 
The principle of the 6 steps..
The principle of the 6 steps..Â
This is a thought that has been replaying itself over and over in my mind. I remember reading it from a book by Malcom Gladwell, the author of that famous N.Y bestseller “Blink!”. Basically, its a principle Malcom describes that in just 6 steps, you can find anyone in the world.
What this means is that if supposedly you want to find an Ali Baba over in Dubai, and you are currently in the U.S, you just need to find a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend in Dubai who knows a friend…who knows Ali. (6 steps)
Very interesting principle right?
The same principle can be applied to our own lives. Let’s say i want to know George Bush’s personal mobile number (of course the White House will not disclose it!). I will start with anyone in my immediate circle of friends. For me, i’ve a friend whom i see every weekend in church.So…
1.I start with him.
2.He knows our Senior Pastor
3.Who knows an American missionary based in Israel who has been invited to a breakfast in the White House before with Mr Bush. (I presume that she has contacts with a White House official because of the invitation)
4. She knows that White House official
5.That White House official knows a senior in the Cabinet who is a personal friend of Mr Bush. (most probably he will know Mr Bush’s mobile!)
6. I get to this White House senior and get Mr Bush’s mobile number from him!
See the chain of networks? If your country is geographically smaller,the chain is much smaller. However, it is proven that the maximum is 6 steps to before anyone gets to the person desired, regardless of the massive 4 billion people in the world!
If we could apply this concept to Internet Marketing, it would only take a maximum of 6 steps before we truly un-mine the niche market goldmine we’ve always desired. Say you want to start marketing Canon Camerasto individuals who are buying Canon cameras online, but the challenge is you do not know which camera is profitable. Therefore, you want to be as specific as possible in targeting your target market. So you will have to ‘drill-down’, and then do market research on the demand..
Heres what i would do:
1.I Start with Cameras (very broad category)
2.I look under Canon.
3.Looking at the product lines of Canon, I deem that Canon’s Consumer products is where my type of personal cameras will reside.
4.I select Canon->Consumer Products->Cameras
5.Then I select the Camera Type-> Digital
6. I browse through the product lines for Canon Digital Cameras, and after doing market demand research for each of them, i determine that the new Canon Powershot TX1 Digital Camera is the most in-demand camera around. Therefore, my specific target market group when i’m doing advertising online will be centred around keywords like “Canon Powershot TX1 Digital Camera”, “Canon Powershot TX1 Digital Camera Review”, “Buy Canon Powershot TX1 Digital Camera”.
So we see that applying this principle to Internet Marketing as alot of relevance too!.
