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Will you please help me to pick a niche?

by wannabeMarketingJedi
28 replies
Hello,
I am looking to create a 2nd stream of income in addition to my full time job. Deciding on a niche is the biggest challenge as a lot of you already know. Some of the skills that I have are
  • Web Design (intermediate)
  • Graphic Design (specifically logos) (intermediate)
  • Family Photography
  • Photo Editing
  • Eliciting and managing requirements for IT solutions
  • Process Improvement
  • Creating engaging presentations (PPT)
  • Proof Reading
  • Gathered knowledge on Diet and Strength Building while overcoming minor pains
  • Internet Research

I love creative work, helping & teaching others.

What I am trying to find is a niche that is at crossroads of what I enjoy doing and what others want to learn? I feel like I am just reading and gathering knowledge but not taking action because everything I look at is either already done or takes years.

Investing money is limited (< $500), which is why I am looking to create something more

How can I create something in 6months - 1year that can earn $10K+ a year?

Hopefully I have provided enough information and constraints so you can share some of your knowledge and help me take action in the right direction.

Thanks.
#create income #design talent #niche #pick #pick niche
  • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
    You have a list - and that is a good start!

    You're going to have to narrow it down.

    Don't be discouraged because someone else is already doing it or because there is competition.

    There is always someone else doing it. There will always be competition - if the niche is worth looking into.

    Take each of those and devise a list of keywords.

    Go look up the competition on those keywords, and check out the depth of competition on them all.

    Also, take each niche on your list and make a list of each on the ways you would monetize it. Look how others are monetizing them.

    On all of them, ask yourself: Is there a problem each has that I can solve, or solve better than the other solutions out there?

    Goal is to find your own USP (unique selling point).

    The way you tell me to do something and the way another website does it are going to be 2 different animals.

    Find the audience that likes the way you solve their problem. Those are your buyers.
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by Jill Carpenter View Post

      You have a list - and that is a good start!

      You're going to have to narrow it down.

      Don't be discouraged because someone else is already doing it or because there is competition.

      There is always someone else doing it. There will always be competition - if the niche is worth looking into.

      Take each of those and devise a list of keywords.

      Go look up the competition on those keywords, and check out the depth of competition on them all.

      Also, take each niche on your list and make a list of each on the ways you would monetize it. Look how others are monetizing them.

      On all of them, ask yourself: Is there a problem each has that I can solve, or solve better than the other solutions out there?

      Goal is to find your own USP (unique selling point).

      The way you tell me to do something and the way another website does it are going to be 2 different animals.

      Find the audience that likes the way you solve their problem. Those are your buyers.

      Hi Jill,
      Thanks for replying quickly. I am certainly not afraid of competition because I understand that competition can be a good indicator of market potential. However, my struggle is to find a niche and a USP within that niche. Narrowing down and researching them would be the next step I guess.

      How do you research? Any specific tips?
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    • Profile picture of the author parix
      Jil Capenter Just Nilled it all ....

      "Goal is to find your own USP (unique selling point)".
      Never mind the competition,its just a distraction.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Nothing wrong with the list, what you want to do now is to narrow the list to your top 3-4 and start to consider business models around each of them...for example, web design could be anything from "done-for-you" services to helping with specific aspects (Ex Wordpress) OR it could be training around website design for either end-users or others providing services.

    Same thing for creating engaging presentations - do you want to offer a turnkey service OR do you want to train others?

    \jeff
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by jbsmith View Post

      Nothing wrong with the list, what you want to do now is to narrow the list to your top 3-4 and start to consider business models around each of them...for example, web design could be anything from "done-for-you" services to helping with specific aspects (Ex Wordpress) OR it could be training around website design for either end-users or others providing services.

      Same thing for creating engaging presentations - do you want to offer a turnkey service OR do you want to train others?

      jeff
      Hey Jeff,
      Appreciate your tip on considering business models and monetization. How do you narrow down your niche? How do you figure out your USP?
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    • Profile picture of the author Mirabelle Morah
      Originally Posted by jbsmith View Post

      Nothing wrong with the list, what you want to do now is to narrow the list to your top 3-4 and start to consider business models around each of them...for example, web design could be anything from "done-for-you" services to helping with specific aspects (Ex Wordpress) OR it could be training around website design for either end-users or others providing services.

      Same thing for creating engaging presentations - do you want to offer a turnkey service OR do you want to train others?

      jeff

      wow,thanks, so helpful cos i myself was going thru niche problems
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    Originally Posted by wannabeMarketingJedi View Post

    • Gathered knowledge on Diet and Strength Building while overcoming minor pains
    Of everything you listed, this is the most likely to have eager/desperate buyers looking for a solution.

