Niche Research Tips | Niche Reaper Lenses

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There is some debate in the AM world about what constitutes a niche and what is the best approach to research. So let me give you our take, one that has proven the most successful for us in the past and is particularly pertinent in these challenging economic times...

One of the biggest mistake most people make is to find a product first. They then throw up a website or blog, add their affiliate links and expect the sales to role in... a very hit and miss approach and potentially very costly.

Don't make that mistake. Find your niche first!

A niche is simply a group of people who are interested in and preferably passionate about, a particular topic. It could be a hobby, a sport, a concern, a desire... in fact just about anything. Niches are ALL around us.

So where do we start...

First, put away any keyword tools and the like you may have. We will look at some of these later but for now we are concentrating on people.

There are literally hundreds of places you can look for niches like Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines, forums, blogs, etc...and don't forget the 'real' world. Your local bookstore or shopping mall, the cinema or TV. The list is endless but let's make a start...

I use my TV Guide Method to start the process. It's simple and anyone can do this in about 15 minutes...

Grab today's TV guide (if you don't watch TV, don't worry just grab a guide.)

Now, in the UK there are currently five main terrestrial TV channels. If there are more or less where you are located, that's fine, two or three will probably suffice.

Next, get a blank sheet of paper and divide it into roughly a hundred squares.

Start at the top of the TV guide and work down the list of programmes and note in the boxes on your sheet of paper what the programmes are about.

Group your broad topics into area like Parenting, Fashion, People, Health, Sport, etc. Then under those get a little more targeted. So, under Parenting you would have Pregnancy, Babies, Toddlers, Teens, etc. Get the Idea?

Now, these are very broad at the moment and we now need to move on to the next stage to start to drill down on specific niches that we are interested in.

A good tip here, particularly if this is your first attempt, is to focus now on areas you are interested in. Are you a passionate golfer? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you pregnant or are you a parent?

You see, to sell to your niche you will need to become 'one of them' and it's much easier if you are one of them already. Don't be put off at this stage though, if you think you don't have any interests that you could sell anything to.

Keep your mind open...

Start to think about a couple of things when you are drilling down to find a niche:-

1.Do they have money to spend? They don't have to be loaded but must be willing and able to spend hard earned money.

2.Are they likely to be really desperate or fanatical about their interest. A first time mother for example will do just about anything to ensure her baby gets the best of everything.

Here are some great places to start looking further into your niches:-

Meetup.com - you can find all sorts of passionate groups here.

Magazine.com - Magazines are stuffed with adverts for things to buy for their readers.

Amazon.com - What's hot right now. What's the subject?

Yahoo Buzz - Current hot topics on Yahoo!

Ebay Hot Categories Report - Current hot topics on Ebay!

dmoz.org - Hundreds of thousands of niche possibilities here!

Check for forums

A good test to verify whether your niche is a hungry one or not, is to check to see how many forums exist for it and how active they are.

So, in Google search on 'your niche + forum'

Don't do this to death at this point. If you can't find a forum for a particular niche, then the chances are they aren't that hungry anyway. So drop that niche for now. Don't spend hours hanging around in the forums either at this point. But if you spot any obvious concerns or desires make a note of them.

Check the Article Directories

Head on over to EzineArticles.com and GoArticles.com and check for articles for your niches. Are there many? What are they about? If you spot any good ones grab a copy.

Go for the Long Tail

Now, those two niches I mentioned above (golf, pregnancy) are way too broad so you also need to drill right down into your topics to find the really hungry niches. As an example for a topic I'll use 'sausages'.

So, our broad topic is 'sausages'.
A sub niche would be 'make sausages' (or 'cook sausages')
A sub niche of that would be 'make beef sausages'
A sub niche of that would be 'make german beef sausages'

And a good long tail keyword would be 'how to make german beef sausages'

You'll have much better chance of getting your articles, lenses, blog posts and websites ranked well in Google, etc if you are highly targeted!

Google Trends

Google Trends contains a wealth of information stored by Google on what people are searching on. You can see in graphical form search trends over time but it doesn't give the actual numbers. The data is by default historic and should be treated with a pinch of salt. However it is useful for comparing niches. On the main search screen you can type in one or more topics (e.g. golf, pregnancy) and see how the two compare in terms of searches.

Google Insights contains even more detailed information on rising trends, demographics, etc

BlogPulse search the blogosphere to see what's buzzing in blogland,

Here's a link to a video Thad made that won him the $500 Wealthy Affiliate Challenge winning thread. (He actually ended up winning a trip to Vegas on the back of this!)

Enjoy!! There's some real light bulb moments here!

Video on Purse Research, Product Selection, and Landing Page Sample

Here's another video from James Jones the creator of MicroNicheFinder :-

Generate Profits From Squidoo Lenses

Check out this great FREE tool!

It's called CashKeywords and you install it as a toolbar...

And what it does is help you organise your niche research with various options. So, you can kinda get at everything quickly and easily from one spot. Here's a screen shot:-



So, what does it do?

Briefly, you pop a keyword into the search box and then click on the various icons which then give you information on the following:-

* Keyword Phrases
* Affiliate Offers
* Trends
* Demographics
* News
* Articles
* Other Cool Stuff

It's a little fiddly at first and you have to have accounts for certain places but I think it's a good 'one stop shop' for your niche research.

Best thing to do is grab the download for CashKeywords here and then make sure you watch the short videos that come with it.

Remember, it's totally FREE!

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Niche Research Tips

Top Tips On Niche Research:-
> Defining A Niche
> Getting Started With Niche Research
> Hot Trends
> Organise Your Niche Research
> Using Keyword Tools

Niche Article Marketing Tips

Top Tips On Article Marketing:-
> Article Writing Tips
> Optimising & Structuring Your Articles
> How to Write A Compelling Author Bio
> Where & How to Submit Your Articles


Niche List Building Tips

Top Tips On List Building:-
> Why Use List Building?
> Automating Your List Building
> Capturing Leads
> Your Mail Messages Series
> Think Strategically

Niche Website Building Tips

Top Tips On Website Building:-
> Why Use Websites?
> Getting Started With Website Building
> Website Building Basics
> The Customer Buying Cycle
> Landing Pages

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