The Secret Tactic Of The Worlds Best Marketers: Become Obsessed
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I have a confession to make – I’m obsessed.
With what I hear you ask?
With cars.
I’ve officially become one of those men I never previously understood. Why devote so much of your brain space to knowing the ins and outs of every car ever made? Surely there are better ways to spend your time and more important things to study than those little boxes that go around on four wheels?
While I can’t place the blame for my new infatuation squarely on just one thing, there was definitely a catalyst for how this addiction began. His name is Alborz Fallah, or as I call him, Al.
Al and I have been friends for a long time and you may know him already as the founder of CarAdvice.com.au, the most popular independent car blog in Australia. If you haven’t heard of him and his blog, stop reading this article and go and listen to the hugely popular podcast interview I published with Al here –
Interview With Alborz Fallah – A Million Dollar Blogger
Al is a basically a car encyclopedia you can access directly through voice command. You ask him a question and he dispenses a vast amount of wisdom about cars.
I’m often baffled by how he can know the intricate details about so many different cars. He knows the features, advantages, faults, price, target demographics, history, latest news, and all kinds of nearly-useless information about cars. Of course what he knows isn’t useless, because the market for cars in Australia is huge (Australians buy one million new cars a year, with a population just over 22 million, that’s pretty significant), hence Al has been able to translate what he knows into a very lucrative online publishing business.
I Don’t Buy Much Stuff
Generally speaking I’m not a great consumer. I’ve never been “into” clothes, or shoes, or accessories like watches and jewelery, or hi-fi equipment, or expensive sports like golf, or into any collectibles or exotic hobbies. I used to buy video games as a kid, but I gave up that hobby as I entered my teenage years.
Truth of the matter, I don’t really have that many hobbies outside of writing, running my business and my own self development. I’m most passionate about trance music, which I get for free thanks to all the wonderful DJ’s who release fantastic podcasts every month (Armin Van Buuren, Tydi, Lange, Above and Beyond, Sonnydeejay, Tritonal, and Andy Moor – you can find all these guys on iTunes in the podcast section) and tennis, which I play a little and follow online, which doesn’t require much financial investment.
Most of the money I’ve made to this point has been funneled into property, an eight month trip around the world in 2008 and supporting my loved ones.
That is of course, until now, since I decided to get a new car, which to be honest I don’t need. My car is fine right now. It fulfills my practical transportation requirements perfectly.
My desire to purchase an upgrade is purely materialistic, which for me, is not something I’ve done much during my life, especially in the price range I’m looking at right now in the car market.
It’s made for an interesting experience, one that has taught me a lesson in marketing, since any time you go looking to buy something you begin an education process to find out what products are available.
What Car Should I Buy?
My first car was a Mitsubishi Cordia that I bought when I was 21. I had her for a few years before she suddenly died in a freak car accident with a Volvo driver.
For several years after that I didn’t have a car as I didn’t need one living in an inner city suburb. Everything was within walking distance or accessible via public transport.
In 2007 after selling BetterEdit.com and launching Blog Mastermind I decided to purchase my first house and a new car, as I was moving a little further out of town. My car purchase was more practical, looking for an affordable entry level car. You can read more about this here –
How I Made Six Figures In One Day – 2007 Year In Review Part 1
It was around this point that I first started to take interest in cars and began asking Al questions. Little did he know, my questions would not stop, and even now, two years later, I’m still asking him for car advice (he really chose a great domain name).
My next car was a Suzuki Swift, which as I type this I still drive.
When I bought the Swift I took my first step into car education and began filling my brain with all kinds of information, often absorbing the wisdom dished out from Al (though he didn’t recommend the Swift – that was my choice in the end), and searching the web for reviews of cars I was considering.
Now I’m researching my next car purchase as I move up to something quicker and, err, more manly (apparently my swift is a girls car…).
I don’t think I will ever be a hardcore car enthusiast or even come close to knowing what Al knows, but I’ve definitely become a little obsessed in my latest car quest. I find myself looking at cars on the road now so intensely it’s like my reticular activating system is on fire (ask Rich Schefren if you aren’t sure what I mean by that).