    Diet and Strength Training are both great markets. A niche targeting people who have the added problem of dealing with pain while trying to remain fit/strong is a good one.

    A large part of this market is probably "older people". Weight loss and strength training for "mature" people (all age related references are in quotes because that is relative and I probably, begrudgingly, fall into that market) is a hot and growing market. People aren't getting any younger and the average age of the North American population as a whole is growing older.

    There are a number of Clickbank products (for example) targeting older women for health fitness and diet as well as older men for strength training.

    Testosterone and testosterone "boosting" products are very hot right now. Natural supplements for joint pain are also hot. You can see TV commercials with aging former athletes pushing Glucosamine for joint pain, for example.

    Info products, supplements, fitness equipment and fountain of youth "secrets" are all being sold well in this market.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Instead of repeating myself here's a thread that will help you narrow your list down to the right niche.

      Click Here. Read post #3.

      Then stop reading or making list and take action.
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      • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
        Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

        Instead of repeating myself here's a thread that will help you narrow your list down to the right niche.

        Click Here. Read post #3.

        Then stop reading or making list and take action.
        Completely agree with you, The Niche Man. The challenge for me is to figure out 2nd and 3rd points you mentioned. How do you go about it?
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        • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
          Originally Posted by wannabeMarketingJedi View Post

          Completely agree with you, The Niche Man. The challenge for me is to figure out 2nd and 3rd points you mentioned. How do you go about it?
          The 3 points were ...
          • Which can you add the most value to ... based on your skills, knowledge, experience or passion.
          • What unique twist, approach or result can you offer no one has done yet or done as well.
          Answer: Research your competition and your target market and find a need, problem or obstacle they have no one else is addressing or solving. Or if they are you can do better.
          • What negative, limitation or disadvantage can you eliminate to make the niche easier to use, buy or enjoy for your target prospects.
          Answer: Research your target market and find out what need, problem or obstacles they have that no one else is addressing or solving. Or if they are you can do better.

          Simple as that, don't make it complicated.
          Signature
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          "201 Ways To Live Better On Less Money".
          "Because The Easiest Way To Make Money is ... ... By Saving Some First!"
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by onSubie View Post

      Of everything you listed, this is the most likely to have eager/desperate buyers looking for a solution.

      Diet and Strength Training are both great markets. A niche targeting people who have the added problem of dealing with pain while trying to remain fit/strong is a good one.

      A large part of this market is probably "older people". Weight loss and strength training for "mature" people (all age related references are in quotes because that is relative and I probably, begrudgingly, fall into that market) is a hot and growing market. People aren't getting any younger and the average age of the North American population as a whole is growing older.

      There are a number of Clickbank products (for example) targeting older women for health fitness and diet as well as older men for strength training.

      Testosterone and testosterone "boosting" products are very hot right now. Natural supplements for joint pain are also hot. You can see TV commercials with aging former athletes pushing Glucosamine for joint pain, for example.

      Info products, supplements, fitness equipment and fountain of youth "secrets" are all being sold well in this market.
      Wow! That's some good information. Thanks for sharing. Diet and Strength Training is surely in my top 4. However, my concern is there are already a ton of people in this niche so finding a USP will be challenging.

      Plus there's nothing new in terms of exercises or programs that I have created. Most likely I will be sharing specific exercises and diet habits that helped me to get stronger and lose fat.

      Is it fine that I am not an expert or don't have ground breaking exercises or programs?
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  • Profile picture of the author cpwebsite
    I would recommend picking a niche in whatever subject you know the most about. My niche is aquariums because that is what I enjoy and know the most about.

    Whatever you know the most about, whether that is aquariums, gardening, or home care, that is what you should make your niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by cpwebsite View Post

      I would recommend picking a niche in whatever subject you know the most about. My niche is aquariums because that is what I enjoy and know the most about.

      Whatever you know the most about, whether that is aquariums, gardening, or home care, that is what you should make your niche.
      How do you stand out in your niche then? In your aquariums example, how did you go about identifying your USP and monetization? Thanks for sharing.
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  • Profile picture of the author ilanapirvu
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    • Profile picture of the author rakota
      You niche has got to be profitable ie. people need to be buying products and services in it.

      The idea of being passionate is good as is having skills and definitely that of adding value.

      But at the end of the day people have to be willing to put their hands in the pockets and get out that credit card.

      You might want to consider the following in assessing a niche.
      1. How often do people think about it?
      2. How excited are they about it?
      3. Do they discuss it in active forums and groups etc?
      4. Are there existing products catering to the niche?
      5. Are other marketers paying for advertising to reach people in the niche?

