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What do you want your blog to accomplish? Hint, hint, the answer is not to make money (well, ultimately, it is), but before you can make money, you have to decide on many things. The first one is: What do you want your blog to accomplish? Why are you getting a presence on the web? Or, why do you already have a presence on the web? What is yourpurpose? And, what do you want the purpose of your blog to be? These may seem like some tough questions as we go along, but they're really critical (critical to your success). So we are going to talk in depth about a lot of these things.

Next is: What is the title of your blog? The title is what will appear in the browser bar when people are on your site. You want to use keywords in your title because the title can either help or hurt your SEO and the effect of how people see you. It's really critical for people and for your SEO that you get the title right.

Now you need to write a brief Elevator Speech for your blog. Do you all know what an elevator speech is? It's what you can say about yourself in the amount of time that it takes an elevator to go wherever an elevator is going. You need this for your blog too, because it's going to go in the meta tag of your blog for SEO purposes (SEO - Search Engine Optimization). So, people in your blog won't actually see this description, but Google, Yahoo, MSN, whatever search engines are spidering your blog will see it. This description is what will appear when you are indexed and you get listed as a search result. If you have ever searched for anything (and I'm sure you have) on Google, then you know that the title comes up and then underneath that title there is a little, not quite paragraph, but several lines of text about the title. This is where your description will appear, so make it good, make it so that people will want to click on the title of the result and go to your blog to read it. Don't just say, This blog is about... Say what your purpose really is.

These are just a few of the 'before the blog' tips you need to consider. Now I'd like to invite you to http://www.thewordpresswizard.com for more information on WordPress and on blogging.

Cathy Perkins, The WordPress Wizard

Niche marketing has been around for years, but what many don't realize is how lucrative it can be when applied to a new online business. Many people today are working from home with a niche business. Some are earning thousands of dollars per year, some even millions! There are stay-at-home moms that have etched their way into a small corner of the Internet market to make money online. There are whole families that work from home together selling niche products and services. So, there's definitely room for you!

A niche online Internet business is one that focuses on a very specific, targeted group of people. The customers are looking for a specific type of product or service, and nothing else. Niche marketing doesn't focus on the general audience within certain markets, but gets down to the "nitty gritty" of target audiences. For example, there may be millions of people online that want to start a new online business; however, only about 5,000 of those same people might want to start a mortgage business. Even more specific than that, a couple of thousand might want to specialize in only office building mortgages.

A niche business works like a specialty within a general business field. You will specialize in one or several areas and ignore general marketing. To put it into perspective, think of a brain surgeon, a business check printing company, a laser hair removal specialist, a wedding photographer, a decor lamp retailer, a chocolate-covered strawberries retailer, or a patio construction specialist. These all have a very marketable niche business, and offer no other services or products besides perhaps a few complementary products to go along with their business.

Discovering Your Niche

When choosing a niche business, write down a list of skills you implore and some of your favorite business ideas. Use online resources to research business possibilities, and find those that you have the ability to do. You might also sign on with a company that can help you get started with a niche business. Such a company can provide the start-up website and tools you need to make money online.

Find a niche that is growing in popularity, not diminishing. Look for opportunities that have not saturated the Internet already, but are in great demand within your field. This will allow you to enter the market without fighting thousands of competitors.

Promoting Your Niche Business

To promote an online Internet business, especially a niche, you must first find out who is your target customer. Ask yourself, "What would my customers type into the search engines to find my products or services?" Or, "What else might my target customers buy on the Web?" You need to know where your customers are and how you can reach them in the most cost-efficient way.

Once you gather needful information about your target audience, you'll need to do the most difficult part - ignore the masses! Target only your specific group when marketing, and no one else. You'd rather have 1,000 potential buyers than 30,000 people who are not even remotely interested in your products. Promote to bring results, not lots of visitors.

Find a mentor for your niche online Internet business. A mentor can help you avoid pitfalls, and also help you build and make money on the Internet with effective tools and resources that would normally take you months or years to discover. You can seek out business opportunities online easily to find the niche that's right for you. Once you find an appropriate niche, it's time to start earning that extra income or full-time salary from home that you've always dreamed of!

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Niche - Make Money on the Internet or Majon's Business and Entrepreneurs directory.