Everyone is on the hunt for a great niche. This is one of the things that tends to stump people who are just getting started, and also the thing that long-term internet marketers never stop looking for.
The initial response I generally hear is "They're all taken!" or "There is too much competition!" or "How can I ever compete with what's already out there?"...
The truth is it's not that competitive at all. That's a general statement of course, but its in reply to a general question. What I mean is that there are plenty of good niches left. Its just a matter of what you plan to offer... and how.
Even a saturated, competitive niche is full of opportunity.
Some markets may appear super-competitive or even "saturated" at first glance. But the truth is, very few of the websites or advertisements you see are true potential competitors. Much of what you see is going to be low quality bottom-level attempts at marketing that you can easily rise above with reasonable effort (and often, minimal effort).
Worst case scenario, if you have a fairly competitive niche in mind, look at ways you can leverage the power of your competitors - instead of competing with them directly.
Lets say that you are interested in a niche, for example, that is full of aggressive affiliate marketers. They have a solid claim on the first 3 pages of search engine results, and the advertising costs for pay-per-click are out of range. At first glance, you might toss that idea and move on.
But if you 'think outside the box', you might see the opportunity that lies in that scenario. The solution is to create a product, or write a report, and appeal to the affiliate marketers that already have a claim on that niche. What better way to leverage the competition than to have them making sales for you?!
Before you knock that idea, let me just say: it's much easier to write a 20-30 page report than it is to create and market your own affiliate site. 😉
Another great example is Blogs. You might think there are thousands and thousands of blogs out there - why would I want to start one of my own?
While its true that there are a lot of blogs online, its also true that most of them are junk. There are thousands and thousands of low quality blogs and abandoned blogs. Of those that are regularly updated, a certain percentage are actually high-quality unique content. And even those are spread across various niches.
There is actually more of a call for good blogs, great websites, unique content and new publishers than you might initially realize. People who hunt and fish 'religiously' for example, subscribe to a variety of magazines on those topics, and watch any good television program on the topic.
If you look at my bookshelf and magazine rack, you would notice a wide variety of authors and even topics - but all under the same general niche: business, success, entrepreneurship. Does anyone really pick just one author or one publisher - or even one website? No. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that this is not the only marketing/business type blog that you read or subscribe to either...
There is still plenty of room online for new publishers, great content, good offers, interesting slants, cool websites... yes, and even new competition.
Stop worrying about competition - and start figuring out how you can become it. Or even better - how you can leverage it.
Best,
About Lynn Terry
What a great post Lynn! I agree with you... going for quality content is always going to work, and those that are willing to think creatively will win. That's encouraging for those of us who make an honest living online.
And I'm beginning to rethink the entire concept of "competition". My greatest ally right now is a fellow mom who markets to the same niche... we've partnered together more than once, and that partnership will take me farther than I could go alone. 🙂
Carrie,I'm new as you'll see by my questions. I say new even thought I've been around for 2 years because I can't seem to figure out how to make any money. What do you do when you partner with someone and what are the benefits? Looking for help.
Sincerely Gail
Just this Lynn, your recent and previous comments about blogs really shamed for abandoning my blogs. Though inexperience was responsible.
Now I am seriously thinking of reviving it. But here is my question:
I have blogs hosted on blogger for several months now. But now if I host the same blog on my own domain won't that affect it's ranking on Google and other search engine?
I made the switch from Blogger to WordPress myself almost 2 years ago, and I decided to leave my blogger blog where it was - and start fresh on WordPress (vs the option of importing the data to the new blog). I did this so the old posts would keep their links and their rankings, and just started building out new at the new domain. That's what I would recommend if your current blogs are "working" for you.
Thank you for the post - it is encouraging and has given me lots of ideas!
I totally agree. The niche I've chosen is quite comprehensive with all kinds of smaller niches in it. I was very pleased this past weekend to see my work at putting up relevant content is paying off. I was ranked at 3/10. I had been staying unranked for several months and was beginning to despair. I was so hyped.
I know I need to keep it up. It was just so good to see something for the work.
Great work Karen - it takes a while to get indexed and established, but it just gets better and better from there if you stay consistent 😉
Hey Lynn,
I agree as far as niches goes. Because of the keyword research I do for people, I get to see
the craziest niches that have hardly any competitors to niches inside niches.
There are "plenty" of gimme keywords in niches that someone could easily rank 1-5 in google.
Pick one and run with it. 🙂
Dave
Great Post Lynn! I agree, there is no such thing as saturation and you can always make your chosen niche BETTER. 🙂
Love the way you gave the example of the books and authors. Its so true...We all have so many books on a particular topic. Every book has something different to it (the author's own touch) and I guess thats what makes it different...Competition can be daunting but in some ways its good - because you are all as a team spreading the word about the industry you are in.
Good also because it makes the market grow, and meets the growing needs of the consumers in that market. The higher the demand, the more competition, the more options become available across the board.
Lynn...Great post! and you're absolutely right, there is such a demand for good sites/blogs with quality content. My dad always told me, "Son, competition is good, it keeps you on your toes."