      That should give you a good idea as to whether there's money to be made.
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  • Profile picture of the author kayalvizhi
    That's great! You could go with internet, web design and related tiny categories to start with! In fact you can add marketing tips over that to get lumps of visitors. Choose a generic domain name, so that in the future you can add more categories also.
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

      The 3 points were ...
      • Which can you add the most value to ... based on your skills, knowledge, experience or passion.
      • What unique twist, approach or result can you offer no one has done yet or done as well.
      Answer: Research your competition and your target market and find a need, problem or obstacle they have no one else is addressing or solving. Or if they are you can do better.
      • What negative, limitation or disadvantage can you eliminate to make the niche easier to use, buy or enjoy for your target prospects.
      Answer: Research your target market and find out what need, problem or obstacles they have that no one else is addressing or solving. Or if they are you can do better.

      Simple as that, don't make it complicated.
      Thanks The Niche Man. This makes sense Simple is always hard. I downloaded your Niche PDF and will take some action from it.

      Originally Posted by ilanapirvu View Post

      I would say that you can use for start your knowledge in the health field, you can find so many Diet offers and more with different payouts and GEOs. Mastering the domain you promote in can help you a lot in creating angles and build your campaigns.

      Moreover, sounds like you can now put in practice all your important experience on web design and internet research.

      Good luck!
      ilana


      Add me on Skype: affiliaxeilana
      Join affiliaXe: http://www.affiliaXe.com - $1K Welcome Bonus
      Thanks ilana. Probably starting out with something and then using it to find new angles is needed. I'm just skeptical that if I start something that others have already found then building an audience will be an uphill task. Any other suggestions?

      Originally Posted by rakota View Post

      You niche has got to be profitable ie. people need to be buying products and services in it.

      The idea of being passionate is good as is having skills and definitely that of adding value.

      But at the end of the day people have to be willing to put their hands in the pockets and get out that credit card.

      You might want to consider the following in assessing a niche.
      1. How often do people think about it?
      2. How excited are they about it?
      3. Do they discuss it in active forums and groups etc?
      4. Are there existing products catering to the niche?
      5. Are other marketers paying for advertising to reach people in the niche?

      That should give you a good idea as to whether there's money to be made.
      Rakota, appreciate your reply. Those are some good questions to research and pick a niche. I may need to find #4 and then take The Niche Man's approach to figure out how I can make it better.

      Originally Posted by parix View Post

      Jil Capenter Just Nilled it all ....

      "Goal is to find your own USP (unique selling point)".
      Never mind the competition,its just a distraction.
      Parix, finding USP is a biggest mental block I have. I hope it's just mental.

      Originally Posted by kayalvizhi View Post

      That's great! You could go with internet, web design and related tiny categories to start with! In fact you can add marketing tips over that to get lumps of visitors. Choose a generic domain name, so that in the future you can add more categories also.
      That sounds good, Kayal. Will you please elaborate with an example?
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      • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
        Good follow up with everyone who took the time to give you advice. You'd be surprised how many people ask for advice, get it and then disappear into the night. You'll go far.
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        • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
          Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

          Good follow up with everyone who took the time to give you advice. You'd be surprised how many people ask for advice, get it and then disappear into the night. You'll go far.
          Thanks Roy. That's the least I can do for everyone's generosity
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  • Profile picture of the author tristatemedia
    i follow the following niches:
    health
    wealth
    relationships
    even if there is competition, it is healthy to uhave competition
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by tristatemedia View Post

      i follow the following niches:
      health
      wealth
      relationships
      even if there is competition, it is healthy to uhave competition
      How do you go about researching your niche, figuring out a product/service to offer, and then testing whether your product/service has any potential to make money? Thanks for sharing your niches.
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      • Profile picture of the author rakota
        Originally Posted by wannabeMarketingJedi View Post

        How do you go about researching your niche, figuring out a product/service to offer, and then testing whether your product/service has any potential to make money? Thanks for sharing your niches.
        Hit the forums Jedi.

        What questions are people asking? That will give you ideas for your products or services.

        Find out what products are already out there and read their sales letters. That will give you info on your markets hot buttons, what gets them excited.

        I think the existing products point is really important. It indicates competition and this is good as you know people are selling in the niche. If there are NO products that would be a red flag for me.

        As others have said add your own twist to something.
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        • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
          Originally Posted by rakota View Post

          Hit the forums Jedi.

          What questions are people asking? That will give you ideas for your products or services.

          Find out what products are already out there and read their sales letters. That will give you info on your markets hot buttons, what gets them excited.

          I think the existing products point is really important. It indicates competition and this is good as you know people are selling in the niche. If there are NO products that would be a red flag for me.

