What is a niche?

A niche is basically a sub-market within a larger market. By marketing to a niche group you ensure that your marketing message is specific to that group. And although that group may be smaller, your conversion rates (ie. sales) should be higher.

An example of a niche market within the weight loss market is “weight loss after pregnancy” or “weight loss for children.”

Now that you understand the basics of niche marketing, here are a few tips to help you with your research.

#1 – Magazines and books. Your local bookstore is a fantastic starting point to your niche research. Take a look at the new books on the shelves. This will give you many new ideas for markets and potential products.

An even better research tool is the magazine stand. Magazines are notoriously difficult to print and distribute. This means that if you see the same magazine running concurrently on the stands, you’re looking at a good possible niche market.

And when looking through magazines, take a specific look at the advertisers within the magazine. These are the people that are potentially making money within the niche. What types of products are they promoting? Do you see similar products throughout?

#2 – Amazon.com. The Amazon website is a great tool for helping you find niche markets without even having to leave your house. Take a specific look at the book and DVD section. Narrow your search by choosing “new products.” You’ll see an array of books and DVDs on a variety of topics.

Amazon specifically contains many small niche books which you may not find at your local book store. It’s another great starting point for your market research.

#3 – Ezinearticles.com. This is a huge site filled with articles on nearly every topic under the sun. You’ll see the main categories listed and then sub-categories within those. These are your niche markets and the ones to pay specific attention to.

Each article will contain a link to the author’s website in the bio line at the end of the article. When you read the articles, take a look at the different authors’ websites. By visiting these websites you’ll start to get an understanding of what the niche involves and what products are being presented to that target market.

Ezine Articles is a very good source of information and one every marketer should look at on a regular basis. It will help you stay up to date with all the latest trends and markets on the internet.

#4 – Entrepreneur.com. This is another great website for “bigger picture” marketing. Entrepreneur.com has many features on new business start-ups as well as information about marketing and business. Although it may not be the best place for niche market research, it certainly is a good source to get an overall feel for different markets.

Niche marketing is a great approach to internet marketing. Rather than going for a large pool of customers, you concentrate on a small amount and instead aim for higher conversion rates. This makes your overall marketing efforts easier and even more enjoyable.

The tips here will help you get started with your research. It’s recommended that you use several different approaches to your research. The more you can research a market before diving into it, the better.