What’s Your #1 Authority Internet Business Obstacle? [FEEDBACK REQUEST]

59 thoughts on “What’s Your #1 Authority Internet Business Obstacle? [FEEDBACK REQUEST]”

1. I would like to see a step-by-step on #1 (How to pick a profitable authority business topic) that showed you finding an example niche. One that is not obvious, so that we can replicate the process to find other niches.

   • Thanks for the comment Heclair!

     How to find a niche will be the first thing I cover — I agree that it’s important to have a set process for making sure a topic will make money.

2. The list of topics is great (I especially like adding pizzazz to stock photos as images are such a key for social marketing). What I am hoping to see is all topics covered in depth, and then a roadmap at the end of the book for implementation.
   Example:

   Week 1: Use chapter 1 and 2 to get your business defined and started. Use chapter 4 sections 1 and 3, and chapter 6 section 2 to get social media underway.

   Obviously, this would be have to be a lot more comprehensive, but it would address both audiences: the ones who want to read and understand in an overview way and the readers who are looking for a roadmap approach.

   Just my two cents…

   • Appreciate the comment Patricia…

     This would be an ongoing series on this blog, not necessarily a book. I might turn it into one eventually, but this is more for regular readers.

     I’ll definitely try to follow a logical format…so someone can follow along and learn from my experiences. Hope it will help you!

3. Hi Steve, I find pretty interesting the points between 7 and 10, but given that I’m currently focusing on increasing my organic traffic I’d say 10: “How to get search engine traffic without getting a Google penalty”.

   • Agreed — That one is important. With that said, I think YOU are on the right track… good guest posts and creating interesting content (ie: Infographics) that get people to naturally link back.

     • Thank you for the support, Steve 😉
       Well, I think that you can always do better.

4. Hi Steve,
   My personal opinion about the top 3 priority issues would probably be #1, 6, 7 (in that sequence).
   The ‘perfect domain name’ wouldn’t be important at all. Reason is that I’m in Europe, and here we have often the official rule that your name has to appear in the business name if you’re a small biz and/or self-employed.
   Hans

   • Thanks for the input. #1 will definitely be the first post… I’m already working on it. Plus, #6 and #7 will be introduced shortly after that.

     It sucks to hear about that rule… That’s gotta make doing business more difficult.

5. Hi,
   I am a newbie, so they all sound great…monetizing and generating an e-mail list stands out.

   Thank you

   • Awesome to hear — I’ll definitely talk (at length) on both topics.

6. You mention adding “pizzazz to boring, stock photography images.” What’s wrong with using Creative Commons images? My way of “adding pizzazz” is to choose images which are both DRAMATIC and directly relevant to my topic. The biggest problem is actually locating such images, which calls for familiarity with
   Instead of a bare image, I almost always add comments in the captions, such my post explaining the difference between octopus, squid, and cuttlefish: http://cute-2012-interpretation.blogspot.tw/2012/04/octopus-squid-and-cuttlefish-whats.html

   • Actually, Creative Commons is a great way to go. I know some people use Flickr with a lot of success. So if it works for you, then I’d stick with it.

     Specifically, what I meant by “pizzazz” is taking an image and adding filters to make it stand out. You can see an example at the top of the blog post.

7. Oops! I meant to say “Finding dramatic images calls for familiarity with image search engines (other than Google and Bing).”

8. 6 and 10 for me. Just getting back into blogging!! I would like to see something about possible fixing up an old blog at some point. I have an old one I haven’t posted on in a while. Wonder if I could make it profitable. Anyway, good luck in Boston. A friend of mine is running too.

