What is a Niche - Part 1 - Your Job

If you are just starting or are new to Wealthy Affiliate, I'm pretty sure you asked yourself, what is a niche? We in America pronounce "niche" like the word "witch" whereas Kyle pronounces it like "leash" both beginning with an N. Regardless of how it sounds, it's the same exact thing.

WHAT IS A NICHE?

A niche is simply a product, service, activity and experience that others need or enjoy. Look at the blog image above. This is relevant to what I do for a job in healthcare, except I'm not the one pushing the wheelchair. I'm the transport driver in the vehicle and I wear masks and gloves too.

When I started at WA in 2013, I had a good grasp of what a niche was after going through Kyle's lesson. I had so many ideas and started looking at niches that would bring high commission payouts. I'm not saying that it's wrong to think that way, but I wish I had looked at my job first.

Many times I see new members having questions about what niche they should start with. If they have a detailed WA Bio with stuff like what they do for a living and the things they enjoy, I always ask, why don't you pick a niche from the things you mention in your member bio?

GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW

I am very BIG into natural holistic health and I had just retired from the Video Game Development industry. Naturally those were the two niches I chose for my first two websites. I had a ton of knowledge in both. When you have an understanding of your niche, content isn't a problem.

It is important that you either know your niche inside and out or you do a lot of research and learn your niche. You cannot effectively promote a product without at least trying it out for yourself. You could get lucky and pull it off, but it's always better to go with what you know.

In my absence and spotty showing here within the WA community, I started a new niche that is directly linked to what I do. There is money to be made in tragic situations. The only thing COVID-19 gave me, was a way to make money off of it, I've never tested positive for COVID.

My target audience for making this income were mainly my coworkers and even some of my patients. Everyone in healthcare wears some form of PPE, Personal Protective Equipment. Even patients have to wear at least a mask when going into an area of a hospital with sick people.

So I found a company that sells all kinds of PPE and it had an affiliate program. Even though I know much about this niche, because I use it, the best part of having this niche is that most PPE is a disposable product. A person wears the PPE for the moment and throws it out for a new one.

AN EVERGREEN NICHE ON STEROIDS

What is an Evergreen Niche? It's the type of niche where the product or service is always in demand. It's the type of niche that doesn't rely on timing, seasons, holidays or gimmicks to make a sale. Personal care products like soaps or consumables like vitamins are all evergreen niches.

However the PPE niche is an evergreen niche on steroids, especially when those consuming it are healthcare workers. During the height of COVID-19 I was going through a dozen pairs of gloves and about 7 masks per day. That's a huge amount of potential sales I knew were available.

You might be wondering, doesn't the medical establishment provide this PPE for people like me? They do if the medical company is directly associated with a hospital or medical facility. However the bulk of all non-emergency transportation providers are private companies.

This means that though we do the bulk of the work, we don't get the most from the PPE supply. So I've convinced many in my area of healthcare to use my affiliate link as a backup supply for those times when their employers are stingy on providing adequate amounts of PPE.

I really lucked out with this niche. Though this PPE company, like most others with an affiliate program requires people to have a website, they also will take an affiliate who can prove they are in healthcare. When your target audience are your coworkers, it was good enough for them.

CONSIDER YOUR CURRENT OR PAST JOB FOR YOUR NICHE

The point of this post is for you to look at what you do for a living or something you used to do, and see if there is an indispensable need for a certain product or service. Sometimes the perfect niche is right there in front of us. Don't just focus on what you think will have the highest payout.

Oftentimes a low cost disposable or consumable product, can earn you more income over time than something like a video game or LED lighting that don't need quick replacement. I'll be doing a Part 2 What is a Niche blog, using mainly images showing different niches. If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.