Article Surfing Archive

We understand what it means when someone says, "Don't get your cart before your horse," but often that's just what we do when we're looking for a niche market. We find a product we want to market and then we begin looking for folks to market to.

Instead, the first thing you must do is find a market; a group of people you know something about. Or maybe it's a group you want to know something about. Either way, your niche is the people and their needs, wants and desires.

Are you interested in cuddly little pets? Or do your interest run more towards your not so cuddly pets; maybe reptiles. Do you love cars? Maybe you have a Porsche passion. If you're single maybe you're interested in dating or single parent issues. In any case, your first mission is to find a group of people you want to provide services and products for; that's your market.

Next, you must find out what they want. Look up forums, groups, email lists and blogs for your market group and find out the problems they face and the type products or services this market is looking for. You should be a groupie; first to find out what your customer wants and then later to publicize your website. (For a list of the best Newsgroups, Forums, E-Mail Lists and Blogs, check the authors resource box below.)

As you're doing this, make a list of the different words they use to describe the products and services they want. These will be your 'keywords' when you write your webpage. These are the words your new potential clients will key into the search engines to find the products you will be offering.

Then use a keyword tool such as the overture suggestion tool to find out how many people are searching each month on keywords your niche group was interested in. Find out if there is a strong enough demand for products to this group.

And last but not least, it's time to find a product. You know what your group is looking for; you now understand their problems. Go to Clickbank, Commission Junction or PayCotCom and look for products to meet the needs of your group. Or better yet, develop a product yourself.

Remember the most important factor in online marketing, or any type marketing anywhere, is to help your customer. Now having found your customers and their needs as you have, finding or writing content for your website is a breeze. Those in your market will flock to your site for your information; and then, while they're there, they'll buy.

If you help enough other people get what they want; you'll get what you want. Build you business to help the people in your particular niche and you'll stand out from the crowd. Marketing, whether it's for a niche or the masses, is all about people.