Do You Have To Like Your Niche To Be Good At It?

How do you EVER get bored helping people and making money doing it?

Content can be created by others, outsourcing is a powerful tool.

Research allows me to understand a demographic fully...

I would have to respectfully disagree... it's so much easier when you know how to BE your target market...

In fact, it is so much easier to overlook the important stuff, when you are caught up in your niche love affair

You don't have to actually BE them, just know how to BE them.

It's an important distinction, imho. Of course.

Peace

Jay

It's interesting that you point out the idea of BEING your target market. The easiest products I've ever created have been about what I was learning at the time.

So easy to monetize when you just record what works, what doesn't (just as important if not more so), and then sell it.

So freaking easy plus you have built in relatability...which is key to converting cold or slightly warm traffic.

Thanks for posting

Cheers,

Brad

Passion=profits is what I tell people and customers...if you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life.

Random niches are great and I know a few people (some dear friends) who like it...but it honestly hasn't worked for me since I'm a "super focused on what I like" kind of person.

The detachment for niches you don't care about is really difficult for me...

If I'm not excited, I simply won't do it and that's the bottom line really...

Thanks for posting...

Brad

Interesting,

You may no kiss the bride

With all due respect, this is a confused notion.

If you follow the principle of "choose something you're interested in", and you fail miserably and don't get much traffic or sales...then it's not the advice that doesn't work, it's what you CHOOSE.

For example, if I chose underwater origami because I liked it, I probably won't make much money.

If you chose getting six pack abs/weight loss, you probably will make money (if you're marketing right of course).

The idea that if people just stick to what they loved means they won't make money is simply not true...it depends solely on the niche.

@Jay - Different horses for different courses I suppose mate. I can't be driven by money that way. I have to really understand it, be vaguely interested in it, etc. I'm not saying you MUST be the same, it's just whatever floats your boat.

The short answer is no you don't have to like your niche to be good and make money at it. I think this argument, more than a confused notion if anything, stems from most newbies being encouraged to write about something they're passionate about because it's just easier to get started that way. This is obviously good advice but it also leads many to go straight to that graveyard in the sky, also known as the make money online niche.

It also begs the question - do you consider IM a business or a hobby? If you're looking at it from the perspective of just wanting to write about what you enjoy then that will limit you to just a few niches unless you outsource. Although they may be very profitable niches.

Then there is the perspective of a businessman like many marketers here who will consider all sorts of niches and evaluate them based on how feasible and profitable they are based on research. Then they will either do all the research necessary to learn that market or outsource the content and any other parts they can't do.

This is one of the main benefits of being an internet marketer. We have unlimited options as to the number and type of niches we enter. If you find a niche that looks fantastic, the question 'do I like this niche?' doesn't have to enter the equation in your decision of whether to try and make money in it.

I have only worked in 3 or 4 niches so far but I imagine the experience of working in a wide variety of niches can only benefit you in the long run.

When looking at different niches then, instead of asking yourself 'Do I like this niche? a smarter question to ask will always be 'Can I make money in this niche?'

I have to agree with this. Sometimes, making money isn't all about having full passion in it but also having the guts to actually learn this different kind of stuff that you want to profit on depending on what's the "earning" side of the market and then suddenly enjoying the thrill in it. I believe that passion is such a powerful tool but adding an extra practicality in it, it can also bring money way better.

Why don't we combine them? We can either outsource the niche that we're not good at and still retain the market that we're interested the most. That way, we're not going to lose and regret with any and will be able to make profit on both sides.

The first niche I picked was something I'd been interested in all my life. Subscribed to every magazine, kept back issues for decades, bought expensive books, etc.

Starting a blog about it ruined it for me. It became work, not pleasure. Within a few months I was so turned off I just walked away from it. From the blog, and from everything to do with it in real life. Let all my subscriptions lapse. It's been over a year and I'm still bitter. Still thinking about getting rid of everything I own related to the niche.

I guess I have issues.

Lesson learned: I will never again try to make money out of something I care about.

