Evaluation of market niches and subniches

To keep things simple.

Only focus on low competition keywords with a good market and ignore everything else if you are not already making steady income.

To start off, go to amazon.com and start going through its categories to get some ideas.

Also, you can give flippa a try. Simply browse their sites and STEAL keywords (Somethings don't have to be hard)

You've answered your own question.

However, I might add that until you actually try creating content in a niche, and promote that content, it's hard to tell if the end product sells well, and is something you can still be passionate about. With, an exception perhaps for high-quality PLR.

But basically, you won't know the answer until you actually do it yourself. Also, it takes some time to practice and 'find your voice.' I don't see a short cut here.

Every niche usually have some subniches. Try to dig as much is possible and find some really easy to rank keywords. Usually I look at competition and CPC , I use a few tools that give me all the data and I can compare easily.

You're confused because the reality is . . . every niche can be profitable, and every niche can be a total dog . . . depending, of course, on how well you do business and meet the needs of your prospect.

Just remember this. All market research should begin with finding demand in a marketplace.

You are looking for an audience of people that have an expressed problem or desire so that you can then satisfy that desire with a paid product or service. It's very simple, really.

Most new marketers decide on a product to sell or a particular market to go into without even considering what kind of demand there might be.

The key to developing a successful and profitable business is understanding exactly where the demand in a market is and how you can address that demand with your own product or service.

Having passion, education, training, or experience in a particular "thing" is advantageous . . . however . . . there still has to be demand for that "thing" or you will end up with a product or service that no one buys.

You can find demand in a number of ways if you look for common problems or common desires within a market. Forums, portal sites, authority sites, question/answer sites, mega sites (like Amazon, eBay, Pinterest, Dummies and others) give you some excellent insights into what people are looking for online.

Good luck to you,

Steve

What sort of a customer do you want?

I'm going to provide examples, from Real Life experiences. But first,

I advocate you begin with what you know, it makes life easier. Passion isn't all that necessary, and often, passion can lead you down false paths, OR, you can come to hate your passion when it becomes a demanding business.

So, grab a piece of paper and write down where you are at, what you know, what skills you have, experience. Allow 10 minutes.

Next, go to Amazon and search for anything which interests you...about 10 minutes...all categories, all subjects, but only 10 mins, so you have to select something.

Then do the same thing at eBay. No more than 10 mins. Then 5 mins at your local craigslist, searching for something.

This half hour or so of searching is used to determine your Current State of Mind, what you are thinking about. If, for example, you searched for books on making money, or looked on ebay for business opportunities, or craigslist for business, then you have MONEY on your mind, but, maybe not in a good way.

If you spend 30 mins searching porn sites, then maybe that will reveal a niche for you too.

The problem with the HOT niche thinking is, most newbies are inadequately prepared to conduct basic business...so, you may need some beginning work to get started.

OK, examples. When I was in the golf business, I IDENTIFIED my customer. Here is one way to do it:

MAIL ORDER BUYERS OF GOLF EQUIPMENT POSTAL AND EMAIL Mailing List

This is a data card. I would use SRDS, back then, had a subscription.

See, this data card gave me valuable information about who my customer would be, and I was looking for an "affluent" golf niche, with money to spend.

One big mistake you find at WF, trying to sell to people with no money...biggest NICHE in IM. Not for me, I want buyers with money.

This list tells me the general data, high income level, high net worth.

How was this applied? I moved my golf shop from Cuyahoga Falls to Hudson, only 15 mins up the street, but an area with much higher income. You can use zip code info to locate affluent neighborhoods.

So, when I say start with who you want as a customer, one of the hardest things for newbies to do is to get out of their own heads, out of their own ways and to overcome the thinking of "I wouldn't do that"...and get into the minds of people who would.

I would never spend a thousand dollars on a bicycle, yet, there are those who spend several thousand on bikes, so, if I'm going into the bike biz, I want the customers with MONEY to spend in ways I would never do myself, see?

Amazon, eBay, craigslist...as well as nextmark and SRDS have done the work for you as far as finding NICHES for you, right down to how much they spend on their interests. eBay completed listings is a gold mine of current VALUE on "things", including information in many cases.

Start with what YOU know, what you do, and then use the tools to find a niche...but then, you have to have something to offer to them...

and probably most importantly, you have to put your offer in FRONT of their eyes...not an easy thing to do, even then, only a small % will become customers.

Niches are the easiest thing in IM to find, DON'T over complicate it.

gjabiz

Thank you all for your responses!

I go where the money is.