Niches are getting harder to corner

12 years ago

Not necessarily, it depends on the ecosystem you're entering.

Take for example a startup I work at, CDNify. We entered into a competitive market of Content Delivery Networks, with providers like CDN77, Akamai, CloudFlare, etc already well established. The only difference between us and them is speciality in that market, we cornered static caching at an affordable price.

Now that we're gaining traction and our small business is expanding we're seeing more of the major players copying us (not pointing any fingers) to replicate what we've accomplished so far.

So who knows, but I would say there are definitely untapped niches out there for everyone, you just have to look

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tamo42

12 years ago

You just need to a better job at keyword research.

Something like 50% of searches are brand new every year. There are constantly new niche opportunities popping up.

I've been toying with the idea of creating a free keyword research guide because I see a lot of this. Maybe I'll get it done now.

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Mark Hess

12 years ago

Originally Posted by BauPow

How does one compete with big name websites? It seems like every idea I have, there are 10 websites monopolizing my niche.

Think of some different 'hooks' you can use...

For instance, if you're creating content, focus on writing more interesting/viral type/link baiting titles (this free link bait title generator can give you some ideas). This will help your site stand out.

Incentivize product offers - offer bonuses to people who purchase products through you/your site.

Increase engagement - find ways that people can interact with you on social media and/or if you have a mailing list think of ways subscribers can engage with you by asking questions or taking part in polls. Implement different types of media... videos, infographics, maybe even a podcast.

Use something like UberSuggest.org (a free Google suggest scraper) and dig deep into keyword research to find the stuff people are actively searching for. You can also use this tool to build a silo type site structure which will help decrease bounce rate and make for a better user experience.

Etc...

I've always tried to focus on the things I can control and not on things that are out of my control like what the competition is doing.

Sometimes having a good brainstorming/re-evaluating session is a good thing especially when you feel 'stuck'.

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keithb89

12 years ago

You need to identify emerging trends and, here's the tricky part, figure out which trends will get traction and become niches. For example, 'selfies' started popping up around 2-3 years ago and now they're everywhere.

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The Niche Man

12 years ago

Your friend is right (to a certatin extent). It is getting harder to corner profitable niches and come up with unique ideas. That's why a paradigm shift in thinking is necessary now.

But here's the good news. You don't have to come up with a unique, never used before idea for a niche. That's harder.

All you have to do is find an unmet, under-served or overlooked need of a group of people in your target market. That's a lot easier than trying to discover some revolutionary idea - or zero competition market.

Because truth be told more and more zero competion markets mean zero buyers.

Look for problems, irritations or challenges your target market is experiencing. That's the hole or niche in the market that needs filling with a product or service solution you can provide.

Believe it or not even the so-called saturated markets have loads of those hiding in them. But most people are so afraid of saturated markets they never bother to look.

I chuckle whenever I hear someone say a niche is hard to find or this market is saturated. Why?

Because what they're really telling me (without realizing it) is there are no more problems to solve in that market. That's what I hear. And in 99% of the cases I know and they know that can't be true.

So, in answer to your question niches aren't getting harder to find. They're harder to find if you use the same tactics millions of others are using.

That's why I say markets aren't necessarily saturated, the tactics, methods and stategies people use to approach them are saturated.

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JohnMcCabe

12 years ago

Here's a riff on something the Niche Man wrote:

Look for problems, irritations or challenges your target market is experiencing. That's the hole or niche in the market that needs filling with a product or service solution you can provide.

You can also look for problems, irritations or challenges with the other products in the marketplace. For example, scan the reviews on sites like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, etc. looking for what people like, and especially don't like, about the product or book.

Look at the aftermarket for software manuals, just for one example. For every major software package out there, there are aftermarket books from three or four major publishers. Beyond that, there are many more specialized, smaller books and manuals aimed at specific applications.

Just because some keyword tool says there are a gazillion sites competing for a keyword doesn't mean there isn't money to be made. There is life after Google...

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The Niche Man

12 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Just because some keyword tool says there are a gazillion sites competing for a keyword doesn't mean there isn't money to be made. There is life after Google...

Thanks! Someone finally said it. I just hope your website doesn't suddenly disappear from their index.

One niche that's sure to be needed in the future is "Treatment Centers" for Google addicts.

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moneymagneto

12 years ago

This is like the Stock Market. You need to be able to spot trends before they are trendy and capitalize.

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jasondinner

12 years ago

It's more a matter of your ability to generate traffic and convert it into revenue.

