Let’s take what may appear as the easy way out of answering this, and say  Both!” Whether or not you firmly believe in taking inspired action, it’s also important to take practical measures.

This means creating web content about subjects that interest you, but not before checking out the niches first. The Internet is brimming over with quality content in some niches where the competition is just too fierce, especially if you’re on a tight budget, and the content just may not be worth your time.

So here’s the progression I recommend:

1. Make a list of your interests.

2. Starting with something that interests you the most, research the market and the online competition until you decide whether to use it “as is,” narrow it, or scratch it.

3. Create the first pages of a site around this niche and its sub-niches, monetize them, then go on to the next interest and do the same. Continue growing the sites you started.

If you’re not sure what really interests you, ask yourself some or all of the following questions, and quickly jot down your answers, without judgment Some of these may seem silly, but they are the type of questions asked on many career interest tests. You don’t need to go through all of these, but keep in mind the objective is to have a list of at least 10 things that pique your interest:

- What do you really love to do?
- When you’re in a bookstore, what section do you feel drawn to?
- When you go to the mall, what stores are most fun for you to visit?
- What were your favorite things to do when you were a kid?
- What hobbies do you have now that you enjoy?
- What memories make you smile the most?
- If you didn’t have to work, how would you spend your time?
- Do you have or would you like to have any pets?
- If you could take any classes you wanted, tuition free and just for personal interest or fun, what would you sign up for?
- If you won a free vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
- What do you enjoy watching on TV?
- What are your favorite holidays and why?
- Is there an aspect of parenting or childhood that fascinates you?
- Are there any causes that you feel passionate about?
- If you won the lottery today, other than investing, how would you spend the money?
- If you were to teach a class on any subject (to any age group) what would you teach?
- If money were no option, how would you spend your time?

The idea of these questions is to help you break through any limitations you may have. When you don’t limit yourself, you can discover true passions you’d  forgotten about in the hustle and bustle of life. The idea again is to focus on what truly interests you rather than what you think should interest you or where you think you’ll make money.

Don’t forget. Many people of great wealth made their money by following their bliss – from Walt Disney to Bill Gates.

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2. 3 Things to Look for in a Niche
3. Niche Market Research with Google Experiments

Deciding to start a home-based business, whether online or otherwise, is one method of developing new streams of income for numerous individuals these days.

Many just don’t understand who to target and what to sell. A niche can be built around a demographic, such as parents, senior citizens, or single people. It can be gleaned from geography, like U.S. citizens paying taxes, Middle Eastern citizens suffering from earthquakes, or ex-pats wanting to live and work abroad.

A niche can also be found through technology, like iPods, cell phones, or plasma TVs. It can be discovered through s, like “living green for the environment.” And it can be honed in on according to certain time parameters, like holiday sales for Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.

Niche Business Ideas – Where to Begin?

Lots of people who haven’t yet made the move into starting an online business but are seriously considering it may be wondering where and how to get started. The best advice you can heed is to use what you know – find your niche.

Start by asking yourself, “What am I good at? In what area do I have what is considered some level of expertise in by others who are not as knowledgeable on the subject?” Everybody is good at something.Everybody has a passion for something. Everybody is skilled – in one way or another – in a certain area.

Use that existing knowledge and ability to turn your dreams into a reality. It can and has been done – over and over  many people just like you and very successfully in countless cases as well.

Making Money Simply by Sharing Your Wisdom

Information products alone are presently and will continue to be one of the best selling products on the ‘net. People want to know how to do…everything! If you want to take off at a slower pace and just get your feet wet to start, create an information product by writing up some good content about a topic that you have extensive knowledge of or a great enthusiasm for, and post it on a single web page.

Provide tips and techniques in regard to whatever the genre is that you’re strongest in. Reach people on a personal level by offering examples of your own  personal experiences in that area and just simply share your talent and wisdom.

You might want to do some research as to what others are charging for similar products and base your price on that.Make your content valuable. Stand behind it and share your belief that this information is going to enrich people’s lives in some way.

If your readers can connect with what you’re providing and even more so with you personally, you’re on your way to having created a successful web-based business around your own newlydiscovered or existing, known niche.

Coaching

Niches can also be geared into a certain demographic. Life and Business coaching is a growing industry, as so many different types of individuals as well as companies are seeking assistance in so many different areas – both personally and professionally.

For instance, parents are in need of guidance on raising their children in today’s busy and ever-changing world and also want to know how to fit work and family together so that neither area suffers from neglect.

