Begin Your Fresh Start Challenge Now!
#1: The Niche Challenge
We challenge you to define niches that interest you. Don’t worry about researching them or trying to figure anything out at this point. Just pick them using your “gut” (intuition). Go with what you “feel” is true right now. We’ll teach you how to research and think through it later.
Complete this Challenge:
Step 1 – Open your Challenge Workbook Step 2 – List your niche ideas in the second set of boxes on the page. Here are the nine niches that we want to see you choose:
- List three hobbies that you love
- List three areas where you have a special talent or expertise
- List three areas that you feel money can be made – regardless of your knowledge of these areas
Step 3 – Come back to this page: http://blog.affiliateclassroom.com/challenges and let everyone know that you’ve completed the challenge. Tell us what you chose and what you’re most excited about!
Need some more direction?
Log into your Affiliate Classroom interface and check out course number 140.0 Niche Research and Selection and the checklist Evergreen Niches for help. Not an Affiliate Classroom member yet? Click on the button below to sign up now! 
Challenge #2: The 50-10 Keyword Challenge
Time to put on your thinking hat! We’re looking for words, words and more words.
*The video that Anik mentions in this video is coming soon!
Complete this Challenge:
Step 1 – Open your Challenge Workbook spreadsheet
Step 2 – For each of your 3 niches list:
- 50 three-word keywords
- 10 one or two-word keyword phrases
Step 3 – Come back to this page: http://blog.affiliateclassroom.com/challenges and let everyone know that you’ve completed the challenge. Tell us what tricks you used to come up with your lists.
Need some more direction?
Log into your Affiliate Classroom interface and check out course: 130.0 – Paid Search (PPC) Affiliate Business Model and 130.1 – Natural Search (SEO) Affiliate Business Model . Both of these talk about search engines (paid and natural) and how keywords play a role in affiliate businesses.
Challenge #3: The 10 Sites and Research Trends Challenge
This new challenge will take you through some basic research and will show you how to see emerging trends within your own niche.
Complete this Challenge:
Step 1 – Open your Challenge Workbook
Step 2- Find at least 10 affiliate websites from the niche that you selected in Challenge #1.
- Write down the domains in your Challenge Workbook
- Come up with a couple of sentences that describes what each of those websites are doing.
Step 3 – Go to Alexa.com and enter the domain names into the search box.
- Write down the domains traffic stats in your Challenge Workbook
Step 4 – Come back to this page: http://blog.affiliateclassroom.com/challenges and let everyone know that you’ve completed the challenge. Tell us what you’ve found in your research and your traffic trends.
Challenge #4 – Buddy Up Challenge
The Fresh Start Challenge video #4 is up and its time to gear up for the Buddy Up Challenge!
Tell us what niche you’re most interested in and we’ll match you up with a group of people in a related area so you can support one another through the next challenge, the 2-day event and beyond!
Just login to your Affiliate Classroom or PPC Classroom account here: http://my.affiliateclassroom.com/index/ and click on the Fresh Start Challenge banner on the main page to see the NEW challenge.
Don’t forget, we’ll be opening registration for our live, online, hand-holding event on January 23rd & 24th, 2010, very soon! Make sure to watch for the registration link to reserve your spot!
Take Care!
-Lurn Team
Tough one…
Hobbies: Scuba Diving, Fly Fishing, Renovating, though have little time to enjoy them.
Talents: Cameraman, Servicing scuba gear, analysing building problems.
Money making: Foreign Currency, Anything relating to Pets, Diet
Thanks for your patience. I’m backlogged with some corporate business that must be attended to. Be back asap, and finish this current assignment…
A little late but finished now.
I am done, still struggling though.
Thanks for all your patience.
I have a question about Challenge 2
I have 3 groups of 3 niches, which group am I using for Challenge 2? Hobbies, talents, money makers?
Thanks.
That’s right, Sue…
I’ve read Challenge #1 again and again, and I still see 9 niches.
