There’s a new poster ad campaign running in my home city Brisbane. It looks like this -
In case you can’t tell from the ad, the poster is telling people not to walk across the road when the light is red.
Duh.
What prompted this campaign was the recent spat of pedestrians struck by cars downtown because they cross the road ignoring the big red Don’t Walk symbol.
I had to chuckle when I saw this poster. The city council must be running the ad, spending thousands of dollars to do so because people need to be reminded not to cross the road when they don’t have right of way and cars are coming.
You might think it’s common sense, but sometimes the basics still need to be taught (or reminded in this case).
The Beginner Market
The poster in downtown Brisbane reminded me of an important business lesson, especially for those of you selling information online or intending to.
The beginners market is huge and in most cases you are overestimating what people already know and underestimating how much help they need.
When new people decide to do something they start at the beginning. Some people have a natural gift or previous experience or are good at finding free materials online, but there is a massive audience of people without these advantages, who need their hand held every step of the way.
Some people learn slower than others and you should remember that when thinking about markets to tap - there are beginners willing to spend money for basic training.
The reason Become A Blogger was created is to access the beginner blogging market. Every day new people decide they want to start a blog and have never read a single thing about blogging before. They know nothing and need to be taught the basics from the beginning. This is what Become A Blogger attempts to do, though I’m well aware for some beginners, even the basic training at Becomeablogger.com goes over their heads - there are multiple levels of beginner.
Information marketers who reach the beginner audience can begin to foster longterm relationships from day one, enjoying loyalty and repeat sales as the person moves from beginner to intermediate and then advanced, buying different products as they go. If you can provide genuine help to people new to something, they are very likely to trust and desire more of your advice as they advance.
Watching People Get Rich Helping Beginners
The message was really hammered home to me last year when I attended a few Internet marketing conferences for beginners. Events like the World Internet Summit (the next one is in Sydney, March 13-16) bring together beginners looking to take their first step into online business, with experienced marketers who present the dream, some general tactics and then pitch a product if the beginner wants to take the next step and learn more.
If you are not a beginner you might cringe when you see the sparkle in the eye of the newbie who has just slapped down their credit card and spent a few thousand dollars on a training package they probably won’t open (remember - beware the sugar rush!). These events are full of new beginners month after month. As with any growing market, there are newbies born every day.
Andrew and Daryl Grant have a wonderful sales funnel. They present at events like the World Internet Summit and tell their story of going from complete beginner to making $250,000 a year selling eBooks. They then invite people to follow in their footsteps by buying their study package and joining their membership site. Over time they educate their customers, offer advanced materials and focused workshops, all the way to a top level offer of a chance to joint venture with them to launch a membership site, which has a $10,000 entry fee (actually I think the last one was $15,000).
Andrew and Daryl’s business takes the absolute beginner, trains them and filters them down to the raving fans and makes money all the way through the process. It all begins when they present an offer to teach beginners exactly what they desire at the time, a step-by-step, push-button formula for making money online designed for the true newbie, just like Andrew and Daryl were when they began making money online.
It’s A Journey For Everyone
All beginners start with preconceptions and deep rooted motivations driving their choices. You, as the experienced trainer may have a better understanding of reality (for example, there is no push-button way to make money online) but you still must work with and understand where the beginner is coming from. If you don’t, you speak the wrong language and beginners will move on to people who do understand what they want.
This is a particularly good strategy for people who have just moved beyond beginner. If you have skills and experience at something, but maybe you’re not an A-player yet, you still have knowledge that other beginners need.
You might not make hundreds of thousands of dollars selling basic training because it’s often the easiest market to enter (thus competitive) since the knowledge is so widespread, but you can begin making some money, perhaps by selling introductory products, consulting or selling services to beginners for a cheap hourly rate.
You may not get rich, but you will gain a deeper understanding of what beginners need and also help to build your initial client base. It’s also a form of taking action, the true key for success online, so perhaps now is a good time for you to sit down and reflect what you have learned so far and how you can use that to teach beginners or sell to people who need to know what you know, and are willing to spend money to do so.
Good luck!
Yaro Starak
Perpetual Beginner
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Great post Yaro.
