Picking a niche market - Personal Interest vs. Profitability

It’s been awhile since writing my last post here, and I apologize for it. I didn’t plan on an unexpected life event that was significant enough to change the course of my online operations for awhile. However, I am now back and have some new perspectives to add to my already lengthy resume of life events. This leads me into today’s feature topic: picking a niche market – personal interest or marketability? There's been a long running dispute between personal interest vs. marketability when it comes to selecting a niche market. Some say it is always better to select something you like, otherwise you will become bored and fail at it. Others say it’s not about what you like. It’s about what the customer wants and finding it for them in exchange for money.

Personal Interest based

Under this philosophy, when looking for a niche market to promote – look at your own hobbies and interests first. From this perspective, you are more likely to stick with it and know more about it from the start. Being interested and knowing something about it can establish you as an expert faster rather than with a niche market you know nothing about. In turn, you will find customers you can relate to and start making money faster this way. Also you are more likely to stay with it over a longer course of time. It also means that you will continue to grow with it as well.

However, there are a few downsides to it.

First, you may have an interest with a niche where there isn’t very many others who share your enthusiasm. You spend time building, marketing, promoting and then end up making pennies on the dollar if at all. Over time you realize that there is no profitability with it. You’ll either decide to give up – or continue to pursue it. You'll continue to provide information at a loss for a limited amount of others who share your interest. And it's more likely to become a pet project that becomes much harder to let go when it’s time. Or you may experience the opposite problem. You may find that the market is extremely popular but also highly competitive and saturated. You struggle to convince others that you are an expert that’s worth listening to and experience very little response.

Marketability based

A marketability based niche is decided by what the market is looking for and wanting to get. It is based on market research and which niche has the best chance of succeeding for you. You are more likely to listen to your market when you are not as familiar with it because you don’t have as much of a personal bias. It is all about the potential customers in your marketplace and what it is they are looking to get. You are more open to listen to them rather than interject what you think they should have based on your own interests. However there would be a longer learning curve. You would have to invest more time in learning your market as well do more research to find it. You also may end up having no interest what so ever and become so bored that you no longer involve yourself with it.

Picking the best from both worlds

It is possible to find a niche market that has enough customers that can support your business and provide you with a comfortable living, at the same time it could be something you like or have an interest in as well. If this happens you are in luck. You end up with the best of both world – a profitable niche market that you like to do. You would be happy to put in the time and invest the resources in return for the satisfaction and profitability you can realize. Also it would be easier for you to establish yourself as an expert, get into the marketplace faster and stay with it longer to watch it grow.

But what if you cannot find a niche that offers both?

Then you may end up being one of those in-the-works marketer who struggle with the interest vs. marketability issue and have difficulty deciding what to do. However when you really get down to the core of this issue, it really shouldn’t matter what niche market you become involved with if it is profitable enough to help you achieve your income goals.

Why would I say this?

You have already chosen a profession for an online business, and that is to be an online or Internet marketer. All the things that go into promoting and servicing weight loss customers also go into promoting and servicing credit card debt customers. It shouldn’t matter (as much) what niche market you promote as long as it meets all the requirements for a marketable and profit making business. Look at the corporate world. Do you think that any of the top 500 corporate CEOs really know the nuances of the company they manage? NO. but they know how to manage a big operation whether it is for automobiles, shoes, or any other product you can think of. Their specialty is their management and organizational skills to run such a large operation along with providing the leadership to move forward. But as far as what cars to manufacture or what chair to design is left up to others in that company. Same goes for selecting a niche market. You are an Internet marketer finding group of people with a problem. Then matching them with a solution that they are willing to pay for. You are providing a service to help them with it and anything else that is related to it. Period.

Final thoughts….

If you believe that niche marketing is all about finding topics you're passion about, then you've missed the point. Your passion should have already been found in being an Internet marketer with a specialty (like affiliate or video marketing). Once you perfect those skills, it won’t matter what niche market you promote because you are an online marketer! :)