That can be done no matter how saturated the niche is in most cases.

In fact, you can even leverage the top sites as well.

Just like The Niche Man, you have to change the way you think.

People, myself included, are going into niches they have no businesses being in and having great success.

Figure out how the traffic works. And don't be afraid to spend money on traffic. Traffic comes at a cost regardless if its free or not.

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KenJ 12 years ago

The Niche Man is right.

There are many niches that have lucrative sub-niches.

One way to find what is trending is talking to your children.
They know what is new and desirable in many markets. Just the other day my daughter told me she was going to buy something that I had never heard of. I did some research to find that there are NO affiliate websites on the first few pages of search engines. This is despite there being many products listed on Amazon.
This product range will make a brilliant info/sales website that can link to Amazon. I'm not saying what it is.

Good luck in finding your niche

KenJ
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AffEngineer

12 years ago

Competition is a good thing. It means your niche is hungry. Take Apple for example. When it entered the whole mobile phone arena it was competing with Samsung, Nokia, Sony, probably 50+ other top name electronic companies.

Now, it dwarfs them. How? By providing MORE value then the others. It's not about looking for opportunities but more about CREATING opportunities.

Good luck

~ Mateen

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Randall Magwood

12 years ago

Originally Posted by BauPow

How does one compete with big name websites?

1) Go where they aren't

2) Hire staff

3) Invest more into advertising

4) Get backend sales

5) Sell large ticket items ($500-$2,000)

6) Keep getting leads in

You may not want to make $10 million a year like a big name company, but would you be okay with $10,000 a month? If so then the advice i just gave will help you to do that.

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JamesDean07

12 years ago

You can go with Email Marketing. It's never too saturated and there's a massive profit in the backend !

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rahs08 12 years ago

but its very hard to get e-mail addresses in good quantity
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- alvinhy 12 years ago
  
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  Highway55 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by alvinhy
  
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Highway55

12 years ago

Just because somebody is in a niche market doesn't mean they've got it cornered. Take an angle on a niche (not the whole niche) and you'll likely find a spot where you can enter, add value, and be very profitable.

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Jarvis Edwards

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Highway55

Just because somebody is in a niche market doesn't mean they've got it cornered. Take an angle on a niche (not the whole niche) and you'll likely find a spot where you can enter, add value, and be very profitable.

THAT. /\

I read something that made perfect sense the other day. It stated that most affiliates do keyword research at Tier 1 and 2. However, ALL of the affiliates are thinking of the same "types" of "unique" keyword/combinations and "obvious" angles.

For instance, if you think of a long-tail keyword that you feel is unique for an offer you're promoting, chances are you didn't think far enough outside the box, and the Tier 1 and 2 affiliates have thought of the same variations, at the SAME time. And are most likely all marketing it the same way as far as the ad copy; technique, maybe even landing page design, etc.

The Tier 3+ guys are the ones who continue crafting tons and tons of keyword variations after the other guys have stopped and went to bed or took a vacation. Then, on top of that, they have unique angles to test their offer and set themselves even more miles ahead of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 guys, hanging out for the "easy pickings." (most affiliates?)

I say this from experience selling my own products (PPC) and now, selling offers as an affiliate. Still learning "the hard way." But I guess the harder it gets, the more incompetent the majority of the competition becomes?

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Adie

12 years ago

I don't believe in good/bad niches thing. I believe in good marketing strategy. Health is one of the most or even the biggest niches out there and many people says it's saturated, yet I am making my living out of it.

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Patbinc

12 years ago

How about you stop thinking about niches and started following the money? It's easy to carry out keyword research and get lots of insights into what people are searching for, but it doesn't necessarily mean money is being poured into the most of those popular niches.

Throw out the whole "perfect niche" strategy and follow the money. At least you will never go wrong with this: find out where people are spending money and give them what they want. Don't worry about the competition, they are there to validate the market and provide proof that there's money to be made in whatever you choose to do. Hence the more competitors there are in your chosen venture, the better.

Worry about what you are going to give your customers in return for their money. Over-deliver every time. Don't take your customers for granted. That's how to compete with the big boys in your market.

Whatever you do, remember that if you don't give people what they need and are willing to pay money for, then it doesn't matter how "niche" your niche is...so its ultimately easier to find out what they are already spending money on and giving them more of the same - only better (and cheaper where possible).

