How To Pick A Niche That Leads To Success!

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One of the biggest issues I've noticed with new WA members is trying to figure out a niche. This surprises me because I always expected the biggest problems would be the technical or marketing. But Kyle and Carson have made that aspect damn near dummy proof because of the training and the fact you have so much support via live chat or the actual technical support staff.

But selecting a niche is usually what stops people dead in their tracks. So I'm going to try to help you address this problem so you can improve your chances of long term success.


1. What topic can you discuss non-stop?

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when picking a niche is they think short term. Folks are under the misconception that after you build your website and put up a few pages you're done. But that's like buying a new car and never putting gas in it. That car may look nice but it will never go anywhere because you haven't done your part by giving it gas regularly. In this case, your website is the car and the gas it needs is new articles (aka posts) regularly. The amount and schedule vary depending on who you talk to. But a safe place to start is to do at least 1-2 new articles per week.

So it's important to pick a niche that you could literally have a conversation about every week without fail because ultimately that's all writing content is. Your articles should really be like having a discussion with a close friend where you're sharing advice and tips. If you're considering a niche that you couldn't have a discussion about in person for many years to come, then you shouldn't pick it! Yeah, I said it and it may fly in the face of what others tell you. But that's my observation given my experience with many members here.

You're going to hit a wall and run out of content ideas and will fail. So take a step back and think about topics, situations or passions you currently have or find yourself discussing a lot. Take into consideration where you may spend a lot of time online or when you have free time. People think they don't have a passion but we all do. It's just a matter of taking notice of what it is. You probably do things that are so habitual you're not realizing that is what your passion is. So you might want to have someone close to you from the outside tell you what they think you spend most of your time doing or know a lot about. It might give you a perspective that you never even considered. Either way, whatever your niche is, you need to be able to write new content regularly. And it shouldn't be hard to do if you pick the right niche.

TIP: Here's an article that will help those of you who are scared or struggling with the concept of writing articles for your blog: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/eddysalomon/blog/a...


2. Don't follow the money...kind of!

Yes, I know it's counter-intuitive as hell because we're all here to make money. But if you're just picking a niche like the "make money niche" for instance because you know folks like myself, Kyle & Carson do very well with it, it's not a good enough reason. I actually picked my make money niche by accident. I was literally fascinated with the idea of making online and really passionate about learning all the little ways you could make money online. It was something I would literally spend hours online researching for fun and obviously to help me make money. But even when I wasn't making money from it, I really get excited anytime I learn about a new way to make money. So that's the reason I picked the niche. I lived it. And fortunately, it happens to make money.

But if you just jump into a niche because you heard it makes tons of money, chances are you'll abandon it if you don't see that money right away. You're basically setting yourself up for failure because once the novelty wears off, you'll get discouraged and give up. Whereas if you've picked a topic that you're already passionate about and spending time on just for fun, you'll still do it. And then when you finally do make money it will be the bonus! Now with that said, when you are considering a niche you still need to know if it does make money.

So I do recommend doing a google search for blogs related to your niche and see how they're monetizing their blogs. Attempt to determine what they're promoting. If you don't see blogs that are promoting products and services then it probably means they aren't making money. So that may be a bad sign for you even if you're passionate or knowledgeable about the niche. It may mean there aren't any real products you can promote to make money. So it's bad from a business standpoint. This is different from just picking a niche where you have no knowledge, passion or experience but you're picking it because you've heard it makes money. So keep that in mind.


3. Are people actively looking for answers?

Despite what you may have heard, you don't want to pick a niche just because it's your hobby and passion. I know it flies in the face of what you've learned but hear me out. Yes passion is part of the equation. But you should also take into consideration if people are actively looking for this niche in google to solve a problem. Sure, I can start a site on my love for Star Trek. But I probably wouldn't make much money with this site because it's not solving an issue per se. Whereas if I start a website about growing a beard, that would attract people like myself that are actively looking for advice and products to help grow a lavish beard. And that brings me to my next requirement.


4. Is Your Audience Willing To Spend Money?

At the end of the day most of you are here to make money with your site. So you need to pick niches where people are actively looking for products and services that they are willing to pay for. Maybe you may want to start a website about helping under served youth. And that intention is great. But it's not going to make you any money because your audience isn't looking to spend money because they probably don't have it.

