I had to chuckle when I recently came across this great quote by Ken Hakuta ("Dr. Fad", creator of the 1980's "Wacky Wallwalker" craze, and founder of AllHerb.com)…

"Lack of money is no obstacle.  Lack of an idea is an obstacle."

How incredibly true!  Here at the Internet Marketing Center, we get calls and e-mail every day from people who are eager to grab their share of the e-business pie, but who are lacking that one key ingredient…

A hot selling, in-demand product or service *idea*!

I'm always telling people that you don't need a million-dollar advertising budget to be successful on the Internet.  The truth is, you can easily get started and begin earning a serious income with a budget of less than a few hundred dollars if you're prepared to do a lot of the work yourself.

But how can you get started without that first spark of an idea?  Good question!

If you are…

A)      Interested in starting your very own, profitable Internet business, but at a loss for product ideas…

Or

B)      An online business owner looking to expand your product base…

… then LISTEN UP!  I'm about to give you 5 powerful strategies for easily finding in-demand product and service ideas. 

However, before we get to that, it's critical that you take a moment to seriously consider the following questions.  If you don't want to do this, don't bother reading the rest of this article.  It will be a waste of your time. 

I want you to stop for a moment and think…

1)       What are you interested in?
2)       What are you passionate about?
3)       What subject or topic do you have a lot of knowledge about?
4)       What are people always coming to you for advice about?

It's extremely important that you consider these questions very carefully.

If there is one key lesson that I've learned, it's that the greatest success comes when you're pursuing something that you're passionate about. 

So the product or service that you develop should be related to something that you really enjoy or have a sincere interest in.  (Plus, this way, whatever you're doing will feel less like work, and more like fun!)

And don't worry if your area of expertise seems too obscure or specialized!  The beauty of the Internet is that it is the perfect medium for niche marketing!

(For those of you who are unfamiliar with the phrase "niche market," I am referring to a specific, targeted group of individuals who need or want what you have to offer.)

Here is a little secret that you may not know…

Most successful entrepreneurs get their ideas for their businesses by: (1) Studying niche markets and then (2) Developing a product or service that meets their needs or solves common problems!

It makes sense, doesn't it?! 

Not only are you guaranteeing the success of your product or service -- people are already actively looking for what you are about to develop -- you will also be able to…

Efficiently focus both your time and money on marketing to
those people most likely to buy from you!

Once you know where your niche market is and what they want, all you need to do is put yourself in their line of fire and your profits will explode! Seriously!

So choose your area of interest or expertise… and let's move on to the good stuff!

Hot Product Idea #1:

Research potential competitors in your area of interest to find out what their best-selling product is… and find ways to improve on it! 

What is their angle?  What kind of solutions are they offering?  Are they successful?  Can you find some way to improve on their solutions?  Are they missing something?

Why reinvent the wheel if you can find a way to significantly improve on it?  Think of all the industries that make millions of dollars simply by improving on existing products…

• Video Games
• Tooth Brushes
• Running Shoes (Boing!)
• Shampoo
• Cars
• Gasoline
• Cell phones
• Software (Windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, ME, NT … where's it going to end?)

… I could literally go on for pages and pages, but I'm sure that you get the picture.

Your competitors may be your greatest source of inspiration.  So once you have chosen your area of interest, start doing some market research. 

Get to know your competitor's products inside out, and then improve on them to develop a strong Unique Selling Proposition (USP) that appeals to your target market.

Make it faster, shinier, louder, quieter, safer, more cost efficient… whatever it takes to make customers want your product or service over your competition's!

Hot Product Idea #2:

Check out the newsgroups, discussion boards, and chat rooms where your target market hangs out.  Sit back and listen, and you'll discover what they like, what they don't like, and what they're looking for. 

People regularly visit these areas seeking advice, and by monitoring these discussions you will begin to notice that certain questions appear again and again. 

This is a great way to locate potential product or service ideas!  I guarantee that if you see the same questions repeated in a forum or discussion group, there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of other people out there wondering the exact same thing!

You see, only a small percentage of the online community participates in forums and discussion groups.  So if the question is popular among these people, you can be sure that there are many others surfing the web, searching for the same thing!

Some good places to start looking for discussion boards and newsgroups related to your area of interest include…

http://www.deja.com
http://www.talkcity.com
http://www.insidetheweb.com
http://www.theglobe.com
http://www.forumone.com

… but a quick search in any major search engine should also produce good boards and chat rooms to check out.

Hot Product Idea #3:

If you already have an existing customer base, do an e-mail survey! 

