Do you have something you know very well and love doing, but wished it could be a source of income? Are you an expert in a particular niche, profession or hobby? If so, let’s learn how to find a profitable niche in affiliate marketing!
What is a Niche?
“Niche” is an old French word for a crevice, a nook or cranny in a wall, or in nature. It has been adopted in modern language to mean one’s specialty or interests. In other words, a niche is one thing that you are very good at or specialize in. This can be a hobby, a profession or a particular talent.
Any niche can be profitable
“The riches are in the niches” has become a common saying in the online business community. Literally any niche you can think of can be a potential goldmine of opportunity. The only limit is your imagination.
One important requirement is that it be something that others also have an interest in. There’s no money in something nobody has interest in – right? This is something that others are searching for information about, or are they are ready to purchase and are looking for products and services related to the that niche. Anything that there is a market for.
At the same time, this should not be something that is so common that you have to compete with too many others offering the same. If it is too common, then it’s no longer a niche! This is what will make your niche a business, and bring in the money! It is a balancing act.
On any given day, millions of people search the internet for answers or “how to”s on a specific niche. This is where you can share your knowledge and answer these questions.
This is where you can potentially earn affiliate income by promoting a relevant product or service on your site.
What to look for in a niche
- Something that is in demand
- You are passionate about it
- You have a lot of experience with it
- Existing market is small but growing
- Low competition
- Highly specific – not too generic or common
Your niche should something that is currently in high demand but does not yet have a large market. This can be something that is new and trending. Look around on social media. Do internet searches. Talk with friends and neighbors and get an idea from many sources what the demand looks like.
The market should be a small under served market. Your niche is in demand but there are not a lot of existing websites that serve it.
You will want something that leverages your experience and knowledge. Doing this will make it easy for you to create lots of authoritative, relevant content on the subject.
It should also be something that is unique and specific. Avoid subjects that a very general. For example, “gardening” is very general. Something more specific could be “organic gardening”. Going even more specific, it could be a specialty like “organic herb gardening”. The niche is small, but in demand. There are enough people looking for information, products and services related to it.
You will want something that has low search engine results competition. This can be determined by performing keyword research. You can build a very profitable business by writing posts that target low competition search results.
The above are a number of points that make an “ideal” niche. Your chosen niche does not necessarily have to meet all the criteria listed above. It is still possible to be profitable. It is matter of being creative with your website and getting the right tools and training.
Choose one niche and focus on it
Chances are you probably have several ideas swirling around in your mind at any moment. Where do we start? At some point you’ll want to choose one niche and focus your energy on it. Pursuing too many different niches will dilute the “authority” of your site on a specific niche. As mentioned, this should be something that you and many others are interested in. Don’t hurry – take your time and do some research on that ideal niche for your business!
Become an authority on your niche
“Jack of all trades and master of none” – we’ve all heard that cliché before! This is why it is crucial to narrow down to one niche and focus laser-sharp on it. Doesn’t it make sense to put your energy into building one strong niche business rather than a dozen weak ones?
This where you can become an “authority site” on your subject matter. These are the niche sites that consistently appear at the top of web search results when people search on that niche.
This is why ideal niches are those for which you are an expert.
Start with small goals and grow
Empires are not built overnight, but little steps can be done each and every day. Each step will take you in the direction of building your dream empire. There will of course be setbacks and periods of discouragement, but look at these as only temporary hiccups. In the long term you’ll look back on these as learning opportunities. By starting small and making small mistakes you can avoid bigger mistakes down the road that are harder to fix! No great accomplishments were achieved in one straight line. It is the net result of taking several steps forward, having to take a few backwards, having to take a detour, or just having to stop for a rest! At the end of the day, you’ve made steps forward. These will add up over time.
It is much easier to reach a goal of say one first affiliate sale that to say “I want to make $1000 a day” even though that is very attainable in time. Start small and learn from small mistakes.
Take what works and scale up on that.
Summing up and next steps
Hopefully this article has given you some motivation on how to find a profitable niche. Let’s lay out some next steps from here to get this ball rolling!
Want to get a jump start on your niche business? Come check out my review of Wealthy Affiliate – one of the best online affiliate marketing training courses anywhere!
Feel free to ask questions or comment in the comments section below!
Wishing you best in your online business endeavors!
