The considerations mentioned in the previous blog, can give you a rough idea if a particular market will fulfill your financial goals. Now you need to dig deeper. In this section, you will learn how to effectively gauge the earning potential of any marketplace. It doesn't matter if you deliver physical goods or virtual services. Whether you will be running an online or off-line business is not important either. Take the following steps and you can determine if you have a chance for financial success in your chosen market.
Let Google do the work for you!!! Google is far and away the most popular search engine in the world. Used properly, it can reveal some relevant information concerning the potential profitability of any business. Here is what you do:
- Type the general name of your niche into Google's search engine, without any quotation marks. A recent search for "Christian dating services" turned up more than 8.8 million results. It is going to be hard to break into such a large market. However, Googling "Christian dating services for baby boomers" returned just 172,000 results. Try to aim for markets that deliver less than 200,000 results.
- Repeat the process just described. This time, look above and to the right hand side of the Google search results (depending on your browser setup). You will see listings marked by a yellow “Ad” or “Ads” icon. If there are several companies advertising services in your niche marketplace, that is a great sign. This is where Google places paid advertisements. If companies are willing to pay for expensive Google pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements, there is money to be made in that market.
- Type industry-specific keywords and phrases into Google's search engine, with quotation marks surrounding them. Using the above example,"Christian dating services for baby boomers" returns just 5 results! This tells you it would be very easy to rank web pages using that specific keyword phrase. Do this for other important words and phrases that you think people might be searching for in your niche.
- The Google Adwords Keyword Planner shows you how many people search for certain phrases and words every month. Select "Get search volume data and trends". Under "Option 1: Enter keywords", list the keywords you are researching. Click on the blue "Get search volume" button. You will see the average monthly search volume for those terms. Google also reveals whether your competition is easy, medium or hard, and they suggest pay per click bids if you want to advertise with Google. (Monthly search volume above 1,000 is a minimum recommendation per keyword or phrase.)
- Type your niche market name followed by the words "affiliate program" into Google, without the quotation marks. If there are companies paying affiliates commissions to sell goods and services in your niche market, you know those companies are making money.
As mentioned in a previous blog post, spending quality time identifying the synergy between your professional skills and your personal interests and passions, is incredibly important to building a successful business in any niche. Your clients will be more likely to act on your information and advice, when they appreciate your passion and level of professional expertise on the subject. This kind of posture within a specific market or niche, gives your business and professional profile instant credibility. It also means that you get to focus your time and energy working on things that are most enjoyable to you.
This will come across in the way you communicate and connect with your prospective customers and clients, and will boost your chances of success. Conducting regular evaluations and reviews of your business is necessary so you can accurately determine whether that niche is profitable or not. Even if you feel really passionate about working within a particular niche, or working with specific types of people, there's probably no point, if that business can't provide you with the income you need to live the lifestyle you want.
The following points will help you identify whether the niche that you've chosen can be profitable:
1. What is the existing supply and demand for products and services in your chosen niche market? In most cases, some competition is usually a good sign that there's an active consumer market. If you see similar products and services being promoted, it's a good sign that there's a ready-made customer base looking to buy.
2. In terms of your marketing, will you be focusing your attention on a particular type of customer, or on a specific range of products? Businesses promoting to a specific target group or service niche, may have a relatively narrow pool of potential customers. While a business with a customer-based niche, doesn't necessarily focus on one particular product or service, instead providing solutions to certain specific target audiences.
3. What value can you add value to this market segment? Think about how your niche-specific personal interests, technical skills, an professional resources, can benefit your target customers. If you are entering the health and wellness marketplace, you will need to have an appealing value proposition, and be able to differentiate your products and services from other health and wellness professionals. Simply promoting yourself as a health and fitness professional, or a wellness coach is unlikely to attract people who don't know you.
4. Can you promote your solution in a way that has a fresh and unique feel? This would help you to stand out from everyone else, so you could be seen as the leader, or expert in your chosen niche market. This kind of solution is called a unique value proposition (UVP), and defines your product or service as being the best value solution for anyone in your niche target market. Originality combined with quality, and affordability gives you the opportunity to be the leader within your market.
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