Please help...Lots of research, STILL can't find a niche!

Hi Nicole,

I believe nothing stops more people from starting their web site than keyword research.

Stop worrying about keywords. Stop trying to find the easy niche.

Start with ANY niche that is known to have a big buying audience. It's better to get started on anything and then learn how to do it, then trying to find the perfect niche.

The niche statistics that people use are only relevant to SEO. You can use traffic methods that do not rely on SE rankings.

It's more important you learn how to build your site, how to drive traffic and how to sell to this traffic. Once you know these things you can easily switch to other niches. Just get started anywhere.

Ralf

Pick one of those niches that appeals to you, and then drill down to lower search volume and check the strength of the top ten.

You're waayyyy overthinking this and worrying too much about MS stats.

Try this: register a domain with your name, have a little fun with it, say I'm Nicole Ortega and I'm here to talk about every product I can find with "Ortega" in it.

There are almost 10,000 product listings on Amazon. Another 1750 on eBay.

Sprinkle in some Adsense, maybe have some Ortega quizzes, and you may have something.

Follow-up watching your website stats to see what starts getting traffic and sales and that will help you focus future efforts.

.

Hi Nicole,

Welcome to the Warrior Forum ...

A blog and a niche website? Not a blog that is a niche website?

I look for three main things, really:-

(i) Areas in which I know large numbers of people spend money regularly on "information" (the magazine racks in shops pretty useful, and seeing plenty of AdWords ads on Google shows me that people are spending money promoting things in the niche);

(ii) Areas I can write about (I have a content-rich site in each niche, with articles which I write myself, and I'll need to write autoresponder emails in each niche, so there's no point in my trying one for which I'd have to go to night-school just to understand the vocabulary);

(iii) I look for suitable Clickbank products (primarily) which I can promote, according to my tried and tested list of product selection criteria (which is here).

Keywords have almost nothing to do with how I select niches.

I've never used Market Samurai, Niche Finder or other "software approaches" at all, though I've heard many people here speak highly of MS in particular.

Good luck!

I agree with Ralf, you should find a niche that you're interested in or passionate about and possibly choose a sub-niche. Just because there's a McDonalds in a city doens't prevent Burger King from going there.

If something doesn't seem right, even after all your research, then just run a test or two to find out if your selected niche is a winner.

Your hesitation in starting something might cost you more than anything else. You just need to make a start somewhere. It is unlikely that you will make the perfect choice and succeed hugely in your very first project. So don't worry about picking a wrong niche. If you do that, you can exit and enter another niche any time.

Most internet marketers who are making lots of money today must have made a lot of mistakes in the past. Among the mistakes, choosing the wrong niche too would have featured for many.

Yes, be careful and choosy in picking your niche. But don't overdo the caution part. Start somewhere in which you feel at least a little comfortable and which appeals to you a little bit.

Even after many years now, I still end up with some failures and mistakes. Some of the sites I start don't make me any money while others do. If you let that disturb you a lot, then you will have a hard time.

Good sound advice, I was in your position, over thinking everything, getting bogged down with info overload!

Just take a step back, what do you enjoy, are you passionate about anything, what are your hobbies, can you blog and talk about any of these things?

Look around you, check out the magazine rack, use amazon, ebay, I have also found the dummies guides website to be a great place for niche research!

Failing that, as mentioned start your own blog about you and play around with it!

Good luck in your ventures!!!

One of my websites gets tens of spam comments per day, all from people trying to rank in different niches. Not the best way, but it sure exposes a lot of them.

Wishing you success Nic

Dann Vicker

Nicole, I don't have anything to add that will help your situation that the other guys have said...but the main thing is to TAKE ACTION!

Nicole, even the best baseball player on his first at bat didn't hit a home run. It took a lot of training and tweaking before he was able to make to the major leagues. Like they say in the Army, just jump in the water you will learn to keep your head above water to survive. You already stated you have about ten domains. Start creating something with those domains and let those be your learning tools. As with everything experience is key. You will definitely find out what works and what doesn't. I would strongly suggest getting a mentor to help you along the way. Good Luck.

Hi,

Allow me to interrupt..

It seems that you like so much (or spent many hours) on 'keyword/niche research'.
Why not start something in this niche?
Perhaps you have a lot of info to share or deliver on this topic alone.
At the end, who knows you may have your own product/service on this topic.

Just my little thought.

Cheers

try to consider health related niches .... it's still a most popular category ....

