A, B or C? Grading Potential Niches / Markets

Yeah I couldn’t have agreed with you more. Many times it’s much better to start a project than to keep doing research. In my opinion, you learn a whole lot more if you actually do it. Also, starting small is always the key thing. Everyone who went big started small one day :)

Glad I am not the only one who keeps planning to plan. It is all too easy to research ad infinitum and never actually do anything (seems to be the story of my life too)!

It’s tough though, having to make a decision, take a deep breath and dive in. Good luck…we’re all watching and cheering you on.

I agree entirely. You need to write in order to develop your voice and to improve your writing. There is a saying in the music world that states the only way to improve is to play until you don’t suck. I am still in that mode when it comes to blogging and I hope to reach a point where I have something good to say and I am able to say it in a way that makes people want to keep coming back for more. All the research in the world won’t help if you don’t apply it to your project.

You mention that you made only $3. Was you goal to actually make money? For many people, that is not the goal of _leaving_ a job. You mention adsense and imply that you are trying to make money, but I suspect that your goal at this point (rightfully so) is to build a reader base.

Caroline I am impressed with the content that is on your blog, I also like they way you are honestly tellling people how things are going for you. I am also a fellow 30 day challenger who has been online for 6 months now, and still hasn’t made a $ either, I had already had a product that I had developed before the 30 day challenge started(it just happened to be in one of the toughest markets, the stockmarket). What I found hard about the 30 day challenge was trying to excited about markets that you had either, no knowledge of, or had no passion about. For me personally I try to spend at least 30-45 minutes a day posting on forums or blogs, as a result of this (I think) my traffic grows little by little each month. Another thing I was trying was to give away my ebook for free, which i think was a flop, as 1 in 150 visitors were downloading it, i suppose they think if it is free, it can’t be any good. So last week I started charging for it, an as yet still no sales!!

Caroline keep up the good work and good luck… I will check up on you from time to time to see how your doing.

I am the same way, Caroline, a planner. And it kept me from starting my own blog for almost 4 months even though I had blogger friends begging me to start one.

I’ve found the research you’ve been doing and sharing on this blog quite valuable. Why not try monetizing here? Haha, maybe that would require too much research (not making fun, I’m actually in this boat right now, researching away and not doing anything about it)! Maybe we should start an Overanalyzers Anonymous for those of us recovering researchers…

I agree with Ruchir, if only I had the guts to actually do it!

It’s very interesting to read you “thinking out loud” as you describe the process that you are going through. No doubt almost everyone reading this will have a comment along the lines of “just do it!”.

In the end, don’t you think the exercise was valuable?

Caroline,

“Analysis Paralysis” is very common for intelligent folks, so don’t beat yourself up about it. I applaud you for taking the next step.

Walking your path only happens by taking each “next first step!”

Sincerely,

Meg Meyer

Hey caroline, hows it going?
WOW, thats very revealing, Know whats funny about this, is that I was the exact opposite. Id fire off with out doing research, I personally Didnt like it. I was like ready fire Aim ( still am) But I have learned to enjoy the drudgery of research. Im a self confessed keyword FREAK. I personally study the keyword thingy closely, obsessively on my servers and blogs. Man I have probably thousands of them, Keyword elite didnt help any :-P I have had a few more hits than misses since ive been doing my homework, but man I have had some stinkers.
I like the writing style, you aughta try monetizing your writing style

I think our personalities are alike, I too spend about 10 times more time researching and analyzing, then actual blogging. I’ve tried to force myself to cut off a bit from this nasty habit, but I’m still pretty unproductive.

I definitely agree with Ed Dale, careful niche research is critical to success. But your point is well taken, action is also critical. It’s a tough balance to strike, but my money is on the action bias every time.

One of the things I harp on is that, to build a true business, one can only play in one niche at a time. To have multiple niches in the ‘building’ stage spells almost certain failure in the long run. This is, of course, unless your business is the brokering of websites as in your example about Ed Buying, developing, and selling niche sites.

But, I have to say, I’m concerned that the niche you are starting with is a “C” niche. Why? Surely after all of your research, you uncovered a few “B’s” and and “A” or two?

Also, don’t you have a ton of traffic, and audience, and a passion right here? You can clearly create excellent content in the IM/Blogging niche. Something to think about .

Doug

This post is true, if a person wants to go BIG, you must first start small. I guess starting out small lets you focus more of the specifics until you understand the concept. I hope that’s what you’re trying to explain, Caroline. :)

-Mike

One of the guys who started Subway wrote a book about it, called Start Small Finish Big. It helped me to get moving and not spend all my time analysing and making plans - which usually alter pretty soon anyway.