Going back to my beard site example, people that want to grow a beard are willing to pay money to buy products and accessories to help them with that. They're actively looking on Google for solutions and reviews on products that claim to give them a solution. It's a niche with buyer's intent. This is very important when selecting your niche. Is your audience willing and expecting to spend money for solutions? Are there products you can recommend and review? If you can't say yes with confidence, then this niche is unlikely to make you money even if it meets the other requirements I listed above.


5. Take your time!

I get it, you're super excited about getting started. You want to get to the making money aspect, so you haphazardly pick a niche. Unfortunately what ends up happening with many people is, you realize later that you've picked the wrong niche. So now the idea of starting all over again is daunting and you end up giving up. Stop this process from even happening by taking a step back first. Again, this advice may go against what's taught here. But maybe you shouldn't pick a niche at the start of your training. Maybe it's better to just read through the training so you can really see what's going to be involved ongoing. Then you come back and decide on a niche because you have a better understanding of the process and what you'll be doing.

I think this may be helpful to many people because I've seen how some people don't realize that they'll need to continue to write regularly to make this work. They just assume after they pick their niche and set up their site with a few pages they're done and the money comes in. It obviously doesn't. So I think you really need to take your time before picking a niche.


What To Do Next?

Well I have provided you some of the most important things to consider regarding picking a niche. You should feel relieved that your niche idea meets what I laid out. Or you may be feeling a little stressed because your initial idea is now out of the question. You're good either way. Here are some additional steps to take to help you finalize your niche or find one that is better suited for success.

1. Ask yourself what activities occupy your free time. Maybe it's a hobby or perhaps you have a lot of experience in a topic because of your job. Or maybe it's something you do for fun. Ask your friends and family what they think you're really good at or know a lot about.

2. Search google to determine if there are blogs covering the topic you've identified. A niche works best when people will go to google to search for more information or to solve a problem. For instance, someone may do a search for an iPhone review. Someone else may search google to learn how to do something. Another person may search for the top tips or products for a given niche. So your niche should mimic this.

3. Now dive deeper into these blogs to identify if the bloggers are promoting products to help people in this niche. What are they recommending in their articles via links or banners? If they aren't promoting anything then there is probably no money to be made. Let it go and move on to another niche idea.

4. Now decide if you'll be able to write at least one article per week. Keep it simple. Are there a lot of products you can write a simple review? Can you create "how to" articles? Or can you do "list style" articles such as" top "3 tips, etc? You want to pick something that makes coming up with content easy. Reviewing products in a niche is simple even if you never bought them. Read this: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.co...

If you follow these steps, you'll eventually come to a niche that is designed for long term success.

I hope these tips help you narrow down your niche selection process. But let me know your thoughts down below by leaving a comment.

Once you have found your niche, now it's time to put it all together. I have a great cheat sheet here that will help you figure out how to write articles, make money, build your site properly and much more. Don't start your site without reading this cheat sheet here. You've been warned.

Thanks for reading.

Eddy with a y

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Recent Comments

791

Hey Eddy and WA people,

this article helped me gain a deeper understanding about niches, thanks Eddy.

Let me tell you what I thought of as my niche.

I want to build up a website that's all about hip hop producers, like their personal background, path to success, what equipment they use etc.
Regarding where the revenue would come from, I was thinking about mainly promoting the producer's music, finished songs as well as his/her beats that are for sale.
On top of that, I would also promote the equipment they are using through the Amazon affiliate program.

I’m curious about your opinion on my niche selection.
Also, write me your niche ideas, I'm always interested in hearing about other people's passions :)

Excellent article, Eddy! Really appreciate how frank and blunt you were in telling everyone "this is how it is... plain and simple!"
Your article has educated me (and i am sure others here) a little more but it still leaves me at a standstill as far as choosing a niche is concerned. Kyle is well aware of this issue i am facing... it's like either i have way too many small niches or just none at all.
I think i will start up a blog here to see and hear if other members are facing the same issue as mine. That will not only help me but will give other members a platform to voice their hurdles and there you big guys can come in and help us all in an open discussion... hopefully!
But all in all... great article. Well done.
Thank you Eddy. :)

I'm glad you liked it Manish

Very lightening and helpful... Actually now there is a struggle inside my mind on this topic and I was thinking on just take my time to decide, along with continuing with training stages, since this will give me a better insight of what is involved on this whole process... Thanks a lot!

