How do you research an unknown niche?

I'm curious as to how you can be passionate about something and not know anything about it. Most people I know only become passionate about things they know something about...

Yes, websites for divorce law and medical stuff may not be made by lawyers or doctors but if the people behind them are truly passionate and interested in the niche they would have good insight on what most people would want to know about these topics.

For a divorce law website, for example, they probably would have content that are relevant to divorce law but doesn't necessarily require a lawyer. Maybe articles on how divorce would affect pet custody, or how to tell your mutual friends about the divorce?

Google it.

Find forums, websites, social outlets and dig in. Find the pain points in the market.

You don't need to "jack ideas" but you should certainly know what others are talking about, what's selling, etc.

If you can improve on what's there, do it.

Once you've been in the game long enough, you'll soon realize that all products online are from
"jacking other ideas" BUT making it better. You have to learn from somewhere or someone right?

Information is everywhere, just learn and compile the necessary info and add your own twist.

All you need to do is, find out a profitable niche (whether it's your passion or not), study it, filter out the fluff, put together all the goodies and make it presentable.

If it's something you already have an interest in, you should already know where to find information about it. Google is your best friend here, and Wikipedia is your guide.

It doesn't really matter what niche you want to research, whether or not you have any prior experiences with it. Pretty much all research are done online and all in the same way - read, read and read. There are also YouTube videos you can watch.

You don't have to be an expert to break into a particular niche, you just need to know enough. How much is "enough" really depends on the niche and what you can come up with so it differs from person to person.

You can find information about nearly anything online. Ultimately it comes down to you investing the time to find out exactly what the market wants, their desires and fears.

Then you can look at other peoples courses to get an idea of what your competition is offering and make your offer even better.

You can get started quickly, test the response to your sales page/video and if it gets a good response then build on it, if not change your angle and re-test.

What I wouldn't do is spend 6 months researching the thing and creating a massive course only to find out it doesn't sell to your niche.

Get it up fast, test it and improve as you go.

I think the best way to find the best niche is go with the thing that you love the most. You will have more idea with that and thus give you an advantage to share information and be successful.

It depends on your business model.

For example, when I first entered into the dating market (advice for men niche), I first interviewed a bunch of dating coaches and pick up artists and I turned that into a product. But I wasn't satisfied with that. I decided to go out into the field myself and found some great people to mentor me. Within 6 months, I was very, very good at meeting women and, at one point, had set up 14 dates on one weekend and realized I had spread myself too thin!

The point being was that I became the expert.

Another example is the wedding planning niche where I knew nothing about it. I spend several weeks searching for a local expert and finally find one. We cut a deal together with a signed contract where they would supply the content, I would supply the website, promotion, etc. and give them a slice of the action.

Sure, you can use the Internet as a research tool. I know one information marketer who utilizes his local library as a resource.

You're only limited by your imagination.

RoD

If you are going to get into a niche that is "UNKNOWN", you will want to see if people are actually searching for it.

You will want to use Google's keyword tool to see how many searches are done worldwide to know if it is worth it or not for you.

Well you need to balance your thoughts. There is not point of working on a niche which is not profitable. Think of a niche which is easy for you to work upon and which is profitable also.

My first successful site was in a niche I knew nothing about at the start. Zero, Zip, Zilch, nothing.

I knew there was money and traffic so I started crawling all over every site I could find that was related.

I found that most people didn't have a clue where to find the products available. So I did a bunch of research, gathered all the best products into a central location, outsourced original content and built what was probably the ugliest site online.

It was a huge success. Not because I was passionate or an expert...because I had a killer USP.

I believe you can learn to do almost anything if you have the right mind set.

Not even close to true. I could spend all day listing products that are as original as possible in an advanced society.

Also, it seems important to note: There is a whole world of Internet Marketing beyond the "Make Money Online" niche.

I usually go to the local library and check out books relating to what I am interested in learning about. There really is no easy way to learn a niche, unless you're planning to outsource and have others do the work for you.

Yes, internet has lots of information. But it also has misinformation. Make sure you are only using reliable sources (wikipedia is a no-no to me). Usually, websites with .org or .edu tend to have more valuable information. I love getting my hands on textbooks for medical and law niches. The tangible sources should be up to date...I'd say no more than 2 years old. Magazines can be another good source.

Another way is to interact with people and utilize social networking. Ask questions to experts. Ask for questions from those you think can benefit from your product.