Just go over to Google or Yahoo and enter "people search" and you'll discover instantly why this is a highly attractive niche. People searching accounts for nearly a third of all the searches done on these two largest search engines. Whether looking for a missing classmate or just trying to get the lowdown on somebody, the activity is enormous and non-stop. And this particular niche is expected to continue to expand for a long time yet to come.
There's more than one way to get started in the people search business. You could set up your own website, of course, but you'd still have to develop your database with all the names, addresses, and phone numbers of people. And that could certainly take a lot of time, plus it would probably be extremely expensive to do. A more practical approach would be for you to join someone else's program. Many of the people search sites do have affiliate programs, and this is probably the easiest route to take.
It's pretty easy to find these affiliate programs, but how do pick a good one? Well basically, it should contain three elements: easy navigation, easy setup, and great training material.
Don't forget to plan out your marketing strategy. Some training should have been given to you by the program owner, but just in case you didn't receive any, here is my basic marketing advice for promoting your people search engine.
To drive traffic to your site, you need back-links. There are many theories on how best to achieve that, but one effective method is article marketing, and it's free to do. It does require time on your part, but those articles you write can send a lot of traffic your way. Plus the search engines like Yahoo and Google pick them up pretty fast, so your articles appear on the search pages. What's so great about that? Well, your links are in your articles (in the resource box where you make a brief statement about yourself as the author). In addition your articles could very well be picked up and displayed on other people's websites that will generate even more traffic to your site.
Posting ads on free ad forums is another marketing method, at least for those who have the time to do it. It can be effective but it does require a lot of discipline to keep reposting ads all the time. And your ads won't stay on page one very long, so you definitely have to keep reposting them. But it is free to do.
Forum advertising is another free medium that can work. Join some forums, put your link into your forum signature, and start posting in the forums. But don't *spam* -- make your posts informational in nature. Posting ads in these forums will get you banned. Make sure you read the forum rules before you start posting anything.
The best known, and most lucrative, of paid advertising is sponsored ads on the two giants -- Google and Yahoo. But if you are new at internet marketing, be careful and go slow. You can lose your shirt doing pay-per-click. If you are brand new at internet marketing, my advice is to enroll in some free e-marketing courses. But for right now concentrate on free or low-cost advertising until you learn the ropes a bit more.
Buying traffic is lame. It might get your Alexa ranking up, but it definitely will not make you any sales. The majority of sites that sell traffic do not send real actual people to visit your website. The traffic is all fake -- it's produced by an autobot. So, no, do not do it. Not ever, not ever, not ever.
The hardest part about any online business is just getting started. I hope my suggestions have given you the motivation to do just that.
There's more than one way to get started in the people search business. You could set up your own website, of course, but you'd still have to develop your database with all the names, addresses, and phone numbers of people. And that could certainly take a lot of time, plus it would probably be extremely expensive to do. A more practical approach would be for you to join someone else's program. Many of the people search sites do have affiliate programs, and this is probably the easiest route to take.
It's pretty easy to find these affiliate programs, but how do pick a good one? Well basically, it should contain three elements: easy navigation, easy setup, and great training material.
Don't forget to plan out your marketing strategy. Some training should have been given to you by the program owner, but just in case you didn't receive any, here is my basic marketing advice for promoting your people search engine.
To drive traffic to your site, you need back-links. There are many theories on how best to achieve that, but one effective method is article marketing, and it's free to do. It does require time on your part, but those articles you write can send a lot of traffic your way. Plus the search engines like Yahoo and Google pick them up pretty fast, so your articles appear on the search pages. What's so great about that? Well, your links are in your articles (in the resource box where you make a brief statement about yourself as the author). In addition your articles could very well be picked up and displayed on other people's websites that will generate even more traffic to your site.
Posting ads on free ad forums is another marketing method, at least for those who have the time to do it. It can be effective but it does require a lot of discipline to keep reposting ads all the time. And your ads won't stay on page one very long, so you definitely have to keep reposting them. But it is free to do.
Forum advertising is another free medium that can work. Join some forums, put your link into your forum signature, and start posting in the forums. But don't *spam* -- make your posts informational in nature. Posting ads in these forums will get you banned. Make sure you read the forum rules before you start posting anything.
The best known, and most lucrative, of paid advertising is sponsored ads on the two giants -- Google and Yahoo. But if you are new at internet marketing, be careful and go slow. You can lose your shirt doing pay-per-click. If you are brand new at internet marketing, my advice is to enroll in some free e-marketing courses. But for right now concentrate on free or low-cost advertising until you learn the ropes a bit more.
Buying traffic is lame. It might get your Alexa ranking up, but it definitely will not make you any sales. The majority of sites that sell traffic do not send real actual people to visit your website. The traffic is all fake -- it's produced by an autobot. So, no, do not do it. Not ever, not ever, not ever.
The hardest part about any online business is just getting started. I hope my suggestions have given you the motivation to do just that.
About the Author:
Samantha Carterson provides articles for home-based businesses and online marketing tips for her readers. She is currently recommending this online business.
