Has anyone ever gone into a dud niche??

[bornstein75]

Hi Guys,

I'm just wondering if anyone has ever set up a site, put heaps of effort in, to then find that it's a dud niche where no one buys anything, even after doing the market research which told you it was a profitable niche?

I guess I'm just nervous about a site i have set up...I haven't started building backlinks to it yet properly, and I am still working on it...but I'm just nervous if all this effort will pay off. I know it's a niche where people buy and the keyword gets traffic.....it's just that unknown I guess.

I just need some feedback and encouragement...

Cheers.

[philwong]

Hope you've done your market research before launching yourself in it. If you have and you think you can build something out of it, even if it's not in the 1000's (of people searching for that niche), then more power to you!

Small, highly targeted markets have a tendency to make better money than generic ones.

May the God of Wealth bestow his blessings on your business!

[Adriana]

If you've done your research before getting started, and will methodically build links and add quality content, there is no reason to worry. Of course, if you are in a competitive niche, it will take longer, but it's not impossible.

Wishing you success,

[Henrik Flensborg]

Hi Guys,

I'm just wondering if anyone has ever set up a site, put heaps of effort in, to then find that it's a dud niche where no one buys anything, even after doing the market research which told you it was a profitable niche?

I guess I'm just nervous about a site i have set up...I haven't started building backlinks to it yet properly, and I am still working on it...but I'm just nervous if all this effort will pay off. I know it's a niche where people buy and the keyword gets traffic.....it's just that unknown I guess.

I just need some feedback and encouragement...

Cheers.

I guess for me there's always that little bit of anciety and nervousness after launching a new site.

Was my research good enough?

Is this really a niche where people are buying and not just looking for information?

How much effort is needed for this specific niche to get a decent amount of traffic in terms of content and backlinks?

Some sites fizzle and never take off - that's the ones I learned the most from.

The sites that are successful doesn't really bring new insights - other than confirming that the current approach and perception of the mindsets of the visitors was ok.

Sometimes I've set up mockups on either Wordpress.com or blogspot.com just to see if an idea was able to hold water.

[AlexNewell]

If you've done your research then the niche won't be a dud but your approach to it may fail. Either the market wanted free info while you wanted to sell 'em stuff or your copy was crappy, your tone was wrong for the market.

If it ain't working just ask people here for feedback and we can make the site work. But one thing is certain - 100% of the effort you don't make will result in failure.

:-)

Go for It!!

[wade_watson]

If you've done your research then the niche won't be a dud but your approach to it may fail.

I'm not entirely sure that is generally true, even for an experienced marketer. And a newbie, of course, doesn't know for sure whether she/he has done the research properly. I think actual sales is the only way to be certain of a niche's market value. We know that the search figures Google and Wordtracker give us are at best valuable only for comparison's sake. The figures vary widely and there are other factors that may not be visible. There's no way to prove intent other than attempting a sale. Some here will recall that Ed Dale's 30 Day Challenge is entirely about niche pre-testing.

I think the best way to do this is to have a certain set of market testing actions and a certain time period in which to test your niches. That way you can compare it to other niches you've pursued. Of course, as long as you're not investing much time and money in a project it wouldn't hurt to keep it around.

Wade Watson

[ress]

You can setup a PPC campaign just to quickly test if the fish will bite. Although I haven't done it but I know few who are successful with it. If you ever decide to apply this method, choose your keywords wisely when you build your ad group.

Hope this helps

[Ellen C Braun]

One good rule of thumb regarding any niche is this:

Does it support a print magazine?

If the niche has a print magazine with ads, then it has potential profit!

[Ellen C Braun]

Hi Murky Waters,

Welcome aboard.

Sure, you may mention products here. You may even post affiliate links, although it's considered polite to mention that the link is your affiliate link.

We'd love to learn how to test ideas for only $5.00!

[AlexNewell]

"This is an affiliate link...

http://33a97c85e72q8m26r8ffx7ez73.ho....net/?tid=SSWT"

No kidding :-) ?

A very ugly one too...but it goes to a very good product, namely Commission Blueprint 2.0

I bought CommBlue, as it's called, when it first came out and had my PPC blues sorted out in double quick time.

I'd expect the 2.0 version to be even better.