Think about a niche that you are well versed in that you could possibly help someone in . Don't think about the making money, even though that is what it is all about. Think about being helpful and a leader to others. Newbie or not the opportunity is there. One suggestion would be to use Google's keyword tool (which is free) and search long tail keywords. This may narrow it down a little bit in what you are looking for but you will not get to the top of a good money making niche overnight. It takes hard work and dedication.

I strongly believe that anyone trying to be an Internet Marketing should always be in the Internet Marketing niche, aka MMO (make money online niche) simply because this will help you perfect your craft as you grow your business and then you'll be able to expand into other niches as you grow.

A great idea is to review Clickbank Products in an honest way. Or really anything about making money, just give your opinion about what you think about it. Its best if you actually buy it though, as you could imagine.

Hope that helps miss!

Wow, I'm a member of a couple of other (non-marketing related) forums, but I have to say, this one is definitely up there in terms of helpfulness. I was hoping for some advice, but I didn't expect the GREAT advice and guidance I have here in this thread. Thanks so much!!!

@Vince, I loved your analogies. You made me smile and have some very poignant things to say.

@Matthew You bring up a very interesting suggestion. I've heard that the internet marketing niche is extremely competitive, but what you said also makes a lot of sense.

I feel like I now need to sit down and synthesize all of the advice from this thread so far lol! Thank you again everyone

I agree with everything said above. As for a niche being too competitive, there's no such thing. That just means there is money being made there. That is a good thing.

The key point is take some action. Manufacture your own luck. The luckiest people I know are also the hardest workers and that's not by coincidence.

Hi Nicole,

Think of what everyone wants/desires: *Health, *wealth & *happiness. These are the main niches. Subs can be any level u want. Combine with economics: food, clothing. shelter. You have the recipe for a successful niche.

Seriously, one can spend too much time pondering, studying and planning. Stop testing the waters and take the plunge.

Bonne Chance madame,
Textech

I'll go straight to the point: you need to pick a niche in which you actually have something to offer to your prospects. Otherwise, why would they listen to you?

That means that you need to be passionate, familiar and/or knowledgeable about your niche. There's no other way around that. Pick a niche in which you actually have something useful to say.

Hey Nicole,

First of all, welcome to internet marketing.
It can be a challenge, but it's also a lot of fun and a big challenge.
My advice for you is to focus on the things you are most passionate about. These are the topics that will drive you to action.
Finding the right niche is like finding gold, but it's best to start on something that you like and that you can relate to.
There's so much to do to get started in IM, but the best strategies for a newcomer is to get excited about the things you love and write about them in a personable and convincing manner, and this is what will drive organic traffic to your site.

For example, my wife is very much into health and fitness, and she loves to talk about it, write about it, and convince others of the benefits of eating right and balancing life with the right exercise and foods--as well as having fun.
Now, the fact that she is so passionate about this, it draws others to her and her advice, and she is a walking talking testimonial of health and the well-being industry.

Having said that, if you simply make a list of the things that move you and influence you, then this is a niche that you can knowledgeably pursue.

To be honest with you, I hate Market Samurai. It's a great system, but I don't use it because it distills information to a degree that takes the life out of it.
If you love something, this is the premise for great writing and awesome content for a blog or website, and people will be drawn to your passion.

Having said that, it does pay to do some research and if you find enough keywords in Google adwords keyword tool to set up your first website with modest achievements, you'll find that this will teach you more than any guru can show you.

An example of a very simple blog that is doing quite well from someone who simply started talking about the things she loves and is passionate about. I'm not saying you need to copy this site, but it gives you an idea of someone who just began writing about her experiences and talents, and it has started to take off. This site is not exactly the most beautiful you will ever see, but it does offer a glimpse into someone's life that has been shared with the world in a form that has developed traffic due to her simple yet enthusiastic interests.

my darling lemon thyme

By the way, I don't know this woman, nor am I promoting her. I am merely showing you an example of what can be done without having to break your neck on finding a niche that may not even be "you."

Good luck!

Hey Nicola welcome
Less synthesising and more action, you will learn best by doing.
...and yes you will make mistakes that's part of the deal
IM is full of people learning about strategies, tools and techniques but not taking action and so not making money.
Trust me I have seen this go on for years with some people.
Learn a bit and then take action , get it going in the right direction and then learn a bit more and take action etc...
We have an expression in these parts don't try and barbecue the Elephant in one go.
Best of luck