I think a lot of marketers end up trying to impress the “big dogs” with their marketing prowess and end up neglecting the vast majority of people just getting into the IM arena.
Something that may seem so easy and obvious to a seasoned marketer is like an archaic new language to a beginner.
It is true but what you forget is that most people are not good teachers. Teaching does not come naturally to many people. Technology and business are both fields that love jargon and elitism. Hence the hardships these newbies endure and (luckily for some) their willingness to get out their credit card.
I am inspired to do a small project to help the beginners, to learn the basics. I sure was one that wanted to skip that process in the beginning, wanting the prize right away. Thank you for the insight, it will change the way I present my content. Still so much to learn…
I agree with most of what you say and want to thank you for your article.
What are three specific strategies for bringing down jargon to their level? How do you know how much of what is right?
I’d love to figure this out!
Great post and in fact very timely. I had just thought about that same idea. Except I wanted to see if it was possible to provide a free resource to new internet marketers to learn the process first before deciding to make the commitment to invest money.
It started because I actually got fed up with spending money on these course that made huge claims but failed to deliver.
So I decided just to share what I know, what I’ve learned from those courses and what has worked for me.
Besides, I think it is best to learn from someone who was recently in your shoes. It is difficult for a guru who makes millions and has been in the game since ‘95 to relate to a young struggling newbie. They have resources and skills that the average newbie doesn’t have access to.
It’s the pay-it-forward concept for Internet Marketing. Grab a newbie and bring them up to your level, then find someone more experienced than both of you and join him/her at their level, rinse and repeat. What a great way to build a network!
This is going to be awesome! Great post, great idea.
Mike
Well done, a thorough writing indeed. I also join-writes my company’s corporate blog (which operation is too techie for me to comprehend).
When I write something technical (which obviously I don’t have lot’s of knowledge about), my editor will tag my post with ‘basics’…
My limited knowledge is still useful for a select audience.. Which confirms the opportunities you mentioned.
This reminds me of the story that in the early California Gold Rush, the richest guys were the ones selling food, shovels, and denim to the new prospectors.
As I continue to define my niche, I ask myself, “How will I teach people to make money, save money, save time, or save pain?”
I also still question, however, can individuals make decent money teaching online who ARE NOT teaching individuals how to make money online?
That might be an interesting post for your blog~what do top Internet marketers teach besides Internet marketing? Who has been successful in completely different niches than your own.
Very well and eloquently stated Yaro. Human nature seems cause us to overlook the obvious. It might actually be easier for beginners 2.0 to attempt to train and educate the true beginners becaue as you said, they are the ones closest to that level. As we advance we tend to forget what it was like in the beginning.
Hi Jenny - There’s a constant grumble online that people only make money teaching how to make money.
It’s so not true.
The perception comes because it’s the make money online bloggers who write about the topic and how much they make, they have to to demonstrate credibility.
Bloggers who make money in other niches do not need to write about how they make money. It just wouldn’t make sense and their readers would be put off.
As one case in point, here is a diabetes blog case study I recently came across -
Diabetes Blog Earns $40K per Year
Notice how the case study is not published on the diabetes blog itself.
There are blogs making way more money in other niches, you just won’t hear about it. I’m certain bloggers who target dating, ringtones, health, electronics, clothing, etc earn way more than us MMO bloggers.
You definitely raise an important point - there is a misconception that could use more proof to dispel it.
One other point Jenny. You said -
As I continue to define my niche, I ask myself, “How will I teach people to make money, save money, save time, or save pain?”
Given your niche I don’t think you need to teach people how to save money, unless it’s discounts on items your tea party readers desire. Making money is probably not on the cards either, unless it’s how to sell your tea party items for a profit or make holding tea parties into a business.
Solving pain probably doesn’t fit specifically to tea parties either.
You need to look towards the entertainment crowd and what their spending habits currently are.
Find the number one thing your target demographic buys online and make sure you sell it as an affiliate.
It’s similar to the CollegeHumor.com model. They had a ton of traffic coming to their site for entertainment. They went profitable when the started a website selling funny t-shirts, something the target market they targeted loved.
Think laterally and the answers are there. Of course you need the traffic and ultimately, an audience that actually buys stuff, but don’t give up until you think about all the avenues.