I’m even picking up car magazines off the rack out of genuine interest and watching Top Gear episodes because I’m interested in the cars, not just the banter between the hosts. It’s bizarre.
During my present search for a car I’ve been less than consistent with my criteria. To put it bluntly, I keep changing my mind, much to Al’s frustration (he now insists I’m going to get a Prius just to make fun of me – no offense to you Prius drivers).
At one stage I wanted a convertible, so I began taking the VW Eos quite seriously. Then I changed my mind because the wind factor on a convertible was an issue with my hair (wind makes it even bigger – yes I know that’s a silly reason, but hey, it matters to me).
I started looking at coupes. Al insisted the BMW M3 was a very “manly” choice (he knows the sexuality rating of cars too), and I also started looking at the Audi TT and BMW Z4. Then I briefly had a change of focus, deciding that environmental factors are the most important, making the Prius a legitimate option, although in my heart I really wanted the Tesla Roadster, which unfortunately isn’t available in Australia yet.
Al informed me that manufacturing hybrids and electric cars hits the environment hard, and the fact that Australia still burns coal for electricity, means that these options weren’t necessarily the most environmentally friendly options after all. Making the car would have as much impact if not more impact on the environment as the potential “saving” the cars could offer due to less fuel use.
I recently fell in love with the Audi R8 supercar, simply for the looks more than anything else. Sure I like to go quick too, but graduating from a Swift to an R8 is quite the jump. I’m not sure I could put to use even half of the power in the R8, plus coming in at around a quarter of a million dollars for a second hand R8 in Australia, that’s quite a leap in cost too. I can’t quite justify that yet, though it’s a nice thing to consider for the future (it’s good to have motivation rewards).
As I type this article I just finished a test drive of a BMW 135i coupe, which I like a lot. I’m not convinced yet and there are more questions to ask Al, so the search will continue.
Use Your Buying Experience To Find Profitable Niches
So, with that back story out of the way, you might be wondering what all this has to do with finding profitable niches?
As I’ve researched various cars I’ve done plenty of Google searches, looking to see what sites rank well and where the best source of reliable information about each car comes from.
It has been an eye-opening experience, especially with my Internet marketing brain switched on.
Each car, especially the more luxuries or sporty models, have dedicated fan forums.
For example, I found out information about possible reliability issues of the M3 SMG in the M3 forums. I spent some time enjoying the beauty of the Audi R8 and the raw manliness of the Nissan 370z in their respective forums. Just today I researched stereo upgrades for the BMW 135i and then after watching some videos comparing cars, started looking at the VW Golf R32. I also briefly looked at the Volvo C30 thanks to the review Alborz wrote praising the car from a company he used to hate.
Then of course there are the news sites releasing information about each car, including press releases and newspaper style articles on the big media sites, independent reviews in blogs like Al’s own CarAdvice.com.au, and video content you can find in YouTube (like an R8 vs a Porsche 911 Carrera).
This research experience has been tremendously insightful. I’ve learned so much about just a select group of cars, only barely scraping the surface of a huge industry, and yet I’ve been able to truly experience a small taste of what it’s like to become obsessed when making a purchase.
So Many Niches, So Little Time
My recent experience focused on cars, but I’m sure you can see that any time someone is interested in buying anything, and assuming enough people buy these things that large companies compete for customers by delivering lots of different product options, then you have the potential to launch a successful online business, simply by becoming obsessed.
While I’m not quite an expert in cars, in the last few weeks I’ve learned enough about them that I feel I could start a blog on my quest for a new sports car and just talk about what I’ve been through. Given my obsession has led to massive amounts of information consumption, as long as I’m willing to summarize what I’ve learned, filtering it through my own real world experience, I’m already on the way to creating a web presence of value.
This is how some of the most successful blogs got started, including my own and Alborz’s car blog.
