Table of Contents:
- Choose the right niche and half the battle is already won.
- We use a 4-step ‘niche profitability’ checklist:
- What is keyword research?
- So why do we look at search engine result pages?
- What to look out for on marketplaces:
- It’s time to infiltrate social media and build a profile of your customer:
- Your customer profile:
- Connect with Mick on social media:
Choose the right niche and half the battle is already won.
Things just click into place and you get results quicker.
It feels like magic.
It’s golden.
But if you choose the wrong niche, you’re gonna spend a lot of time wondering why things aren’t jiving for you.
That’s certainly how I felt anyway.
I literally spent years chipping away at a niche that was close to my heart, but it wasn’t ever going to give me the results I deserved.
However, I learnt from that.
And that’s why I created this training for you, so you won’t have to make the same mistake I did.
You see, this is the info I wish I had when I first started out.
And it gives me great satisfaction knowing that you’re going to benefit from my struggle, so it wasn’t all in vain.
Everything happens for a reason. Hopefully… hmm.
So before you do anything else.. even before you check domain names, before you look at web hosting.. this, right here, right now, this is the stuff you need to focus on.
It’s important.
Get this part right and the rest will become just that bit easier.
Things will begin to gel together easier and you’ll have some clear direction.
…RIGHT, so how do you tell if your niche is gonna be a profitable one?
We make sure that there are buyers in it.
If products are already selling, then we have a good chance that people will buy from us too..
And how do we find these elusive buyers?
We use a 4-step ‘niche profitability’ checklist:
- Keyword research
- Search engine result pages (SERPs)
- Online marketplaces
- Social media / community
Uh oh.. there’s some jargon being used here.. but what does it actually mean?
What is keyword research?
- Finding the terms that people are searching for
- How many people are searching for it
- How much competition exists
Ideally, we want somewhere between 1,000 – 70,000 per month… the more people that are searching for something, the more potential there is for traffic, and to profit from it – but that is offset by the amount of competition for those keywords.
Imagine you’ve got a keyword that millions of people are searching for.. the competition is probably going to be incredibly strong, and it’s going to take us a while to make an impact in that niche.
This is why we stick to keywords and niches that, although have a much smaller pool of buyers, there’s also way less competition for us – and in many cases we can easily beat the competition that does exist..
Remember, if there’s no competition at all there’s probably a good reason.. so don’t invest too much and thread with caution. While it might be an untapped goldmine, there’s a good chance somebody has already attempted to monetize it and failed.
For this reason alone, competition is good.
There is another reason that I’ll get too later.
So why do we look at search engine result pages?
- To see if adverts are being purchased
- How many competing websites exist?
- What type of websites?
- Which words & phrases are being used?
All this info is valuable to us.
If we can see adverts on the front page of Google, then somebody is spending money here. That means, they are likely seeing a good return on that investment.
Simple logic, right?
If all lights are screaming go, go, go! Then we start looking at online marketplaces for more information…
What to look out for on marketplaces:
- What format are the products?
- How much are they being sold for?
This will tell us if products are in digital format or physical. We’ll know if buyers are ready to be sold digital downloads yet.. some niches aren’t there yet.
We’ll also get a good idea of price-points, so we know how much buyers are willing to pay.
If they ain’t spending too much, then bail on that idea and look for another niche.
We only want people who spend a minimum of $30 per product.
This is so we earn a decent commission per sale if we’re doing affiliate marketing…
…Or to make sure we get rewarded fairly, if creating and selling our own products.
So, if there are books, magazines and digital products devoted to our niche, it’s game on.
- Are there active Facebook groups and forums?
- What issues do they feel strongly about?
- What are their collective values?
- What / who is their common enemy?
- Note which problems they have
- Describe the target buyers as a single individual
To build a profile of your customer base you need to know how they think.
It’s pretty easy to do that, you just gotta understand their fears, their frustrations. What’s important to them.. what they value and what makes them angry.
The best way of doing this is by becoming one of them, watching their conversations.. asking the right questions.
You will notice patterns emerging, common phrases they use.. spot the herd mentality within the niche and learn their vocabulary.. speak like them.. and understand their abbreviations.
Every group of significant size will have their own code, their own perspective of their niche, the issues they face and how it fits into the world.. Typically, in most niches there are wider goals and objectives, something the collective as a whole strives for.. and also something for the individual to achieve.. learn what these are, and offer it to them.
I’ve put together a few handy questions for you, that will make sure you truly understand your niche.
Your customer profile:
- My target buyers wants to achieve ______
- My target buyers are afraid of ______
- My target buyers use Google for phrases like ______
- My target buyers pay for ______
- Mistakes my target buyers often make are ______
Answer these and you’ll know exactly who you’re speaking to, how to engage with them and how to communicate with them more effectively.
Because from their perspective, no matter what issues they have, what they’re hoping to achieve, you’re the on the same level as them, you’re someone who ‘gets it’.
And then you’ll be able to take control of the conversation.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.