What I’ve Been Doing

Recently I purchased a domain for a niche site and I’ve decided to focus on it for the next few days. I usually tend to underestimate what it takes to launch a site from scratch. I love writing and adding images to a site while I detest installing plugins and doing all the behind the scenes SEO setup.

Buying a Domain Name from an Individual

For this new site, I bought a domain name from an individual using the services of a domain escrow company called www.escrow.com.

The domain transfer went smoothly and both seller and buyer (me) were pleased with the speed of the transaction.

Here’s how it works

1. Contact the domain owner and offer to buy his or her domain name. If the seller agrees, go to escrow.com and write your information.
2. You then enter your payment information. I used a credit card for added protection in the event something went wrong. I also had to fax a copy of my credit card to Escrow for verification.
3. The seller was notified of the payment and was told to begin the domain transfer process.
4. I registered with a hosting company (big mistake! should have stayed with Bluehost) and set up a hosting account for the new domain.
5. I accepted the domain via the hosting control panel.
6. When the domain was completely transferred to me and I knew everything was ready to go I accepted the domain in Escrow at which point, my funds were released to the buyer.

Total time elapsed: Less than one business day! We started on Friday evening. Nothing much happened over the weekend. On Monday morning we started the process and at 9:00PM that same day I emailed the seller: “it was a pleasure working with you”.

In case you’re wondering, all these steps were beautifully orchestrated by Escrow via email. You don’t have to wonder what’s happening or what you should be doing. They take care of all the notifications.

The Lesson

One of my favorite quotes from Albert Einstein is “Smart people solve problems geniuses avoid them”. I braced myself for 1 to 2 weeks of delays and problems and I Googled “How to buy a domain name without getting screwed” (that’s how I got the tip about using Escrow).

The buyer asked me to pay him via Paypal and then he would do the transfer. When I suggested we use a domain escrow instead he agreed and everything worked out fine.

Ok, back to plugins…

For example, here’s what people are searching for in FL, USA metro areas or
in Tasmania, Australia.

Check it out.

I recently came across a great article, succinct and to the point on how to set up and install Google Analytics.

How to Install Google Analytics in 5 Minutes or Less

You can manually paste the code into your blog or you can install the Google Analytics for Wordpress plugin.

I recommend using the plugin.

1) The first one requires no additional software.

www.3d-pack.com

2) The second one requires Photoshop to create the 3D effect.

www.ebooktemplatesource.com/free-ebook-covers.html

3) If you’d like a better quality book cover or are not able to use these tools, the third best option may be to outsource the work on Odesk or some other outsourcing service.

Professional Cover Design

To create attractive eBook covers for your info products I highly recommend the services of eCover Makers.

“The other day in an interview, I was asked, “What are the most crucial qualities for an entrepreneur, a marketer or a copywriter to have?”

I’m sure the interviewer expected me to say something like, “You need to be a great writer. You need to be creative.”

My answer: “Courage. Independence. Intensity. Persistence. And a mind-blowing work ethic.”

• It takes courage and fierce independence to decline the comfort and security of a dead-end job … go out on your own … invest your own money and your own time … risk losing it all … and to take sole responsibility for your success or failure.
• It takes monumental amounts of intensity to learn what must be learned and to apply it in ways that produce the optimum result.
• It takes remarkable persistence to stick with it when the going gets tough; to pick yourself up after a failure … when all around you are urging you to quit and settle for the mediocrity and pseudo-security of worker bee.
• It takes an untiring commitment to excellence in every aspect of your work — and attention even to seemingly unimportant details — to produce work that will lift you head and shoulders among your competitors.
• And of course, to do all this, you’ll need the work ethic of a champion.“

• The average conversion rate, when selling eBooks online is about 1%. So if you have 1,000 visitors/month and your ebook sells for $25, your gross monthly income should be about $250. Obviously the more the traffic you have the better.
• You could set up multiple niche sites to make a full-time income or instead, choose a topic that serves the needs of many willing buyers AND has little competition (easier said than done but still possible).
• Instead of setting up a website to sell an ebook, produce an ebook and partner with someone who already has a web site in the same niche. Offer to split the profits with them 55%-45% or whatever percentage you both feel comfortable with.

To increase your chances of success and effectively compete with ‘real’ books, your ebook content must address a need and/or solve a real problem AND you should look for a topic where there’s little competition.

Brian Clark offers a great tip on this topic in his article How to Create Ebooks That Sell.