But Challenge #2 mentions only 3 niches…
Hobby 1:Cook
Hobby 2: Create Songs
Hobby 3:Drinking wine
Talent 1: Procrastination
Talent 2: Create Songs
Talent 3: Play piano
Money maker 1: Internet Marketing
Money maker 2: Dating
Money maker 3: Weight Loss
Help! My Outlook Source was somehow trashed & all mail including the announcement w/URL for this class was lost. If I close this or the computer crashes, I can’t find you. Please send me the original announcement again or the URL that I can use to get back in to finish the training. I’m a PPC VIP, but don’t really know how to use the blog to ask this, and I’m shut out of the AC Community as I didn’t sign in through there, but came directly to PPC.
Thanks.
just running an experiment…
O.K., I found a way in. If you have any info about a better URL than blog.affiliateclassroom.com, please let me know. I had been using the link given in the original email announcing this course.
Thanks again
Got them:
Hobbies: Foosball, Pool/Billiards, Tennis
Talent: Skid Loader, Tax Law, SEO
Big Money: Legal, Medicine, Stocks/Options
I thought that we want to find niches that are more profitable even they aren’t interesting. I will love internet marketing that I we can generate more money for what we really like to do most, rather than spending time with shit.
Thanx anik
Its Great.
completed challenge 1 and 2 will be watching for the next….was kind of slow with google keywords tool, guess needs more practice , was slow in transferreing to challenge worksheet
Can someone please tell me how to access the Challenge 1 Review Webinar?
The link in the email I received just takes me to the login page for Affiliate Classroom and when I click on the” take the Fresh Start Challenge ” box on Affiliate Classroom it just takes me back to the login page.
I’m in!
Having you push me along and send me the challenge gives an extra target every day!
I can’t not do the target you set on this…this disciplines me to make time and follow you step-by-step.
You should consider doing this “apprentice-style” more often and do PLM on it, it works to get me to follow the steps!
Left to my own devices I always get distracted with day-job stuff and teh gazillion other im emails I get every day that have the best Headlines and lead you down the rabbit hole. Then after reading all teh amazing squeeze pages time’s up and I haven’t done any affiliate set-up work.
So keep it going, I love it!
Where is the evaluate the 9 websites video so that I can choose the one to do challenge 2?
OK I finished!
I tested a KW tool called Market Samurai. It’s free and pretty cool once you get the hang of it. (no, I’m not an affiliate)
Ready for my next challenge!
Completed challenge 1 and 2
I dont have a website.
Gee this is fun, seriously…
i’ve completed the 1st challenge.
OK, completed part 2… Interesting you only asked for 3 niches as in theory we now have 9, based on our 3 areas.
Anyway plugged the niches into adwords.google… ie 3 hobby niches then the 3 next and so on. Wanted to see what google would do with 3 unrelated keywords and it appeared to weight certain niches, these were populated to a higher level with 2,3 & 4 word phrases including more related keywords.
The results seemed to point to ‘hotter’ niches with considerably more traffic, and probably much more competition, but didn’t go as far as doing broad and exact searches to see what the competing pages were going to be.
Some keywords appeared to be the ‘buying’ type and others pointed to niche variations meriting further exploration.
Very interresting… so where to now???
What is everyone else doing for challenge 2 are you using the workbook and doing what is in that or are you doing what it says in the #2 challenge email?
As far as I can see the challenge I received in my email is asking for quite different numbers of keywords than in the workbook.
I started doing what was in the workbook and then when I looked at the email again I realized that I hadn’t done what was in there at all.
In the email I received it said to do 50 3 word and 10 1-2 word.
In the workbook it says: 30-1s, 20 -2s, 10-3s, 5-4s, 1 5 which seems to be going in the opposite direction.
Also what criteria have you used to decide which 3 of the 9 niches to use? I haven’t been able to find how to access the webinar from #1 Challe
Sorry my last post finished in mid sentence, my computer has a mind of it’s own at the moment and decided I had finished!
I was just saying that I hadn’t been able to access the review webinar of #1 challenge I am presuming that it contained some vital information about what is going on in the challenge.
Has anyone got a link to the webinar. Mine just took me to my login page?
here is some of the niches
- Online marketing
- Travlling
- Football
- Learn Guitar
- Weight Loss
- Web Traffic
when do we get challenge 3 ?
