Tag Archives: business ideas

No Entrepreneur Succeeds Alone – No One

Mentoring, Retirement Opportunities, , , , , , ,

I did it.

I wrote and published a book.  More specifically, I self-published an eBook on Amazon.  For me this was a defining moment in my life.  I was actually able to complete something that I never thought possible.

Having worked with my son over the past 5 years and counting, together we were able to build and grow a successful online business.  So, why not reflect on how this mentoring relationship worked and share it with everyone who might be interested.

In this book titled “Mentored“, I hope to share the realities of what’s involved in building an online business and how working with or as a mentor can be the most helpful and rewarding experience to ensure the venture is an amazing and successful one.

To reiterate, this book’s targeted audience is to both sides of the mentoring relationship.

First, it’s aimed at the entrepreneur who is seeking guidance and support to build and grow an online business.

Second, it’s positioned for the mentor, more specifically a business savvy retiree, who has the necessary skills to share and to transfer the wisdom and experience gained for the benefit of the entrepreneur combined with a strong feeling of accomplishment for the mentor.

For the entrepreneur – You will learn how to:

  • Understand how daunting entrepreneurship can be without help, resources and support
  • Overcome the many challenges involved with running an online business
  • Find and select an amazing mentor who has the necessary skills to help grow an online business

For the mentor – You will learn how to:

  • Be an amazing mentor to an aspiring online entrepreneur
  • Learn new skills as a retiree and transform yourself into someone with a purpose
  • Challenge your creative mind to help an entrepreneur succeed

Who knew that retirement could provide anyone with the time and inspiration to achieve amazing things on that “bucket list”.

This book represents my personal transformation journey and it should be enjoyed as such. Perhaps you too will be inspired to make the best of your passion.

The book is available on Amazon.

Researching Your Business Idea

Retirement Opportunities, , ,

Have you written down all of your good ideas for a potential online business?  Have you talked to your friends and family about any of those ideas?  Did you get any WOW! That’s a fantastic idea why don’t you do something with that?  Well before you launch into action might I recommend you do a lot more research?  If you recall, you and your friends might think it’s a good idea but will anyone else in the world feel the same way?  Part of the whole idea of the validation process also involves some internet research.

Google Searching Your Idea

Everyone surely knows how to Google a subject.  The amazing thing is you most likely will get a million results for whatever topic you key in.  The important thing is to note what are the top results returned on the first Google results page. This list of first page results tells you how many people are really interested in this topic.  Why because Google’s page ranking algorithm determines that very fact.

These first page results are there because they have received the most traffic to their individual sites and they are considered to be most relevant to the topic being searched. Now if the first Google results page contains a number of web sites that don’t seem to really satisfy your search idea/subject then perhaps there is an opportunity for your idea in this niche market.

On the other hand, if there are several sites that have valuable content on your idea, then you know your idea is in a very competitive market.  A rule of thumb that could be used is if your idea/topic has less than 15 million search results then you are most likely in a less competitive market with a better chance of being successful in this niche.  Anything that results in more than 15 million search results is likely way too competitive for your online business idea.

Keyword Searching Your Idea

Now the next question to be answered is how popular is your big idea.  You will need to do some additional research.  Keeping in mind, you are trying to find that great business idea where you could provide expertise on and potentially earn some added income down the road.  I suggest the following:

  • Keyword search forums for your idea subject thru a Google search
  • Searching amazon.com for book titles that match your potential big idea and look inside the book cover to see what chapters are being written about.  Perhaps your business idea has more relevant content
  • Doing keyword searching with adwords.google.com. Sign up for free and then click on keyword planner to check out if you’re topic/subject/idea is being looked for in google searches. This tool is used to estimate what it would cost you to purchase advertising on a pay per click basis and by how many times it shows up (impressions).  I’m not suggesting it’s time to purchase advertising, however, for planning purposes this tool can help you decide if the idea is a great one. For example, look at the competition level shown in the tool.  Is it low-medium?  Then perhaps your idea could work.  If it’s too high, then it probably isn’t a worthwhile idea because there is too much competition and little room for a brand new entry.  If you don’t find any results then it’s probably not a great idea at all.

Additional Research

As mentioned in my previous blog postings, I have learned a great deal about building an online business from my son, Trevor.  Trevor actually has three different online businesses.  His latest one is to blog and podcast on how programmers can learn to start up their own business by creating digital information or software products.  As of this blog post, he had already recorded over 20 episodes.  This episode on How to Choose a Business Idea provides some additional suggestions on how to go about finding that business idea that best fits your area of expertise.

Books to read

The Lean Strartup book

 

 

 

 

The 4-Hour Work Week

 

 

 

 

These books will not only help you find a business idea, they will inspire you to carry on.

So, make it your mission to do the research and find that niche market where you could begin your journey into building your awesome digital information product.