After you read this short article, you will feel empowered. You will gain an edge over the majority of internet businesses because you will KNOW that your idea has validity and an existing market. The big difference between a successful internet business and a failed one is very simple; the successful business has uncovered a profitable niche. So, exactly, what is a profitable niche and how do you find one? Read on and unveil a web power secret.

A profitable niche is simply a high demand, low competition market. This is the one biggest factor that determines your online success. It doesn't matter if you think you have the best, coolest, most unique idea in the marketplace, if no one is interested in purchasing it, you will not make a dime (and you will spend considerable time and resources finding this out!). So, how in God's Green Acres, do you find a profitable niche that will allow you to make good money and differentiate yourself from your internet competitors?

Most niche finding articles that you will come across will tell you to focus and build on your passions and interests. This is a good start but only gives you part of the picture. I am going to suggest starting with this and brainstorm on each idea but with one crucial difference. THINK PROFITABILITY. Focus on things that keep your attention and your interest but look at what hobbies you are putting your money into. I can't emphasize this point enough, think bottom line. Make a list of these money making ideas and I will show you how to determine if it worth your time and money to pursue them a little later in the article.

The next area to look at would be at your demographic group. What are people in your age group doing? What are they sinking their money into? What about people at your work place? Where are they spending their leisure time? Is there something at work that you noticed, that could save considerable time and money? People WILL spend money on products that fulfill a need. Look at your friends, your family; what are they spending money on? Is there something you can get into on the ground floor? Be open to new home based business income opportunities and possibilities.

Two really good ways to find out what people are buying is to go to http://www.amazon.com and look for the “Top Sellers” section. You can also try http://www.ebay.com and look at the "Popular Stores" section. Brainstorm ideas based on the product's target audience. For example; if one of the items you found on Amazon's Top Sellers was a music toy that helped children learn, you could infer that the term “learning toy” was something that is popular. Throw learning toy into Google and brainstorm off the results. Make a good list of associated keywords.

To find products that don't require you to buy and stock them, the digital arena is where you want to head. One of the best ways that I have found out what is hot is to subscribe to newsletters. You don't want to subscribe to just any newsletters; you want to pick established ones. I suggest trying Joe Vitale, Mike Rasmussen and Anik Singal to start with. These guys are on the cutting edge and give lots of good stuff away for free. One niche that has caught my attention is membership sites, it's a young market and it has the potential to be explosive.

To really determine profitability you need to find out what kind of search numbers your ideas are generating. To take the learning toy example go to the Overture Search tool at http://inventory.overture.com/. Look at the keyword results for “learning toy”. By looking at the results from that search, you should get ideas for a good smaller market within the larger “learning toy” keyword.

I hope that this eye opening advice on finding profitable niche home based business opportunities has been of value. To really find something that is going to work for you;

1. Look at what interests you, your family, your friends, your co-workers, etc. are spending money on

2. Go to http://www.amazon.com top sellers and see what people are spending their hard earned cash on

3. Subscribe to some top internet marketers newsletters, like Joe Vitale, and see what's hot right now in the digital world

4. Brainstorm ideas and make a list of keywords based on what you see people spending money on

5. Go to the Overture free keyword tool (http://inventory.overture.com/) and plug in your keywords. Look for a large number of searches and related sub niche keywords

Get out there and find out what's moving, what's hot and what interests you. This is one of the magic keys to becoming successful on the internet.

When you begin a home based business income opportunity from the ground up using the niche finding techniques presented here, you are 99% ahead of the rest of the crowd. Do your research, have fun with it and you will reap the rewards.