Choosing a Topic or Product for your Website
Now we are going to discuss how to choose a topic or product for your blog or website. If you are not wanting to spend any money up front, then you will need to choose a topic or category that you feel fairly comfortable discussing, describing or giving the how-to on. This could be things like computer games, online multi-player games, how to program in HTML, IPOD for Dummies, etc. Just pick any topic that you are familiar with. Let's concentrate on a topic (or niche) for now. Remember, our goal topic is how teens can make money online, so keep in mind that you don't have to be in love with your topic to make money. I'll post about choosing a product later.
You do not have to be an expert. We'll talk about why you don't need to be an expert in a bit.I am not very computer literate (okay, I'm a complete fail !), so I chose "how to cook smoked ribs" for my first topic. So, if you cannot decided on a general category but you know how to do one particular thing (like a recipe, or jailbreaking an ipod, or gearing out your shamen) then start with that one thing. You can always expand later. The topic does NOT have to be aimed at adults. More teens and kids are on the net than adults.
Just remember that the key here in choosing a topic is to select one that somebody might do a search for. Choosing a overly unique topic such as "how to get the cabin light in my Dad's Volvo to quick flickering" will not elicit many searches. On the other hand, try not to choose a topic that is so broad that you will never get to the top of Google. You don't want anything close to "how to make money online" unless you want to have to compete with millions and millions of others. So, yes, I am doing this blog without hopes of making money.
Suggestions if you are still stuck: Okay so you've racked your brain for a topic and come up empty. Now what? Well, not everyone can be the first one to make a blog about the topic, so don't feel bad if you need to surf the web in order to come up with an idea. Choosing a topic is NOT the most crucial step; especially for your first go-around. Take a ride around the internet and see what others are doing: check out Yahoo Answers, look around your house for an indication of things you like -- pets? tv's? computers? dolls? (uh, I mean action figures), sports teams? music? star trek? star wars? tv shows? science (lol).
Ok, lets assume that now you must have a topic (if not, then make one up). If you still cannot think of one thing that you know how to do or that you are interested in then pick something you know zilch about and do some research on the internet. Sometimes, it's enough for the author of the site to just start the conversation or to get the ball rolling a bit. Once you have a topic or category, then Google it and see what kind of things will be your competition. Skim through those websites and take note of the cool things they have or offer. Spend several hours doing this and max out your knowledge on the subject. Experienced online marketers will say that this is backwards; that you should actually research your topic thoroughly by examining the competition first, but for now lets familiarize you with the process. All the rest of the stuff won't make sense to you until you've made a dry run through this. Get a topic. In order for teens to make money online, they often times have to think of some topic that few others have even thought of but one that there may be some searches for.