Niche marketing involves concentrating on one particular segment of the market.

Which niche should you choose?

Here's the classic mistake which thousands of affiliates make...

They read a book on Internet marketing and assume that the best way to make money on the Internet is to create a website about Internet marketing.

Unfortunately, the "Internet marketing" niche is intensely overcrowded, intensely competitive, and HUGE.

Type the phrase "Internet marketing" into Google and you'll be given more than 8 million pages to choose from.

Do you REALLY want to try to dominate a niche that huge?

It's much easier for your niche marketing efforts to be noticed - and rewarded - if you choose a less competitive market segment.


Carving off a sub-niche

One way to stand out in the highly competitive Internet marketing niche is to slice and dice. Carve off a sub-niche and aim to be the best you possibly can in that sub-niche.

Here are a few brave attempts (links open in new window):

Frank Welzig's Escape the Corporation is aimed at the frustrated, unhappy corporate worker who dreams of breaking out and being their own boss. "I have spent the last 25 years moving people from one company to another as an executive recruiter," he says. "Now I'm dedicated to helping people escape the corporation and reclaim their life."

Stephanie Hetu's Membership Site Reviews offers reviews of membership sites that offer a good affiliate program paying residual income, tools to start your own membership site, and articles. A nice little niche.

Pastor Hal Humphries, who created My Marketing Resource Site, says he's providing marketing tools and resources "from a Christian perspective" to "Christians and non-Christians alike".

David Ferrers' Senior Citizens Extra Income Advice Bureau tackles the challenge of an overcrowded niche by slicing off a little bit for himself. His sub-niche is senior citizens. His site, launched in January 2005, still has a long way to go.

Linda Starr's Budget-Tools-and-Tips certainly has an eye-catching approach. If you spot her site in search engine results, you'll see this link to her site: "Budgets ARE sexy ... they can make you rich!"

Ivan Jimenez tackles the challenge by concentrating on a geographical niche. His site is Internet Marketing in South Florida.


Innovative way to get niche marketing ideas

Are you having trouble finding a good idea for your next website?

Try this tip I picked up from keyword research expert Frank Mullen.

Turn your keywords research on its head.

Instead of typing very specific, niche phrases into Wordtracker, type in a GENERAL, non-specific word.

Good words to try include "idea", "tip" and "problem".

Try it. You'll be amazed how brilliant this idea is. You'll be presented with dozens of ideas.

Using this approach opens your mind to all sorts of new possibilities you would never have considered while searching for keywords the usual way.

It's an absolutely brilliant idea.