When we refer to a niche in marketing, we refer to a product or service that occupies a specific area of need or demand for either an as yet unmet (very rare), or underfulfilled (more common) customer need. To be able to fulfill this need, and to attract a good solid market, the choice of niche product should ideally relate to or complement your website.

OR SHOULD IT?

No, it's absolutely no good at all finding a product that you think will sell and then create a website to promote and sell it. FIND YOUR NICHE FIRST. That way you know you will already have a marketplace that is actively searching for what you have. Now that makes more sense doesn't it?

Think about it. Afew years ago I developed an interest in amateur radio, (bear with me, this is relevant), so what did I do? Well first of all I went out and bought every magazine I could find relating to amateur radio. In those magazines were advertisements for plans, components, radio clubs, allsorts in fact to do with amateur radio. Of course I bought loads of stuff. I was keen, enthusiastic and I was a dream to sell to in that niche. I had a need, and the amateur radio niche fulfilled it.

That was in the days before internet marketing was even thought of, but current technology makes it very easy for us to exploit niches. There are literally thousands of niches out there. You need a niche that is sufficiently large to give you a ready supply of needy customers, but not so large that there are hundreds of companies out there already giving them what they want. Of course by definition, that would no longer be a niche market. Competition is beneficial, but only in small doses.

There are niches for almost anything you can think of, collectors of watch straps, old dental equipment, and yes, amateur radio. In internet marketing we can think of a subject. Preferably, at first, something you yourself are interested in, and have some knowledge of, lets say belt-buckles. You go to www.freekeywords.com and use the free online keyword tool to enter belt-buckles. OK I'll save you the time. I just did that and find that just over 2500 searches were made yesterday for that term, this is broken down furthur into sub categories such as confederate belt buckles. Anyway 2500 searches is about right, you don't want more than about 4000 daily and not really less than 1000, These are people who are actively searching for either information or the actual item.

It can't be too hard to do a bit of research and put together an e-book all about collecting belt buckles, or a series of articles that could be sold as a newsletter. Or even if you wish find suppliers of belt buckles and sell the actual thing itself. Not too large and heavy to post and thousands of different ones. Then you put your site together and promote that (the subject of another article) and wait for your niche market to come to you.

Your customers are out there, and actively looking for what you can supply them with. Now isn't that a better way to do things. Do you need niche marketing? You betcha!