Targeting a niche market
Entering into the fascinating and often lucrative world of
internet marketing begins by understanding the concept of
'targeting a niche market'. According to the pros, don't waste
your time attempting to target anything else! After spending
countless hours of learning from some of the best internet
marketing mentors, it is clear that they all teach this as the
key to your targeting efforts. Don't re-invent this concept when
it works so well.So let's take a quick look into this.
First of all, what is a 'niche'?
In terms of successful internet marketing, a niche is, in its
simplest form, a group of people, typically known as 'members',
with a common interest. For example, a group of people who have
an interest in training show dogs.
Second of all, what constitutes a potentially good niche?
In order for a niche to be worthy of selecting it must have
members with defined needs and wants that can be met by products
or services that those members are willing to purchase. Let's
take a closer look at what that means relevant to our dog
training example used above. Defined needs: they will all likely
need to know what the basics of dog show training are and
probably all want to know what the best trainers in the world do
- what are the secrets to their great training techniques. To
meet those needs an example of a great product would be an ebook
that explains the basics of dog show training and to satisfy
their wants, perhaps a video of an interview with one of the
world's best trainers. Finally, check to see if there is an
indication that these members would pay for these products. If
this combination of attributes exists, then you can proceed with
a plan to target that market. Next, how do you find such a niche
on the internet?
There are several ways to find a niche market including studying
magazines, general directory of websites, watching infomercials,
reading direct mail etc. If you are truly interested in learning
the details of each of these methods, I recommend you find a
great internet marketing mentor. If you just want to do it on
your own for now, use these ways to start your search by trying
to see recurring or popular trends. For example, go to 'training
dogs for show' websites and see if there are many sites, do
these sites sell relevant products and services? Are there show
dog training magazines? Using all of the resources mentioned
above you should be able to determine whether your chosen area
is a niche you can target market.
Finally, how do you pick a hot niche?
You need to learn how to check traffic inventory (how many
members go to the show dog training websites, for example),
survey what is known as the shotgun splatter effect, analyze the
average sales price in that niche, search for competitors, avoid
oversaturated markets and then, decide if that niche is likely
to have other spin off niches that will be of interest to the
niche you are considering. Once you have made your selection you
will be able to market to the members of this niche over and
over again. Sound like fun? Get yourself a great mentor if you
need to learn more. It is my passion and hobby to seek out
internet mentors on a variety of topics that interest me, so I
know there are great ones out there on this topic. Good luck
with targeting your niche market!
Doug Gray
If you want to learn more about niche target market tactics, you
need to know that this is just one of the many powerful concepts
taught at: http://www.internetprofitmentor.com (there is over 12
hours of videos and a free 120 page ebook)