Niche Research

Most people have heard of the term “Niche” but how does this relate to starting up your business or being specific in your current business.

This is the most important part of setting up your new or existing Business. Research! Finding that “Niche’ and it is the most disliked part of Business, because it seems to be time consuming and misunderstood. I suggest that you get clear and spend the time researching and your niche, it gives you the edge over your competitors.

Whether you like to call it: “Niche”, Research or your “HOT Product”, it’s important to work out the fundamentals before jumping in with your big idea that customers may not want. What does “niche” mean: it originates from French and means “A niche market is a focused portion of a targetable market”.

Let’s break that down even further - say you like dogs, you especially like the Australian Silky Terrier dog, so your “niche” would be this. The Australian Silky Terrier. You can focus your attention on providing information to your clients on these dogs. What types of information, well that could be: Books, Breeders, Training, Showing your dog, Grooming, Fun stuff, Pictures, Temperament, Colours, History, Clothing etc

Firstly, you need to have an idea of what you want to sell, is it affiliate products, your product or service? What is your hobby or interest? This can make it easier if you have an interest in what you want to market because you will have some knowledge on the topic. If you don’t then you have to want to study about it. You must have a enthusiasm for selling your product or service. Write down what passions you enjoy and start doing some investigation.

Now it’s simple to find loads of advice about your subject on the internet or in a book or by asking experts. You need to work out if your product or service is what everyone is looking for. Again, you need to be interested and passionate about your niche. This keeps you enthusiastic and driven to succeed in your business. Your clients have to want your product or service.

Now that you have some idea’s, the next step after picking your Niche is to find out what your client wants? You need to find the Starving Crowd that wants the product or service.

Answer the Clients questions below to get a clearer picture:
What is your client’s problem? Find the problem and fix it?
What does the client want? Products, Ebooks, Video’s, Pictures, Clothing etc
What could you sell?

After breaking down those idea’s to just a couple and coming up with the client’s problems, now you need to do some research on those idea’s.

Below are the key foundational questions that you should be working through to adapt to your online business.

Who are your competitors?
How many competitors are there? What are they doing?
You don’t want to go into an extremely high competitive niche when you’re starting out.
What can and do you need to learn from your competitors?
What are your competitors doing and what are they doing well? Look at your competitors Page Ranks, Keywords, Website Style, Products, Sign Up Box. What are they giving away FREE?
What is your competition doing? Are they selling a monthly subscription?
Who is doing well in the market?
How do you know what is actually working out there and why? Look at the Statistics, Page Ranks, Top Websites, Top Products etc
What ideas, strategies can you adapt to your business?
What are can you do differently in your Niche?
How do you know if your idea is Unique?
Why are you Unique in your market? What is your Story? What are the benefits of buying a product or service from you?
Who is your customer?
What does your customer really want? What is there emotional need?
Work this one out and you have a WINNER!
This was also discussed above, finding your client’s problem.
How do you know what your customers are thinking?
How can you get into your customers heads? Create your Client Profile.
Are your Key Market of Buyers
- Crazy or Impulsive Buyers - clothing, golfing, shoes
- Or are they desperately seeking an answer to a specific problem
If you have a website, have you done Survey’s to your clients to see what they want?
If you have a website, How can you make some fast changes to make your site make money now?
How are you going to sell your product or service? Online and Offline.
What marketing strategies can you do?
How can you see the changes coming that could wipe out or massively boo your business?

Once you have gathered your information, you then have a clear outline what your niche, your clients and how are you going to sell.

There are a number of sites that you can use to help you do your research. Here are some for you:
Wordtracker - http://www.wordtracker.com
Market Samuari - http://www.marketsamuari.com
Ebay (Hot Products) - http://www.ebay.com
Survey’s - http://www.surveymonkey.com
SurveyMonkey can be used to gather all sorts of information to make better decisions, gain a competitive edge, or simply make life more entertaining - Customer Feedback, Employee Reviews, Marketing Research, Popular Opinion, Event Attendance & Guest Preferences, Course Evaluations, Thesis Research, Hot Products and lots more.
http://www.technorati.com
http://www.Amazon.com
http://www.ezine.com
http://www.alexa.com

Research is the most important part of starting your business, take the time and get this right. Wishing you all the best in your Online Business or any other Business you undertake.