How to find a niche where needs are unmet?

Look into forums that are geared towards specific niches. Enter the forum and start learning about the niche and the people who are there. Getting in touch with consumers of a niche is a great way to figure out what is missing in the niche; you can find out what needs and wants are not being met in that niche and then develop something that caters to them.

I think first of all you need to think about what niche you want to go into - at first think broad.
Then divide that niche into smaller categories - get more specific.
Then choose a category that you would like to make a website/product about and do the in-depth research. During that research you might uncover a topic that no one has talked about.

Another approach is entering a niche where needs are met but you provide a unique solution. You see this all the time in MMO, fitness, weight loss, dating, etc. There are new product launches all the time. The big benefit with this approach is the availability of JV partners (i.e. your competitors/colleagues).

Take weight loss for example. There are workout-based programs, nutrition-based programs, cleanse-based products, mind-body based programs, pill-based options ... a myriad of approaches that solve the same problem. The market is big, but some people look for workouts while others prefer to lose weight via changing their diet and then there are people who prefer taking a pill.

You can also target by demographics or life-situation. Weight loss for busy dads, etc.

That said, I do sell a product in a niche nobody else serves (it's geographically based and is very specific). It's not a big seller, but it's evergreen and sells week-in and week-out without any promotion. There aren't any affiliates to promote it because it's super niche. I found this niche because I used to work in the field offering services and realized a digital product could help people.

Read categories in big online news websites. They often publish unusual articles about new trends which can give you ideas about a new topic. Set up some Google alerts in your a few broad niches in which you're interested and check out new articles on the topic. You just might stumble on something new.

As mentioned above, first think of a few potential broad niches and then frequent forums and blogs to find sub-niches that have unmet needs.

Another option, think of a niche than then actually go out asking people about it.
Using your original example, you could of also come to that same niche buy asking men about questions or needs that they could find answers or products for.

His idea is to find the hottest sub-niches -- where there are willing buyers but not as many products in the market. If you simply go after weight loss, for example, you will find TONS of competition.

However, if you were to drill down and target say, weight loss for women 40 and over, it's a much smaller market but could still have people willing to part with their money.

First you need to find a good niche

Generally speaking, the internet is a fairly crowded place. Most likely, you'll find some kind of product for any need.

That being said, I like to approach it this way instead: Look for a niche where people need things, period - whether it's information, comfort, relief, results, etc.

Within that niche, you're going to find a lot of competition, but you utilize the competition to your advantage. One example of how to easily do this is to find the top keywords people are using that seem to be getting a lot of attention, and combine 2 or 3 of them into your article, book title, video, etc.

Millions of wives have their needs unmet

look at amazon and clickbank. You can also look around you, some niche can be found in your daily life.

Something good is using market samuria

The best niches are ones where there are lots of sellers.

Why?

Because that means there are lots of buyers.

You can never go wrong with:

1) Health
2) Wealth
3) Relationships

Now, the trick is to start diving down into a niche where you have some interest so you can learn where the unmet problems are, and you can provide solutions.

Might take a little time, but you will find the niche you can serve most effectively.

Never worry about competition.

There are always people who want to buy from YOU even if someone else is selling the exact same thing.

Best is to stick with the popular 3 markets - health, wealth & relationship. Within these markets you can search the forums. Search the forum for words like "frustrating" and you will find many threads with unmet needs.

I don't think there's any niche that's untouched. All you need is deep market research and a marketing funnel. If both are in place, then you're game

My 2 cents

Regards,

Dan

The issue with trying to get into unmet niches is that they are seriously rare. Niches that are untouched might be so for a reason (ie people have tried without success to earn from it). Also, niche marketing has a very quick profits osmosis - untapped niches with potential get exploited very quickly.

IMHO, the right strategy is to target rich niches and use low cost methods to bring in traffic and leads. Take the forex for example - with recurring income per trade and CPAs of $100+ per FTD, you only need a small amount of monthly clients to get a nice business going.

Having said that, niches that I feel have a way to run include p2p lending, social trading and health tourism.

In IM competition only means that there are hungry buyers. Don't be afraid of a competition. It is a good thing

Marketing 101: Needs are always met. In a way or another. People might not be completely satisfied with the way they are meeting their needs but they are solving their problem some how.

You'll waste your time, money and effort in trying to find "unmet needs". Even if you'd find it, competition would follow you. Even if you create a new market, competition will follow.

Again: competition is a good thing