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Competing in a Crowded Niche

by Justin Jordan
13 replies
I'm working on a weight loss and fitness product (with my Mom, oddly) and I'm looking down the road at actually marketing the thing. I know this particular area has both a lot of people buying and a lot of people trying to sell.

So how would you guys handle trying to get into a crowded field?

My first instinct is to find a small little niche within it and then muscle my way up, but I'm curious to what you smarter and more experienced folks would recommend.
#competing #crowded #niche
  • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
    Only 3 things I can think of:

    1. Don't try to market in such a ridiculously difficult niche to begin with.

    2. As you said find a tiny, hungry underserviced sub-niche you can gain easy and economical access to and specifically target that niche with your product.

    This could open the door to joint ventures which leads to:

    3. Find someone who already has a substantial list of buyers who's willing to work with you and customize and ebook/digital product etc specifically for their list.

    In a highly competitive niche it is usually easiest to do some kind of combination of numbers 2 and 3.

    Kindest regards,
    Andrew Cavanagh
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Dillon
    As long as you have a quality product that stands out from the crowd and you make sure your website and graphics are the dogs B******s then all is left is the marketing of said product. You can compete in any niche no matter how crowded you just have to make sure that you do things better than the competition that's all and given some of the poorly put together websites, sales copy and graphics on some sites that shouldn't be hard to do.

    Believe me it isn't as hard as some would have you believe.
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    • Profile picture of the author JasonKing
      What is your Unique Selling Proposition?

      -JasonKing
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      • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
        Originally Posted by JasonKing View Post

        What is your Unique Selling Proposition?

        -JasonKing
        The USP is that it takes you through an entire year, telling you exactly how to go from completely unfit to very fit - without having to ever step foot in a gym. And by the end of that year you'll have all the tools you need to design your own health/fitness regimens for the rest of your life.

        Or at least that's what I'd view as the primary appeal - it's as much about education as it is anything else, for people who want to get in shape and have no idea where to start. Whether or not that unique enough is what I'm uncertain about.
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        • Profile picture of the author Ricter
          Originally Posted by Justin Jordan View Post

          The USP is that it takes you through an entire year, telling you exactly how to go from completely unfit to very fit - without having to ever step foot in a gym. And by the end of that year you'll have all the tools you need to design your own health/fitness regimens for the rest of your life.

          Or at least that's what I'd view as the primary appeal - it's as much about education as it is anything else, for people who want to get in shape and have no idea where to start. Whether or not that unique enough is what I'm uncertain about.
          You'll turn 'em off with the "entire year" bit, imho.
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          • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
            Originally Posted by Ricter View Post

            You'll turn 'em off with the "entire year" bit, imho.
            Actually, that's a good point to bring up - I debated heavily on the length there. I decided to go with a long period for a couple of reasons.

            One was that a normal person, if they stick to something, can really accomplish a lot in a year's time. In terms of health, you can completely turn things around. It also allows for a build of up of both fitness but, more importantly, allows a gradual build in confidence that allows those changes to happen.

            I've put a lot of thought into that aspect, actually, and it be too much to go into here.

            The other reason is that I'm actually inetionally looking for people who've been burned b y all the quick fix type diets and programs. Counter programming of a sort. Which is a gamble, I realise.
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            • Profile picture of the author Simon_Sezs
              The year thing won't turn off as many people if you know how to spin it. For instance, you could do the 1 year challenge- from fat to fit..or something to that effect.
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              • Profile picture of the author Bev Clement
                Justin, I'm in the weight loss niche, and it isn't a problem being in it.

                No way will you sell something that is a year long based. The majority of people on a diet don't actually want to work, they want instant solutions. They want to be able to go to bed and wake up 100 lbs lighter and still keep overeating.

                Think I am joking, I am a member of Diet Plans and Weight Loss Programs and was a mentor with them, and wrote for them. There are people there who have been members for 8 years and haven't lost a pound.

                People buy but they don't do anything with it. Look on the shelf of an overweight person to see how many diet books they have, and ask them if they use them.
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                • Profile picture of the author Geshem
                  I’ve just done some research on a subject that covered this issue and based on what I heard the fact that the niche is competitive is definately a good thing. Lack of competition would be a very bad sign. Just make sure you have a strong USP.

                  As for that niche specifically, about a year ago I started work on a weight loss related product (and then life interfered…), but I did notice during the keyword research the words “fast” “quick” and “rapid” came up quite a lot, which no doubt you've already seen.

                  BUT maybe the year-long thing will work as a sub-niche…I can see where Bev is coming from, but what about the few people who really are sick of being overweight and really ready to spend a year to solve the problem? Think of the people who get weight loss surgery—the weight loss itself is fairly fast, but living with an altered digestive system is a lifetime commitment.

                  Or you could just do a spin off the Cookie Diet and write, say, the Cake Diet. :-)
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                • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
                  Originally Posted by Bev Clement View Post

                  Justin, I'm in the weight loss niche, and it isn't a problem being in it.

                  No way will you sell something that is a year long based. The majority of people on a diet don't actually want to work, they want instant solutions. They want to be able to go to bed and wake up 100 lbs lighter and still keep overeating.

                  Think I am joking, I am a member of Diet Plans and Weight Loss Programs and was a mentor with them, and wrote for them. There are people there who have been members for 8 years and haven't lost a pound.

                  People buy but they don't do anything with it. Look on the shelf of an overweight person to see how many diet books they have, and ask them if they use them.
                  Thanks, Bev.

                  Actually I'm kind of counting on that tendency to help me sell the one year plan. I'll give it a test run - if it doesn't look like it's going to sell, I can break the work into several other products.
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        • Profile picture of the author John Rowe
          Originally Posted by Justin Jordan View Post

          ...without having to ever step foot in a gym.
          Justin, why do you feel it's important to hit home with the 'without ever having to step foot in a gym' bit? Is that what your market research has told you?

          I'm asking only because, I'd really like to know. Does the 'weight loss' crowd place 'not having to go to a gym' as top criteria? You'll want to be sure before making that a main appeal.
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          • Profile picture of the author Justin Jordan
            Originally Posted by John Rowe View Post

            Justin, why do you feel it's important to hit home with the 'without ever having to step foot in a gym' bit? Is that what your market research has told you?

            I'm asking only because, I'd really like to know. Does the 'weight loss' crowd place 'not having to go to a gym' as top criteria? You'll want to be sure before making that a main appeal.
            I think so - my experience is that a lot of people (primarily women, actually, but that's who this is aimed at) have a real fear of going to the gym, especially if they're not fit to begin with. It's one of the big appeals of places like Curves, where the environment is less intimidating and the exercises are all mapped out, taking away fear of not knowing what you're doing. Adn those are the sort of people I had in mind while developing it.

            I'm not sure anybody HAS to go to the gym - the foundations of any good fitness workout you can do at home, although I personally like not having to have hundred pound dumbbells in my garage.
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      • Profile picture of the author VinceNouvel
        Just make sure your product stand out between your competition.. Make them one irresistible offer...
        When u have it, you can just req tons of affiliate and get them to promote it for you..
        just give them like 90% commission for the firs 2 month or so... That way, you can make ur affiliate to push your product real hard..
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