Finding,Your,Niche,the,Interne DIY Finding Your Niche on the Internet
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
Those who are new to the Internet business world -- heck,even those who have been successfully operating online businesses for some time -- can attest to the difficultyin deciding what to sell."Newbies" in particular may be led to believe that the more "stuff" they sell on their websites, the more moneythey'll make. They place dozens of banners and ads on their sites for everything from dating services to internet marketing manuals, from pet toys to self-improvement tapes. It's pretty hard to persuade a visitor to purchase anythingfrom a site like this; chances are -- if they even managed to find your site in the first place! -- they'll simply go back to the search engines and find a site that's offering them exactly what they want. One click-of-the-mouse and they're gone, probably for good.You can't be everything to everyone. Choosing a tightlyfocused niche market gives you the ability to home in ona specific group of like-minded individuals: it's easier to find out what they want, and thus easier to come upwith and develop new products and services. It's also easier to make your site "stand out"! You'll have a better chance of success if you take the time to define a niche.However, the strain of trying to figure out what to build a business around often leads people to do what they perceive as the "easiest": copy what other people are doing.For instance, many people decide to build websites aroundteaching others how to market on the internet. But if youuse Overture's popular Search Suggestion Tool, you'll seethat "internet marketing" received 102085 searches (at thetime of writing), compared to: * recipe - over 1 million searches * pet supply - 109975 * jewelry - 449044 * gardening - 787621 * golf club - 548398 * exercise - 129368As you can see, there's a market for a wide variety of products and services. Your "job" is to figure out whatpeople are looking for -- whether it's a new product oran "improved" version of an existing product -- and ask yourself how you can fill that need.As you do your research, try to assess the demand (ie.how many people are looking for that type of product)in relation to the supply (ie. how many businesses provide the product and how well they do at meetingthe demand). Ideally, a great niche market would beone for which there is high demand but not (yet)enough supply.There is always the possibility that there's no real demand for the product, which is why no one has botheredto create it. Most people would prefer to find this outbefore they invested a great deal of time, effort andmoney into creating a product no one wants!Even if you don't create your own product but instead decide to promote affiliate programs, a great deal ofwork still goes into the promotion of your affiliatelink.One way to research a new idea is to run the key phrases that represent your business through the NicheFinder software ( http://onlinebusinessbasics.com/findniche.html ). This software will automatically produce several informativeand eye-opening reports and charts to help you assess the potential of your idea.Some people start businesses related to their current line of work because they already have many of the skills and the experience they need. Others build their business around specific interests or hobbies. Regardless of what you do, be sure it's something you *want* to do -- don'tchoose a niche solely because "other people are doing it" or because you think "you can make lots of money". Do whatyou love, and *enjoy* the journey to building a profitablebusiness.
Finding,Your,Niche,the,Interne