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What if my niche doesn't have much market?

by robinsong
15 replies
Newest of newbie here. No website, no ebook, no list, no nothing yet.
Investigating stage. The consensus seems to be "HAVE A PRODUCT TO SELL. MAKE SURE THERE'S A MARKET FOR IT and BUILD A LIST"

Okay. So I'll write an ebook.

But what if the only topic I feel passionate and knowledgeable enough to write a full-blown ebook about . . . has a very small market?

Niche choice #1: telling my story about helping my child overcome autism. Talking about the great protocol that lots of people have already shared online.

PROS: Good market. "Solve your problem" appeal.
CONS:this happened about 6 years ago and all my old notes are gone forever. Very painful for me on a personal level. We never really recovered her "all-the-way," therefore I fear I lack credibility (we couldn't continue the chosen therapy due to lack of funds). I don't think I could keep on writing new material on this. Would run out of writing ideas.

Niche choice #2: Who are the TRUE Hebrew Israelites and Last Days Prophecy.

PROS: I have a passion for this. I have made hundreds of YT videos about it (but they got erased-different story). Lots of writing material and done lots of research on it. Would ENJOY doing further research into it. I have a very unique take on this topic, too. No one else knows it like I know it. Could keep writing about this for a long time. Could conceivably split my knowledge on this into several smaller ebooks or reports.
CON: The market seems to be small on the "who are the real Israelites?" question. Not exactly in the caliber of the "weight loss" niche. Not really "solving a difficult problem" (on the other hand, I COULD possibly spin it as the biggest problem the world has ever known!). But what about all those wonderful people who don't give a care about this problem, because they don't know how IMPORTANT it is yet?


Also, once you choose a niche, don't you have to keep writing about that one thing basically for the rest of your life, or the duration of your business? How does one "keep digging deeper" or "come up with new talking points" on a topic you've already written a thorough ebook about? How do you keep your list's interest for years to come once you've already exposed all your fabulous material?

Thanks.
#market #niche
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    I would begin by researching the niches I am contemplating entering. Create a profile of your perfect customer and try to determine what he/she wants and how you can locate such prospects online.

    Not all niches are commercially viable. Some have good interest but attract folks that don't spend money on the niche. If you get into such a niche, you could work long and hard and end up with a "hobby site" where you put in a lot of effort without getting back much of a return. Now that is fine for some people, but if you're doing this to make a living, you need to really make sure that the niche has money in it for you.

    There are lots of helpful threads in this forum about how to research a niche. Use the search function and you should have no trouble finding a lot of helpful posts that will get you through the process.

    Good luck,

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author garyt
    Since you are new, it could be better to start by promoting someone's else products - affiliate marketing. Creating a product and marketing it can be a big challenge for a newest of newbies. But if you think you can, no one can stop you
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  • Profile picture of the author Greenville
    Google gives 11,800,000 results for "autism child Overcome." There are certainly alot of interest! You will just have to find how to monetize your site: Amazon gives 25,242 results, you have the choice!

    It is true that your choices are micro-niches but this should not stop you if that's your passion. The competition will be much less than the market for weight loss.

    I think you should do what tempts you more and more ideas will come as you will develop your site.

    Honestly, I like your ideas and this the kind of site I like when the content is interesting.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanGillam
    Nearly every single niche has a big enough market to be profitable. Remember, you only need a fraction of the amount of people that are interested in that subject to buy from you. Enter the one that you feel excites you the most at the start and build up your marketing skills. You can then do something else much later in a bigger market.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jack Gordon
    Originally Posted by robinsong View Post

    The consensus seems to be "HAVE A PRODUCT TO SELL. MAKE SURE THERE'S A MARKET FOR IT and BUILD A LIST"
    I would challenge this premise.

    Lots of people have failed to find a market for their product. If it is a hobby and/or passion and you are doing it primarily for a reason other than money, then that calls for a different approach.

    However, if you are in this for the money, you need to swap the list of priorities.
    1) Find a hungry market
    2) Create a product that feeds their hunger
    3) Build your list
    4) Market to them

    Actually, #2 and #3 are interchangeable. The important part is #1.

    I am not saying, by any means, that you can't be profitable with a micro-niche. In fact, I have had my biggest successes in niche businesses. But you have to be sure your attainable market share of that niche will be enough to sustain you.

    If you can't be sure of that, either solve a broader problem or find a bigger niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author robinsong
      Originally Posted by Jack Gordon View Post

      However, if you are in this for the money, you need to swap the list of priorities.
      1) Find a hungry market
      2) Create a product that feeds their hunger
      3) Build your list
      4) Market to them

      Actually, #2 and #3 are interchangeable. The important part is #1.

