I found a niche!
Finding my niche in online marketing seemed as if it would be easy enough. Because I have several passions, hobbies, and interests, I originally thought this would be very easy .... until I started to actually do it. I started to become lost.
I was having difficulty. I was worried my chosen niche would not have enough of a following. On the other hand, I was concerned that a chosen niche might be too generalized. So, I was back to ground zero. What to do? Act and go get help.
I asked for help via chat on Wealthy Affiliate, I know I can always go there and get immediate help and support. I posted four ideas I had for a niche. Very quickly it was explained to me that my ideas were elements of a niche and more appropriate for article writing and that they also read more like h2 keywords (of which I had to Google "what the heck is an h2 keyword?" ) I quickly understood that I had chosen a niche that was too narrow. I decided to sleep on it, literally.
Upon waking, I sat straight up in bed. It came so fast (amazing what REM does). I have already done this before, in fact, more than once.Here's on example:
I started working in the mineral and fossil trade in the 90's as a sole proprietor. I was very successful, and now, looking back, I understand why. I had a niche that worked! I had come across a very good source in getting top mineral and fossil specimens from South Africa and Madagascar. I started importing and my specimens were selling wonderfully. I noticed that most dealers in the trade were selling specimens mostly found in Brazil and Peru. That market was saturated. My minerals and fossils were very different. I had found a niche.
One more example:
Several years ago, I opened my own fashion-forward shop specializing in corsets. The shop was located in an underground marketplace complete with a staircase and long winding tunnel leading to the main area. This marketplace was new and I was an integral part in deciding how to move forward. A few months later, we had an underground wine bar, a clothing shop, an artisan silver jewelry shop, and a stage were bands could perform. We had successfully put together a destination - a niche.
After I realized that I have already created niche's, choosing a niche, and more importantly, how to move forward with it, came easy. If you are having difficultly finding a niche, perhaps you can think about your personal life experiences along the way and see that you most likely have already gone through the process of choosing a niche. If you're having trouble with the word niche itself, think of it as a theme or destination. You want your niche and money making website to be a destination that others will want to remember and want to come back to.
Recent Comments
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You are such a ball of excitement, i love reading your posts!!! Interesting insights and even more interesting stories, but has been the outcome? Are you still importing fossils and minerals and the corset shop?? I am as curious as you are!!!!
hello! At this time, I am not importing specimens from South Africa and Madagascar. I was importing specimens immediately after the apartheid restrictions were lifted (by accident). Other dealers, did not realize they could import from this part of the world. I rode that wave. I continued until my son turned 2. Then, it was sanity trying to watch him and sell. ehehe I was also pretty burned out. I have this thing when working at home. It tends to be from morning 'til night 7 days a week. I'm trying not to do this now. At least I know, I can always do this again on a large scale in the future. :)
Thank you for asking :) The Underground Marketplace opened about a week before the economy crashed. In a nut shell, the owner of the building started renting spaces to anyone. We even almost had a lampshade guy move in!! -nothing to do with underground music culture. At any rate, shop owners were scared and packed up shop. I stood my ground for two years. It was really hard for me to give up my shop. The location was perfect for my shops appearance.
I've done a lot of things. I've always had the mindset that if something doesn't work out, get up and try something again. I believe that the business greats (actually, all the greats) started something up many times before something hit big for the long haul. I don't really look at my failures as failures. I just keep trying again. Now, tell me your story! ehehe
Imagine how few adults would be able to walk if we had to learn to walk after we start to believe we can't, which is about age 4... depending on individual parents. Think about it, all processes that make you and me an acceptable social creature are learnt before we even know our name, like potty training, walking, eating...
Anybody who backs off from something that works, like internet marketing, just because it looks like he/she failed after "trying" it, should just look at how many times a 9 month old gets up after falling, while learning to walk...
It's the getting up that counts, not falling!!
Oh... and thanks for the other info...
Smiled at the typo... You said.... " I continued until my son turned 2. Then, it was sanity trying to watch him and sell.", but probably meant INsanity...?? :-)
Thank you to everyone who has read this blog of mine. It's only been less than 24 hours since I published it, and I am amazed at the support and feedback I have received thus far. I really appreciate it. :)
Well done. I responded to your post before I read your blog. Congrats on finding your niche. Send some of that my way, actually you have given me an idea so thank you and will type at you soon I hope and see your web page soon also! :)
thanks! ooooh I'm curious about what you think you might focus on. I'm like a kid in a candy store. 'I want to do this, and I want to that thing, and I want to do this other too,...' -but I'll stay focused with just this one for now.
Amazing Post. Glad to hear that you found out your niche. Congratulations :)
Moreover, the explanation through examples was really nice. One must understand that one doesn't needs to be a tech savvy to be able to choose a niche which would be successful in the market. It could rather be any of your hobbies or interests.
Thanks for the post and Wish you much success with your new theme.
Have a great day!! :)
Hi there, liked this very much. I think the word theme is a good one, as I too have been to narrow in my niche definition. So maybe we are creating a themed destination which others will be interested in and return to? There seems to be a lot of mysticism around niches and how you find them and I think this plus the fact there is no such thing as instant pay back, often seems to turn people off IM, maybe I am wrong. Anyways thanks for the post, and good luck with your new themes,
Regards
Hudson
Excellent post! Very great explanation. Now you can literally go get 'em with your niche. :)
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Great post...I particularly enjoyed (benefited) from your analogy of a niche as "a theme or a destination." If I'm not mistaken, the word "niche" is a French word, therefore not very helpful in terms of images, unless French is your native language.
hello and nice to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and leave a comment. Yes, 'niche' is a French word. I associate it with biology, which is my background. So, I really understand the definition of a niche. However, putting the term to work in Internet Marketing became a little confusing since the boundaries are not as defined as within biology. I suppose my original ideas for a niche were microcosms. ehehe So, yes, for me thinking of it as a destination or a theme made things easier (and more exciting!) Again, nice to meet you.