Just a quickie, to give something back to the forum + top advice for newbies
You see I just assumed that the "make money online/IM" niche was the one, as it was so popular. BUT.........my fortunes changed when I decided to move away from that and concentrate on other niches (still big niches) but sooo much easier!
So to any noob reading this, my advice is DO NOT assume that the money is in the IM/online earning niche, and branch out and experiment with different things! I learned that you need to know what you are doing before tackling such a massive niche, and I wasted a long time trying!....don't make the same mistake!!!
Just to give back to the forum, here is a few sites worth looking at when deciding on a new niche to tackle! then pick a niche, and spend time researching and learning and thinking of different marketing strategies for it! (I will give you a big heads up at the end of the post). Here are some sites, and please let me make it clear, these are NOT affiliate links, nor am I connected to these sites in any way, shape of form, they are purely just a free reference for whoever is interested in a different niche!
Health
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics/Part-3.aspx?view=all
http://blog.compete.com/2011/11/07/search-for-a-cure-the-medical-problems-that-worry-americans-most/
General
http://seattleorganicseo.com/sosblog/most-popular-searches-what-do-people-want-online/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Most_searched_questions_on_Google
Embarrassing problems
http://him.uk.msn.com/health-and-fitness/five-embarrassing-male-health-problems/
http://women.webmd.com/features/silent-no-more
Now, these will be nothing new for most marketers, more for anyone struggling who wants to try a new approach away from MMO/IM!
You can use these niches to think about product creation (ebooks etc) or find solutions to the problems and market them, or a bit more current, there could be some great titles for a kindle book, you know what I mean!!!!
A good simple way to market to these niches for a complete newbie, is to find forums centered around the subject, and do some forum marketing! not everyones cup of tea, but probably the easiest way to get sales for a noob! for a good list of forums try this:- (again, no connection to this site whatsoever!)
The largest Message Boards and Forums on the web!
Like I said, nothing to sell here, just want to help someone out and move on with their efforts!
Thanks for reading, much love to you all!
GreyGable