   • Those two seem to be a winner… I’ll be sure to make sure to talk about those from the beginning. Thanks for the good luck, this will be my first Boston Marathon. So kind of nervous. Wish your friend good luck as well 🙂

9. My biggest challenge is knowing, STEP-BY-STEP, what step to take first, then second, and so on. In other words, the step-by-step “process” for putting together your plan(that’s the KEY word) to make income online. THEN…putting together a daily plan to see that plan through to the end. I find myself getting too easily distracted, and spending too much time doing menial tasks. It really is a huge challenge for me, and I know I’m not the only one having that problem. I am working on a project now, and a friend is giving me specific tasks to do, and when one is done, then she gives me the next step. That is really helping me to stay focused on the project, and I am getting much more done throughout the day. Time is so easy to waste, and it is our most valuable asset. We all need to use it as wisely as we possibly can.

   • Will do Bob!

     I do plan to write everything in a logical order, so you can go from blog post to blog post. I haven’t thought of the daily action part…so I’ll be sure to end each article in a “here’s how to apply what you just learned.” Appreciate the idea!

10. How about teaching us how to get onto Pinterest, Squidoo, all the other social media places out there. There are many I haven’t even heard of that are big. I know Facebook is getting long in the tooth, but whenever I mention that I have added to my blog, I get a big spike in views.
    You are awesome to make this information available for free. I believe once you are finished if you put it together into book form many of us will be willing to buy it just for the convenience of having all of it in one easily accessed place. With my Kindle I can go to the table of contents and jump to the chapter quickly.

    • Patty–

      To be perfectly honest, I probably won’t get into Pinterest or Squidoo. I think both *might* be good for backlinking, but they won’t be my primary strategy. Perhaps I’ll test a few things as the case study moves forward.

      Glad to put this stuff together. I haven’t thought long-term about what I’ll do with the content. I’m just hoping to provide something for free that has massive value…

11. I want to know why none of these ebooks and systems for marketing information products work the way the authors claim. If the author says that a method got 10,000 free downloads, and I try the same method, I’m lucky if I get 700.

    I want to know how to REALLY translate this advice into an income.

    Keith

    PS Been at it a long time … have more than a couple of ebooks out, and have bought every program and ebook how-to under the sun.

    • Understand your frustration Keith. I go through that myself with a lot of products. What I like about this case study is I’ll provide the “unvarnished” version of what happens with this site. I’m not looking to sell a particular product. Instead I’ll simply write about what I do and the results I get. Hopefully it will be valuable to readers to show what it’s like to build a large site from scratch.

12. I’m interested in guidance regarding when/how to bring others on board. We all know the time demands, yet I feel uncomfortable about relinquishing tasks. Perhaps that’s just me! Hopefully this will be a challenge we all must face as our businesses grow.

    This is an impressive *hope* list! You’re work and willingness to share is greatly appreciated.

    Best,
    Angela

    • Interesting idea Angela. I’ll definitely cover outsourcing … Most of what I’ll talk about is how to delegate the lesser things, so you can focus on growing a site and marketing it.

13. I’m interested in most of the above list of topics covered. What about having a company website that folk are sent to? Or is it better to have your own website and then direct the prospect to your affiliate company from there?

    I am interested in narrowing down my niche for profitability. Also, I would like to know a good system to finding out people’s problems, what is the most important matter to them. Like Keith, above, I’ve bought tons of how-to books and have yet to really see success in what I do. Right now I see topics 1, 6, 8, and 9 interesting to see, though the other ones are good too.

    • You definitely want to send people to your site first. If they go directly to an affiliate site, you lose a potential relationship that could be built over time.

      I like your suggestion about how to figure out people’s problems. The places I usually look are Google Keyword searches and niche-specific forums. But I’ll expand on that moving forward.

14. *You’re*…shees….should be *Your*….argh. Clearly I need to relinquish proofreading! Thanks, Angela

15. Great list of needed stuff.

    I’d expand the Kindle point to incorporate all ebook outlets. Amazon is a bit over-hyped and underperforming these days – getting books into Kobo and iBookstore will give more International sales.

    How to build a mobile app – particularly in porting a reference-type ebook and how to get this on Google Play would be valuable.