Hi Dot,
I think I have a same or similar problem as you have.
In challenge1 we completed 9 niches, but in challenge 2
we are dealing with 3 niches which I don’t know what they are.
Also, keywords are 50X3 and 10X2, way different from Excel sheet.
I was hoping the link in the email would clear-up all my questions,
since it says there are Follow-Up video and Case Study…
and the link is:
my.affiliateclassroom.com/member/ac/training-aclibrary/resource/display/id/617/type/HTML/
but that link simply redirects AC Training homepage.
I even put this in Support ticket on Sunday, but today I got:
“I have escalated this issue to the concerned department”..
But I am sure I am not the only one with that broken link.
Hi Danny,
Sounds like you are having exactly the same problem as me.
I submitted a ticket also but haven’t had any response.
I have just listened to the # 2 video here and Anik says you should have chosen a niche that is what I want to know about.
It says in the challenge below to list the Keywords in your workbook, but like you say it is way different to what he is asking in the challenge.
I’m not sure how you get an answer.
Anik is encouraging us to leave comments here I thought someone may be able to help.
Challenges one and two completed.
I have chosen;
Cat 1
Football (Soccer)
Cricket
Soul Music
Cat 2
Business Analytics
Running
Creative writing
Cat 3
Anxiety/Stress
Relationships
Arthritis
Not convinced about cricket as an affiliate subject but let’s see what it brings.
What happens now?
Steve
challenge 1
cooking is good as I am a chef for over 20 years
weightlifting is nice niche as I have won gold and silver medals doing it
public speaking as I am a toastmaster
I am excited about all 3
they are dear and near to my heart
I beleive home biz opps, free trials and grants are making the affiliates the most money now
Challenge 2 finally completed! I have no idea what I am doing, but I am having fun:)
Hi Dot,
Though I don’t see any response or help here,
I don’t think we need it anymore.
Forget that link; I now see the page I wanted.
It’s in PPC3 Training -> The Fresh Start Challenge
There I see videos, follow-up, case study, and 50-10 keywords.
Well, though it’s not answered in the ticket,
it’s good to see the problems get fixed in the end.
Now I got work to do… !
Hobbie 1 Reading
Hobbie 2 Playing the Piano
Hobbie 3 Building Businesses
Talent 1 Playing the keyboard / piano
Talent 2 Communication Arts
Talent 3 Management and Strategic Planning
Thanks Danny I have just found it all today under the Fresh Start Challenge on the PPC Classroom Site sure it wasn’t there the other days when I looked.
Good to have found it at last.
Anik,
Thank you SOOO much for not saying, “Neeeeech!” It’s “niche!” Why do some people think it’s more glamorous to say it like it’s a French word or something???
Those guys get me clicking off their page faster than a senator, voting themselves another pay raise!
Challenge workbook is a great tool.
I opened it in open office and saved it in that format.
Whenever I think of a key phrase I open it and save it there.
I also figured out how to use the B-list when I go through my daily search digest from Google.
I will not have time for the class but I will recommend it.
Hans Albert Quistorff, LMP
Antalgic Posture Pain Specialist
This is great – got my nine niche possibilities – hobbies:
movies
cooking
computer gaming
skills:
writing up processes and recording training videos
researching
working up and designing spreadsheets
possible niches:
health – embarrassing illnesses
wealth creation
study courses and skills
excited by movies, health niche is intriguing
Just finished off the 50 Keyword search – really is quite simple and got some interesting new insights. Really good exercise. Busy checking out the competition at the moment…good stuff.
Hobbies
1 Reading
2 Movies
3 Working Out
Talent
1 Computer Skills
2 Handyman Skills
3 Writing Skills
Money Maker
1 Biz Opp
2 Diet Fitness
3 Dating
Happy New Year with Affiliate Riches!
Pleased the workbook has been updated now makes sense!
I am a Platinum Member of PPC Classroom do I have to register for the 2 day live event?
If I do where?
I live in Australia and cannot see US results when I put a keyword in Google.
Does any one have a solution?
I have signed up for Foxy Proxy but as far as I can see it only gives US results when you type in a URL not just a keyword which is the same for free proxy services too.
