Pronounce niche: If you live in America it sounds like ditch, nitch - Niche. If you are English it sounds like quiche, neesh - Niche. This is the hidden treasure that will place your online business on the path to success. The goal is finding a group of people who have a problem that needs solving and is willing to pay money for the solution.
Before we discuss finding a niche, I want you to do something for me. Open a new word document and name it "Niche Ideas". Then list out the last 3 to 5 searches you performed on Google (or your favorite search engine).
Your list should look something like this:
1- How to bake a chocolate cake?
2- How to find a Niche?
3- Where is the best place to fish for Bass?
4- Why does my computer run slow?
What I want you to notice about your list is how you formed the search. How to, Where is, Why does are the questions that people will ask. Who, What, Why, When, Where and How are the words that precede a problem that needs to be resolved. Each person who performs a search on the internet has a need for information, or a product, and they will find a solution on the internet. What you want to do is to position yourself in a popular searched market that has as little competition as possible.
Finding that precise need to fill will mean the difference in your online business being successful or one that really doesn't stand a chance to make much money. Don't misunderstand, there are many other steps you can mess up, but get this wrong and everything else is a waste. This part is the foundation of your business!
It is time for you to make another list. First, list out the things you enjoy doing such as hobbies along with things at which you are really good. Then make a list of the things you always wanted to learn to do. When your list is completed, it should look something like this:
Hobbies:
Play Video Games
Cooking
Play Golf
Things I'm good at:
Working on cars
Gardening
Hiking
Things I always wanted to learn:
Karate
Drawing Cartoons
Sailing
From this list, you will begin your niche research. You are going to try to find a niche that you will enjoy building a business around and one that will make you an online income. If, for some reason you can't find a profitable niche from your current niche ideas don't worry, your research will give you plenty of others.
Make sure you add the subjects that interest you during your research to your list. You will always need a list of niche ideas as you grow your online business. The key to a great "niche idea list" is always keeping your list fresh. Delete the ideas as you disqualify them from being a profitable niche, and keep adding ideas that you come across which interest you during any type of research you do. Eventually you will never be without an idea for your next income stream.
The next step in finding a profitable niche is to see if enough people have a need for it. I am not much of a cook so this is what I will use as my example (maybe I'll find a few tips). On my list I wrote, "Learn to cook". Now this subject is way too broad to build a sales campaign around. In order to narrow this subject, we need to find out what are the most popular types of cooking on which people want information.
Go to http://www.answers.yahoo.com and click on browse resolved questions. Then type your favorite niche idea in the search box marked "Search Y! Answers". Mine will be learning to cook. What you want to look for is questions that zero in on a certain aspect of your niche idea. A few questions from my search were:
1. How do I learn to cook without wasting food?
2. How can I learn to cook Jamaican food?
3. What is an easy way I can learn to cook?
4. Where can I learn to cook authentic Mexican food?
Now in looking at the questions above, numbers 1 and 3 would make a good article or a free report to give to your prospects but really don't match what we need. But numbers 2 and 4 narrow down the subject enough for a workable niche.
After you have a good list of questions, head over to the Google AdWords keyword tool. Start by copying one of your questions into the search box and click search. Then click the tab that says keyword ideas. This will give you different variations of different types of searches related to your question. You want to look at keyword terms above 3000 searches per month. Make a separate word document and copy the searches that interest you and meet these criteria.
You then want to use these phrases and perform a Google search to see if there are a lot of sites that offer information on your subject. Take notice of any ads on the right side of the page after you perform each search. If there are ads listed, this means that your competition is paying for your keyword term. This is a good sign that you have chosen a subject that could be a good niche.
Take note of the titles and descriptions that the websites use. How does it answer your question or solve the problem? Is there a way you can improve upon that and give a better solution? You may want to bookmark some of the sites that offer good content for further research later on. Repeat this process using your niche idea list until you have a winner.
Keep in mind that you want to find a niche that you can sell multiple products pertaining to that subject. For example, I could offer tips on cooking Jamaican foods, utensils needed to cook Jamaican foods or Jamaican recipe ideas. You get the point. You will want to build a list of people interested in your niche, and you want to be able to offer them multiple products in the future after you have given them a solution to their initial need.
There are a few more ways to qualify if your niche idea will be a profitable one before moving on to the next step. Also, choosing the right keywords for your niche is the first step to building your sales campaign.
Katherine J'ene'
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