Surveys are not only a great way to improve on any existing product or service you may offer (so that you can start closing even more sales!), they are also a great way to discover fresh product or service ideas.

Once you've sold something to people once, it is extremely easy to
sell to them over and over again.

In fact, statistics have shown that your current client base is a gold mine… and that as many as 36% of the people who have bought something from you previously will buy again if you have something similar to offer.

Think of the potential here. This is how you can start earning a much larger income… very quickly!

So take advantage of this highly profitable relationship, and find out what your previous customers are asking for with an e-mail survey.

Think about it -- an e-mail survey isn't going to cost you anything but your time!  

Hot Product Idea #4:

Check out consumer review web sites to find out what people like and dislike about your competitor's products.

People go to these sites to either rave or complain, and that makes them great places to learn exactly what the public thinks about your competitors -- or even you!

Some good sites to check out include:

http://www.consumerreview.com
http://www.consumersearch.com
http://www.consumersdigest.com

Hot Product Idea #5:

Join an Associate Program and promote someone else's product for a referral fee.

(Just to clarify, Associate Programs are also called Affiliate Programs, Re-seller Programs, Commission or Pay-Per-Sale, Pay-Per-Click and Click-Through Programs.)

Joining an Associate Program is a great way to start earning a nice income on the Internet… without many of the hassles that come with running your own business. 

All you do is refer someone else's product or service, and then get paid a "referral fee" for every sale that is made.  (You are assigned a special URL that tracks all of the visitors you send to their web site -- and all of the sales that you generate!)

It's extremely easy to do!  You just post a link, a banner, or a short recommendation letter on your web site… or perhaps recommend the product or service in your newsletter or e-zine… and then collect a percentage of the profits when a sale is made!

You don't ever worry about…

• Collecting the money
• Packaging the product
• Shipping the product
• Customer service

… or anything else for that matter!  You just do the promotion and collect your referral fee from the resulting sales!

It's extremely easy to set up… there is really very little work involved… and once the link is there, you are guaranteeing yourself an extremely easy source of income for years to come!  These "Pay-Per-Sale" programs are usually really easy to join. Just make sure you pay attention and read the terms and conditions, because they can vary from program to program.

I should also mention that there are a number of Associate Programs out there that don't actually "pay-per-sale" but actually "pay-per-lead" or "per-click".  

In a pay-per-lead program, you are paid every time your customer fills out a survey, asks for more information, or gets a quote on a product (in other words, you are paid for giving the company a "lead").  You may even get paid every time your customer downloads trial or demo software.

Pay-Per-Click is very similar. Basically, you get paid every time someone "clicks" through the link from your site to the Associate Program owner's web site (whether it be a text link or graphic link).

On that note, make sure that you do business with a reputable company. I know many people who have worked really hard, made a lot of sales for a company, and then have never been paid for the sales they generated (or have been forced to wait months and months to get their money).

These companies often don't take their Associate Program seriously, aren't using the proper software, and are wasting time and money doing tedious chores by hand when they need to get automated.  So while there ARE some really fantastic Associate Programs out there that can earn you a sizeable income, you need to do your homework. 

Our own Associates tell us that there are only a handful of reputable Associate Programs like ours that offer "the full meal deal"!  In fact, the Internet Marketing Center has been consistently rated as one of the TOP Associate Programs online by major authorities on the subject, including AssociatePrograms.com…  so it shows that we know what we are talking about.

We work very, very hard to make our Program the BEST, which is why we have thousands and thousands of very happy associates! (If you'd like to learn how you can join our associate program and start profiting from products that are earning current associates thousands of dollars every month, click here.) 

Anyway, if you are interested in starting your very own Internet business, but want to avoid developing your own product or service, then joining an Associate Program may be a great option for you.

Two really good sites to visit to find high quality Associate Programs that pay excellent referral fees are:

http://www.associateprograms.com
http://www.refer-it.com

In my opinion, if you want to avoid the heartache and frustration of the scams and frauds out there, peddling their "Get Rich Quick" Associate Programs, you should only deal with the Associate Programs which these two sites rate high or recommend.

Final Note:

Just in case you have not yet read the "Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet" course, I wanted to let you know that it contains an entire section devoted to hot selling product ideas. 

And I'm not just talking about places where you can find ideas… I'm talking about exact ideas that absolutely anyone can use to start their very own Internet business. (Some of the ideas are so easy to start, you could be up and running by the end of next week!) 

Anyway, it's a great resource if you are interested in starting an Internet business, but don't have a product or service to offer yet.  Click here now if you would like more information.