I am finding it hard to find affiliate sites and I think I would have more success if I was getting US results.
Hello from Holland,
I’m a platinum member since august 2009 and I believe that ppc classroom will chnage my life, it already has.
I started the fresh start challenge and it’s so good to start from scratch when you did every step but not in the right order.
There’s also someone in my country who is a plantinum member also and we decide to help each other.
But for now I made the following choices:
Hobbies:
mountainbiking
play guiter and singing
writing my own songs
Talent:
I.m really good in solving technical issues
a lot of experience with stress and burn out (I also wrote a book about it)
I know a lot of the Bible and the stories of Jesus. I’m very religious.
Moneymakers:
mental and physical health solutions
internet marketing solutions and courses
work from home businesses
These are the things that came in my mind the first 10 minutes.
Hobbie 1: preparing vegetarian meals
Hobbie 2: shopping wholesale
Hobbie 3: research vitamins required in the healing process
Talent 1: detail oriented
Talent 2: nurturing
Talent 3: analytical
Money Maker 1: selling children’s products for less than retail
Money Maker 2: word search to match nutritional needs with vitamin products then shopping cart it
Money Maker 3: selling unique, handcrafted items
Completing the Niche Challenge opened my eyes to another opportunity. I also created another ad campaign!
I’m looking forward to the workshop on January 23rd and 24!
Happy New Year!
Hello!
First: Many thanks for this format of teaching!
* * *
After doing the challenge #1 follow-up (calculating scores for the 9 niches), the two niches that had highest scores were “Self improvement books” and “Russian history books”.
Self improvement seems to be a larger niche, but Russian history is the topic I know more about (i. e. I can write articles about it).
So I probably will go with the “Russian history books” niche.
Best regards
Dmitri
Done selecting niches. I am excited to finally be taking action! The fresh start challenge is a great idea.
I finished Challenge #2. I have done a lot of computer programming with php, databases, mysql, websites, etc. but never before tried using those skills to make money on the internet so this exercise is proving to be quite interesting. I use excel a lot and had never downloaded a keyword list before using the google keyword tool. When this list is loaded into excel as a csv file it gives a mix of 1,2, 3,4 and 5 keyword phrases. It was a bit of a chore picking out the 2’s from the 3’s and 4’s so I used an excel formula in one of the columns to calculate how many words there were in a cell. I used =IF(LEN(TRIM(A2))=0,0,LEN(TRIM(A2))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2,” “,”"))+1)
in one of the columns where A2 is the location of the keyword phrase. This will give the number of words in a phrase. Copy this cell into the remaining rows and voila it will tell you how many words are in the A column for each row. Then you can sort the rows by number of words and if you saved the number of searches it has in adjacent columns you can sort that number as well as a secondary sort. Or…. you can click on “data” at the top of the spreadsheet and then click on filter which will give you a choice of how to filter your results in the first row of your spreadsheet. Click on the filter button in the column that gives you the amount of words and choose the amount by selecting or deselecting the amounts you want. So if you want 3 word phrases for example it will show only the rows with 3 word phrases which is really helpful if you have 800 rows. You can sort the 3 word phrases by amount of searches and voila once again you got the best choice of phrase. Copy and paste this filtered list into your Challenge-workbook and it will save you a ton of time. Hope some of you can use this. I narrowed my niches down to hair loss (since I am losing hair right now) and free energy generators which is what I am really interested in.
Finished challenge #3
it looks like the article sites have the best rankings and this particular niche (hairloss) ranks quite high in Alexa.com. I am getting a better idea of how to set up a landing page now.