The book has a lot of content written by his co-author but you can skip it and just stick to his stuff.

@Lauren, the monetization is coming in due course :)

@Mark, yes the failed niches are certainly very valuable as I am learning why they have failed and I can learn from those mistakes.

@Meg, yeah I try not to beat myself up as that is a negative emotion which I try to avoid. Instead, I try to notice what I have done wrong, figure out what I want to do better and then try and put it into action as best I know how.

@What is a Blog - it’s $0, not $3 :) Of course I was trying to make money. I have niche sites setup that promoted an affiliate product.

@Shanners, yep I guess what’s needed is that sweet spot in between. In future I think I’d time-box the research. Give myself a set amount of time and at the end simply pick the best and go for it.

@Doug, Yes that’s true, and something I learned the hard way. Of course when you build something new you mess up and learn things - if you’re doing 3 things at once you have to fix those mistakes 3 times over!

I have a B niche but that didn’t work either. I will attack that one again with Maximum Edge but it’s a difficult niche for me - I don’t like it, very hard to write for. My current grade C niche is easy, it’s a subject I know about it.

And yes I have passion here but no expertise. Perhaps once I’ve actually *succeeded* at making money online I can create some product about it and sell it but it would kinda stupid to do that now - here’s my $7 report on how to make $0 in niche markets!

It intrigues me that you haven’t monetized this site - you obviously have a huge traffic for a new blog and yet no where can I sign up for discounted hosting with your affiliate!

@Lissie, I have a post coming early next week where I explain just why this site is not yet monetized. Stay tuned :)

LOL Caroline. I’m glad you said that. Indeed, it would be crazy to write a “make money” ebook at this point :-)

But, I bet you’d do well with a $7 report on:

How to Get Big Name Bloggers to Notice You
How to Build a Content-Driven Blog that Fosters Community
How to Go from 0 to Over 2,000 Visitors a Month with Your Blog
How to Use Social Networking Tools to Rapidly Build a Network
Five Useful Wordpress Plugins and How to Use Them to Improve Your Blog

I still think you need a good non-IM niche, but what you have here can be leveraged to provide even more value to your readers by breaking off a topic and doing a deep dive with lots of detail and charging a reasonable amount for it.

Oh, and you could add the Daily Marketing Ace tip box to this blog and give your readers some great content and earn a bit in affiliate commissions ;-)

Doug

Caroline,

I follow the philosophy, “Do what you love, what you are passionate about and the money will follow.”

You still have to constantly be looking for the opportunity to monetize your passion. But, if you don’t love it, then you are just buying yourself another job.

I enjoy this blog.

I could not agree more with the concept of “internet marketing in the head”. At some point we have all got to actually DO it.

Some things I have found out about monetizing my website. Google brings in some money with Adsense, about $40 a month on 20 - 30K page views. But, I earn twice that with text link and banner ads. I have gotten those clients by eBay and a number of them then keep their ads on my site.

I have found a company named AdToll, which has an excellent site, but most of their current advertising publishers are not in my target market. I hope to earn more from them as time goes on and they get more publishers who are generalists.

My web directory used to bring in a little bit of money each month, but the recent smack down by Google has reduced that money significantly.

I haven’t been very successful with Amazon. Which surprised me since my gardening and landscape sections of my website bring most of my readers.

Anyway, thought this might give you some more money starters. Good luck!

Yep - picking a niche is hard. In this age of the internet, it really seems as if everything is already taken. But the secret is if you are persistent in what you do and you do it well - you will get noticed and new doors will open. I am a planner and analyzer too and at times it does hold me back.

As a real blogging newbie I’m avidly reading your posts and find a lot of great content here. I found your blog via a link from Problogger I think. If not there it was on one of the other prime blogging sites. That was sufficient for me to see you as a major contributor to the blogging world. The over analysis and over-the-top research you describe is exactly what holds me back too, and although I agree research is necessary, there is a balance to be maintained. When I recognise I am in analysis paralysis I just remember that immortal acronym: JFDI, and that gets me just …. doing it!

Hi Caroline, one thing I learned is that your blog does not have to be perfect in order to do well. Look at John Chow”s website for example. He is always saying that if you want to monetize your blog, you need to give it a domain name that describes the nature of your business. And that is the same advice he gave me which I am looking into. However, he still managed to collect his subscription and readership and become successful despite the fact that he used his own name as his domain.

I see that happening because of a couple of factors - his personality (he has very positive energy), his sincerity in truly wanting to help others succeed, and his personal branding.

