Expanding an existing business

[JesR]

Hello All...
I would like to use the challenge to expand an existing business I have. I was wondering if there are specific or different methods for doing this? I've been following the challenge for a number of years now and haven't ever been able to understand how to successfully apply it to my current work. I have tried but something isn't clicking in my brain

I am a personal trainer with an existing blog, and I have found a potential online product (online personal training) that I can sell. This seems to go against the natural order we are being taught (which is to start with market research right?) SO I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to find the appropriate key words to focus on and if I should abandon any product idea until I understand the market more. I also am not sure how to do something online (globally) when my business is mostly local, even though I would like to expand to an online presence that works both globally and locally.

Any insights would be appreciated!

thanks!

[Ferrarijohn]

It is great idea, by this you can expand business in a short period of time. Ya you say right weight loss is the main problem for every 4 person out of 10 people. Now these time every people connect and use internet so you can share business with thousand customers. Globally business can run only thought net. It boost business and also increase monthly earning.

[rebeccajacarandascott]

Hey JesR. I'm in a very similar position. My business is a service business and its locally based. Actually its expanding and I have plans to expand nationally but that's NOT GLOBAL. So I too have had moments when I'm trying to see how I can use IM to my advantage. Because I dont want to abandon a growing business which is actually earning income to devote myself to a new Internet Marketing one which may or may not earn income.

But this is what I reckon. If I can use IM to drive business to my website then I'll attract more LOCAL business. So I'm thinking maybe if I can sell some information which complements and is relevant to my business and which I actually know stuff about then it will drive more traffic to my site and then I'll get a better ranking and the local people who want the kind of service I offer are more likely to come to me.

I think its also worth remembering that SERVICE INDUSTRIES are generally providing a productive service while quite a lot of SALES is merely fuelling consumption which if you think about is not necessarily a good thing - given we have a planet with finite resources. Ok Ok Ok. Digital information is better than cutting down forests etc. And lots of sales are sales of INFORMATION rather than tangible goods. But I'm happy to stick with my local service business and see if I can complement it using these IM techniques.

RJS

[Barry Unruh]

You need to break this into two separate components for what you wish to accomplish.

What are the keywords people in your community would likely search for to find your services? Focus on those to increase your local business using the Challenge promotional techniques and just forget about the keyword research unless you are seeing a ton of local competition. (Make sure you focus your back linking on getting local links, citations, and reviews for your business, especially social proof through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn)

On the global market you will want to choose phrases you wish to rank for using criteria from the Challenge, but I would integrate that into the efforts I am making above. That way you develop an authoritative reputation in a community which can be used as social proof for your global efforts. In your field I'd be focusing on searching Yahoo Answers and Zeitgeist on 43 Things to find out what phrases people are asking questions about and setting goals for, then evaluating competition on those phrases.

Once you get past the keyword research the rest of the Challenge is promotional efforts to weave a wide web of influence to get yourself in front of lots of eyeballs and increase ranking on all of your properties. Outside of the keyword research you should not need to change anything.

[rebeccajacarandascott]

Thanks for that Barry. Much appreciated. These are new concepts to me and I had to read your response a coupla times before I could 'get' it. Its really good for people such as me to have people such as you on this Challenge out there in cyberspace! Many thanks.

Rebecca

[DeanRichards]

I would just like to reinforce a few ideas for people in your position, Rebecca.

Keyword research - you're not testing a niche, so the rules are different for you. Yes, you should definitely look for keywords in your niche that meet Challenge guidelines and thereby pick off some low hanging fruit, but you should also be looking for the highest traffic keywords in your niche regardless of competition so you know what your niche is looking for.

Your site needs to be about how you make people happy and you have to know what people want if you want to give it to them.

For example, if you teach yoga and you see that "yoga mat" is a high volume keyword, you know that this is something people are concerned about and so even if you don't want to sell yoga mats, you can provide value to your niche, in other words you can make people's lives better, by teaching them how to choose a proper mat. Keyword research can help you give people what they want. It doesn't matter if you never rank on Google for "yoga mat," what matters is that when people do find you, by whatever means, they see that you're addressing their needs.

Keyword research 2 - You probably already know what your market wants because you talk with them every day. Start looking at those conversations as keyword research. Jot concepts and words down on a notepad.

Build your site to serve your market the best that you can and don't worry about Google. If you build a kick-ass site that gives people what they want, then Google will figure it out.

And keep the options very broad. Maybe a lot of your clients just want to vent about prior bad experiences. Then tell their stories or give them a forum. Go whatever direction the market leads you. The market knows what the market wants.

Social marketing - This is where you really need to be active. What you learn in The Challenge is just a starting point. You need to learn even more about it and be active in this every day.

Onward and upward!