“Find the number one thing your target demographic buys online and make sure you sell it as an affiliate”
That’s a great piece of free advice there, Yaro.
David
Perpetual Learner
One thing that bugs me is how do you market a product to beginners. For example your becomeablogger.com - obviously you won’t get many interested readers from this blog because your readers are more advanced. Besides the SE love that the link from this blog gives you, there is little use of it I guess.
You would hardly have success advertising on other blogging blogs of forums for the same reason.
One possibility is to look at the larger niche market and advertise there. For example crowd on MMO sites and forums might be interested to hear about beginner guides to blogging because some of these people may have learned another methods of making money.
But it would be interesting to hear another strategies of attracting beginners traffic.
Bob - Becomeablogger.com will spread virally because, I hope, people will come to think of the site as the reference point for beginners.
So while the readers of this blog are the target demographic (though some of the actually are - beginners discover E-J all the time), my readers will think of becomeablogger.com when friends or family or just people they come into contact with ask about getting into blogging.
Search traffic will help to, as will affiliates who promote the site.
The tactic is to have some form of entry point resource and then find ways to get it in front of the target audience. In my case I want word of mouth to do most of the work for me, which is why I invested in a quality production. However I could be creative, take the become a blogger videos, stick them on a CD and give them away at conferences or as JVs with other related products.
The options are endless, especially once you have the resource created.
Nice article. It’s easier to make money teaching beginners to play poker than trying to win money off other professionals…
it’s hard work teaching beginners. Have you ever tried teaching someone to use MS Windows? There’s so much that you take for granted
Yaro,
I’ve been following your content for the last while now - always great stuff - thanks.
I agree about the beginner issue, especially when it comes to all matters technical. Lots of info products and courses I’ve looked at have been pitched at a zero knowledge starting point yet some of the terms and concepts used have left my head spinning from the off!
This post is a great reminder that sometimes we need to spell things out to people in the most simplified ways imaginable. There are plenty of people out there who will thank you for it.
Sarah
http://www.AudioPodArtist.com
Hi Yaro. I found a link to your site at Warrior Forum and so I thought I’d check it out.
You know… I’ll be honest. There’s no way I’d be able to compete with the Frank Kerns and the Darren Rowses on teaching the advanced people anyway.
Like you said, if you’re geared toward teaching the newbies, then they’ll stick by your side as they grow. This is the approach I’m taking when I’m working in the MMO niche right now.
It would be incredible to get rich doing this, and I know someone who has been catering to the newbs for only 6 months and he makes $25,000 per month! His name is Lee McIntyre. Imagine making $25,000 per month the first six months you worked online and you’re teaching as a beginner to the beginners…
Anyway, there does seem to be one huge problem with teaching beginners that you might not have addressed.
And that problem is this.
Who is going to read your stuff and send traffics your way and link to you? They’ll say, “that’s just the basics, nothing special.”
It seems a little bit like a double-edged sword. Unless all of your newbies go directly into the beginner’s make money online niche, you might now see much word-of-mouth traffic.
That’s the only downside I see.
I’m just blabbing a little, but I also know another guy who swears on his life that teaching the newbs is WHERE IT’S AT.
Anyway, you and I also have a mutual friend, Bryan Clark…
Great blog.
I’ll be back.
Jason
I totally agree agree with you. It is a good post.Andrew and Daryl’s business module in not complicated at all. I guess that is why people tend to think there is nothing happening there. Psychologically, it is were complicated, that is when a lot of people would want to try and figure it out.
Human nature I guess.
Yaro, I always enjoy your posts. It has the touch of gold in it at all times.
Great article Yaro! This really helps us beginners to choose what to focus on! I appreciate your insights and views. More power to you!
Yaro,
Another excellent article. I think catering to the beginner can be a great way to increase your blog readership as well. I just finished writing a free report talking about a quick and easy system to use for social bookmarking. I had a friend read it and I kept thinking, doesn’t everyone know this already? Thanks for the reminder that there’s a newbie everyday who doesn’t know what I’m sharing. Apparently despite my doubts my system was pretty original. My friend had never thought to do it either. I appreciate you and your blog! Thanks.
