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The Chicken and Egg Question by John Vonhof We have heard the question so many times we often forget its value. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? There are those who argue over that simple question until they are blue in the face. Is there really an answer? Does it really matter? We have a similar question. What comes first, identifying the market or dreaming the idea? If identifying the market comes first, then how will we know about what to dream? If the dream comes first, then how will we know if the idea has a market? Dreaming about possible ideas takes energy. I could dream a really great idea and spend a lot of time developing the idea into a book proposal, write an outline, and start writing chapter after chapter, only to later find out the market is too small or worse yet, there isn't a market. Without a market, my time has been wasted. Yet, many will argue, if I don't have an idea to start with, how will I know which numbers to run? An idea might be a keyword or thought. It could be a picture in your mind or a note jotted down on a napkin. Without that idea how would you know to look for a market? As we move through the process of discovering how to write for niche markets, you'll find ways to find if a market exists before the dreaming starts. There will be some of you who will always dream ideas first and others who first find the market and then dream an idea for that market. So, which comes first, identifying the market or dreaming the idea? Depending on how your mind operates, either one! There is no right or wrong answer. But there is a wrong way to proceed. The wrong way is to spend all your time developing an idea without knowing a market exists for your writing. The wrong way is to spend all your time finding a market and never getting to the idea. To be successful, you need to spend time on both. They go together--just like the chicken and the egg. In 1994, Alex Carroll wrote a thin 120-page book, Beat the Cops: The Guide to Fighting Your Traffic Ticket and Winning. He then began to speak on radio shows around the country, usually from the comfort of his home, on that controversial subject. Huge numbers of the American public is stuck in traffic each day. While they sit in their cars they listen to their radios. With over 80,000 drive-time radio talk shows--all needing daily guests, Alex fit right in. That was Alex's first niche market product. As Alex searched for information about doing radio shows and how to find the best stations, he found another niche market. Soon he was offering products about speaking on the radio to the thousands of people who found it easier to buy his guides than to spend hours reinventing the wheel themselves. Now Alex speaks to writers and speakers about how to create products that can be sold and resold many time over. Alex wrote Beat the Cops from personal experience. He started with the idea and discovered a market existed--a profitable market. As of the latest count, Alex has done 1,264 radio interviews, grabbed more than $4,500,000 worth of free radio airtime and raked in $1,526,000 in direct sales in the process... and he's still going strong. He started with an idea about which he knew a great deal. He dreams ideas. So can you. |
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© 2003 Footwork Publications, All Rights Reserved. Last Updated August 9, 2003 |
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