How to Choose and Research A Make Money Niche

Today’s Sponsor: Kim Witherspoon
Resources Mentioned: Word Tracker, Ezinearticles, Google

Last time you started learning about the different ways you can research a market to see if it’s profitable.

Let’s pick up where we left off…

 b) Search Google

This is easy – enter your broad keywords into Google (such as “Mountain Bikes or bodybuilding” ) and see what comes up. You’re looking for two things:

1. The organic results. These are the regular search engine results. Pay attention to the top sites (those on the first page).

 What are these sites selling? If many of the top sites are directly selling products or services – or if they carry ads for products and services – that’s a good sign. And if they’re selling similar items, that’s a clue about which particular kinds of products are popular.

Secondly, look at the competition. Are there plenty of sites in the results? Again, that’s generally a good sign, because it shows some demand.

2. The sponsored results. You also want to look at the paid ads that appear at the top, bottom and along the sides of the results. If there are only a couple ads, be worried. But if all the ad slots are taken, that’s good – because marketers don’t spend money advertising if there are no willing buyers.

c) Do a Keyword Search

Next, check out a keyword tool like WordTracker.com, Google Keyword Planner or your favorite tool. Enter your broad keywords. Do you see a lot of results? Do you see evidence that people are looking to buy?

Example: You might see searches for product names (e.g., [product name] review).

If you discover a lot of searches and you also notice that some of them are from buyers, that’s a good sign.

Example: A search like “buy [product name]” is a clear indication that the searcher is a real prospect.

d) Check Offline Publications

Now look at offline publications related to your market. For starters, are there magazines devoted just to your market?

Example: If you’re interested in dog training, then you’d quickly notice several dog-related magazines.

That alone is a good sign. But you also want to browse through these magazines and see what type of paid advertising appears in the publication. This will give you a clue about what’s hot in that market right now.

e) Keep an Eye Out for Other Paid Advertising

Listen to the radio and watch TV. Are there any channels or stations related to your market? If not, can you find any specific TV programs related to your market?

And if you watch the commercials, you’ll see plenty of paid advertisements for paid products. Both the show and the commercials indicate there is a demand for products in the market.

f) Look for Offline Marketplaces

Finally, you can look to offline marketplaces to see if there is a demand. You can look for retail shops or entire sections in big stores devoted to your market.

You should also look for offline events, like trade shows, conferences, and workshops in your market.

Final Stage Of Niche Research

The last part of research is getting an understanding of what types of products and affiliate programs exist for the niche. This will allow you to identify what type of products are in the niche and what is profitable.

Look at competitor products, generate your own product ideas, look for voids in the market, and even look at affiliate marketplaces and affiliate programs to get an idea.

When you look at affiliate marketplaces you are just trying to get an idea of what kind of products are available for the niche. This doesn’t mean that you have to monetize with affiliate products. Do this step to get an idea of what is already out there and to get potential product ideas.

Check out affiliate networks such as Amazon's Affiliate Program, Clickbank, Commission Junction, Alibaba, JVZOO, Ebay, Warrior Forum and many more.

Another great way to find affiliate programs for your niche is Googling your main keywords along with the words “affiliate program.”

If you niche was Day Trading you would Google:

Day Trading Affiliate Program.

It's as easy as that.

Next, let's head over to Ezinearticles to get some ideas. Go to the Ezinearticles sitemap. It breaks things down by category and subcategory. From there you can pick a sub-category and drill down to articles. This site is loaded with potential ideas for you to look at.

Bonus tip: There is a very cool website buzzsumo.com that lets you search for top content and influencers based on keywords that you type in.  They have an algorithm that ranks the content and influencers based on social shares, page rank, page authority, and more.

This is a great place to look for competitors and influencers in your niche. It can also be a great place to get ideas for content, products, partnerships, guest blogging spots, finding writers and more.

Choose A Niche For Your Blog

Once you do all the research described in this lesson and the last, it will quickly become clear which of your potential markets have the most profit potential.  Also, don’t forget to consider your interests. It is really hard to write about a topic you are not interested in so this is key.

If you have a couple that seem to be equal, then just choose the market you think you’d enjoy the most.

Today’s task: Complete the research as described above.

Now that you have done all the research it is time to choose your niche. Consider all the things you reviewed today and make your decision.

Tomorrow you’ll start learning how to set up your blog!

Filed in: 30 Day Business Blogging Challenge • Make Money Online • Niche Selection