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The Niche Man

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Patbinc

Throw out the whole "perfect niche" strategy and follow the money. At least you will never go wrong with this: find out where people are spending money and give them what they want. Don't worry about the competition, they are there to validate the market and provide proof that there's money to be made in whatever you choose to do. Hence the more competitors there are in your chosen venture, the better.

That one paragraph should be made into a sticky. It would save and make a whole lot of people ... a whole lot of money!

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Nightengale

12 years ago

As Terry Hatfield pointed out, your friend is confused. Very, very confused.

Originally Posted by Patbinc

Throw out the whole "perfect niche" strategy and follow the money. At least you will never go wrong with this: find out where people are spending money and give them what they want. Don't worry about the competition, they are there to validate the market and provide proof that there's money to be made in whatever you choose to do. Hence the more competitors there are in your chosen venture, the better.

^^^ This!

You seem to somehow have the idea that you need to have an exclusive in a particular niche.

Completely untrue! As he said, competitors are simply there to validate the market for you.

A couple of things to remember:

1. People will ALWAYS want to

A. Make money
B. Find love
C. Lose weight
D. Look "cool"/have status
E. Etc.

EVERY product/service/niche somehow fills one or more of these larger desires.

2. People who are genuinely interested in a particular product/service/topic buy more than one of that item. People who love a particular topic buy more than one book or course on that topic. They buy more than one pair of running shoes. They eat out at more than one restaurant, etc.

And pay attention to everything NicheMan has said. He's absolutely right! Successful businesses either 1) solve a problem (how to get a job, for example) or 2) fill a strong desire (how to save the whales, which fills the desire to be a responsible citizen and save the planet, etc.).

And as one product/service solves a problem, they somehow create another. Dating services, for example. They fill a need. But then what if you're not a young 20- or 3-shomething? Enter the dating service for seniors. Or dating services specifically for divorced people with kids, etc.

We will ALWAYS have problems, no matter how many problems we solve. Often solutions to existing problems create new problems! Therefore, there is ALWAYS opportunity.

You only need to position your product somewhat differently than your competitors'. The more you drill down and get specific, the more successful you'll be. Don't try to market to "everyone." You'll go broke, fast.

For example, don't just offer another "me-to" generic dating service. Offer a dating service for divorced people with kids. See the difference?

Originally Posted by JamesDean07

You can go with Email Marketing. It's never too saturated and there's a massive profit in the backend !

And studiously IGNORE this advice! ^^^^

E-mail marketing is a marketing activity. It is NOT a niche. You'll use e-mail marketing no matter what niche you choose.

Hope that helps!

Michelle

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Cassie416

12 years ago

Follow a Niche that your most comfortable doing. Sub Niches are even better. For instance, you can find a really popular niche, then research elements inside the Niche. The deeper you get into a sub niche, the better.....just make sure its something with high value, high demand. Then put a twist on it.

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online only

12 years ago

There's always more room for new websites.

Just make sure your CONTENT is better and go all in with marketing.

I'm still building affiliate sites that make $10k - $50k per/month. Everything is doable, you just need to be laser-focused.

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Heather88

12 years ago

Originally Posted by online only

There's always more room for new websites.

Just make sure your CONTENT is better and go all in with marketing.

I'm still building affiliate sites that make $10k - $50k per/month. Everything is doable, you just need to be laser-focused.

I agree with this. I think people also overestimate competition. They see that there are competitors and think they can't get a piece, or dominate. Many of the time the competitors are just as impatient and unfocused as the next person, and won't bother spending the extra 1-2 hours a day to blow it up and dominate. Don't be shy and back down, and don't over think it. I also think many of the e book pushers and programs say find an untapped crowd, and people think that means absolutely no competition whatsoever.

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Terry Hatfield

12 years ago

I would say your friend is slightly confused.

You don't look for niches that have no competition. What you do is look for niches that are highly competitive.

If you write a thousand word article about weight loss and put it up on a site and then do seo for it then it is almost guaranteed that you will not rank for the word weight loss. But what will happen is you will rank for dozens to hundreds of long tail keywords(3 plus word phrases).

Why are you ranking for all those words in such a competitive market? Simple because you created "unique content" on your site that no one else has on their sites!

I hope now you see why competition doesn't really matter!

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butters

12 years ago

You asked: How does one compete against big sites?

Simple, start with the smallest parts first, do you think sites like Amazon actively promote a web page linked to, lets say a 42inch panasonic tv with surround sound? They obviously don't, they rely on the branding of the company to make them sales but that means they can be beat in them small areas. Slowly chip away at where they are the weakest and slowly you can compete at there level over time (Amazon level is pretty big but you get the point).

