines.
My belief is that when you do something you really enjoy doing and you find a way to help others while doing it, making money is just a natural end result.
However, if you are not yet as confident of the above beliefs as I am, you can always check to see if there's a demand for the subject you chose before you go any further.
Just go to
www.yahoo.com and do a search for whatever it is you've decided to do. Let's say that we decided to sell recipes and cookbooks. In which case, we would run a search for words such as: recipes, recipe book, cookbook, cooking, etc. If you don't find any sites dealing with recipes and cooking and you'd rather not take a chance pursuing that, you can move on to the next choice on your list. If you do find many sites about them, you have established that people are in fact interested in recipes and cookbooks.
The reason I picked Yahoo to search on is this: getting a good listing on Yahoo is not easy. It can also get very expensive. That means, if there are companies who have gone through the trouble of getting good listings on Yahoo, they have probably done so for very good reasons. In other words, there is money to be made with recipes and cookbooks.
You can also run a search on
www.amazon.com for recipe books and/or even step into your local Barnes & Noble bookstore to check out their front shelves.
While we're on the subject of 'doing what you love,' let me take this opportunity to share something else of importance.
Most new marketers tend to start by selling marketing products. And while there is still money to be made in marketing products, it's not like it used to be. These days, the competition in the marketing field is fierce and I don't see it letting up anytime soon.
You will have a much easier time succeeding with non-marketing products. In other words, "niche marketing" - doing what you love, what you enjoy, what you have a passion for.
Let me also point out that I've made more money with special-interest 'niche' products than with all of my other marketing products combined! And I have quite a few marketing products out there. I hope that gives you some idea of the importance of pursuing a market that you have a love, passion or interest for, instead of going after something that seems to be making other people money.
If you absolutely love marketing and showing others how to market, then by all means sell marketing products. Otherwise, stick with what you enjoy and love, and become the Queen (or King) of that niche!
