I've often saidthere are 3 good ways to choose a niche for an online business. But today Iwant to give you another idea - a 4th way that just may get you past yourniche-discovery hurdle for good...
The most popularadvice is to "do what you love", or go with a niche you arepassionate about. This most likely includes a hobby or lifestyle choice.
This is a great ideabecause you are already knowledgeable and experienced on the topic. You're alsoless likely to get bored with it than niches where you don't have a personalinterest.
The secondsuggestion is to choose a niche where you have professional experience orexpertise. Another great approach, except that most people are already burnedout on their chosen profession, or still doing it as a day job, and can't getexcited about spending their nights and weekends at it as well...
The third way toselect a niche, and one that I recommend a lot, is to choose something you'dlike to start doing. A new hobby or lifestyle, or something you'd like tocollect or get into.
Since you are justgetting started at it yourself, you actually are your target market. This putsyou in an ideal position, and gives you insight and empathy with your market -you can easily connect with them on their level.
You're in researchphase, finding resources and discovering what works and what doesn't - or thebest way to do this or that. Sharing all of that information becomes your"content". And it's very easy to generate since you're alreadyactively collecting information on the topic.
Of those top 3 waysto choose a niche, the last one would be my favorite. I have often started anew online business based on new personal interests. I find that it makes workfun, and that fresh enthusiasm for a topic will take you a long way.
With all 3 of theseviable niche-selection methods, you are limited to choosing from what youalready know or feel comfortable with...
4: What would you doif there were no limits?
Life is full oflimits: physical, financial, situations & circumstances, you name it. Oftenwe'll dream big only to remind ourselves of all the reasons those dreams cannever become a reality.
But just for amoment, let's imagine that there are no limits. Maybe you've always dreamed ofspending your winters in New Zealand, owning a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, goingon an Alaskan Cruise, or backpacking across Europe.
This is what theymean when they say "think outside the box".
They are talkingabout your box.
Your box is yourcurrent frame of reference. It includes your personal experience, things you'veexperienced by association, and all of the elements you draw from to makechoices and decisions.
Your box is not thesame as mine, or anyone else. It's also not real. We are all drawing from aunique combination of circumstances and experiences. So it's basically justperception. And perception is not reality.
Let's do a quickexercise...
Step outside of yourframe of reference for a second, and consider everything that the world has tooffer. What appeals to you most?
Dismiss any negativethoughts that appear, and allow yourself to just imagine your ideal life. Howwould you spend your time? How would you spend money if you had an unlimitedamount at your disposal? Jot down everything that comes to mind.
(don't think orhesitate, just jot it down)
Your next step iskeyword and market research. Find out if there is interest in that niche, andwhether it is a buying market.
This exercise willopen up a lot of new options for you, new niches you may not have consideredbefore. And just imagine getting to wake up every day to work on something youcan really get excited about!
You may just beamazed at the things that present themselves along the way when you startthinking and working outside of your current frame of reference. Things thatwere once outside your reach may quickly become real possibilities - and evenoptions.
We'll go back to theexample of New Zealand vacations. You may be a single mother that lives in asmall town in Tennessee. You have a work schedule, your children have a schoolschedule, and New Zealand is just a fantasy place in your mind that you realizeyou'll probably only ever see on tv or on the internet...
You do thisexercise, your market research, and you start an online business around NewZealand Travel and Vacations (over 57,000 combined searches each month). Yousee that it's sort of competitive, hesitate for a second, and then decide tojust go for it. This is what you want, and you're willing to put in the work togrow this business into an online authority.
And you do.
Now you're in aposition to take that trip to New Zealand, and it's no longer a personalexpense. It's a tax deductible business trip. You meet people, take photos andvideos, blog about your experiences. And before you know it, you're getting VIPinvites from airlines, hotels, restaurants etc that would love to be reviewedand featured on your popular travel & vacation website...
See how thatworks?
Dream big. Chooseyour niche... and make it happen!
Best,
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