    • I honestly like Amazon a lot. But I’d agree that it’s dangerous to rely too much on one platform. I will talk about moving books into Kobo and iBooks, but that might be a bit down the road once I have an established platform.

      The Google Play idea is a good one – I definitely want to launch an app that is on multiple platforms.

16. These are all great topics to share with us about your authority website. I’m especially interested in the email list building. Because that’s the next hump in the road for me.

    Could you give us a word or two about writing or outsourcing list building content? Like doing a 7-Day autoresponder “course” or offering an ebook or mp3 recording. It’d be great to have clear guidance through the process of brainstorming, organizing, formatting and delivery.

    Hope that’s not too much. 🙂

    Thanks for asking for and caring about our thoughts & concerns!

    • I’ll definitely cover email marketing. Broadcast messages and autoresponders have been a major part of my business. Actually, in May I’m going to start writing a Kindle book about this subject. So pay attention to this blog because I’m going to give it away during its launch.

17. Hi Steve,

    I’m stoked you’re working through this project for us. Your list is pretty comprehensive already but I have two thoughts to contribute.

    First is niche selection – specifically identifying a need to fill and where (forums) to efficiently research discussion topics, questions asked, problems, etc. I know you’ve covered this extensively in your course and Kindle books but …I’m still stuck in this area. What do you do if you’re more of a generalist, ie: not passionate about one thing in particular to be able to say “this is my passion”, but interested a little in many things?

    Next is content for the email list. I’m overwhelmed thinking about content just for my site much less what to say every week for my list. Not sure I have that many words in me. 🙂

    Looking forward to it! Thanks again.

    Rick

    • Niche selection is definitely important. The one thing I’d say is its really hard to build a site in a “general” category. It’s been my experience that you have to specialize in one topic if you want to grow an audience. The one thing I’d recommend is to look into topics where you can “build” or “borrow” authority. You don’t necessarily have to be an expert on one subject. Instead you can create content that works off of other people’s experience or chronicle your journey towards building a skill. I’d recommend reading this article for more on these topics: http://www.stevescottsite.com/authority-internet-business-overview

18. I am interested in how to start an email list as soon as you start your website…and what I am hoping anyone can tell me is how to make a nice email opt in form like the one you have up there on the right. I’m sure i’m missing something obvious, but when I try the forms on Aweber, I get boring blocks. Thanks!

    • Crystal — Will do! The person I used is Ian from IM Graphic Designs: http://imgraphicdesigns.com/

19. Steve,
    Along with how to begin the process of list building; I would to see some good ideas on how to “efficiently” create a high value product to trade for that opt-in.
    Any tips on adding some zest (without digging into photo-shop) to boring images would also be grand!
    Best luck to you on your upcoming run!

    • Will cover both. Thanks Wes!

20. It seems like there is a long, scary period of time in building an authority website before the site starts to make money. What are the measureable results I should look for that would indicate a trend toward success – or doom?

    • Definitely an important thing to cover. I’ll admit that “easy wins” early on make the process more manageable… since this is “my time” I’ll be using, I’m going to make sure that it’s maximizing by getting a real financial return. That’s why I’ll look to monetize the site right away.

21. Hi Steve,

    Those topics you have listed are very interesting in a sense that all of those that are listed are as important as each one of it. But I am really interested on how a minimalist blog converts traffic into buyers. Let’s face it, there are a lot blog sites that are spanning around the net but there are only few blog sites that knows how convert their traffic into buyers. If you’re writing about it, it would be a great help for others as well. By the way, thanks for giving us the chance to express what we want to know.

    • You’re right. Not many people know how to convert their traffic… The ones that do, emphasize moving readers towards a few desirable actions and remove the clutter. That’s one of the reasons my blog is so sparse 🙂

      I’ll be sure to cover conversion as well.