You might be shopping for a new digital camera, or a wedding dress, or a new watch, or a golf club, or a stereo system, blue-ray player, video game console, laptop computer, mp3 player, dining table, etc etc – this list is as long as there is demand for products and services.
You can take this further, drilling down sub-niches within niches. For example just within the BMW 135i forums was a section devoted to audio upgrades, which was quite heavily populated with posts and replies. Why not start a blog on after market car audio options? If that’s something you bought for your car, which you researched extensively, then chances are what you know can help others (I know this for a fact because I’m one of those people who wants that information right now!).
Each car company is a niche. Each car from each company is a niche. Each category (sports, luxury, sedan, hatchback, convertible, etc) is a niche…and this is just one industry!
The potential is tremendous, so whenever you are in the market for something and you find yourself spending a lot of time figuring out what to buy, this may represent a very lucrative opportunity for you start an online business. If you are obsessed with a product or service and you know much more than the average person, you have the potential to share what you know, become a perceived expert, and of course profit too, through advertising, affiliate programs, paid reviews, and all the usual monetization options available.
Study Your Own Behaviors
If you’re new to being an entrepreneur, one important skill you can develop is a meta-analysis of what you do. You don’t want to become too involved in this as it might impact the natural flow of what you are doing, but if you do find yourself emotionally driven, having questions that need answers, are frustrated by something that could be solved with knowledge, become aware of what you are feeling and what you are doing, it’s some of the best market research you can ever do.
You’re only a new to doing something once, so when that happens, it pays to record what the key issues are, since one day you might be teaching others how to deal with those issues. The better you know your target audience, the better your business, so when you are your target audience, pay attention to yourself.
For now I’m heading back to look at more cars.
Yaro Starak
Car Shopping
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Great post, as always Yaro
I had a similar experience entering the world of guitar. My brother was always heavily into it and I would joke with him that he was a bigger geek than me but I came in late and didn’t realize how true my joke was. Computer geeks have NOTHING on hard core guitar geeks. And those who have it are obvious, it just leaks out, passion/obsession rules.
Another experience was with photography, which I got heavily into but then realized was becoming less fun and too serious so I sold my photography blog so that I could go back to taking snaps and not caring about composition rules and suchlike
Good luck on the new car. Much as I love sportscars and topgear (I won’t link here but check out the bloggers in supercars day out a group of us had, it rocked!), I have to stick to more family friendly models and environmentally unsound SUVs
I totally agree with your first point, Chris. I think that being a guitar geek has the added incentive of being percieved as “cool”, which might explain it.
I, for one, am really not sure if I’m classed as a guitar geek, or a music geek (music geeks aka people who listen to/can play jazz)- but the point is, I’m some kind of geek. We all should be, I recommend it.
Yaro, you make a good point, even if it’s also a comment on how men have a tendancy to become obsessed with topics that nobody else finds interesting! If people didn’t become so passionate about sometimes trivial things, we wouldn’t have the world we have today.
I suppose I’m suggesting that geeks, or geekiness, is essential for civilization (but then that might be going too far..?).
Haha! My first car (and still is 5-6 years strong) a Suzuki Swift.. a ‘93 model mind you. They’re economical little zippy things. I have never really been interested in cars, to me they’re just a method of getting from A to B. I’m lucky to have been blessed with such an awesome inexpensive car.
I’m ashamed to admit I don’t take very good care of it. I haven’t washed it since the water ban on watering cars whenever you feel like it. Nor have I serviced it in probably just over a year now (oops). I don’t drive it all that often though, not as much as I used to since I started full-time employment a year ago.
Before I got into blogging I was quite into poker a bit, playing in lots of pub poker leagues during the day as I was looking for work just graduated from uni. If I only knew what I knew now I reckon I could have started a successful poker blog of some sort. I was quite passionate about my poker back then!
So when will we be seeing Yaro’s Car blog?
Yaro, do yourself a favor and jump in a Porsche or a Mercedez before you buy a car. Nothing like German engineering.
