Not only does the course break down the whole process of finding a Niche Market, but also introduced me to a piece of software which is one of the best that I have see and I am now using it myself to help with my business. It help you streamline the whole process of researching the viability of a niche, to looking at your competition. The software of course is Market Samurai, produced by some fellow Aussies.

Market Samurai can hardly be called a “Keyword Research” only tool anymore. In the last month they’ve released TWO NEW MODULES, and a ton of new functionality:

NEW MODULE #1: Monetization Module – In minutes, find the best affiliate offers that relate to your keyword, and create high impact ads with a few clicks (no copywriting required!), and publish these to your blog (with full click-tracking)! You can even add Adsense, Ebay, Amazon or Clickbank ads to your blog in just a few clicks. Turning traffic into cash has never been so easy.

NEW MODULE #2: Publish Content Module – Publish keyword optimized content to your blog, automatically social bookmark it, submit it to website directories, RSS directories, and add it to Market Samurai’s Rank Tracker module so you can monitor your new article in the search engines, in just a few clicks. And here’s a roundup of some more of the new functionality that they’ve rolled out over the last 30 days: – NEW: (SEO Competition Module) – This is completely sick!… Spy on your competitors backlinks with a single click and reverse-engineer their back link strategy which you can then use for your own site!

NEW: (Find Content Module) – You can now take articles that you find from this module and send it to the new Publish Content module, edit, and publish to your blog in just a few clicks! -

NEW: (Promotion Module) – Support for Google’s new “Forum” search engine. Find hundreds of quality posts that you can use to get backlinks from. -

NEW: (Monetization Module) – Calculate the key critical business metrics for your online business, and work out expected profitability in just seconds! -

NEW: (Monetization Module) – Answer critical questions that relate to the success of your Adwords campaign. And this is ON TOP OF all the new functionality which they’ve rolled out over the past few months, like: -

NEW MODULE: Rank Tracker – Monitor your search engine positions in Google, Yahoo and Bing, in just a few clicks. It’s the only rank tracking solution that supports tracking for MULTIPLE blogs, and MULTIPLE WEB2.0 pages – the way that the SEO game is played by the pros in 2009. -

NEW: (Keyword Research Module) – Added the new Google long tail keyword source “Google Search Keywords” – find up to an additional 800 long tail keywords. – NEW: (Keyword Research Module) Zero in on high-profit keywords using the “Adwords Advertiser” column (AWA).

SO, SHOULD YOU BUY MARKET SAMURAI?

In my opinion upgrading to the full version is a no-brainer. I can’t imagine running an internet businesses without Market Samurai.

Actually that’s not true…

I CAN imagine running my internet businesses without Market Samurai because I used to do it and quite frankly – it sucked!

If someone had handed me a copy of Market Samurai when I first started looking at Niche Marketing I would have been like a kid in a candy store. Back then it literally took DAYS to do what Market Samurai now does with a few clicks of your mouse.

Heck, even TODAY it would take DAYS to do what Market Samurai can do in minutes. The only problem I can see on the horizon is our Thirty Day Challenge secret weapon is not so secret anymore.

The word is definitely getting out and more and more people are using Market Samurai to dominate their niches. This is great if you get in early and become a dominator instead of being dominated… but it also means the longer you wait to get started, the harder it’s going to be to compete.

You can sell anything you have at home as well as selling items using a drop ship method. If you do a search on the ebay site, you will see a whole variety of items that people are selling. They could be used items or brand new items that come from wholesalers. Either way, people will pay good money if you provide them with what they’re looking for.

Some people go so far as to buy items from flea markets and garage sales for the sole purpose of reselling them on ebay for a profit.

What skills are helpful?

There aren’t a lot of skills you would need to sell items on ebay. The ability to market your items will be the most important one to have. People can do a search on the site for the items you’re selling, but if you want to make money in this type of business, you will want to market those items elsewhere to get people to find them.

If you’re selling items from your home, you should be able to take a good photo of the item so people can see what shape the item is in.

What tools are needed?

Really, the only tools you should need to start this type of business is an account with e-bay to sell your items. If you plan to use a drop ship method, you would have to find a wholesaler that will ship the items direct to the customers. The best place I have found to date to find wholesalers and dropshippers is Salehoo. It is a New Zealand base company that has check out the best Wholesalers and Dropshippers around. Unlike other directories I have seen, Salehoo allows other to leave feedback on their experiences with the companies involved.

An access to a computer with a reliable internet access will be necessary to keep track of your sales. You will also need an online account like PayPal to receive money from your customers.

How do you get started?

Sign up for an account with Ebay that allows you to sell from them. Plan to purchase items from the site as well to help build your user ratings, so people will have a little more confidence in buying from you.

Place photos, if possible, of the items that you want to sell. Items that have a photo of items sell much faster than those that don’t. People like to see what it is they’re buying, so provide them with the best quality photo possible.

Review all informational materials as well as the rules on the Ebay website, to get tips on making more sales and how the process of selling on the site works.

Selling on Ebay is an excellent way to start your own online business. This gives you your first taste of an online business without having to have a lot of equipment to get you started. Plus, you get the benefit of getting rid of items that are cluttering up your home while you make a little money on the side.

There are also some good training and mentoring people around to help you get your Ebay business up and running. Matt and Amanda Clarkson from Bidding Buzz, whom I have known now for almost ten year, are probably the leaders in this area. They have gone from being a builder and personal trainer (and trust me Amanda was a task master when it came to personal training), to selling almost one million dollars a year online with ebay within a very short time. They are now passing on their knowledge.