Hey Lynn-
Your last post about your home office remodel has several links that the niche wheels going around in my head!
I suggest everyone read it.
Great topic!
There ya go 😉
I have to agree, great post! I like the angle of creating a product for all those high ranking affiliates to sell and love.
Lynn,
Once again you've written a gem.
Thanks for the encouragement for those of us struggling through the find-a-niche maze. I've read that if you're in a maze the way to get out, although not the most direct route, is to just keep turning the same direction at every intersection and when you hit a dead end, turn around and keep turning in the same direction: always right or always left, whichever you chose from the beginning.
That must apply to niche mazes as well. Just keep heading in one direction until you're on the other side. Sounds frustrating and annoying, but eventually you MUST reach the other side, assuming some twisted mind doesn't move the walls on you... Sorry, that's the fiction writer in me, always tinkering with scenarios.
Thanks for the advice!
Deb
Interesting way to look at it, Deb! 😉
Not giving up is definitely the key.
I've found that it's not really about finding a general niche, but finding the small keywords. Lately I've been putting a huge focus on general topics and breaking down the pages into very small niches. AKA large sites with hundreds of pages (with each page being it's own niche).
Blogging is by far the best way to take advantage of this. With a general topic, you can create a niche post every single day. Thus taking advantage of the billions of untouched keyword phrases out there.
This is very intriguing and one of the best explanations of what I've been trying to do with 4 Niche sites that I have. Each blog page is it's own micro niche post using the relevant keywords.
I did this because I personally can't see myself setting up hundreds of individual sites.
Lynn, I KNOW that you have talked "written" about this, but I cannot seem to find a specific post (a post specifically dedicated to this topic) that you have made about taking a general niche and using each page/post as a way to break up the niche into micro niche keyword based categories.
I think you have just referred to this in various places within your blog.
I believe this is the post you're looking for:
http://www.clicknewz.com/2077/seo-content-choosing-keywords-phrases/
😀
I couldnt have said it better myself 😉
If you look at the ClickNewz stats, you'll see proof of this. Particularly in the keyword phrases used to attract new visitors to the site.
What I discovered is that as a small enterprise, I couldn't compete with the big players. THROUGH ANALYSIS, I discovered what people really wanted from my site (blog) and it wasn't what I thought it was.
When I concentrated on really, really small brand names (in my niche) my traffic spiked for about a week or so, each time I brought a new article out.
For specific products, I know that I'm the only person giving any in depth review, that makes me unique. Regardless of the fact the product are fairly low key, I'm still the main source of info for those products.
In a recent promotion given by http://www.inkclub.com, they sent me nearly 10 times my usual amount of traffic, because of one (badly written I thought) review that I wrote, about a product they were promoting. Nearly 10 times my usual traffic.
The only unfortunate technique that I've tried and failed, was email sign ups. After over 2 months of trying my best to promote email sign ups, I had a grand total of '0'. So I called it a day for email sign ups.
I understand the importance of email sign ups, but if it's not working, it's not working. There's more than one way to skin a cat!
Hi Matthew,
I replied to your comment in detail here:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1163/website-reviews-headphonedeals/
😉
If the niche ain't crowded, then I usually don't want to play in that arena.
Personally I think there is nothing better then a bunch of competition.
I have some obscure sites in niches that are not that popular and they don't do nearly as well as the ones that have millions of interested people.
Just my observation.
The more the merrier!
J-Mo
I do think it helps if you like the topic. Not essential but helpful. The blog that I started for fun is doing much better than all the money blogs and sites I have. Very crowded market but because I love it I do more and t sounds more genuine. I got a Google 3 page rank on this blog that I only began in September and I make Adsence money on it. I am slightly embarrassed to say it is about cats!
I agree Liz - and have experienced the same 😉
Hello Lynn and all,
That's exactly where I am now -- niche research. I've had to hold off on much of it the past couple of weeks to get a large project done. But now that it's finished, I'm definitely back in the game -- to stay.
In the IM class I'm taking, I'm one of 2 or 3 students who are incredibly behind for various reasons. Most are way past the niche research thing, but I'm kind of stuck there.
I did Wordtracker for a topic I dearly love, and found it had very few searches. I'm not sure of the other methods, or related niches. I'm having a lot of problems on this.
I must choose my first affiliate product SOON. I need help researching!
So are you looking at researching a completely different niche now? Also - did you already have a product selected for that niche that had very few searches - or no?
Yes, there was one product in there that I found, I believe in Clickbank, that had promise, and Clickbank indicated that it was selling well.
But how can I put up a site, even a little product site, in a niche that has so few searches?
Can you leverage the larger core niche, or no? I would seriously consider getting into something that has room to grow and plenty of profit potential...
I'm not sure what you mean by "leverage" here. The larger niche is living abroad. I know nothing about how to find something with "room to grow and profit potential."
Ana, if you havent already, study some of this material I shared in last weeks webinar on that topic: http://www.clicknewz.com/keyword-research.htm
I've studied all of it thoroughly. One thing to remember: Wordtracker's free version only accounts for about 1% of all searches, since it only relies on MSN.
