Do my last few posts have you jumping with excitement and declaring your desire to create something substantial, to create something specific and passion filled; to once and for all stop the treadmill of unfinished business?

My gut tells me that, all in all, the idea of putting a lot of energy into one or two medium to long term projects just doesn’t sound that sexy to most.

It’s pretty much across the board in life though isn’t it? A crash diet that promises you will lose seven pounds in a week is much more appealing than the long haul of slowly but surely changing your diet and lifestyle to a more healthy one. Or the idea of saving up for a holiday versus whacking it on your credit card and never dealing with it later.

I like short term goals and quick results too, and if there is a fashion crisis then a crash diet to get into that little black dress might be in order; eventually it all catches up with you though, and you’re back where you started.

To be able to achieve more stable outcomes, outcomes that can see you through more than a month or two, you need to make changes to how you’re approaching things.

Would you like an example of how I took the advice I’m giving you? An example of focusing on something very narrowly and dedicating time and energy to it over the medium term and what some of the results were?

The turning point

Around a year ago I mentioned in one of my posts that I was joining Yaro Starak’s Membership Site Mastermind program which was an investment of over $1200 Aussie dollars. Even though during the course I realised that the membership site model was not something I wanted to pursue, the money I paid was worth every cent. Amongst the many things I learned, there are two things in particular that I took away and applied with precision.

1. Yaro emphasised more than once, that focusing very narrowly on a niche is critical to success and
2. In the area you choose to focus you must build preeminence.

pre-em·i·nent adj.
pre·em·i·nence n.

Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding. See Synonyms at dominant, noted.

It’s one thing to build a website around a particular niche but it’s a completely different thing when you aim to build preeminence in that niche. How can you build preeminence if you’re spread over many niche blogs in various markets and or many different modes of attempting to make money online? It could be possible if you have the time and resources, but for most of us I’d say it would be quite difficult to build preeminence in many niches at once.

Of course there are niches that we actually choose not to build authority in, and therefore we’ll hunt down cheap content, build Squidoo lenses, submit article after article and do as much marketing as we can……..across a variety of niche sites. Harping on about it I know…but….the level of success across many sites will be less than optimum when your efforts are spread thinly and you lack focus.

Yes, you can make money out of many niche sites etc, particularly if you put in a lot of elbow grease, and if that’s what rocks your world then go for it. But what I’m seeing is that most people don’t do the work. They get tired of all the fluffing around and the myriad of niches they have not one iota of interest in. They become masters of unfinished business with a plethora of unloved, weak sites that earn very little, and they do a lot of hopping around from one thing to the next online.

Build preeminence

When I started Yaro’s course, pretty much overnight I narrowed down my niche here to building and selling websites. It was almost instant that I had new people commenting and interacting with me via email and Twitter. These were people who were very interested in the topic at hand.

Previously, the subject matter of my articles was quite random. I was blogging about anything and everything that took my fancy and therefore the audience was rather random too, and I had built no preeminence in anything in particular on this blog (oh except for my initial rants about BS marketing tactics.)

Narrowing down to one topic attracted a very targeted audience like bees to honey. I was writing about something that I myself was very interested in and actually ‘doing’, and that attracted the attention of others who were in the same niche and also those who really wanted to get started in it.

Another interesting thing that happened was, rather than me have to go out and find ways to build preeminence by way of interviews, guest posts and joint ventures, they actually found me! I’m a work at home mum and a lot of the work is the ‘mum’ bit, so with limited time I actually couldn’t take up all the opportunities being offered to me! I was ‘found’ mostly via word of mouth.

What I experienced might not happen to everyone and the niche you’re in will impact how things pan out too as will the quality of your work, your existing level of expertise and various other factors, but the results I saw are pretty convincing particularly when you consider my distinct lack of time! When you share what you know, others will help build your authority for you.

As I said, the results were very quick and it was visible in my traffic stats. Once I narrowed down what I was focusing on here, my monthly traffic was six times that of the monthly average from the previous six months.

The possibilities

So six times the traffic with significant time constraints and these results are most likely a drop in the ocean to what I could have achieved if I’d been even more focused with more time.

There was the possibility of offering a membership to my readers but I decided to create an ebook that would span more than 200 pages and cover, step-by-intricate-step, all the things people said they wanted to know. An ebook meant people could move as quickly as they wanted to through the steps and make only one payment, as opposed to dripping the content out over months and asking people to commit to a recurring membership fee (this is not the ‘right’ approach, it just suited my situation at the time).

That one ebook has generated thousands of dollars in sales since it was released in March. I might add though that this is not your typical ebook. What I mean is that 200 pages is not typical, and the detail and presentation of the book is quite high; so take my results for what I am: not typical!

It’s not rocket science

Are you seeing the light?

Do you think you’re ready to narrow down and focus for a bit? Focus on building authority around something? Are you thinking that you can’t apply this to your area of interest or expertise?

It’s not rocket science, and yes many people see success when blogging on random subjects within a broad market; however if you have the opportunity to focus in on a topic, in particular one you enjoy and can should share with the world, then it’s a place to start.  It’s a place to begin, and perhaps eventually to become known as the most preeminent in your niche, or at the very least one of the most preeminent.

If you create something of interest, of quality and of value then others will reference you, they will send people your way. I do it all the time.

Chocolate: Lindt

Facebook fan pages: Leigh Kostiainen

Buy and sell websites: Flippa

PPC: Jen-PPC Mom

Frugal living: Forest

Green living: Stephen

Running with my dog: PoochTo5K

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ = You!

Not everyone is the dominant player in their markets, but with their niche carved out they have a targeted audience.

One step at a time

So if I can generate these results on limited time and I admit with a somewhat limited focus, what can you do with the time and knowledge you have?

I encourage you to create something that you have some level of fire in the belly for; something that you know others are passionate about too; something substantial, sustainable, authoritative and as Nathan Hangen would put it, create art!

Now don’t all of a sudden go quitting your job, dumping all your domains and registering www.Kumbaya.com (sorry to break it to you but it’s unavailable). One orderly step at a time please!

Start by just getting your head around not stirring 20 pots on the stove and begin thinking about what you have to share and then move forward consciously.

Resources:
You can read all about how to build preeminence, and how to funnel that into a membership site if you want to, by downloading Yaro’s free report. He calls it a report but it’s seriously a bible! This is not an affiliate link, it’s a genuine recommendation for his free ebook.

Looking forward to hearing what you plan to create!

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