Single professionals want advice on how to fit work and play into their lives so that they can actually have a fulfilling life. Companies seek out coaches to train their employees on how to be productive, yet gain satisfaction in their jobs. They want help with organization and management skills. By taking a look around, you can easily see how the list goes on.

Product Niches

What’s the most sought-after product on the market today? Well, with today’s constant technological advances, the answer to that will greatly vary in lieu of current demand, which as you know, can turn on a dime.

But if you’ve found a popular product that you can market economically and profitably, go for it. Ensure that it’s something of value and provide the necessary resources to make your clients feel comfortable purchasing it from you. A warranty or guarantee, outstanding customer service support, and even a good refund and exchange policy will lead people to like and trust you for lifetime loyalty.

Some Final Words of Advice

Keep your eyes and ears open to any new ideas no matter how silly they might seem at first impression. Untapped markets are popping up every day. So if a seemingly workable idea comes to you, act on it.

Any new business venture can be intimidating. But by finding and sticking to a specific niche, especially one that you believe in, and then putting that fervor into action, you can experience amazing, life-changing results both monetarily and personally.

A good tip is that if you offer anything for free as an opt-in benefit, you’ll most likely increase your conversion rates from visitor to paying and even repeat customer. Just keep in mind that you want people to get to know you in a positive manner and trust you.

When the niche product or service you provide via your chosen venture is helping to enhance the lives of others at the same time, then you should be highly commended and deserve nothing less the highest level of success, happiness and well-being that you can achieve.

Also read:

10 Most Profitable Niche Markets on the Internet

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When you meet your market’s wants and needs, then you secure a single sale today and possibly gain a loyal customer for life. You can spend a lot of money on the latest hot research tool.

Some are hot but many fizzle. You can find fantastic research without spending a penny. Just go to the granddaddy of all information sources: Google. Maybe you have seen Google groups and search functions. Those are good but you can kick your research up a level at Google Labs with a useful (and free) experimental tool that you will find at http://www.google.com/experimental.

Let’s say you have a niche idea and you want to see if it’s hot. Look at the Timeline feature(under Alternate views for search results). On the Timeline, you can see dates and note how the market interest rises or falls during certain time periods.

You can also get location and measurements for points on the timeline. One thing you may discover with timelines is that your niche market is seasonal, so you plan ahead to launch an offer just as the next season begins.

Or you may find that your niche hit its high point awhile ago and is actually on the decline. That’s a cue to look elsewhere. While the market interest is declining, you may not see the fall from search items nearly as fast as you  see the trend from looking at timelines.

Either way, timelines are really valuable ways to help you see the market history. If you want to know where something is happening, use the map feature. Click on a search topic like “PGA Tour.”

You see a map of the continental United States with bubbles. Inside each bubble is a letter that corresponds to information on the left side of the map. You can also click on a bubble such as “D” which gives a pop up identifying the site as Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the home of the PGA.

Use your mouse to move outward and the map shows more detail, street names and intersections of the tour location. As you compare ideas, you can quickly switch among timeline, search, and map view without leaving the same screen. This makes your research time more productive.

Knowing that time is money for Internet marketers, Google Experiments offers short cut keys that minimize mouse use while moving around easily. Want to drill down into the content and have a closer look? You can use the right hand navigation or left hand navigation option so the additional content information is presented in a way most comfortable for your reading style.

Now that’s true convenience! Get over to Google Experiments and join one  experiment (only one at a time is allowed) to try this amazing free tool for your market research needs.

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Instead of pouring your heart and soul into a niche that’s saturated, you can branch out and find other niches that are either untapped to date, or have a relatively low number of competitors.

Here are the top three things you need to look at when you research a new niche to see if it will provide the kind of success you’re seeking in catering to the online consumer:

Does the Market Have Needs?

When people go online to buy, they’re not thinking to themselves, “What products can I buy today?” Instead, they’re concerned with solving their problems, no matter how trivial they might seem to someone else.

A woman in her 30s might be looking for a skin care regimen. A 50-year old man might be seeking a way to stop snoring so that he and his wife don’t have to sleep in separate bedrooms. A proud mother might be looking for a way to get her baby started in baby modeling.

These consumers are sometimes seeking free information. But when they stumble on a site that offers exactly the solution they were looking for, it doesn’t matter if there’s a price tag attached to it – if it’s affordable, they’ll eat it up.When you’re looking for a niche to tap into, ask yourself what needs they have.