I wonder if part of my problem isn't also a matter of getting what you pay for: If I were to purchase Wordtracker, would I have better luck with my expert niche by getting Google's and other search engine results as well.
I could pick any number of niches you mention in all those lists, but my instructor insists you must be an expert in it so you can build your business around it, starting with your free report. How can you write a free report unless you know about the topic?
All I ever wanted in all of this was to establish a content site based on my favorite niche. I may have had credibility problems, but I felt I had enough initial knowledge and first-hand experience to move beyond that.
I believe, Lynn, that from everything you tell us, most of your income derives from your main niche which is internet marketing.
If I were to find a way to fit into that ... something I could add that hasn't been done to death ... my second greatest passion (aside from living abroad) is being free to do whatever you want (free from a job).
Lynn, you just mentioned that you started a site on musical instruments without any knowledge ... How are you handling the credibility thing if you know nothing about the topic? What qualifies you to run that site?
Tough questions, but ones you may get ...
Great question! I'll address that in my Passion vs Profit post 😉
In the meantime, feel free to take a look. Credibility simply isnt required for that site.
Ana,
Your instructor is on target for the lesson she is teaching, it sounds like. I have no idea what course you are taking or what is involved - but there are various business models online, and that sounds like a good one to me.
That said, its not the only one. And not everyone is an expert in anything at all, much less something profitable.
From what I understand you are looking at a micro-niche within the travel industry - which itself is a huge market. Right?
Ana,
If Clickbank statistics indicate the product is selling well, that means there is a demand for it. Some products are seasonal and have soft levels of searches during that time. I wouldn't rule out the niche, after all, many small niches combined all add up at the end of the day.
Ana,
The WordTracker stats are bugging me just a bit. MSN accounts for more than 1% of search engine traffic, this much I know for sure. Granted Google and Yahoo have bigger shares, but MSN does come in third. So where did those stats come from?
Kara, if you mean the Wordtracker results I got for my main niche of living abroad, they came from the free version of Wordtracker I used. So those "stats" come from the free version of Wordtracker ... right?
And David, I'm *assuming* that product was selling well. I'm too new in that to assume absolutely correctly. Thing is, how can a product sell well in a niche that has no searches?
Yes, Lynn, I'm now looking at some subniche within travel. I'm just not sure which one. At least for this class, which follows the "long-term," "expert" business model you indicated, I have to find something I'm good at writing about, and that has enough demand and products out there selling well.
Otherwise, you're right, I'll need another business model, such as having product sites.
I like your music site. Did you find all those products in places like Clickbank? And if you really know nothing about musical instruments, how did you judge which were good products?
Thank you - All of those products came from eBay listings, using the eBay affiliate program. It is part of BANS (Build A Niche Site) - the reviews are on the main page right now as a 3-part series of developing niche affiliate sites.
I have a dart site that is similar: CorkitUp.com (but I do actually throw darts lol - I play in the local league and am team captain).
Ana,
What I'm asking about is when you say you used WordTracker's free version, and since it only uses MSN it only accounts for 1%. I want to know where you got the stat of 1%, because MSN has more of a share of overall search traffic than just 1%.
Lynn says: "It is part of BANS (Build A Niche Site) - the reviews are on the main page right now as a 3-part series of developing niche affiliate sites."
I'll have to take a look at BANS, then. I'm not sure what you mean by the "reviews" being on the main page -- the main page of what? Not sure I'm on the same wavelength here 😉 But I'm trying ...
Kara, that's what I heard about MSN, that's what I thought Wordtracker said.
I'm still wondering whether I ought to buy a week or so (you can get a week) just to see what Google pops up with ... before I give it up entirely (It's my baby, it's mighty hard to just say goodbye to ... )
I meant on the main page of this site (you can get to it by clicking the HOME button in the top left corner of this page).
Also... there's not that many searches for the phrase "learn internet marketing"... but everybody wants to learn it 😀 Sometimes people dont search like you think they might!
Hi Lynn
It was just excellent for a newbie like me. The only one big problem i anticipate is getting unique contents for articles/blogs/sites.Could you guide the newbies where they can these free/economical rates.
Following you very closely
Yes, you'll want to see this post:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1521/create-unique-content-quickly/
And also sign up to hear more about Easy Unique Content, which is my upcoming guide on that same topic: http://www.EasyUniqueContent.com
Hi Lynn
I am one of those newbies you mentioned above, who is still learning.
I am going to read all your posts, jst to see if I can get some ideas as well. Great work!
You have shown that it is more than finding a niche, it is how you connect with the people that are looking for whatever it is you have to offer.
You are a great example to follow.
Hi Lynn
Great post once again n you have inspired
Thank you
So good content over bulk backlinks wins you think?
Great Info Lynn.
The fear of starting up a blog or idea shouldn't stop people getting creative.
Your words are true and inspiring.
The world online is still evolving and it's really only just begun.
Overload and fear of where to start should not stop would be future online marketing.
Something I am aspiring to.
Thanks for your input.
Keep well.
AussieMitch