making money with my niche - not really (...at all!)

[erange]

okay...i'm new and i'm realizing i might be on here a lot. ;-)
(that elite membership is looking nice! lol)

i just want to make a little extra income - $500/mo
i think i can do that and i've already learned a lot...but i'm a perfectionist and i can't seem to pull the trigger until i have it all worked out. i know...bad curse. :-(

anyway...i've been researching markets. then creatively thinking of numerous niches. when i think i have a unique niche, i use market samurai to generate keywords. that's when i get confused...or discouraged.

i take those keywords and run them through an seo competition filter and the competition for every keyword in every niche is crazy difficult. am i over analyzing?

...or, maybe i find a really bizarre niche on 'chapstick sculptures' and hope to lead people to an affiliate site on cosmetics. i don't know...i'm frustrated.

eileen :-(

[Sherrifrost]

I think you may be over analyzing. If there is a lot of competition then that means there is money to be made in that niche. Jump in and earn some of it by being unique in your own way. You don't want to be the only one in your niche because there won't be any money there.

You should definitely join the Elite membership. I just joined in June and so glad I did. Perhaps you will get to your $500 per month goal much sooner than you would if you try to do it on your own.

[angienewton]

Yep, over analyzing!

I would choose something you have an interest in don't worry about looking at competition, etc. Let's brainstorm a little, what types of things do you have an interest in, want to do in life, etc.?

Totally agree you should jump into the elite group because it will cut your learning curve big time.

[erange]

thanks angie...i'd LOVE to brainstorm!

if we're just talking about things that i enjoy...hmmm:

running
children
soccer
gardening
technology (had to throw that one in there! lol)
cooking
vacations (anywhere with a beach)

...okay, i'm starting to get stuck. ;-)
(kinda a short list)

[angienewton]

A nice variety. I'm seeing a few things here like gardening and cooking together could work well, and running/soccer, but running you could do an entire site on, it's a huge niche with a ton of potential. I think tech stuff might be a bit hard to begin with unless you are REALLY into it. And travel is another huge niche that can work and you have narrowed it down to beach vacations which could be a cool thing (my favorite kind of vacation lol).

Thoughts? Have you come up with anything else?

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Eileen :)

Competition is a GOOD thing! It means you have more affiliate programs, more people to link with, more people to guest blog for, more forums & groups to network in, etc.

Try the exercise in this post: How to Choose a Niche (http://www.clicknewz.com/2281/how-to-choose-a-niche/)

Then check out this post on my blog about how I started a new niche affiliate blog with ZERO research: http://www.clicknewz.com/2917/case-study-new-niche-site/

Let me know if those posts raise any questions. :)

[Chris2]

Eileen - you'll love the elite forum, especially if you can join in the Brainstorming Hour (although replays are always available).

Lynn - As I was reading her list I thought - Oh, she needs to check out your travelinglowcarb site! I'd forgotten about the blog post on creating it, oops! So this is great.

Check that out Eileen. Also think about ways you could build a site around one of your topics but in some unique way or... see if you can combine a couple of them together. This is a lame example but... maybe great beaches for runners? (I'm not a runner but if I were I'd love to run on an isolated beach somewhere.)

Good luck.