Good Niche To Build List In?

Lee
Can you sell them physical products gardeners are doers not readers, and there is so much free info anyway.
la dominatrix

If you know gardening niche is profitable so just as building list too.

Interesting that you say that since what I have been reading is that you should start with a hobby that interests you so that it is easier to develop a site. I have had the sneaking suspicion that I would run into the problem that you're having, viz., would people want to spend that much money on a "hobby" site. Can you build a sucessful hobby site, either with info products or as an affiliate? If so, does anyone have one they can show me?

I also have a follow up question aboutyour problem with your e-books: is it possible to sell a profitable e-book that is not primarily directed to IMers? I'd love to see one just to get an idea of what the landing page and marketing letters look like. Right now all I can find are people selling "how to" to other people wanting to sell--seems like a tautological proof to me, e.g., I sell my book of how to sell to you as proof that I can sell.

To add a bit to the above...

I would suggest an approach where you can regularly send your list "targeted" and "time sensitive" messaging.

I have never marketed in this area, so I am going to make a few assumptions on their buying habits.
- 5%-20% are hyper-active gardeners who are fanatical, I mean they really live for it (to the point where other people might think are a bit odd or lonely). They know the products and supplies they like to use but are open minded to finding better ones and are also going to be very open minded to learning some new tricks to make their tomatoes the size of a bowling ball. These super gardeners are not afraid to spend money on their craft.
-80% are active garders at a minimum, (otherwise why would you EVER opt-in to a gardening site?) These guys are new gardeners or old pros that enjoy it, but aren't complete loons about it.
- Tradionally, garden supplies is a product purchased locally, but like any other product, if a value/convenience proposition can be made to buying online, I am sure more and more is sold each year online. Some niche or speciality products may be difficult to purchase locally.
- They are online to learn more about some gardening tips and are decently happy with the info they get. They probably would find it odd to pay money for info.

OK, now what would I do with the above assumptions?
1. Every email would include with one fantastic, timely gardening tip.
" It's June 10th, and the top carnation growers in the North East are prepping their soil to get ready for the upcoming planting season. Ms. Nora Tulipolis, 3x world champion carnation grower recommends an organic soil prepper mix consisting of beagle poo and CARNATION PRO SOIL PREP.
This will position your site as an source of expert info and later a source of expert purchase opportunites.

2. If possible provide an offer that solves the TIP, (and todays special deal!!!: (wait for it.....) 11 Top Beagle poo collection secrets Ebook (which is awesome, I got sucked in and bought it) and 10% Off CARNATION PRO SOIL PREP.

3. If not, provide an offer that is relevent to the planting season or has a special discount or limited time coupon or discount....u need to find something to create urgency (don't miss this money saving deal) or timliness (don't be late for carnation season) or something else (obviously I know nothing about gardening).

4. Info (ebook) would need to be info that you cannot easily find on your site or other gardening resources and AGAIN, targeted as possible. How to grow tropical plants will not sell well in Michigan.

4. When you create your opt-in list consider adding some targeting capabilities such as location, favorite gardening types, etc. You could segment your list and market very specific deals based on location (Liek in the cold weather, the seasons play a factor)

That's my 2 cents...but I personally would not be hesitant to dabble in an area, if you have some basic expertise (or are willing to learn and study it). In fact, imo, 70% of this game is becoming proficient in understanding the consumer and how they react. A niche area can provide you with "barrier to entry protection" from competitors who do not possess your unique knowledge. It's a bit easier to come up with marketing ideas for health products, and other crowed areas. I would also guess that the agrdening supply and ancillary businesses is a multi-billion dollar business and bigger than you think.

Hope this helps and welcome additional thoughts..

You can build a list in virtually any niche that has advertisers. Also think about niches where people are hungry for information. You can further divide those people into:

1. People who need answers NOW (health-related, breaking up, stopping divorce, etc.).

2. People who need information in order to solve a problem

Now go forth and prosper......

RoD

Perhaps with a subject like "breaking up" you could look at other issues that these individuals might be interested in. Maybe they need to rebuild trust. Maybe they need to learn how to get over their jealousy issue. Is there a product out there for that? Maybe a book on amazon? Could you make a product?

Same for weight loss. Just because they got skinny again doesn't mean that they don't have a cellulite problem. If you sell impotency products don't assume they are happy because that issue went away. Sell them a product to be a better lover.

Find other issues that they may have as well. Sell them gardening tools through a dropshipper, then give them tips on gardening and sell them the ultimate secrets to getting the biggest, juiciest, tastiest, brightest, prize-winning tomatoes.

Connect related problems and issues. Until you tell them, they might not even realize that they have the problem that you are offering the solution for.

Betting maybe a good niche to do listbuilding for - you could sell them a lot of stuff. There are several types of online betting - horse racing, poker, casino, blackjack etc. Those who are interested in betting may also be interested in dating and adult entertainment and when they're out of money from too much betting send them an email about how a 20-something bankrupt guy went from 0 to millions in a week