« Niche-Hunting with Magazines | Main | Domain Name Sale »
I Finally Found A Niche!
September 28, 2004
I'm pretty excited right now. After feeling a little frustrated by the lack of high-paying commissions among the merchants in the niche ideas I had, I stumbled onto a niche today. And it's one of those "broader" niches that lends itself well to several "smaller" niche offshoots as well.
So I can see myself building a content site for the broader niche, and a set of Martell mini sites for each of the narrower offshoots.
The funny thing is, all of this happened as a result of my offline work.
In addition to writing and creating artwork for a living, I'm also a book indexer.
(MAJOR digression: I had a conversation once with a guy in a lobster bar who started laughing when I told him I was an indexer. "What's so funny?" I asked. "You just reminded me of someone I met who had the most unusual job I've ever heard of. He was a chicken-sexer."
After I heard that one, I knew what I was going to say the next time someone asks me what I do for a living. When I tell them, they always ask (there have been no exceptions so far) "what's an indexer?". The next time, I'm going to say, "What? Chicken-sexer? I didn't say I was a chicken-sexer. Why are you saying I'm a chicken-sexer? What IS a chicken-sexer?".)
Anyway, one of the hats I wear is that of an indexer. Which basically means I'm lucky enough to read books for a living. And today, I was indexing a book that sparked an idea.
After I finished the assignment, I sped over to Wordtracker and entered the main keyword phrase that had been nagging at me all afternoon.
(That Wordtracker link is an affiliate link, by the way. I am so glad I bought a subscription, and using it has been both fun and extremely practical. In addition to finding good niches, once you've found your niche, you can collect long lists of keyword phrases and start planning your articles. So I would highly recommend it.)
Okay, tonight seems to be a big night for digressions - I think it's because I'm so excited about finally finding a niche.
Back to my Wordtracker adventure: I gathered a basket of 945 (!) keyword phrases, then did a competition search on each of them. Even though I agree with Sean Burns' advice to not worry too much about the number of competitive sites out there or the KEI that Wordtracker gives you, I still was curious to see what the state of the competition was.
So my eyes were kind of popping when I realized I was pulling KEIs in the 650 range! Out of the 945 keywords, at least half of them were what Wordtracker's KEI score considers "good keywords", with many of these "good keywords" being "excellent keywords".
BUT I had been so curious about this possible niche that I actually did my keyword research before checking to see if there were any merchants with affiliate programs out there for this niche. Not a good thing, because a niche is only as good as the merchants who can supply products for the niche, and who knew what was out there.
Thankfully, I did a Google search, and discovered that there were lots of merchants. With much more appealing commission structures than the merchants in the other niche areas I'd been considering.
The niche I've found is in the health and fitness field. I'm seeing lots of possibilities right now. And I'm really interested to see whether I will be able to make this all work out.
The best thing? This niche actually involves something I've always been interested in.
It's been a good night.
- BJ
Bookmark this: BlinkList | del.icio.us | Digg it | Furl | reddit | Yahoo MyWeb
Posted by BJ at 01:30 AM in Affiliate Marketing , Niche Marketing | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/69656/1174662
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference I Finally Found A Niche!:
Comments
How exciting to come across a niche like that. I have been hunting for one myself as I am playing with Google Adwords. I bought Perry Marshall's Guide to Adwords yesterday, plugged in a couple tips and within a couple hours had my first sale, very exciting for me.
Congrats on your find!
Stefani
Posted by: Stefani | Sep 28, 2004 11:34:25 AM
Thanks, Stefani. Playing with Adwords sounds like fun. Now that I've actually been looking at merchants, I'm starting to see Adwords possibilities. Maybe I should get a copy of Perry Marshall's book ...
- BJ
Posted by: BJ | Sep 28, 2004 12:02:04 PM
Hi BJ
Glad you found your niche! I'm not in the affiliate marketing business myself so I don't know what constitutes a good or a bad level of commission - is $30 to $40 per sale good? If so, and since you're in the field of health and fitness, I noticed a site called www.heartcenteronline.com a while ago where the product looks really good and professional and the commission rates quoted above (you get the higher level if you make more sales) are what's shown on the site. Just to mention, I've no involvement with it whatsoever - I just found it while digging around for content for my own new site!