You may think that a billionaire with a perfect family may not be a good market to tap into. Or is he? Maybe he has all the money in the world to spend, but he just can’t find that one solution to help him shave a few points off of his short game on the golf course. You could provide that tip – and he’d be willing to pay for it. Everyone – even rich people – have needs to be met.

Consider people from all walks of life – parents, clergymen, teachers, siblings, students, etc. What needs does each group have that you could possibly create a solution for? Parents might need products or instruction guides to raise their kids. Clergymen might like spiritual guidance on leading a congregation. Teachers could use tips for getting more out of their career and handling students.

Address the possibilities by brainstorming a list of needs and wants because desires can be just as motivating as needs.

Is It a Paying Market?

The second most important factor is whether or not it’s a market that has money to spend for products and information. If you’re targeting extremely poor consumers but your product is affordable and a necessity, then there’s a chance they might still spend their money with you.

But if you’re offering a splurge item, then you need to cater it to those who can afford to buy on a whim. Some target audiences that have deep pockets are: Golfers (it’s an expensive hobby), gamblers (they throw money around on a chance), parents (even thrifty ones are willing to spend money for products to enhance their children’s lives).

Is your target audience willing to pay for your information? Tangible products are different because it’s a tool they can hold and put to use. But with an information product, the consumer makes you compete with the billions of websites that offer information for free.

You can combat the freebie competitors by offering a comprehensive product or one that has a slightly different slant not found elsewhere online. It’s an inconvenience for people to have to dig around in hundreds of websites to find what they need, so providing a thorough accounting of a topic could be worth their investment.

You can check the profitability of a niche by seeing how much competition there is for the most relevant keywords. If you look up a keyword through Google Adwords and it shows that it costs a lot to bid on that word, then chances are it’s a paying market – even if the number of competitors is great.

Does It Have Long-Term Potential?

You don’t want to choose a niche that will be gone when you wake up tomorrow. As you know, niches can be narrowed down again and again until your target audience is extremely small.

Targeting a niche concerned about the implications of a Bird Flu Pandemic might create a profit for you in the short-term, but will it sustain your finances for years to come? Probably not.

You can create products that are relevant to the market for years and do updates to them as the years pass if new information has come along. For instance, an eBook on child custody for dads is product created for a narrow target audience that would be willing to pay but it also has potential for longevity. There will always be child custody disagreements, and although laws change with the times, you can easily access your original information product and update it with current statistics and legal advice.

If you consider the three elements above you’re well on your way to making a lot of money online!

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A horrible new disease? What about the new movie, DVD or CD releases? When you start thinking along these lines, you can see more avenues for choosing good niches to claim your stake.

Think of Oprah Winfrey. Almost every day her show is something new and compelling – a world-class book, a new exercise or health program, or an important cause that she is bringing to light. People around the world watch her show religiously and hang on her every word.

When she features a product, a program, or a person on her show – the fame and fortune of the person or thing is guaranteed. Pay attention to what she does, because you can bet that people will be looking for that product or program, or a similar one, or for more information about the person she spent her afternoon with.

This is one way you can use star power to determine where to head with your own new products. There are other ways to get in on star power. When a new movie is released, especially if it’s a raging success, people will start looking for related merchandise.

Posters from that movie and items related to other movies the movie’s biggest stars have been featured in. Tickets and props, even costumes are fair game. The same principle works for the release of long-awaited classic or cult films on DVD, and new CDs by popular artists.

What about product placement in popular movies and music? When you watch a video or movie and a certain type of shoe is being worn, or a certain type of wine is being served, it will stick in people’s minds. (Look what Sex and the City did for Manolo Blahnik and Cosmopolitans!) Think about all the items that are associated with a favorite kid’s TV show or film that is gaining in popularity.

The possibilities are endless. Pay attention to what the stars and the newscasters are talking about and what they’re doing. Keep your eye on product placement especially in popular TV shows, videos and movies. People will be looking for anything they endorse, appear to endorse, or anything they deem important.

Track the top keyword searches on the main search engines. Look for trends – for example, if you find a spike in searches for a certain disease – maybe it was featured on a talk show or news show – you might jump on content and related sales for that. Think about mad cow disease – a couple years ago it was all over the news and people were frantically looking for information on how to protect themselves.

If you want to get a jump on the next niche trend, pay attention to what the rumblings are about on TV, the news, and among the stars. Do some quick keyword trend searches, and get moving to quickly capitalize on it!

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2. 3 Things to Look for in a Niche