To echo Thomas, nothing like German engineering! There’s the new 2010 Porsche Panamera; extra wide and luxurious or a Mercedes-Benz E-class.. You won’t have any problems with your hair here
But what you’re saying resonates; a bit of obsession doesn’t just get you the details but all the nitty-gritty stuff that you’d probably overlook if you were rushing through. Car blog is a great idea!
My first car was Mini Cooper S. It was the “bees knees”. I love it. Tinted windows, alloy wheels, 0 – 60 in under 9 secs. I was only 18!
Now I drive an S-type Jag. Lovely car.
Good luck Yaro in you search. It’s a huge decision.
Andrew
Hey Yaro,
Yeah the old swift does not suit a guy earning half a mill/year!!! I don’t have much interest in cars either (I use them to get from A to B) but I can see the beauty of a fine machine.
Actually I think Warren Buffet lives in a very modest house and drives an old car even though he is worth billions.
Maybe another blog topic there Yaro: what motivates people to make money, now I think guys like WB and other skillionaires enjoy the process and the challenge and the sense of purpose that work provides rather than what they can do with the bucks because there is only so many swifts one man can keep in his purpose built garage!!
PS Just to throw a spanner in the engine so to speak – environmentally – not purchasing a new car would have zero effect on the environment and hence the best effect.
AP
Your impression that “the old swift does not suit a guy earning half a mill/year!” is incorrect. Read the book “Stop Acting Rich” to find out what cars rich people really drive (hint: most common is a Toyota.)
-Erica
Yes most rich people are smart enough to not blow a lot of money on a vehicle that is msotly just a status symbol. If you want to stay rich, you still have to manage your money carefully. Still, it is nice to splurge on a decent car, especially if you are driving much.
I would go with a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Nice way to spread keywords in a blog about something completely different
But as almost everybody who might be interested in blogging also needs or owns a car not a bad approach to extend your traffic to those people!
This obsession you’re talking about is a well-known thing for me. Everytime one of my friends wants to buy a camera, mp3 player, headphones or any other electronic devices they IM me and ask what the best one is that’s currently available. Because they know that I regularly spend hours and sometimes even days to find all the information (especially recommendations, tests and reviews) about a particular group of products and if you have the ability to filter and work with all the information that the internet provides you with today there’s a big chance that you can make maybe not the right – but a very good choice.
I wonder how many of my friends who I’d probably call tech-savy are not able to find things via Google just because they fail in using this service, i.e. put the wrong keywords into the search engine or just stop after the first two pages of results.
As you said: obsession is a bitch. You have to get control over your obsessions because they can waste a lot of your time if not handled correctly. But once you manage to make an obsession into a longtime “passion” there surely open up possibilities for working niches and finding success in them. I’m right now at this point where I my blog is 2 weeks old and still has no real visitors or regular readers thus the next days and weeks will show if I can transform this obsession (and that’s what it was and still is, the problem here is that I tend to read more and write less without control) into a passion.
Waren Buffet and guys like him are obviously obsessed and passionate about economic processes in general and the fields they focuss on. Otherwise they would have left the playgrounds a long time ago and just sip at their cocktails somewhere in the Caribbean
Cheers
Daniel
For all we know, Warren Buffet may well be collecting some thing like coins or stamps or something like that and spending fortunes on them. The point however is that the automobile has begun to mean more than just transportation to many people, thanks to some heavy advertising and promotion with subliminal messages conveying status, machoness etc which persuade people to spend money on cars.
Yaro,
I think its awesome that you dropped the idea of a convertible based solely on the fact that it would be a problem for your hair. I suppose we all have our quirks.
Ever think of cutting the hair? That would certainly solve the problem and open up your options a bit.
I drive a convertible and I just put my hair back in a ponytail. It’s easy enough. I keep a set of ponytail holders in the glove box.
But Yaro, this does seem a bit silly. “Girly” cars? Buying a new one even when you don’t need it? I’d recommend traveling to parts of the world where $250,000 would help you feed entire villages for years, or build schools that will help you educate generations of young folks. Being rich enables you to help the world in your own way; don’t blow it on an ego trip.
