Some people have a really hard time picking a niche when they decide to take on the wonderful thing called affiliate marketing.
Shouldn’t it be as easy as, find a passion, create a website, and make money?
That’s obviously not the case for most online marketers and it usually starts with their niche.
So how do you find the perfect niche?
Well, it doesn’t really exist as nothing is ever perfect.
However, I can show you how to simplify things so that you don’t give yourself a headache like I did.
From what sounds so easy, is actually something a lot more complicated.
But before we get into the good stuff, let’s see if you even know what you are really getting yourself into.
What is a Niche (Market)?
First of all I’d like to give credit to a very good buddy of mine (Kyle from WA) for giving me a very clear understanding of what a niche is.
Without his expertise, I would’ve never really understood what it is.
Now I don’t usually regurgitate things I hear but the definition of a niche market is as simple and as common as it gets.
So I’m going to give you the way everyone knows it.
A niche, is simply a targeted group of people who are looking for something.
Not just something, but something very specific.
That definition alone is just enough for you to go broad and probably get you into more trouble than you thought.
How to Really Understand a Niche
At this point, you’re probably still trying to understand what the heck I was talking about.
You probably had that “aha” moment and then you actually thought about it and realized that you’re still lost.
Here is how I would break down a topic to find my niche.
For example, you would think that “dogs” would be a niche, but in online marketing world, that is just a topic.
Even if you broke it down just a little more with something like “dog training”, I would still consider that a “topic”.
Are you seeing where this is going?
Now let me show you what a niche would be exactly and this should give you the best understanding of what a niche really is.
This example may sound a little weird to you, but believe me, it is very targeted and there is a big “group of people” (millions) that are looking for this exact thing and a lot more.
“How to train a Jack Russell Terrier”.
This is a great niche and is very targeted with not too much competition.
With this specific niche, you can find the lowest competition keywords and still get ranked in Google fairly easily with just some basic SEO knowledge.
For most of you, that definition will really help in finding your niche and should make you understand what it really is.
Are you grasping the whole niche concept or are you still wrapped up around too many broad topics?
Just browse through some actual passions and/or interests you may have and you will get better at this.
From Niche to Money – The Process
Worry about the money now and trust me, you will get nowhere.
I know that’s why we do what we do but it doesn’t work that way.
Focus on writing about your niche, and you will see how online marketing is really done.
Content, content content!
That is what will make you money.
Create quality engaging content and you will see results.
Slowly but surely.
I’ll admit though, when I first started, I was too busy worrying about the money and I actually gave up.
Yup, I actually quit.
But then I got back online and got trained by the best in the business and that is when things start to fall in place.
Your niche DOES NOT need to be about selling, buying, or making money either, unless it is an actual passion of yours.
Talking about skateboarding or making some kind of arts and craft website is totally a great topic.
Now break that down, and let’s find that niche that WILL MAKE YOU MONEY.
Be Passionate or Forget About it
Too many people worry about the money and end up choosing a niche that they don’t know much about.
Not only is this something you are going to be interested in but millions of others that are on the same place you are.
The internet.
Remember that in the end, you are blogging for a real person, and this person will see how passionate and knowledgeable you are about your niche.
So please pick something that you can go on and on about or you might end up quitting like I did.
If you’re passionate about photography, break it down, and get at niche that targets “a group” in photography.
Remember that photography is NOT a niche, it is a topic.
“Best camera lenses” or “action photography” would actually be a niche.
So target those looking for something in those niches, do some product reviews, and get indulged in things as this is truly an awesome business.
But What if There’s No Money in My Niche?
You can ask anyone that has done this (who actually makes money) and they will tell you that any niche is profitable.
I don’t care if it’s about “How to make a dog stop biting things” or “How to do arts and crafts”, they all have a market and a big one at that.
Remember guys, the internet has billions of users every single day and not every single one of them is looking for a specific product.
If you break down these people by 1% and you tag them to a specific niche, how many people do you think that covers?
Millions and millions of people!
And if you think that affiliate marketing is the only way to make money, think again.
With companies like Monumetric you can make money with advertising.
Unlike Google Adsense that pays you per click, Monumetric will pay for every view that each ad gets on your site.
Yup, it is pretty crazy.
So when you think that your niche is not a money maker, think again.
The online world is a crazy place and with some basic online marketing skills and a solid niche, you can make a living online just like I do.
I hope this article helped you understand what a niche really is.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Thanks for reading and happy blogging!
Good afternoon,greetings from the philippines.I happen to stumble your site and its very interesting..I have been doing and listening to webinars and the likes but all of them ask me to pay a huge amount to learn about affiliate marketing,sell digital products wether mine or not.and always they say find my niche,its just here that i trully understand what niche is all about…Now can you be possibly tell me whats my best niche?..I am a hairstylist for almost 20yrs but nothing of ROI.I am also a copywriter and an editor .WHAT do you suggest then for me..thanks john in advance
So you can really go with any of the three topics you’ve mentioned, from the hairstylist, copywriter, or editor categories. What you need to think about is what topic you think you can keep going on and on about and then go with that as your niche.
That was helpful John…I still would like your input though.
Thank you,
Carol
What would you like my input on Carol?
This is one of the best down to earth explanations of what a niche really is and what it means to internet marketers. I like what you are doing with your website. I’m a Wealthy Affiliate, too. A lot of folks want to work from home. I know I do.