Featured Tips by Mark Tse
I’ve always been impressed with those who seem to always be
ahead of the pack when it comes to new ideas.
When I first started publishing information products
online, I thought that certain people had a crystal ball
they gazed into. Or some top-secret contact who was
providing them with inside information.
Over time, I realized that it wasn’t magic that allowed
these people to come up with red-hot ideas on demand. It
was simply that they knew where to look.
I soon discovered many places where ideas seemed to always
be found. I call these places “idea hangouts”. Here are
three of my favorites where you can find ideas for your
next ebook anytime you want. Almost like a genie granting
you three wishes…
1. GOOGLE.COM.
Google is the ultimate “idea hangout”. There are so many
ways to mine the gold in Google’s amazing search database
that it would take another article to graze the surface of
this enormous iceberg.
What I want to mention are just two quick ways to find
ideas by searching Google.
- Identify Listings.
Search for a broad topic related to your area of interest
or expertise. (I.E. “Tennis”, “Weight loss”,
“Homeschooling”.) Look at all of the web sites listed in
the index of returned results. You’ll likely find some
ideas for information products right there in the first
couple of pages.
- Identify Advertisers.
You’ll probably notice small ads either at the top of the
page or to the right of the page (or both!). These
advertisers represent your competition. They also
represent your thermometer for taking the temperature of
your market and gauging interest in specific topics.
Chances are, what they’re selling you should be selling.
In both of these examples, you can click through to the web
pages of the sites listed and study their respective sales
pages. Look specifically at the “bullet points”. Each of
these represents a potential idea for your next ebook.
2. AMAZON.COM.
From the world’s largest search engine we move to the
world’s largest bookstore. At Amazon.com you’ll really get
your creative juices fired up.
Again, you’ll want to search the listings by entering a
keyword or keyphrase into the search box on the main page
at Amazon.com.
You’ll get a returned listing of numerous books, courses
and other periodicals. Search these listed items for ideas
for your own ebook.
— Example —
If you were to search for “Homeschooling”, you’d find a
variety of ideas just waiting in the listing of books
available, including: homeschooling for special needs
children, getting starting in homeschooling, choosing
curriculum, homeschooling field trips, homeschooling
support groups, homeschooling for various ages (I.E. Pre-K,
Elementary, Junior High, High School, etc.), homeschooling
for Christians, etc.)
Any of these listings (and the dozens of others listed)
would be great ideas for the topic of your next ebook.
— Example —
Pay particular attention to the first page of the listing.
Amazon ranks their listings based on popularity of actual
sales volume. In other words, #1 is a better seller than
#50. This is a ready-made indicator of demand!
3. MAGAZINES.COM.
After visiting the world’s largest search engine and the
world’s largest bookstore, it’s time to take a quick stop
at the world’s largest periodical store, Magazines.com.
You’ll find every imaginable magazine listed at this site.
The interesting part (and useful to you as a research tool)
is this: you’ll also find the COVER of usually a recent
copy of each magazine.
That is, you can search for “Parenting” and the engine will
return a listing of magazines related to that topic. You
can then click on the image of the magazine cover and
you’ll be shown a larger copy of that cover where you can
read the contents. (I.E. “How To Raise A Stubborn Child”,
“27 Ways Discipline In Public” and “The Real Key To Your
Child Getting Better Grades”.)
Each of these “cover stories” represents an idea for your
next ebook.
The best part about it is this: the publishers of these
magazines have done the research for you! They’ve measured
the level of interest for these ideas and found it high
enough to warrant not only writing content about them, but
referencing that content on the cover of the magazine!
That’s your hint. People want this information.
So, there you have it, 3 “idea hangouts” where you can find
ready-made, in-demand, red-hot topics for your next ebook.
Happy hunting!
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This article is written by Mark Tse. Mark shares free tips, articles and downloads about Internet Marketing. You can visit his blog and read his latest posts here:
