Why Do We Need Niche Marketing?

Why do we tell you to start an online business doing what you like?  Actually, it’s for several reasons.  First of all, if you do what you like, you will stick with it longer and have a better chance of making that business very profitable.  Secondly, if you find something you like, it’s also likely that you know a lot about it.  What do you have a passion for?  It could be growing tomatoes, or making jewelry.  Whatever it is, it’s yours.  You own it.  You have the knowledge, the ideas, and believe it or not, the capacity to share the product, or service with someone else. You know how it works and you generally know whether other people like it, and how to make it into a niche product that sells.

Why do you need a niche product?  Because it’s very difficult to be all things to all people, including customers, even in a particular category.  Your favorite pet store doesn’t have everything you may want or need for your pet.  I just went to Home Depot last week and couldn’t find the plumbing part I needed.  Guess where I found it?  At a small, local plumbing store that focuses on specific plumbing products.  It was perfect for me when I needed it.

A niche is a smaller segment of the overall market.  It needs to be focused and targeted.  This is the opposite of broad and comprehensive. Using niche markets are how people shop online and offline.  Have you ever heard of someone walking into a Wal-Mart and buying all the products in the store?  No way.  It doesn’t happen.  Customers search, and browse, and compare, then make a choice based on what they want in their niche market.  They don’t try on a dozen sandals and then buy a tie.  This is what happens in a search engine too.  Potential visitors search for specific items, products, or information. They want to be given pages of results that take them right to what they searched for.  They don’t want to be given Poodles when they asked for Dalmatians, or SUV’s, when they asked for trucks.

Niches also need to be reachable.  It’s great to be focused and targeted, but you also need customers.  If you are too targeted, you may run out of people looking for your services.  How many people do you suppose would buy an ebook on badminton rules in Japanese?  I can’t think of any either.  The internet is great for finding narrow, targeted niches with lots of potential customers, and it’s easy to test.  Here are some types of niches you could look for with your product or service.  Look for demographic niches, hobby niches, or occupational niches, and hundreds of other sub-niches if you take the time to brainstorm a little.

Some places you can go to search and test your niche are:
Amazon - look for books written in your niche.  Are people buying them?
eBay Pulse - a snapshot of current trends and hot picks in various niches on ebay.
YouTube - what videos are people watching?  What niches are on videos focused on?
Magazines - online and off-line magazine articles and ads are a great source of niche markets.
Online Forums - search for “keyword phrase” + forum in search engines for specific niches.

By using these ideas and tools you should be able to start a profitable niche market for your online business.
Copyright 2008 Brian Skog