-Erica
Also rich
Erica has a good point.
After you buy a new car, in a few months the newness of it will wear off anyway. I’m always amazed at how many broke people have brand-new and expensive cars. Is it possible they’re broke because of the car? Hmm…
Obviously you’ve got the money to buy a new car, but why buy another one considering by your own admission you don’t need another car.
Take whatever amount you would have spent and divvy to a few different investments. In five years you’ll think back about how good of a decision that was.
Yaro, agreed that people can trust themselves a little more when making those decisions about what to write about, or what to focus on. With all due respect for trending, analytics and research, you may very well be passionate about something that hasn’t become mainstream yet. You can set a trend instead of following one. Passion is contagious. You can create a new market for your information.
As always, thanks for the information!
s.c.
I know there is something special in every human, But sometime we never try to shape up our talent. The celebrities never born,they create themselves. Now days the people who failed to show up in real world comes up at internet mega market to try their talent again, Somebody had dreamed about becoming celebrity, but finally lands on internet and turn their game over online entrepreneur. And Yaro tha Mastermind is also responsible for making of a success stories now.
I can spot a Jag a mile away…loved them since I was a kid. But alas it will have to wait…currently driving a Chevy Cobalt…hmph!
This is good advice, and why I’ve had to give up obsessions in areas with no market potential (long story). Being obsessed with discontinuous deformation analysis won’t pay the rent. There’s been a couple of other interesting obsessions as well.
So learning how to sell stuff is a new obsession for me.
Went to see Markus Schulz a few weeks ago. Excellent. A little darker, a little more intricate (IMO) than Armin. Yaro, don’t miss Markus if you get the chance to see him. Just saw John Fleming too. San Fran is so awesome for good music.
Markus Schulz is great Dave, heard plenty of remixes from him. I saw Cosmic Gate and Blank and Jones in Brisbane recently, though I didn’t have the stamina for John 00, who started at 3.30 AM.
San Fran sounds great
I’m addicted to Blank and Jones/Claudia Brucken track “Don’t Stop.” Like Madonna’s “Justify My Love.” Only nastier. Love it.
I strongly second that passion is one of the key ingredients for a successful blog. It takes a lot more to succed with a blog, but without passion for your topic it is hard if not impossible to get to the top,
I completely agree with you, Oliver. It’s true with everything in your life – your job, wife and so on and so forth;) without passion, it often gets boring and tedious. If I was to write something that doesn’t interest me, I’d end up writing some boring and unattractive stuff that no one would read it;)
I’m hoping I can say the same thing for my newest site, though there is the controversial perspective of “sex” in design that could draw in or lose readers. Been trying to figure out the best way to address this in the classiest manner..
Any ideas?
Hi Yaro – Been driving various Audis and Mercs for several years now. Didnt think I was a car person either. Go the Audi R8!
I think you should go with the Pontiac Aztec.
That’s too funny. That vehicle is brutal. Do they still even manufacture it?
A Pontiac Aztec, what in the world?? I had to Google that one, lol. I was expecting some ancient car, but apparently it is just a suv, hehe.
Till then,
Jean
The cars we love and the cars we have are not always the same thing. I once was struggling between a JAg and a merc, after visiting both main dealers I plumped for the XJR Jag as I was so impressed by the staff in the garage and how they seemed to know everyone of their custoemrs by their first name. After owning the JAg for 18 months I new why. I too had visited the main dealer 23 times with 19 different faults.
That killed my passion for cars.
Interesting post Yaro… My first car was a Mini Clubman..never forget it UEF 887S was its registration.. Since then I have been a car nut and gone through everything from a Talbot Solara (don’t ask) to a Lotus Esprit V8 GT…. It is funny that you are becoming more interested from an agnostic start and I am becoming less interested in cars having come from an obsessive start… There is a psyhcological lesson in there somewhere!
