"How To Become A Web Business Guru"

It's no secret that the world's top Internet Marketing "gurus" earn a very comfortable living.

But did you know that for every well-known guru, there are countless more relatively unknown "non-gurus" doing it too? These online business "consultants" for lack of a better word, fly under the radar and make a great living without a "regular job".

That's because helping small and home businesses succeed online, is a market that will literally never go away.

Fact: There may never be enough people in the "Web Business Helper" niche to serve the millions of new and existing businesses who desperately need help.

If you want to create a better lifestyle for yourself or your family, this niche may be your answer. It's a niche that is wide open to anyone who wants in, as there are no special qualifications, requirements or even start-up costs.

Whether you want to become a guru or just someone who helps people online, and gets paid well for it, you're about to uncover the secrets to breaking into this niche.

I will not go into any hype, or how much you can earn. That's up to you. You may have aspirations of becoming a multi-millionaire super-guru. Or maybe you're looking to establish more of an “under the radar” business that pays the bills, lets you work less than a regular job and enjoy life more.

Perhaps it's somewhere in between.

Now matter what your goals are, this insider information will start you on your journey to 'gurudom'.

Guru Principle #1: You don't find gurudom, it finds you.

Gurudom is probably not even a word. But you get the idea. You can't just start calling yourself a web business guru and become one. People who become gurus in any niche, do it by sharing specialized knowledge with the world. As more and more people come to trust and use your knowledge, they will start calling you a guru. Before long you'll have the one thing that all the gurus have, a following. You know, a large group of people who care what you have say. People who read your website, your email messages, your blog posts, or any other means of communication you prefer.

Guru Principle #2: Understand that the online business niche is loaded with sub-niches.

The quickest path to gurudom in the online business niche, is to specialize in sub-niches that people need help with. For example, list growing, video marketing, social networking, etc. These are just a few example of literally hundreds of sub-niches in the Internet marketing niche. You can focus on just one when you are starting out, then branch out into a handful. Each niche has an opportunity for giving advice and selling information products.

And remember, most sub-niches can be broken down even further into sub- sub-niches. For example, social networking experts can focus on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace, and the next big network when it comes along.

Guru Principle #3: You must never stop educating yourself.

True gurus never stop learning. They read a little about their niche every single day. In fact, because of the rich pool of gurus to learn from online, more and more gurus are being born every day. It's sort of a flower garden that gives off seeds and creates more flowers. Once you stop learning, you stop growing. So dedicate a little time each day to keeping abreast of developments in your niche and sub-niches. As you share your knowledge with others, you're reputation as an expert in your niche will grow stronger and stronger.

Guru Principle #4: You need to give away content like a maniac, but 'trickle' it out slowly.

There's one basic law of the Internet that will never go away. People want free help. The more top-notch help you give them, the more likely they are to become part of your business 'tribe'. They will open your emails, they will read your newsletters, they will take your advice. Oh, and they will buy your products and products you recommend to them as an affiliate. And it all started with them reading your free content.

But there's another aspect to sharing content that you may not have considered. While it may seem tempting to package up as much content as you can, and give it all away in one giant package that's bigger and better than what the next guru is offering, you must resist that temptation. That's because most people will not appreciate what you've given them, when comes all at once. Most people absorb information best in small batches. They also desire constant contact from their advisers. That means you need to trickle out “absorbable sized” content on a regular basis. You can do it via newsletters, blogs, special reports, email alerts and even on timed autoresponders. If you release just enough for your audience to absorb, appreciate and implement, you'll have a following for life.

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Guru Principle #5: Make it personal.

Even if you have lots of great licensed content at your disposal, you should plan to eventually start creating content yourself. The best way to do that is to start personalizing all the content you share, right from the very beginning. Lets say you are using licensed content that was written by someone else. Simply take time to write a short intro or closing statement each time you share some content. Share a few personal tidbits. Mention your dog or your wife or your kids. People like to connect with people. I receive the most positive feedback from my newsletters and emails when I take time to do that. One week I showed a picture of my dog and got more replies than I ever remembered getting.

Guru Principle #6: Controversy is OK, but not at the expense of others.

I make it a rule to never bash someone or their product or service. If I don't like someone or a particular product or service, I simply do not talk about it. If I'm doing a review of product x and the product fails, I simply explain that I had the best success with product y. You never want to blatantly attack another business or you'll find yourself wasting time in battles that need not be fought. If you're the type who likes to stir up a little controversy, go after a general marketing tactic instead. For example, I wrote about how I felt about Twitter (I'm not a fan) and had lots of people from both sides of the fence contact me.

Guru Principle #7: Get your hands dirty and work directly with people.

By this I mean, cut out the middle man and support your subscribers and customers directly. I feel strongly that during the early stages of gurudom, it is important to answer all your emails personally. This gives you a reputation for personal service that sorely lacks in this industry. Once your business grows to levels where this task eats up hours a day, you can outsource most of your emails if you want. But try to stay in touch with at least some of your following, even if it's just the people who are paying a monthly service for your help. Offering this personal help doesn't take up nearly as much time as you may think, and it truly sets you apart from others in guru land.

Guru Principle #8: Connect personally with other gurus.

Take time to find and connect with others in your niche. Don't be afraid to email newsletter publishers and webmasters with worthwhile comments or an occasional “thanks” for all they do. They may very well remember you when it comes time to do a joint venture. In fact, I suggest you go a step further and make a list of all the top experts in your niche or sub-niche who you'd like to JV with some day. Subscribe to their newsletters and stay in the loop! Keep the list on your desktop and add to it regularly. There will come a day when these people will make you a lot of money.

Guru Principle #9: Focus like a laser, and block out distractions and temptations.

As you grow your business you will be bombarded with all kinds of offers. Some of them might be very enticing and tempting. But you need to block that ALL out until you have accomplished your main goal. That should be to have a site or blog of your own up, a plan in place to share content regularly, and a way to monetize your site. I've seen far too many people come close to establishing something great, only to be led down a dead end MLM opportunity or some other “next big thing”. Think of it this way... YOU are the next big thing, not some program you can join and promote for someone else.

Guru Principle #10: Don't expect too much too fast.

It is human nature to be impatient. But growing a business online and growing a solid reputation takes time and work. If you are not willing to put in a lot of effort, you will not get the results you desire. When I first started out I was working a 9-5 job, had a lengthy commute and a growing family. I spent many nights at my computer working past midnight. It paid off for me and it can do the same for you. Like Conan O'Brien said on his final tonight show... “If you work hard and you are kind to others, great things will happen”.

Guru Principle #11: Be ready and willing to shift gears as needed.

Online business is constantly evolving, so you need to be too. Remember, you're shifting from working harder to working smarter, so you have to always be thinking. For instance, I sold more than a million dollars worth of books and software, then around the year 2006 more and more marketers came onto the scene and started literally giving everything away. They were using their products as front end gifts to lock people into continuity offers.

It was obvious I needed to make some adjustments as well, so I started focusing on membership sites more. They were less aggressive than the forced continuity offers and my loyal subscriber base was more than willing to part with a few dollars a month for my personal help. Had I not been willing to shift gears as the market changed, I may have gone the way of the dinosaur.

One thing you will never have to shift away from though, is providing solid information for free, to your target market. This strategy has always been the best when it comes to growing a following and a reputation as a genuine guru.

Now that you know the Guru Principles, all you need to do is accomplish a set of Tasks and you'll be on your way to gurudom.

If you have not already grabbed my free "Secrets to Becoming a Web Business Guru" training package, grab it by clicking the image below.

It explains all those tasks and also offers you a shortcut to success in this niche:

Enjoy!
Jim Daniels