Hello Anik
I just completed the niche challenge #1
Hobbies:playing soccer/buying gadget/bodybuilding
Talents:motivating/cooking/singing
Money maker: affiliate marketing/stocks/weight loss
hope a gud news soon..
hello
i just completed the #2 50-10 keyword challenge
10 1-2keyword for
#affiliate marketing
affiliate marketing
internet marketing
cpa affiliate
clickbank affiliate
making money
affiliate code
gain traffic
traffic generator
easy commission
Commission junction
#Stock
stock
free stock
stock investment
trading
stock trader
easy investment
stock market
expensive stock
stock trading
stock expert
#Weight Loss
weight loss
fat burner
burns fat
burning fat
losing weight
diet
easy diet
diet pill
big tummy
diet tips
50 3 keywords for
#affiliate marketing
adwords affiliate marketing
affiliate internet marketing
affiliate marketing associate
affiliate marketing business
affiliate marketing commissions
affiliate marketing company
affiliate marketing for
affiliate marketing forum
affiliate marketing forums
affiliate marketing guide
affiliate marketing jobs
affiliate marketing mlm
affiliate marketing network
affiliate marketing networks
affiliate marketing program
affiliate marketing programs
affiliate marketing referral
affiliate marketing review
affiliate marketing sites
affiliate marketing software
affiliate marketing strategies
affiliate marketing strategy
affiliate marketing success
affiliate marketing tips
affiliate marketing tutorial
affiliate marketing website
affiliate marketing websites
best affiliate marketing
clickbank affiliate marketing
forex affiliate marketing
free affiliate marketing
internet affiliate marketing
learn affiliate marketing
online affiliate marketing
top affiliate marketer
internet marketing expert
newbie affiliate marketer
newbie affiliate marketers
affiliate marketing secret
affiliate marketing secrets
ppc for affiliate
traffic generation technique
making money online
make money online
makes money online
make bigger commision
cpa affiliate tips
cpa affiliate network
top affiliate network
super affiliate secret
#stock
best dividend stocks
dividend per share
earnings per share
futures stock market
historical stock quotes
indian stock market
investing in stocks
investing stock market
monthly dividend stocks
nasdaq stock market
online stock trading
rite aid stock
stock exchange market
stock market advice
stock market basics
stock market chart
stock market data
stock market definition
stock market dow
stock market education
stock market exchange
stock market exchanges
stock market fundamentals
stock market guide
stock market history
stock market index
stock market indices
stock market information
stock market invest
stock market investment
stock market investments
stock market investor
stock market investors
stock market news
stock market picks
stock market price
stock market prices
stock market quote
stock market quotes
stock market research
stock market results
stock market shares
stock market software
stock market tips
stock market tools
stock market trading
stock market tutorial
stock technical analysis
stocks to buy
the stock market
#weight loss
best weight loss
calorie weight loss
calories weight loss
easy weight loss
effective weight loss
ephedra weight loss
fast weight loss
fat weight loss
fitness weight loss
free weight loss
green tea weight loss
health weight loss
healthy weight loss
herbal weight loss
natural weight loss
new weight loss
nutrition weight loss
quick weight loss
quick weight loss diet
rapid weight loss
safe weight loss
simply weight loss
weight fat loss
weight loss advice
weight loss diet
weight loss dieting
weight loss eating
weight loss exercise
weight loss exercises
weight loss foods
weight loss help
weight loss menu
weight loss methods
weight loss patch
weight loss plan
weight loss plans
weight loss product
weight loss products
weight loss program
weight loss programs
weight loss recipes
weight loss reviews
weight loss secrets
weight loss software
weight loss solutions
weight loss supplement
weight loss supplements
weight loss system
weight loss tips
weight loss workout
i was using google keyword tool to discover the keywords
Thank you for the challenges i find them great. Challenge 3 is done i see a trend towards blogs and with very few graphics. Poses me a challenge but will wait and see where it all leads.
Challenge 4 completed and i am waiting for my Buddies in a couple of days.
Hello!
I just completed challenge #2.
I found keywords for three niches. In my favorite niche the search volumes of the 3 word keywords varied from 390 to 1,000,000 (average – 37491.8).
For 2-word keywords the global search volume lies between 1,900 and 1,000,000 (average 134800).
Best regards
Dmitri
Hello!
I just completed the challenge #3. I found out that in my niche (Russian history books) most web sites are content-based (a lot of text with some pictures).
Most often used monetization mechanisms are:
1) AdSense ads
2) Affiliate links to Amazon
3) PayPal donation links
Some of these web-sites seem to use Facebook to increase traffic.
Best regards
Dmitri