Have you ever discovered a niche by accident?

[Mac Wheeler]

I found some old content on a USB stick I had written a few months back for a client who disapeared before I could deliver it (silly person, as they had already paid).

So I posted it to my private article directory....

5 days later it's getting incredible traffic compared to the rest of the site and it's ranking 3rd in Google SERP for the main key phrase. It's a nice key phrase too, a very common form of home improvement.

Incredible, now I just need to find a way to cash in on it a little better.

Has anyone else accidently discovered a killer niche in the past?

[Paxton]

One of my most profitable websites was the direct result of a rant a friend was having about the lack of certain services he was trying to book.

Did some research, found there was a REAL market, put up a simple 5 page site that now makes over $5000 a month.

Total fluke

[sparrow]

I find them all the time with keyword triggers, it amazes me what people are looking for daily

I couldn't even think of these niches that are being looked for in the amount of searches I find

Ed

[rosetrees]

Yes. Some of the most popular pages on my main website are the text of handouts I've used for workshops. I did no keyword research at all. Just added them to the site. They're freebies on the site (except one which I've just converted to a CB product) and just earn adsense revenue. The one I've just converted to CB has 5 of the top 10 places for its search term.

[Scott Ames]

I ran into a niche with my car once.

[sylviad]

Many ideas come by accident. My site was attracting people who used keywords that were totally irrelevant. Turns out, those keywords were perfect for helping me better target my site... and to create a new product that responded to their search query.

Sylvia

[Michael Dominic]

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

I ran into a niche with my car once.

Is that a Drophead Coupe? Beautiful car.

[John Hillage]

What a stroke of luck Decurrol - I find a lot of ideas I stumble on. But whether they are all real money makers?!

[kenj]

I found a great niche about a month ago and I still can't decide what to do with it. It is around a physical product. There are 60 keywords with huge daily searches and almost no competition.

I am terrified someone else will discover it before I make the money out of it.

How can you write about doors - this is not the niche but the niche is just as mundane

[jedz]

I don't think accident isn't the right term to use. Everything happens for a reason. After college, I decided to search a company that will accept and trust my skills and abilities. I didn't know that being an Internet Marketer will give me an idea and lead me to this kind of area.

[jbsmith]

Interesting - I've built "accidents" into a model that I use to explore new niches.

I specifically setup niche sites with lots of different keyword variations and monetization strategies with the sole purpose of letting the market pick which topic, keyword combination and products they want.

I'm almost always surprised by the result, to the point where I packaged the system as the best method of discovering niche product opportunities.

I'm convinced building "accidents" into your front-end business building is far more effective than sitting idle for weeks while you try and passively research your market.

Jeff

[Diana Lane]

Originally Posted by sylviad

Many ideas come by accident. My site was attracting people who used keywords that were totally irrelevant. Turns out, those keywords were perfect for helping me better target my site... and to create a new product that responded to their search query.

Sylvia

That's one of the things I like about the 'just do it' approach (as opposed to the 'research and tweak the idea to death until you think it's ready for the world' method). As long as you've got something of reasonable value up there, often your stats will reveal the real rough diamonds after a short while, and in the meantime you can be off polishing the diamonds you've dug up from something you put in place even earlier elsewhere.

If you cultivate an idea in your head for too long, the chances are that someone else will be sowing the seeds on the web and will be beginning to reap the harvest while you're still thinking about how to make the garden look pretty.

Wow. Metaphors. Note to self: rectify beer deficiency urgently...

[Scott Ames]

Originally Posted by Michael Dominic

Is that a Drophead Coupe? Beautiful car.

Yes it is! Good eye!