I suppose it means that we all have to go through certain stages in our lives, maybe just at different times….interesting point you raised there, Mr One Life No Fear! My 1st car was a Golf Gti. What a legendary vehicle! Currently I drive the new Beetle. I’ve had it for 8 years and the shape is still fresh, which really suits me down to the T.
that’s interesting… to be honest I have a similar problem…if it even is a problem at all. let’s just call it a tendency. my first car was BMW 525. Now I’m driving a vw passat combi from 1999 with 1.9 tdi engine… a typically boring car… sometimes I miss my BMW but it is just not that important now.
the BMW M3 is a manly choice indeed, but considering your previous rides I would recommend BMW 135i, since you already tested it. The engine delivers enough power.
In your daily driving you probably won’t need more than that. It depends on how more you drive daily and whether you drive more inside a town or between towns. The next best choice to a M3 would be a BMW 330xd which has awd and a diesel engine being more economical which means you don’t need to move near a refinery. Audi also has some interesting powerful awd alternatives like the the RS4.
In the end it’s a matter of taste and style. Since you won’t go racing performance might come in second place after safety (read grip)
Cheers and let us know of your decision.
This is so true. Whenver I buy something (or I don’t buy), I try to find out why, where, and where are emotional triggers, etc.
It’s an exercise that’ll give you an advantage overtime.
Franck
I think you’ll find the 135i an awesome ride. The tuning potential of the turbo-charged engine isa also such that you’ll be able to purchase effective power upgrades once the novelty wears off. Everything eventually gets slow…..
Congrats on deciding to buy a new car. If you’re making good money and still driving a Suzuki Swift, it is definitely time to upgrade, no offense. The Mazda R8 would be very tempting, but it probably is best to go with a more practical car. You are right that you probably wouldn’t use all of that power anyway. If you want something fast, work your way up to it.
Man… I am also obsessed with cars, and racing in general! As far as my car.. and what I would buy if I had the means to, I would likely get an Audi, or a BMW, with a third choice being the Mercedes Benz =D
Till then,
Jean
Thanks for all the comments – I love the diversity. I feel there’s some of me in all of you, from those who like expensive cars but admire them from a distance, to those who own them, to those who think the money is better spent helping those in need and not serving the ego.
I haven’t decided what to get yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll be sure to blog about it.
Nice collection of thinks about the cars and the people what they are saying about the cars.
And nice to see you while driving the cars.
Yaro, its up to you, whether you need a fast coupe but a gold digger or an economic car but yet cool to drive and affordable
If you are for the first option , BMW M6 is the right babe (I wonder how comes AL hasn’t reviewed it yet on his blog)
The second option is a Citroen C4 Coupe , I own one , its quite good and it doesn’t consume a lot of gas
Do let us know about your decision
I think you deserve to buy yourself a nice luxurious/sports car. It sounds as if you have been living below your means for awhile as you sound like a very humble man and while living below your means is great as it allows for you to save, I do think you should live it up a little as well. That doesn’t mean splurging on an Audi R8 but it could mean a nice and fun car in the $30K-$40 K range. Good luck and continue to update us! =)
I don’t think you can even consider being a successful
IMer if you aren’t obsessed.
This is a hard, time-consuming endeavour.
Doctor Michael Quadlander
I love SUV’s and my favourite one has got to be the Range Rover…Why not consider this one? Anyway I think you should buy a superb luxurious vehicle which will both suit your needs and make you look awsome (I don’t mean you are not at the moment!) while you drive it…
i think a nice sports car would suit Yaro more than an SUV. A SUV is more appropriate for someone with a family to drive around. I personally think a BMW coupe would be an excellent choice.
I finally got to the internvew of Alborz in the Blogmastermind Audios, great interview and good stuff to hear. Becoming obsessed is not hard to do especially if its somethign you like doing. right?
I like it.. it’s also very easy for us not to realise the value of the information we might have on a subject with which we’ve been obsessed.
I don’t think you can even consider being a successful
IMer if you aren’t obsessed.