In my last “New Year” post I said that I was going to focus on my business without being distracted by other opportunities and, at the same time, start the Mercury Project that I’ve been thinking about and planning for so long.
Nothing wrong with that is there?
Well, what if I said that Mercury has a business element to it? It doesn’t have to but it certainly could be set up to make some money. So am I now pursuing two different business opportunities at the same time and contradicting myself?
It’s an interesting question that I have to ask myself. The obvious answer is “Yes” but it goes much deeper than that.
Ever since I first encountered the world of Internet Marketing and Information Publishing several years ago, I’ve been trained to see things in a different way. Now everything is an opportunity to provide information and make money. “Having trouble with your end of year tax returns? Here’s a special guide to get you through it easily… Need to create some standard business letters and documents? Here’s a bunch of guidelines and templates…”. I’m sure you know what I mean. Whenever I encounter a problem with something, chances are there are other people in the same boat that need helping. When you start thinking like that then you have no end of “ideas” for business projects. That’s before you even start thinking about hobbies.
Of course, not everything necessarily will make money but the potential is there in practically any subject you care to choose.
So what about Mercury? If I was trying to choose an arbitrary niche topic for maximum income potential then this would not be it. The numbers simply don’t add up. My research suggests that the potential is limited with low search numbers and not much in the way of existing info products to prove the market, etc. If this was an Underachievers project then it would most definitely be rejected.
But Mercury is something I want to do for myself. Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. Something I’m going to do regardless. It’s really a hobby. But at the same time, my training won’t let me ignore the potential for turning it into a money-spinner. All I need to do is structure the project in the right way. But why should I bother if my research indicates that it won’t be a financial goldmine?
Well, here’s a thought: What do you think would have the greatest chance of success for you – a project based on a topic within a really hot market that could make you loads of money but bores you to tears, or a project based on a topic that really interests you but has much less potential?
Opinion is divided but I think it depends what kind of person you are and what else is going on in your life. Some gurus will tell you to follow the money and just get yourself interested in the topic (after all, it shouldn’t be hard if it’s going to make you a stash of cash). And if you can really do that over and over then you’ll probably become very successful.
At the simplest level, you could create a cheap little info product, slap it up on the Web with a few AdWords and leave it to just bring in the dough. But if you really do have a lucrative niche then you’ll want to do a lot more than that to make the most from it. You’ll need an opt-in page, a fully loaded autoresponder, an ongoing newsletter, articles, back-end products, affiliate offers and a host of JV partners to work with. Otherwise “you’re just leaving money on the table” as the gurus like to tell me on a daily basis (usually when they’re trying to sell me stuff).
All of that requires a LOT of effort, so it better be worth it. And if you take the simple approach you won’t make nearly as much so you’ll need to replicate the process over and over with different topics. It can be done, of course, but finding good topics is difficult, at least that’s been my experience, and how many uninteresting topics will it take to wear you down?
Then there’s the issue of quality. Whether you outsource product creation and everything else or not, do you think that the final product, the Web site and everything related to the operation will be better or worse for a topic that you are or are not interested in? Nobody (in their right mind) wants to put out rubbish products but I think that a lot of the rubbish products out there are due to the fact that the marketer really doesn’t care enough for the subject matter to make it better.
I’ve come to the conclusion that this type of approach is not for me at this stage in my life with an existing business and family taking up a huge proportion of my time and energy. I want to enjoy whatever I spend time working on. It has to matter to me and be of sufficient quality for me to be proud of the work.
So if it’s not obvious where this is leading, another approach is to choose a subject that has some special interest to you or something you at least know a lot about. Ideally you should be passionate about the subject as this will give you the motivation to make it all happen. This approach is especially good if you’re just starting out and can’t afford to outsource because you’ll really need something to keep you going.
I strongly believe that if you create a business that’s right for you in an area that interests you then it should make you money. It may not be a short-term hit but if your interest is high then you will put in the effort to build the business slowly, create multiple products, service the market’s wants, build a reputation, survive and actually enjoy yourself in the process.
And that, to me, is what Mercury is all about. It will start as a hobby in whatever time I can find to spend on it. But by thinking of it in business terms from the start, I can slowly build up momentum and turn it into a long-term source of income.
I’ll let you know how I get on…