You already have great content, and a very interesting and unique perspective. All you really need is just to “go”! :)

Caroline,
You have the makings of a publishing mogul.
I mean that in a good way, as you have demonstrated a remarkable ability to breath freshness into what could have been a “me-too” post.

Your headlines, your pictures, your layout and - of course - your unique take on issues of interest all add up to a juicy blog!

I may not be the first to mention this, but I think you’ll make a fistful of money from your writing.

Carry on!

Cheers,

Mitch

@Doug, those sound like great sounding reports, but with the exception of perhaps the Wordpress plugins one (I would never charge for something as simple as that), I honestly wouldn’t know how to write them! I have absolutely no idea how I have done any of those things!

@Kexster, yes I believe that too, that’s what drives me forward. And thanks for the tips.

@Neena, it doesn’t matter if a niche is ‘taken’. There’s always room for one more contender, especially if you can do it better than what’s already out there. Almost every niche imaginable is going to have been done by somebody.

@Heather, JFDI, I can guess what that means heh :) Sometimes I shout that too myself in frustration lol.

@Ivy, I did carefully consider the domain name when starting up. I brainstormed a ton of ‘make money’ type names but they all seemed cheesy and generic. In the end, I figured that my own name would eventually make a bigger impact and would then allow me to take the blog into any direction in the future.

@Mitchell, Thanks! I hope you’re right!

I had to do this last year when I was out of work due to a layoff. My niche was selling on eBay and developing quickie web sites for small businesses. It paid the bills but I couldn’t afford to reinvest in building it bigger. I wish I had paid more attention to some of the more lucrative markets back then but it was a matter of doing what worked quickly to produce much needed cash.

Hi. That was an inspiring post.

It’s best you “think big in small steps”.

I’m going to create some reports and articles on this principle which I coined recently.

Cheers,
Codrut Turcanu.
“Succeeding Against All Odds!”

Caroline,

I enjoy your blog. It’s your passion that makes your blog and that comes from your heart and not from your brain/mind/head. I too am looking for other ways to monetize my blog but the passion absolutely comes first and I think it shows in my blog as it does in yours.

As a fellow blogger in Yaro Starak’s BlogMastermind program I am keenly aware of the importance of blogging on something you’re passionate about. And I get that you get that too.

Keep up the passionate writing!

Sol

@Sol, I’m not actually in Yaro’s blog mastermind. I want to join it but lack of funds have always held me back so far. But one word Sol - MATH!!

Seriously?? I suck at math. When I was at Uni I tried so hard but I just couldn’t do it :( It truly amazes me how some people are just natural at it and find it so interesting. I remember being utterly boggled once when I was browsing the math books at Uni and found an entire book written about the number zero.

It just goes to show that there is a passionate niche out there for everybody.

Caroline,

My bad. I thought you were in that community. Did Yaro promote your blog? In any case, my compliment to you is that you are doing such an outstanding job at connecting with your readers and, in my newbie eyes, doing all the right things that I just assumed you must be in Yaro’s blog mastermind community!

I agree with what everyone has said about analysis paralysis. I’ve got it too. I keep it in check by forcing myself to write a significant post every single day to my blog. I’m thinking of starting other blogs and web-sites as this stuff is addicting but I keep reigning myself in.

Great job!

Sol

@Sol, Yes he did a week or so ago in regards to me commenting on his blog.

Hit the spot with this one, you did.

I’m having trouble figuring out what to blog about. I’m realizing that, being only 21 years of age, I don’t have a lot lot of advice to offer people. You might say it’s not necessary to have expertise, only information-gathering skills, but I suppose I’m just not courageous enough to enter a well-supplied niche unless I actually know what I’m talking about :(

Plus, I don’t want to blog at the expense of a full-time job.

Most of my education has been technical (math, economics, statistics, research), but technical blogs don’t have huge audiences. Doh!

Saad,

I definitely don’t agree that technical blogs don’t have huge audiences. Look at slashdot. The content is awesome and the audience is huge!

My blog is averaging 100 page views per day after only a couple of weeks of moderate marketing efforts. It’s about Math, which you say you’re interested in.

I think you can do fine with a technical blog if there’s an audience there, if you produce outstanding and unique content, and if you market it.

@Saad, well I’m in exactly the same position. I don’t have any expertise, I’m simply trying stuff out, reporting what happens and sharing my insights along the way. People are interested in a story just as much as an expert.

Caroline,

I really enjoyed your article. Thank you for submitting it to the Carnival of Online Income. Best Wishes.

Tommy