Research most make money online plans, be it affiliate marketing, dropshipping or print on demand, and you will find the recommendations to choose your niche carefully. This is good advice. But why?
A niche is the specific area of interest you are pursuing. For example, if you are planning on running a dropshipping store, what sort of products will you sell? Will you focus on artist’s supplies or sports memorabilia? Hardware and power tools or fine glassware? There are many reasons why this matters. If you are doing affiliate marketing, should you sell a “flat belly fix” or “self confidence help”? There are several factors to consider.
- Market size. In truth, most marketplaces are big enough for a startup. With literally billions of people online, even if only a small percentage are interested in your product, you could do very well. That being said, some things are much more popular online, and choosing the most obscure niche might not be your best bet – unless you can charge a premium. There have been very successful online entrepreneurs who have focused on extremely narrow markets, but have been able to charge high fees per transaction. Who sells more snorkels – WalMart, or your local dive shop? But your local dive shop focuses on their key customers, and sell specialty gear. They often do just fine. Not WalMart money, but enough for them.
- Competition. As you research your niche, you may find there are a million Etsy or Shopify stores selling almost the same thing. How can you stand out in the crowd? How will you ensure you get traffic, and that your site doesn’t get lost in the sea of competitors? If you can’t answer those questions, you probably want to keep looking.
- Your Interests. You will be spending significant time with this product. If it is something you have no interest in whatsoever, why choose it? Not only will you get bored, but you will probably have to work harder at learning the basics than if you choose something you enjoy. If you go into a product area you find interesting, you probably already have a good basic knowledge, and will be ready to go that much sooner.
- Margins. Some businesses only really become profitable at scale. If you are dropshipping products and your net is pennies per sale, by the time you deal with fulfillment issues, you will be asking “is this really worth it?” With affiliate marketing you can automate things quite a bit, but you still want to generate reasonable profits per transaction.
- Longevity. Is this going to be around for a long time, or is it a fad that will quickly fade? You probably don’t want to have to keep starting over.
- Legality. Dropshipping stores are cropping up everywhere featuring “Baby Yoda” (note, the character from the Mandalorian is officially named “Grogu”). While some of these might be legit, I strongly suspect that many of them will be getting letters from Disney’s lawyers. Be very careful that you don’t tread into copyright violation, it isn’t worth it. It’s also unethical. How would you feel if you came up with a great design, only to have it shamelessly ripped off by others?
In affiliate marketing their are many niches, but a few seem to drive most of the traffic. Make Money Online (see some products I promote HERE and HERE), self help, and health and fitness. There is a ton of interest online in these niches. Do you know anyone who is interested in making money online? Hint – you are on a blog devoted to the subject. Do you know anyone who wants a flatter belly, or less stress and more confidence? Most of us want all of that.
Of course, the competition in those niches can be fierce. They are what everyone goes for. Every online post and YouTube video will tell you to sort by gravity on ClickBank, to find the offers which are most popular. Of course gravity is a measure of how many sales have occurred recently for that product. That might mean that it is already being well marketed. My advice – check out multiple metrics – gravity, popularity, average % rebill, and so on. Check out niches other than the big three. If you find something you have a personal interest in, and it seems like a good fit, go for it. Then you can find a product which will sell, and hopefully which you can continue to profit from for months to come.