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banwork

12 years ago

You don't have to compete. Just build something that is you and it will stand out on its own.

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Alexa Smith

Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by BauPow

How does one compete with big name websites? It seems like every idea I have, there are 10 websites monopolizing my niche.

I'm sure that's true of all my niches, too, but it makes no difference to me, and I don't care about them. Their only real relevance from the "competition" perspective is perhaps for search-engine traffic for the major keywords, and I attract much better quality traffic than that anyway: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8659398

If I worried about search-engine traffic to make my living, I'd probably have given up years ago.

"Saturation" doesn't concern me, and I don't really believe in it. The markets are probably growing faster than the suppliers anyway. How many households in the US already have one or more TV sets, and how many TV sets will be sold in the US in 2014? That's a "saturated market".

.

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Stuart Walker

12 years ago

Originally Posted by BauPow

I was chatting with a friend a week back who makes a livable income off of his affiliate websites, he started back in 2007. He said it's getting harder to corner profitable niches and coming up with unique ideas, as the market is becoming saturated with people doing this. I've been trying to research ideas all week and I'm starting to think he has a point.. it's very discouraging. How does one compete with big name websites? It seems like every idea I have, there are 10 websites monopolizing my niche.

Am I right in thinking that you and your friend when looking for a niche base the whole thing around finding high volume but low SEO competition keywords?

This is NOT niche research. This is keyword research. Both are different.

Keyword research isn't even always necessary depending on the type of site you have, for example on my blog, I don't do keyword research at all.

Yet Google is still my biggest traffic source.

If I'm right that you're simply looking for easy to rank keywords then take a different mindset.

Pick niches that have...
- LOTS of competition (a sign of a healthy market)
- High demand (not just keyword volume but lots of activity on ecommerce sites, blogs and forums)
Tons of products on sale and tons more being released every day
- Lots of forums n blogs n social media groups n pages so you can easily access your target audience and network with others in your niche
- Plenty of small / niche ecommerce stores and not just Amazon / Ebay
- Ideally both physical and digital products
- Problems that need solving (almost every niche!)
- Passionate or even better rabid buyers who have money to spend

You can create a site and not worry about competition, SEO, and how many sites there are already.

No competition is usually a bad sign. Means there's no demand or a good reason for it.

Finding a niche is easy. As others have said find a problem people have and solve it or pick any topic you have an interest in and evaluate it for the above points.

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growitinvestit

12 years ago

One thing I learned from being in business over 15 years

The man who spends the most Money on Advertising will always have the Biggest Business.

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The Niche Man 12 years ago

Originally Posted by growitinvestit

One thing I learned from being in business over 15 years

The man who spends the most Money on Advertising will always have the Biggest Business.

I'm not sure if that's a fool-proof rule. After all, you never hear from the ones who spent a lot, but had a bad product, market strategy or timing. Here's My Proof!
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Steve B

12 years ago

Originally Posted by BauPow

How does one compete with big name websites?

Change your thinking. You don't have to compete with them. Position your business to be in a place where there is no competition. And that doesn't mean you have to have a unique product or service (although that is one way to avoid competing with others head-to-head).

Get just a little bit creative and do things differently in your business. Set yourself apart and be known throughout the market because you are in a position that no one else can claim. You'll have to decide what that is for your market.

The bottom line is that you need to adapt to the market and your competition in a way that others haven't. And then you need to get the word out about it and prove that you're different.

The very best to you,

Steve

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Stuart Walker

12 years ago

In fact a lot of businesses loose a lot of money / fail because they spend money on advertising but have no idea how to calculate their return from it or whether it's profitable.

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DamianGil

12 years ago

I know the feeling. You just need to research more. You need a nice guide to finding niches and there's a lot of WSO and courses out there to do that.

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LiftMyRank

12 years ago

Don't bother trying to look for a niche or sub-niche that doesn't have any competition, because even if you find one as soon as you start becoming successful you'll have several new competitors try and copy you, so regardless you'll always have competition, at the end of the day you gotta do a better job than the next guy to succeed.....and a little luck and timing helps too....

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bloomingrose 12 years ago

I disagree with trying to find something unique or trendy.

What is wrong with Internet Marketing, weight loss, dating?

Too many people in the business?

What do you have to offer that is unique or personal?
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