      I am not saying, by any means, that you can't be profitable with a micro-niche. In fact, I have had my biggest successes in niche businesses. But you have to be sure your attainable market share of that niche will be enough to sustain you.

      If you can't be sure of that, either solve a broader problem or find a bigger niche.

      Thanks . . . isn't it a little more than creating a product that feeds a hungry market? Don't you need to know/care enough about it to write with authority on it, in order to build your audience? I don't know if I could do that for many other markets. Which leads to another question: what about outsourcing ebook authorship and website articles for a profitable niche that I don't feel adept at? It still have to invent an engaging email series for the list though . . .
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      • Profile picture of the author Jack Gordon
        Originally Posted by robinsong View Post

        Thanks . . . isn't it a little more than creating a product that feeds a hungry market? Don't you need to know/care enough about it to write with authority on it, in order to build your audience?
        Great insight.

        I would argue that yes, you do. For a few reasons.

        Many others here strongly disagree with that, and they have their good reasons.

        I certainly didn't mean you should abandon your expertise to find the next "weight loss" opportunity. I think you should stick with the subjects you are passionate and highly knowledgeable about. Especially in your first outings. In this case, it is all about how you find that market. In your case, it may take some digging to find the right angle.

        For instance, in your experience with autism, you mentioned several variables. Is this a very personal story about your successes and failures on the journey to heal your child? Is it a step-by-step accounting of the strategies that brought you positive results? Is it a parent's guide to deciphering all of the conflicting messages one gets in this situation? I'm sure you could come up with five more angles, each appealing to a different subset of the market.

        This is where you do the research to find that hungry market.
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  • Profile picture of the author brettb
    Religion is a pretty good niche. You could try starting a forum as I'm sure people would want to join in the debate.

    Health is a tricky one these days as Google prefers to rank authority sites (e.g. NetDoctor, NHS etc. etc.).
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  • Profile picture of the author jgant
    NICHE #1

    Autism is a huge, growing and in-demand market.

    If you know what you're talking about you could put together a good book people may buy. However, it's a medical niche so you might want to team up with a professional or at least get your book edited by a medical professional in the field. Even an interview or two will be good.

    Affiliates: There are many potential affiliates - parenting websites for a start.

    I started in an extremely small niche (geographically based) and I still make sales to this day every week (unfortunately sale volume isn't great).

    NICHE #2: I don't know anything about it; I think niche #1 offers more opportunity.

    ONGOING CONTENT:

    That's up to you. If you have a product for sale and it's profitable with established traffic streams, you don't necessarily have to keep writing on the topic, especially if you use paid traffic. Just monitor your paid traffic.

    But certainly writing on an ongoing basis won't hurt - the question is whether it's worth your time in the long run.
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  • Profile picture of the author robinsong
    How do you supply content and ebook(s) for a niche you're not knowledgeable about. . . . which you chose because it has a great market?
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  • Profile picture of the author Victor Edson
    Neither of the niches you mentioned were small. Id recommend doing both. After set up the page/ sales funnel for the first do the second and put out content for both niches.
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    • Profile picture of the author chris40
      I've found list-building, although lucrative, isn't as easy to tackle as some people make it out to be. Its similar to being a leader in real life: if you don't feel like standing out and having followers, you might have strong resistance to getting subscribers.

      (I'm attempting to build a list, but very slowly since I had some bad experiences in the past. )

      How do you supply content and ebook(s) for a niche you're not knowledgeable about. . . . which you chose because it has a great market?
      I've read about several people just picking a niche and positioning themselves as experts (regardless of experience). The mere act of doing modest research and sharing knowledge is more than sufficient to not only convince people of your expertise, but create demand for your products. You said you have experience creating videos. That considerably puts you ahead of the game. Many products consist of just 10 powerpoint videos (and most buyers are happy with that).

      But it seems everything online boils down to how much confidence you have. People see that self-assurance and will want to buy from you, regardless of the topic. (For example I subscribed to some guy's stock newsletter in 2008, then ended up following him into an MLM of all things.)

      Another idea you may want to consider is publishing a few kindle books. Many people have been surprised by the ease of setting up an account and getting sales. I haven't researched your niches, but I'd be confident there's buyers out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    You can write a Kindle ebook about your experiences fighting autism. In this case, you won't be giving professional advice; you will be simply relating your experiences (your life biography) so you won't have any legal problem.

    Many people are interested on real experiences, and Amazon helps you with the promotion.
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