Jackie Lee
Really great article Yaro. In the offline world I’ve run classes and given talks in my areas of expertise and when I write I’m often drawn to writing for those who are at the beginning of a journey. Beginners keep us humble and remind us that we don’t know everything! They ask difficult questions and keep us aware of current trends as well as history. When you explain something to a beginner it forces you to be clear and stay away from non-jargen terms as much as possible. Doing this helps us to become more clear about our own understanding of a topic.
In response to a comment regarding ‘can we only make money from teaching people how to make money’ - The Money Programme in the UK this week talked about a woman who has become a millionnaire from her ecard website - still trying to remember her name!
I just remembered her name - Jacquie Lawson
Interesting article, Taro, and BTW, a “good show’ on http://www.becomeablogger.com … this is putting your money where your mouth is, or walking the walk, for sure.
I see a few fellow commenter’s here “getting” the message and yet a few who don’t. Andrew and Daryl Grant are a great example to use. If one signs up to their basic list _and_ bothers to read the materials they provide … hint … there’s a _lot_ of info in the PowerPoint presentations … one gets more real information than most $19 dollar “learn to write an eBook” offerings on line .. so do they make money after giving away so much? Obviously, they certainly do.
I think a great many people’s stumbling block to getting something profitable going is the common tendency to base things on the ’scarcity’ theory .. “If I give anything away I won’t make money.”
Long experience has taught me that the ‘abundance’ theory is much more viable … whatever you give comes back ten-fold.
(nitpick mode ON) While I did learn two definitions of “spat” I did not already know when I looked it up, but one tends to think you really meant a “spate” of pedestrian/vehicle accidents … (nitpick mode OFF)
[…] You might think you’ve read all the advice before, however it’s necessary that blog trainers continue to publish these articles to update the status of how you can profit online with a website. Plus of course, some of these ideas are new to beginners and we all know how important it is to help beginners. […]
Great article. I was just talking about this same subject with an associate who trains beginners in seminars on how to make money online.
There are a lot of shamsters preying on beginners but if you can provide a good service to beginners (like myself) you should get paid handsomely.
This is such a good point. Remember that old saw, “In the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king.” So if you only have one eye, go find some blind people. There are quite a lot of them out there.
For me, I go for a particular segment of the visually-impaired community.
I market advice to beginners, but to a certain kind of beginner who is turned off and even frightened by other, more common approaches. For most topics, “newbies” isn’t a niche, IMO, it’s a collection of niches.
[…] Alexis ends the book with a poignant point, similar to what I talked about in Get Rich Helping (And Selling To) Beginners. […]
What a great article…I am a newbie to blogging and have a desire to build a blog that is really a double niche. I love blogging about entrepreneurs like yourself and the philosophies of success but at the same time I want to incorporate making money with a blog. I am not sure how to blend the two just yet but if you take a look at my blog you may get a feel of what I am talking about. Do you think my blog reflects that thinking? I would appreciate and comments or feedback.
Thanks,
Rob West:)
Yes Yaro,
I am compelled to comment. This is exactly why I began blogging. There are folks out there who need me. I know it. Ant that goes for each and every one commenting on this blog.
Out of all your posts that I have read ( And I’ve read a many), this post is one that has significantly raised the level of respect I have for you.
KUDOS!! You are the man..
[…] Rowse has his ProBlogger blog showing people how to make a successful blog and Yaro Starak has just started his BecomeABlogger.com venture. What Yaro probably really should get is RookieBlogger.com… or maybe I should get it […]
Following on this topic, I’d dearly love to have a blog teaching beginners how to upload photos, post photos in forums, network on the ‘Net, and promote themselves … problem is, I don’t know how to do any of it yet, and I’d really love for someone to teach me!
Yep, there are real beginners out there. I have yet to learn to upload a photo.
[…] Get Rich Helping (and Selling To) Beginners - from Entrepreneur’s Journey. Something I advocate too! […]
Ah, you’re incredibly right. The Internet is not yet and never will be perfectly organized. People who don’t want to spend the time by digging and scrounging around for beginner information are willing to spend a few bucks learning it in the easiest way possible.