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During the last few live question and answer sessions with my Blog Mastermind students at least one person every call asks for help determining whether they have a good choice for a blog topic.

Given that new people join the program each week, it’s not surprising that question crops up over and over again. Everyone new to blogging faces the challenge of topic selection as the first big hurdle, and while I can never offer the “right” solution, as only the market can tell you that, I do my best to offer my suggestions and tips for conducting research to aide with topic selection.

What Topic Is Right?

Topic selection for a blog is similar to niche selection for a business. What you decide to write about determines what type of audience you attract and how you make money from that audience. In today’s e-commerce landscape, content is the driving force behind traffic and purchasing decisions online, so topic selection is a big deal.

Today I want to offer a simple answer to this problem, to help choose what topic and niche is right for you. I say simple because it’s possible to make this a very complicated choice, with in-depth keyword research, market analysis and other assessable factors weighing in on the decision process.

Unfortunately I find that many people who do extensive research become paralyzed. With more data comes more awareness of the different variables at play. Sometimes knowing less is a good thing because it gives you a clear next step - an action you can take that actually moves you closer to a result.

This is especially important for newbies and people with personalities that demand they know everything about everything before taking that first step into the big wide world. As someone new to Internet marketing, learning about all the different ways to research a potential topic may be so much work and such a big learning curve that it takes months before any action is taken to actually test the topic in the market.

You have to learn how to choose a niche before even choosing a niche!

I’m not saying you should bury your head in the sand and take a leap of faith when choosing a topic, but you can certainly make it easier on yourself.

Spotting Opportunities

Let me explain how I have selected topics for the businesses I have run in the past. In almost all circumstances the process has gone something like this -

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As many of my long-term readers know, I went through a Rich Schefren coaching program back in 2006. The reason I originally joined was because of what Rich presented in the Internet Business Manifesto.

Unless you have been deleting all your subscriptions to Internet marketing email lists then you probably already know that today Rich is opening the doors to his latest personal coaching program -

The Guided Profit System

I wrote a notice to my newsletter about this program and I’m going to reproduce it below for my blog readers who are not on my newsletter so you can benefit from my experience with Rich’s training.

Before I do that let me be clear about one thing -

Rich’s coaching is only for a certain type of person because it’s cost prohibitive for many, HOWEVER, his resources like the Manifesto and the report he released last week, The Entrepreneurial Emergency, and the audios and teleconferences he releases, are all free and present great ideas. Yes there is a sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden sales pitch, but the core message can be taken away without spending a dime.

If the coaching program offer today from Rich is annoying you because you are sick of hearing about it or you think it’s way too over priced, just focus on what you can learn and implement from the free stuff.

For those of you in a position to invest in business coaching I give a strong endorsement of Rich’s programs. Rich is the only person I ever gave $5,000 of my money to for coaching. It’s worth it just because Rich is so generous with his personal time - you will definitely get a chance to talk to him directly if you join his program.

With that out of the way, here’s what I have to say about the Guided Profit System -

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I wanted to use the word “honesty” in the title for this blog post, but I expect the word “Lying” will pull more attention. However don’t let that mislead you, this article is about using honesty in your marketing, not lying.

At the start of September you may recall StomperNet offered their Stomping The Search Engines 2 course for the cost of shipping if you were willing to try their new print newsletter. They made money off this offer because of the multiple upsells involved during the ordering process and the potential for rebills if customers decided to stay subscribed to the print newsletter.

I had no problem with this offer, in fact I thought it was a good deal and promptly blogged about it and sent a notice to my newsletter too.

Besides a brief hiccup that killed the opening day, StomperNet did well, and many of you, my readers, grabbed the offer.

A few days later Brad and Andy at StomperNet decided to up the ante a little and with the help of many of their top Internet marketing friends, put together a bonus package that was, well, a little over the top.

Guys like Ed Dale, Jeff Johnson, Jeff Walker, Rich Schefren, Mike Filsaime, Paul Colligan and Shawn Casey (and others) gave everything from teleseminar downloads, audio files, free months in coaching programs, reports and more on top of what was already offered by StomperNet, just for the cost of shipping. That offer has since passed, though you can still buy the course and trial the first month of the newsletter if you pay for sending it to you.

Why Do They Do This?

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At the time I did this particular interview I didn’t realize it would become so cool, but Mert Erkal and the team at the new Bloghology blog magazine, which debuts at this weekend’s Blog World Expo conference in Las Vegas, decided to feature me on the front cover.

I’m honored to be featured and I thank head editor Mert for including me in this way, especially for the very first edition.

You can catch my short interview along with interviews with expert bloggers Chris Garret, Guy Kawasaki, John Cow, Garry Conn and Mani Karthik when you get your copy at the expo, or you can go right now and download the digital version from here (you will need to register to read the magazine in entirety) -

Bloghology Magazine Digital Version

The only thing I am disappointed about is that I could not make the expo. I had every intention of going but my new baby brother is coming (along with my dad) all the way from Spain for a brief visit this weekend. This will be the first chance I have to meet him and one of the rare opportunities we are in the same place since we live on opposite sides of the planet. Family before business I’m afraid!

Enjoy the magazine and the expo this weekend everyone!

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It’s not quite as easy as the title makes it sound, but bear with me, this article will explain the three steps that are the foundation of every Internet business, why so many people go wrong and give you some realizations that might just be the key to take your Internet business to the next level…

I’ve been studying resources lately designed to teach Internet business, but not just introductory materials, content that goes beyond beginners and is intended to take you to making making millions online.

In my case I’m interested in advanced topics that I can apply to what I do and fill my current knowledge gaps to take the next step forwards. While hunting for those elusive gold nugget ideas I invariably scan the introductory materials and learn with interest how this particular person or organization cover the basics - how they suggest you get traffic and make sales.

My studies have led me to the conclusion that Internet business is actually quite easy. Explained in simple terms (which I will do in a moment), the structure of a successful online enterprise is comprised of a few components, that when linked together can deliver hundreds, thousands and even millions of dollars in online profits.

Easy As 1-2-3

While we all have different ways of presenting what we do and the tiny details of getting a result vary, most Internet marketing experts teach the same few principles, which are in fact no different from what direct marketers have been doing and teaching for decades.

It goes something like this…

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