Affiliate marketing niches
Affiliate marketing niches are small parts of a big markets. With a niche you
target the specific needs of a specialized part of a market. With niche
marketing rather than target the masses you target the needs of a few.
Why bother with the needs of a few? The more focused your market the
less competition you are likely to have. Large businesses will find the market
segment too small to bother with. Your market is far smaller but its much more
focused and targetable so while you can expect fewer visitors you will be
rewarded with significantly higher conversion rates. This is one area where
quality wins over quantity.
Finding niches
Despite all the hype to the contrary it is not easy to find affiliate
marketing niches in fact it can be very frustrating. It's time consuming and
requires patience and perseverance.
Finding niches depends on knowing what people want, what they looking to buy
etc. There are numerous ways to find out. Talk to people, friends, kids,
parents, listen to their problems, complaints, and irritations. They're signs of
niche opportunities.
Keep your ears and eyes open to possible new ideas from radio, tv,
newspapers, magazines etc. Watch for trends in advertising. Visit targeted
forums and newsgroups.
Alternatively a more technical approach is possible. What people want is
reflected by what they search for on the net so by researching and analysing
search patterns you can find untapped markets. You can now see the connection
between affiliate marketing niches and keywords. If you can find high volume
keywords on the demand side with low volume on the supply side ie lots of people
are looking but few are supplying answers, then you could have a niche.
Any of the keyword research tools are excellent for finding affiliate marketing niches. Wordtracker has a very nice ratio to express the relationship between demand and supply for keywords. Online Gold Finder works in reverse - you input the desired demand and it returns all keywords with that level of demand. The Sitesell solution includes an enormously helpful brainstorming tool.
A happy medium
Don't get bogged down in niche hunting. You are more likely to succeed with
something you enjoy doing. If you have an idea that you like, and that you feel
you would enjoy trying to make money from go for it. If its a highly competitive
market figure out if a way to approach it from a different angle.
While it is easier to become a recognized expert in a small field its risky
to take on something that you know nothing about and are not interested in.
What next
Finding an affiliate marketing niche is only the start and does not bypass
the planning phase. Part of planning is researching money
making potential with the theme. If affiliate products is to be part of this mix
search program directories, networks etc to find suitable products to match your
theme or you'll have to create your own in the form of an e-book etc.