You're welcome Miguel

This article helped me out so much! Thank you for sharing this.
I too felt a bit rushed in picking a niche and now have not yet moved forward with the course because I was a bit stuck. It's what has stopped me many times in fact, but I won't let it this time. I have a few niche ideas now and with the help of your article I am drilling them down to see if there's a market and if I can write enough content topics about it.

Thanks again!

You're welcome Fay!

Glad you liked it!

Excellent viewpoint and advice. I'm one of those people that chose too quickly and now I'm having trouble moving forward because the niche is a struggle for me. Should I start over with another stern box site or try to continue with what I started for the practice. Thanks for taking the time to help others. Debbie

I'm glad you liked it. If you're niche meets what I mentioned above then you may want to push forward. But if it doesn't meet those requirements you're probably better off starting over. And that's ok. Many of us have experienced this.

Thanks again. I may do both!

You're welcome

Yeah I am not fond of the tutoring website.. I would be awesome at tutoring because I love to teach.. I also love helping people get organized for college classes but once again our school district offers that to each school it's up to the student to seek it out.. Last three niches are interesting a non profit business in education and the other two would be writing website and and the last one would be blog about how my journey to lose weight.. once again I am trying to figure it..

Your article was a good read but I just don't know which one to start for now.. I was thinking of the weight loss since I am trying to learn about meal planning and how to correctly exercise.. its all weird but I wish their was more help but it's like a big severer.. however that is how they make money..

If your niches don't really meet with the requirements listed above then they should be eliminated. So the article should really help you narrow it down. Weight lost is very competitive so it would be tough to enter unless you get into a sub niche where you're focused on a certain technique or diet plan. But that may limit the amount of content you can write. So follow my advice above and take some more time to consider a niche.

It's better to take your time to find something that can actually meet the requirements I laid out above.

How did Labella basket company work for you?

Nan, I never did Labella. But I did review it on my site:
http://www.workathomenoscams.com/2010/08/31/is-la-bella-baskets-a-scam/

Great advice! Good to know it is best to just take my time, read as much as I can, get a better idea of what will be involved, before picking a niche. My interest for a long time has been how to make money online. Traded stocks from home for a number of years very successfully, but lost my touch or maybe I just was not enjoying it as much anymore.

I like the freedom of working at home and online. Searching for other ways to do that led me to PTC's. I enjoy those websites, some more than others. I found that through surveys and videos I was learning some very useful and interesting information on a variety of topics. But I knew from the start I would never make as much as I would like just doing surveys and watching videos.

Need to take my time and read read read - which at this point I would prefer to do.

Thanks, Eddy. Another very helpful article, as usual.

You're welcome Fran

Thank you for this article Eddy! I have a good niche that I'm passionate about that actually makes money already( Hallelujah!) But this is good to refer back to whenever I start picking other niches. Loved tip number three especially! Very wise advice! I was wondering about how to do product reviews on things you've never bought! Thank you! Just what I was looking for! Will read!

You're very welcome Sarah.

This is a really helpful article for a newcomer like me. I am on lesson 5 of 10 and I chose my niche for my first website...but the course did not ask me to do any research into it first. I have been wondering if I made the right choice because I don't know if I can actually make money off of my idea. Thankfully, I did choose something I know a lot about and spend lots of my free time on anyway, so I am on the right track there. I am just still a little unclear on how to promote products (which will be cleared up in the following lessons I am sure), so think it would have been better to finish all lessons before choosing a niche as you suggest. Thanks for the great tips!

I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

So I am having a hard time coming up with a niche. Did you figure out how to promote products with it in the later lessons?

Well hopefully you've read the article above to help you figure one out. Promoting affiliate companies is definitely discussed in later lessons. But it's not really a complicated process. Once you pick a niche then it's just a matter of finding affiliate companies related to your niche. Applying to those companies. Assuming you get approved you just start placing the affiliate links they provide you on your site. So it's pretty straightforward. Again it's discussed later. But that part is less important. Figuring out your niche and being able to produce content consistently is going to be the key to the make money part.

Thanks Eddy for another great article! I know that I can make money with my niche of natural hair care! I could talk about this for days on end! It's actually a very profitable business right now! Hair is my passion, and I love educating others on how to do it! Now I have to learn how to set up my page, structure everything, and make it flow altogether!

That definitely can work. I know a fellow blogger that is in that niche and does well.

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