Patey88

With a niche I'm not interested in I try to just set up something that won't require much maintenance.
When I have to add content I just outsource it (to the wife... )

For the ones I'm passionate about I'll be creating products, blogging, etc.

For me it is important. I'm not just driven by money. I'm an entrepreneur so I can do what I like to do, not what I have to do. As long as my business pulls in enough cash so we can travel and eat at good restaurants, I'm happy. That allows me to pursue things I like.

However, do you have to like it? Not really. I just believe that it helps. Really, it depends on your own personality too. Some people can do stuff they don't like, as long as there's money in it. as for being good at it, you don't have to like it to be good. You can study and train to be good. Or outsource it even.

I think many warriors are in niches they have just a small amount of interest in, but they are just in it as they have mastered marketing and know that money can be made in that niche!

Hey Brad,

Enjoyed reading your post.

I believe that if you love something and enjoy it bad enough to actually want to become a success in what you love, then the success will come natural and you know what you are talking about. If you do not love something and do not enjoy it, how could you be successful at it let alone know 150% of what you are talking about to market it?

That's just my piece of mind.

Regards,
Brendan

Actually Jay, it applies to all astute IMer's! When I get into a niche, I perform my due diligence to understand the market. I drill down all the way to the color schemes and layouts that are most appealing to that particular group of individuals.

Then I press my outsource buttons for content and graphics; While that's going on - I'm engaging in OBT Obtaining Tactical Backlinks! What do I know about the niche(s)? Nothing, expect what the numbers tell me.

I have food sites related to foods I don't eat and I could go one and on. But the people who write for me... those men and women know their stuff!

There's wisdom in those words... thanks bgmacaw , you nailed it!

Jay, the reality is, you are going against the thinking that has been pushed upon and ingrained into entire legions of Internet Marketers since the MMO niche exploded. The MMO gurus have been preaching and teaching to their followers to avoid niches they are not versed in or good at.

These followers in turn only seek out said niches and they literally swear by this rule. IMers like yourself are the exception to that rule.

And the followers of this said rule have so much proof that no matter what you or anyone else says, they are not going to relent! Just last week, I found a LUCRATIVE niche I know absolutely nothing about.

After performing my keyword research, backlink research, competitors PR research, SEO optimization research and overall SOC research, I knew that I had a winner!

I checked the URLs and the .com was taken as well as the .org, .biz and all of the other extensions. It just so happened that the day that I found that niche, the .net had recently become available. Of course I snatched it up immediately!

But something came up during my investigative research that literally shocked me. The gentleman who bought the .com, was now dumping all of his domains. :confused:

And may I say, "He has some HOT winners!" But he's dumping them all because he is now convinced that he made a huge mistake in getting involved in niches he didn't like and had no experience in. He learned that from reading a zippin ebook from one of those blood sucking, you'll make a million dollars in sixty days following my program gurus.

Upon further investigation, he followed the advice of another guru and launched all of his sites with a plug, play and walk away MMO system. Supposedly, once he put in the keywords and uploaded the script to his server, he was going to become RICH on auto pilot income. Of course, it didn't work out that way and now he has become another adamant believer in only getting into niches that you like and/or know.

He believed the guru who sold him that MMO plug and play system with such conviction that he can't see that IT IS what has prevented him from actually making money online. I checked, and none of his sites had any backlinks and some weren't indexed after being launched for months. But I digress

In the mean time, I've taken the .net built a one page site, got it indexed and put in on my OTB program. It will be on the 1st page on the Big G in another two to three weeks.

Do I know anything about the niche? NADA!

Do I like the niche? NADA! IMHO it sucks! It deals with medicine and needles and other medical, doctor and hospital stuff.

Am I going to dominate that niche now that I found It? YES! I am going to own it! I'll be purchasing the .com from this gentlemen in about two months. I'm waiting because he's getting closer to the domain expiring and that time constraint provides me with crucial negotiating leverage. He's got too many domain names coming up for renewal to haggle prices on any offers.

So the question is, "Do You Have To Like Your Niche To Be Good At It?" The answer is, "NO!"

A seasoned experienced Internet Marketer can take ANY niche and master it!