When in search for a product or service to sell online (or off, for that matter), you must take some steps to get the perfect market (or some call it niche) that will have a high desirability in today’s marketplace. The public must want it! :-)
Normally, you’d research the supply and demand of a market first, then locate the product that market is demanding specifically. But let’s take a look at starting with the product first.
So how do you find that perfect thing to sell in your Internet business endeavors? There are many workshops that offer advice and recommendations, but it’s really you that has to come up with an answer. It’s crucial to find something that will give you a good chance at success.
First, get a list of products or services that are potential items you would like to market. Each thing on your list should be something you have some knowledge about… Don’t try and sell ski boots when you have never been skiing or have even looked at a ski boot. Of course, if you absolutely LOVE ski boots, you can always learn all about them! :-)
That brings up the other point… and one brought up by almost every seminar ever given on the subject—find something you love! When you are going to be spending hours and hours of your days (and sometimes nights) setting up your Internet business, working on building traffic and getting things moving, and this for the next 3-5 years, you better enjoy what you are doing.
So… the items you put on your list should be products or services that reflect specific skills or aptitude you have, hobbies you are interested in, or things you know a lot about. You can add items that you have a high interest in learning, too. Just don’t make the runway for takeoff too long by needing to devote a lot of study to the subject first.
The idea is to leverage and improve your strengths, not your weaknesses.
Break down your list into three sections. First, list all the things you enjoy doing, such as baking, drawing, traveling, etc. Then list all the things you are good at doing… which could also overlap the first list. Now list your unique skills, perhaps playing the piano, computer programming or the like. And finally, list all the things that you have a lot of knowledge about.
Work out for each thing on your list what could be a product or service entailing the action involved with each one. This will at least give you some ideas—maybe really interesting and unique ideas at that!
Let’s say you came up with a product to sell such as fishing equipment. Some folks feel more comfortable to narrow the product/market down to something less competitive and more specific than “fishing equipment.” Perhaps you could just sell reels, lines or rods. Now you will need to find out if there is a market for this product. You instinctively know that there is, but research it anyway.
Find out how many out there will be your competition (or possible future partners). How much demand is there for the product? And is that demand high enough to sustain a business? Is it just too low, go back up a step or two until the demand number gets exciting. And ask yourself how you could create something unique—something that could be a Unique Selling Proposition that would make you stand out from the competitive crowd?
Turning your product or content rich Web site into a profitable Internet business venture is really doable if you are doing something you love, you are selling a product that is in high demand, and you stand out from the crowd in what you offer. You’ll have fun running your business every day, and will know how to handle customers’ questions effectively.
What an adventure!
—Marcus Hochstadt
Hi Marcus! Great post. I am working on some new niche blogs and a few of them deal with things I really love and enjoy talking about. What do you think about creating a site that doesn’t involve something you’re interested in, but it’s something you know will sell?
Take the cell phone niche for instance, I doubt many people really love cell phones that much, but they earn a lot of money. I guess it’s finding something you like that actually does sell. Anyway, thanks a lot…you’ve given me some ideas:)
Good point, Bobby.
In that case, whenever folks propose a couple ideas and I ask them which of these ideas (sites) they can imagine working on every day for the next 3-5 years, they instantly strike out a couple. The ones you leave on paper are the ones you’re supposed to do, IMO.
This may not hold true though when you automate the whole process by having other people do all the work while you just collect the money.
But when you have personal contact with visitors and customers and/or are involved in content creation, the passion factor outweighs the money factor. Or in other words, the higher the passion factor the higher the amount of money you’ll make with that content rich Web site (besides the fact to start a new Web site only once the previous one is profitable).
So, I’m asking you, which of your ideas can you imagine doing for the next 3-5 years? :-)
~Marcus
Finding a profitable niche is verry important things to do because it determine where we want to lead our visitor thanks :)
So… the items you put on your list should be products or services that reflect specific skills or aptitude you have, hobbies you are interested in, or things you know a lot about. You can add items that you have a high interest in learning, too. Just don’t make the runway for takeoff too long by needing to devote a lot of study to the subject first.
The idea is to leverage and improve your strengths, not your weaknesses.
Hımm good article
Alışveriş & Kampanya
hey, thanks for this post..
it is interesting to read these kinds of posts.. on the internet i see about 10 – 20% of people saying “just follow the markets and money” and the other 80% saying “do something you are passionate about” but really it seems that you need to find a combination of both.. the sweet spot in the middle.. and i think that is what you were talking about here.
its also quite good to read other peoples comments on these kinds of things, i think everybody has something to contribute.
i like the idea of spending 2+ years on a topic.. ive started a few niche ideas and given up too quickly because i wasnt passionate or that interested in it, so its a good refresher to think about to the 2 – 3 year thing..
cheers
Paul
Great post…..finding the right niche is 50% of the battle – once you think it’s going to be worthwhile its worth sticking to it. I’ve run a couple of e commerce sites in the past that I wish I’d have stuck with!
Finding a profitable niche is very important things to do because it determine where we want to lead our visitor thanks :) <– I agree. And leading visitors are great way to making money. Once money start, everything follows.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Marcus,
I often am stuck when finding a profitable niche with very little competition.It seems that there are a lot of people who are interested on what I am interested in.
Any suggestion on how to find a profitable niche with minimal competition?
Jean,
Generally, competition is good. For me it means there’s a market (i.e., there’s money being made).
For more info please see…
http://www.KeywordResearchWizard.com
~Marcus
I agree, niche markets are the way to go online if you are just a small business. There is just too much competition with mainstream products. Thanks for the post :)
I agree with Paul – it’s all about finding the sweet spot. If you’ve got no passion for your niche – you’ll never feel motivated to work on it. But, if your niche is so small that nobody’s interested in it, all your work will be nothing more than a hobby.
The problem is, profitable niches often have too much competition that you will have a hard time penetrating it. Though, nothing really is easy online, it is still possible to penetrate competitive niches. Through hard work and dedication.
Your post has been more than helpful. I just started a blog about making money online and I do not have traffic. Can you help me out?
Thanks
Mladen
Great post. I’ve often struggled with bringing a spark of an idea into full blown creation. Partly because it’s hard to be sure people will be interested and at times it can be hard researching a need or demand. Thanks for the post.
Starting a business online has never been easier. Template driven sites that offer the ability to build a site without the knowing any internet code are often affordable and quick.
When i was started as an affiliate marketer, I don’t know much about traffic or should i say SEO stuff. Few months later, a friend of mine introduced me to google insights. This is a hot spot for me coz I know which niches to target. I also check on ebay and amazon. Look on their best sellers and you can start from there.
@JP
Well, i guess you are right. But for me i use tools to find hot niches. Besides, affiliate marketing is a trial and error thing. Some of these tools are google insights for search, google search based KW tool, and word tracker.
Yes I have found that there is almost too much information out there for starting a business. The troulbe is in honing it down to figure out exactly what I want to market online. I am leaning toward digital products or knowledge rather than a physical product that can get returned.