22. What’s the biggest challenge to me so far is: “How to start an email list – the moment you launch a website.”

    It’s been a month since my email newsletter launched and I only have my family and a few friends on there. How do I increase my subscribers? Do I need to give free eBook incentive to get them to sign? And if I do, HOW? I just started blogging January 2013. I don’t think I can write an eBook right away. So if you can give us a tip on how to increase your email subscribers that would be awesome!

    Angela

    • You definitely want to give away something of value to potential subscribers. I’ll be sure to cover that. But one place to start is here: http://www.stevescottsite.com/create-lead-magnet

23. Not strictly related to this case study, more of a general question that I would like to hear your expert opinion about:

    How to protect your online business – from hacking, theft, data loss etc. ?

    And also: incorporation. Once your site is up and running and producing income, how to create a true asset that can be sold or inherited.

    I really like your way of presenting clear and detailed blueprints so If you ever write a Kindle book on this subject, I will be happy to buy! 😉

    • Tony–

      Excellent ideas! To be honest, I never thought of writing about that… but each one is incredibly important. I’ll be sure to add these to the list, but they might be included after the basics.

      Don’t know if this will be a Kindle book…but might end up putting all of this into one if the response is good enough.

24. Hi Steve, I have a website and would like to have it make some money. It have affiliate links. It is about learning to shoot and edit videos. I haves some of my videos on there. I made the web site with Dreamweaver.

    • Paul— Gotcha. I will be covering video (a little bit.) To be honest, it’s a skill that I need to personally develop. But I have to learn a *simple* way to do it myself. Once I get to the traffic portion of this website, I’ll be sure to take time to experiment with this strategy.

25. Great list, I am sure video marketing is in there somewhere.
    Like someone already said the step – by – step will be very important to me.
    We all are at different places in the time we have to work on our IM and our fulltime jobs. Thanks for putting this together.

    • I’m thinking video marketing will be an important strategy. What I’ll probably do is spend a few weeks figuring out a simple formula and then reporting back with the details. Glad to help!

26. eagerly waiting for post no.7 and no.10 – Excellent idea and looking forward to your posts.

    • Thanks Madras! The whole thing should be launched sometime next week and I’ll start regularly publishing posts in this series.

27. Could this be really possible or achievable? I have been into affiliate marketing for quite some time now and I still have a hard time getting significant income. I hope you could be of great help to my problem with this post. I will study every strategy and apply to assess the result.

    • I’ll admit affiliate marketing is not always easy. Hopefully my case study will help you get past some of the obstacles and help you build a thriving business. More details will be posted on this blog, sometime next week.

28. Steve:
    I visited your site and saw where you offer an 8 part affiliate marketing course. I see the course was written in 2011. Is the material still relevant in today’s internet environment, given the Google updates?
    Also, Is the bonus on the platinum version where you offer future reports finished?
    Thanks,
    Don Mayer

    • Hey Don,

      To be honest, I’m revamping the entire product. I still think 90% of the material is still valid – but it doesn’t talk about Kindle publishing or how to build an authority site. Both are topics that will be covered in the series I’m putting together. (Hopefully next week I’ll launch it.)

      Really, the most current stuff I’ve put together are the Kindle books.

      Hope this answers your question.

      Steve

29. Steve

    I personally learn the most from other case studies when the person running them is transparent with the statistics and exactly what they have done. I would be interested in seeing your traffic strategies for the new site!

    Looking forward to following along!

    • Hey Jon — That’s definitely something I’m going to do. I also love details on exact traffic stats and earnings. That’s how people learn. What I’m thinking is I’ll do a bi-monthly update with what I’ve earned, spent, traffic and specific strategies I’ve done. Hopefully this will provide a great learning environment for everyone.

30. Hey Steve,

    I desperately need to learn the ins and outs of building an email list. I know that this will be the best and most profitable way to earn consistent passive income and that has always been my goal. I need something besides the normal yak that is rehashed over and over….

    • Jon, I’ll definitely cover email marketing. I’m officially launching the site tomorrow and will post an update here. Specifically, email marketing will be my #1 priority. So I’ll talk about that really soon.

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