Is a Niche Picked or Created?

So often I hear new business hopefuls talking about how difficult it is to “pick” a niche.  Of all the ways to make money online, they seem to have difficulty making up their minds about the topic they want to focus on in their blog, or their affiliate marketing, or their product creation plans.

If this decision is difficult for you, I have a few suggestions that might get you past this roadblock of “picking a niche.” Many newbies struggle with the concept for various reasons.  I think it is a mistake to “pick a niche” in the same fashion you might “pick” an item for lunch off the restaurant menu.

You need to have a mindset change.  Think of “identifying” or discovering a niche rather than picking it from a long list of topics.  You see, I believe your first order of business is to identify the specific audience you intend to serve.  Second on the agenda is to “position” your business in the best way possible to serve that audience so that your business is unique and responsive to one or more audience needs or desires.  Yes, this exercise is all about how you intend to serve and help those who will pay you to do so.

Here are some considerations to think about:

1- It’s not just about your passion. You can also find a niche if you look at your strengths, your education, your past work experience, your hobbies, your desires (things you’d like to learn), your past training, and those things that others would say you’re good at doing. Any of these “advantages” you have (over other prospects in your audience) can lead you to a great business as you share your advantage with others who would like to know what you know or do what you have done.

2- Discovering a niche is only partly about you. It’s mostly about finding a demand in the marketplace that is not being met (or that is not met in a sound, thorough, cost-effective, or professional way.) You’ve heard about supply and demand in economics. You’ve got to find a demand that is not being met well enough or that is being under-served. It’s nearly impossible to create demand for a product or service without a sizable budget and a good length of time. Usually, demand is in the marketplace or it’s not. Many “would be” business owners fail because they don’t consider demand. They create a product or service only to find out (after going to a lot of effort) that no one wants it.  Just remember the phrase:  you are not your audience.

3- You don’t “pick a niche” like you pick a burger at McDonalds.  I mentioned this concept earlier – you find, discover, or create a niche that you can sell into as opposed to choosing or picking a niche from some list of usual topics. There is a huge difference. A niche is simply a “hole” or “gap” in the marketplace that you fill with your product or service. Hence, you observe or find the gaps in the current marketplace, then you create a product or roll out a service that exactly fills that gap. You create the solution to the demand in the market.

4- Always start the demand and niche discovery process by doing some simple and current research in the marketplace so you can find the gaps that exist. Until you understand the demand, you’re in no position to begin thinking about making your own product or selling someone else’s product (as an affiliate). When you grasp the demand (holes or gaps in the market), then it’s relatively easy to either find the perfect solution that someone else created or create a solution yourself. Remember this – always sell into demand. Don’t just guess, or have a hunch that something might sell well.

5- Others have said it’s best to go into competitive markets because that’s where the money is. That’s only partially true. Competitive markets are full of established businesses that have a great advantage over newcomers to that same marketplace. The way to enter a crowded market is to (again) find a gap in what’s being supplied already and carve out your own niche or space that is not currently being occupied. Be different than every other business. Find a unique solution to a problem that is only partially being addressed. If you are different, you will have no direct competition and with some effort you can establish your business brand and products (or services) among all the others in the marketplace.  But remember, you must understand what the audience is asking for; otherwise, being unique but unwanted by your prospects is no real advantage at all!

If you use these principles as the basis for creating your own niche, I think you will be on the right track to be successful in Internet marketing. Ninety percent (90% – my guess only) of the people new to this industry don’t consider these principles before they jump into a business niche – and as a result, they usually fail.

To your online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com