Hi everyone!

It's a rainy Saturday. So I don't feel guilty about working on my website, publishing posts, and commenting on people's posts. Today I want to talk about easy ways to research your niche.

I'm writing this because I follow a lot of newcomers, and a lot of newcomers follow me. So I want to try and help you with the learning curve when deciding on a niche and then having to do the research.

You Picked Your Niche, Now What?

So you've picked your niche, now what? Hopefully, you've picked a niche that you're really passionate about because you're going to be working with it for at least 6 months.

But how do you begin to find out more about your niche? How do you know what they like, what they dont' like, what they're most pressing problems are?

Afterall, you've got to write articles based on your keywords. But where do you get your keywords? How do you know what topics to write on?

Go On Forums

The first thing I do is type in "My niche + Forum". So, for my Western horse saddle niche, I typed in "Western horse saddles + Forum". I then get a listing of plenty of forums that have to do with Western horse saddles.

Then I go through the stickys or topics. The stickys or topics usually tell me what the problems are in that niche. So I'll click on the thread and start browsing through them.

Often times, I'll come across new terminology and jot those down because the terminology often has a lot to do with the problems. Once I jot them down, I google the terms to learn more about them.

Ask questions in the forums. These forums are free. Ask them what frustrates them most.

Don't tell them why you're asking. As far as they're concerned, you're just another member. They don't know you're an affiliate marketer.

Go on Amazon or Clickbank

If you're selling digital products, you'll probably be signed up with Clickbank - which to me is the best affiliate marketing network because of their 75% commission payments. To do research on your niche on Clickbank, do the following:

1. Go in the affiliate area and click on your niche

2. Watch the sales videos. While you're watching them, jot down the words they use often. Those are the "hot spots" or issues in the niche. Listen for emotional buttons they're trying to push.

3. If you're an affiliate with Amazon, you can click on the table of contents for the books in your niche. The table of contents will list what the issues are in the niche.

Then drill down by googling those issues and read other people's sites.

Buy Books on The Niche

I definitely buy books on the niches I work in. I think it's so invaluable.

Now, you don't have to buy a lot at all. 1 or 2 is fine. I bought, and currently use, my Western saddle book, which I bought on Amazon, because it covers in detail the problems encountered in the Western horse saddle niche.

Use The Table of Contents

You don't have to read the book cover to cover. You can to to the Table of Contents and go directly to those pages you need. Then later, you can go back at your leisure and read from cover to cover.

Find Reputable Sites

Lastly, I love going to authority sites to research my information on a particular topic.

Although there's nothing new under the sun, I never plaigiarize. Once I've read my books, read sales pages, watched sales videos, went through forums, I'm clear on what the issues are in my niche.

Then I do my keyword research. And the rest is easy peezy!

I hope this has helped you. If this post was helpful to you, please leave a comment or question for me.