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Amazon Niche Site - How much RESEARCH is really necessary? How SPECIFIC should I get?

by stevenjcampbell
7 replies
Hello there, two questions for you internet marketing geniuses, hope you can help...

I have picked a niche for my amazon site and I think I am pretty specific.
I am looking towards gadgets and electronics related to mobile phones, tablets and the like.

1. Does this sound specific enough?

2. How much research is necessary to start? Can someone start without paying for things like longtail pro and the like? I am wondering because I have someone trying to get me to use an affiliate link for longtail pro and sem rush because they say they are super necessary.

I thought it was better to just start, make content, as long as the niche is decent I can get traffic and change as I go.

But they are putting a LOT into keyword research. To the point where even though I understand basics, I am getting lost with competitiveness, and all these different terms that apparently have a lot to do with these different products.

I am not against $75 (approx) monthly charges if it can in time make me $3000+ a month once things are up and running, but just curious what matters more to start.
#amazon #niche #research #site #specific
  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    You aren't clear on whether you are building your own site - or if this "someone" is building it for you. If you are paying someone to build a new niche site - I would expect that person to have the tools needed to do the job.

    If you bought a "blueprint" or "system" - you may be expected to buy the product in order to follow the 'plan'. Different scenario.

    The biggest thing to check in my opinion - is the commission payout on the products you plan to feature. Amazon's commission structure changes make that a necessity. There is simply not much point to building a site that focuses on 1-2% commission products.

    I am not against $75 (approx) monthly charges if it can in time make me $3000+ a month
    Is there anyone here who would NOT pay $75/mo to get $3k? Of course not. Is there any guarantee $75/mo will yield $3k? Nope.

    To the 'tools' advocates who think you must buy everything available before starting your site...sorry. I've never done it that way. I'll do my own keyword and LT research (not hard initially) - build the site - and pay for more tools and services AS NEEDED.

    It's in a seller's best interest to make a task seem so daunting that the only solution is to "buy this and that". Not saying 'don't buy' - but I am saying 'think independently'.
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    • Profile picture of the author stevenjcampbell
      Hey awesome set of questions.

      1. I am building the site. I have built WordPress sites professionally for people, so deploying a site isn't the issue.

      2. It's a system. Not a fast money system. The creators are up front with 3-5 months to see upwards of even $300.00 a month returns based on hard work.

      They claim that doing it on your own would be a 60-80 hour time investment assuming you wrote your own content and did your own white hat back linking and link promotion.

      3. I am an Amazon affiliate now but have never bothered to move my feet and be serious.

      Amazon commission is between 4-6% of an item escalating.

      I'm looking for products that are 4 stars rated and between $10-$500 ideally.

      4. My $3k figure is a year off. I hope I didn't make my expectations sound unrealistic. I do believe though that it can and will get there so long as I have a fundamental base understanding and the ability to follow through with massive action.

      5. That's precisely where I am at now.

      I look at it like "there a 28 modules" and I need a site and content to have even a 1% chance to make anything.

      The best things I've learned from these forums is
      • write great content with 2000+ words which creates a lot of trust with Google and a lot of long tail keywords
      • don't market to "tablet computers" unless I want to spin my wheels relentlessly. Be realistically specific.
      • Use existing free keyword tools to look at trends on Google and low vs high and super competitive vs less so keywords and create content around that.
      • wash, rinse and repeat as they say

      So why not implement this stuff and then dial it in afterwards.

      My day job is sales. I always found the companies that hold contracts make it sound complicated to deal with the product supplier. Why? Because they then control the sales person and retain control of.

      Similar to your last point.

      Thank you!
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Amazon commission is between 4-6% of an item escalating.
    Just to be certain - you are aware of the commission changes Amazon recently implemented...right? 4-6% and escalating sounds like the old Amazon commission structure.

    If you are following a "system" - I'd advise you to do what the 'system' recommends....even if that means buying products. though I've found most sellers provide a "workaround" for those who are hesitant to keep clicking affiliate links in the beginning.

    I believe if you choose to follow a 'system' you have to follow it step by step to give it a chance to work. So often, marketers skip a step here and there - and then wonder why a blueprint "didn't work".

    Also - if you build multiple sites - you might have good use for those tools.
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    • Profile picture of the author stevenjcampbell
      I see now yes, they obviously implemented changes that I didn't care to look at because I wasn't actually working towards anything.

      Looks as though they want to have affiliates promoting specific products.


      Glad you pointed that out.

      Okay, I'll stick to the plan.
      I have another site in a niche where these tools could come in quite handy anyhow.
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    • Profile picture of the author stevenjcampbell
      One more thing. I already won because one existing site I have has to do with flowers. This means that I already can be getting 8% off the bat on this site.

      Wow.

      People freaking out though it seems and I can't blame a site selling $100,000 a month in mobile phone products. They take a big hit.

      I'll use Walmart too when I can build a site good enough to get accepted into their program.
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  • Profile picture of the author williamstout
    Research is they key aspect to start any business. With Amazon niche site, you have to research a lot of things like keywords, competition, demand etc to make sure that your investment of time and money in it would be worth it or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kes Writes
    KR and some other background research for you to make some money in amazon affiliate marketing. But then, too much of it is also not good as they may suffer from analysis paralysis. Just like every other thing on the net, you can only get estimates of what you will earn, nothing is exact, nothing is sure.
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