I'd be interested to know what you think though, as I hope to use affiliates to help market my own offering and I'm trying to figure out what represents an attractive commission (I've been thinking of offering $100 per sale with the 'product' priced at $299 - is that crazy?). I know my subject area well, and think my service offering will be professional and attractive, but I'm a complete novice at online marketing - in particular I know nothing about what is attractive to affiliates.
Anyway, I'd be glad of any thoughts you have, and I'm delighted for you that you've found a good niche for yourself!
Gerry
Posted by: Gerry | Sep 28, 2004 3:33:22 PM
Hi, Gerry,
I think your proposed commission rate will be attractive to most affiliates. From what I can tell, infoproducts range from 20 to 60 percent commission, so you're well in the range. Also, since you're selling a fairly high-priced product, one sale is worth more to an affiliate than 25 sales for a merchant who pays 10% and whose average sale is $30, as an example. And while other infoproducts might offer a 50% commission, again, an affiliate would still have to make more sales if, say, the product was $70, even if the commission was 50%, to match one sale of your product.
Other attractive affiliate program offerings would be lifetime commissions and 2-tier commissions. Lifetime commissions only work, though, if you're offering more than one product, or have plans to offer more, or your product is one that is a subscription based product.
2-tier simply means that you earn money on people you've referred who go on to sign up for the affiliate program themselves.
As for me, personally, I know I'm looking forward to the launch of your site, Gerry :)
- BJ
Posted by: BJ | Sep 28, 2004 5:59:10 PM
p.s. Gerry - checked out the heart site. It looks good. It doesn't fit into the niche I'm talking about, but I've bookmarked it because I will probably want to branch out. Thanks!
- BJ
Posted by: BJ | Sep 28, 2004 6:03:44 PM
Thanks for the reply BJ. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Best of luck with your own new niche marketing venture.
Gerry
Posted by: Gerry | Sep 29, 2004 6:04:45 PM
Hey BJ,
I am so happy for you!!! Yaaaay - I gotta ask though - how is the James Martell book? I had a client request I design a website to some strict specs...found out later that he was designing his site based on the James Martell structure and apologized if he was being anal about it ROFL :)...I'm just curious if would be something worth purchasing - I may end up doing a review on my site if it's worthwhile...
Teli
P.S. I gotta say it again - I am so happy you found that niche - isn't it a great feeling to find a niche? I found one yesterday too...but haven't decided whether I'll go after it (prolly will cuz it's something I love)
Posted by: Teli | Sep 30, 2004 10:26:47 AM
Teli, I highly recommend the James Martell book, but I do have some caveats that may apply to you, depending on your experience level. I'll write a post about my personal take on the book - hopefully it will help you decide whether or not it's for you.
- BJ
Posted by: BJ | Sep 30, 2004 1:15:25 PM
That would be cool - looking forward to it :)
Teli
Posted by: Teli | Oct 2, 2004 4:14:36 PM
Lately, I get asked what I had for guidance and inspiration when it comes to internet income. The answer is simple. I read two ebooks from cover to cover multiple times. Rosalind Gardner’s ebook and James Martell’s ebook. For actual hardcover books on internet income, my favorite is Multiple Streams of Internet Income by Robert G. Allen. Robert Allen was a master in the old school of marketing, before the internet boom.
Rosalind’s ebook was important to me because she outlined the world of pay-per-click for me. James’ book helped because he introduced a focus on SEO and natural search engine traffic. Both of these books will not give you a golden ticket of knowledge, and make you rich next week. Like most information products, they are only as good as the action you take. I am NOT suggesting you click the links above and buy them right now. There are many to choose from. I’ve seen new-comers buy both all of the above mentioned books and NEVER take action.
For information regarding online business and internet income, I highly recommend visiting the Warrior Forum at sometime. There are hundreds of experienced internet marketers on that forum that can give you many legit ideas. Just remember that none of those ideas will work without your action!
Anyway. That sums it up. With the above three books, and hard work, we had all the information we needed to get our business to where it is today.
Posted by: Brent | Apr 7, 2006 12:58:42 AM
