John-Phillips.com

Niche marketing is all about targeting small yet profitable markets. For a niche to be profitable there must be active followers and money being spent. That means you will easily be able to find products that are being sold in a profitable and active niche.

A good way to tell if there is money being spent in a niche is simply to run searches on Google for several keywords relating to the niche. If you can see more than a few Google AdWords advertisements at the top and/or on the right side of the organic search results then it is very likely that people are buying products in this niche.

A niche is loosely described as a segment or sub-market of a larger market. This is demonstrated in the following examples:

Dogs (large market) – Dog training (niche market)
Gardening (large market) – Growing fruit trees (niche market)
Cars (large market) – Hybrid electric cars (niche market)

The above niche markets can be broken down into further sub-niches as can most niche markets. This allows you to target even more tightly the people who are extremely interested in certain products and services. A good way to find niche markets is to harness the research that has already been done for you.

There are a few large websites which have spent millions of dollars in research to categorize products and services into niche categories to make it easier for people to find. Why waste time doing this yourself when it is already done for you at the following sites:

- Amazon
- eBay

Although there are other sites with categories, Amazon and eBay are by far the most popular and cover almost every niche. By studying these two sites you can get an idea of where to start.

Other places to find ideas for niche markets include:

- Television
- Magazines
- Talking and listening to people
- Latest news and trends
- Affiliate directories and networks like Commission Junction
- Conducting surveys

Here are some quick tips so you can grab hold of some important niche marketing basics:

1. Make your site unique. Even if there are 100 other sites in your niche, ensuring that yours is unique means it will stand out above the rest.

2. Target long tail keywords. These are keywords that usually contain 3, 4 or more words in them. These often result in highly targeted visitors who know what they want.

3. Choose a niche you know about. There is little point, when starting out with no capital, to have to write about and create a site in a niche you know nothing about. Start within something you are familiar with.

Applying these straightforward niche marketing basics will soon have you on your way to earning money through Internet Marketing.

You can save a great deal of time by using a keyword tool like Micro Niche Finder to locate those vital long tail keywords. Click here to learn more.