          As others have said add your own twist to something.
          Awesome! I have started researching the forums and looking at others' questions. Also, I am looking at WSOs and sorting them by highest replies to see which ones are popular. Really liked your suggestion to read the sales letter, which I was skimming since they are LOOOOONNNGGGGG
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  • Profile picture of the author Jessieman
    Hi Jedi
    You have some great niches there. I think any of them will work but still do some market research to make sure their are at least 10,000 searches a month. I would narrow it down to 2 right now today. Some of these will work good for creating your own info products and some will be better for a blog. I have done it both ways and it works. You can get some viral traffic on your blog if every other post you sprinkle in viral stories from other sites. Create a FB page on the subject and then repost it there for some great viral traffic. It doesn't matter which posts your traffic comes to see as long as you get viral traffic you can monetize with adsense. Info products work great to and you don't need a lot of traffic to easily make the $1000 a month target.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    How do you go about researching your niche, figuring out a product/service to offer, and then testing whether your product/service has any potential to make money?
    Get in on someone else's proven system. Some people just seem to want to make things much harder then they need to be.

    Look at website hosting - Potentially profitable? Yes! New potential customers every day? Yes! Easy to promote? Yes! There are thousands of people every day searching for website hosting.

    It's really not so difficult if you stop and think about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author CruxisKnight
    I'm not exactly recommending a niche but AWAI has a product called "Secrets of Becoming an Internet Research Specialist" that I think you might be interested in. But only if you decide to go into Internet Research.
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    • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
      Originally Posted by Jessieman View Post

      Hi Jedi
      You have some great niches there. I think any of them will work but still do some market research to make sure their are at least 10,000 searches a month. I would narrow it down to 2 right now today. Some of these will work good for creating your own info products and some will be better for a blog. I have done it both ways and it works. You can get some viral traffic on your blog if every other post you sprinkle in viral stories from other sites. Create a FB page on the subject and then repost it there for some great viral traffic. It doesn't matter which posts your traffic comes to see as long as you get viral traffic you can monetize with adsense. Info products work great to and you don't need a lot of traffic to easily make the $1000 a month target.
      I like the process. I'll be narrowing my niches to a few that have potential paying customers and something that I would enjoy. Thanks for your comment and a high level process, Jessieman

      Originally Posted by Brent Stangel View Post

      Get in on someone else's proven system. Some people just seem to want to make things much harder then they need to be.

      Look at website hosting - Potentially profitable? Yes! New potential customers every day? Yes! Easy to promote? Yes! There are thousands of people every day searching for website hosting.

      It's really not so difficult if you stop and think about it.
      Hey! Brent. I certainly don't want to make it harder than it needs to be I am all about being lazy enough to be efficient. Just so I am clear, is your example about starting a web hosting company or like a private label/affiliate?

      Originally Posted by CruxisKnight View Post

      I'm not exactly recommending a niche but AWAI has a product called "Secrets of Becoming an Internet Research Specialist" that I think you might be interested in. But only if you decide to go into Internet Research.
      I will check out the Internet Research product if I decide to go that route. Thanks for sharing, CrusisKnight
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeVietri
        You should not worry to much about a specific niche.

        You need to develop a website themed around your interests.

        This theme should give you enough flexibly to expand to other areas of your skills set that you can provide value for.

        Easier said than done..

        But If you really can not come up with anything, than just buy a domain name with your name on it like this "mikevietri.com" and form there make a nice about me page, tell people how you plan to help them out and go form there.


        Taking action is vital!! Do not keep holding your self back because you are not sure what to do.


        People get way too caught up in picking the perfect niche.

        What you need to understand is that you are going to make money form helping people, not by selling to them.

        You need to build a following up people, who know, like, and trust you.

        Once you understand that and can put it into practice, then you will make all the money you will ever need

        Getting active in forums is a great way to do this.

        a forums is just a place where your target audience is looking for solutions.

        If you can come in there and provide help to other members, than those members will want to know more about you and might end up in your site.

        In terms of budget

        You do not need to invest a lot of money to start a blog.

        But I highly recommend that you research "Wealthy Affiliate" on youtube or google.

        Wealthy Affiliate is where I'm learning how to develop my own website and so far I have been amazed with how good it has been to me!

        and you can get started for free.

        Hope that helped!

        Mike Vietri
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        • Profile picture of the author wannabeMarketingJedi
          Originally Posted by MikeVietri View Post

          [B]

          Taking action is vital!! Do not keep holding your self back because you are not sure what to do.


          People get way too caught up in picking the perfect niche.


          But I highly recommend that you research "Wealthy Affiliate" on youtube or google.

          Wealthy Affiliate is where I'm learning how to develop my own website and so far I have been amazed with how good it has been to me!

          and you can get started for free.

          Hope that helped!

          Mike Vietri
          That's helpful, Mike. I will checkout Wealthy Affiliate. Thanks for informing me.
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