Niche Market Research
Niche Market Research
Today we’ll look at Niche Market Research- where do you start researching a Niche Market?
Do you start with a product? Do you start with keywords?
The answer is: First start with a niche and then find out what they want!
Remember, buyers with needs= sales!
Its no good finding a niche without buyers!
Once you’ve found a niche with “buyers”, make sure those buyers have needs that need to be filled!
Once you you’ve found their “need”, find out if those buyers have money!
Then give them what they want!!!
This article discusses finding those buyers needs and how to go about that.
If you haven’t yet found your perfect niche, refer to “How to Find Your Niche: Finding Your Niche within your Network Marketing Business”
For those of you that have found your niche, you need to move onto doing your niche market research.
Read on because we’re going to go into how to find those buyers needs…
1. Niche Market Research: You could start with your own experience.
Then you know what is needed!
So for example, I am in the business of training Network Marketers to put their MLM businesses online.
Having been a newbie quite recently (about a year ago) I can relate to online MLM newbies who are struggling with the technical and marketing aspects of creating an online presence.
I remember what it was like slogging away for hours on end at my computer, only to find that days went by without me generating a single lead! I know the frustration and questions I had plaguing me throughout my process.
What do I do first? How do I create a lead capture page? Which blogging platform should I use? How do I install a WordPress blog? How do I create a good email autoresponder message? When can I create my own products? How do I put my network marketing products or services in front of my audience in a non salesy way?What is the best way to generate traffic to my pages? A website or a blog- which is better? How do I integrate my funded proposals (affiliate products) into my sales funnel? What am I doing wrong? Why no leads?
I already knew what the questions and needs of my target market was- because I had been there and done that.
Its a great starting point for your research.
2. Niche Market Research: You could talk to others.
I had extensive discussions with other struggling online network marketers going through the same things as me! Consulting and talking to your prospects and colleagues will really help clarify what the real issues are.
3. Niche Market Research: You MUST do your niche market research online.
Here is a way to either dispute or confirm your preliminary assumptions. It’ll also give you more information about your niche market- so you can pin point exactly what it is they are needing.
Start with the forums. Do a Google search and type in “your niche” + “forums” and you’ll get a list of your niche forums.
Or you can find blogs within your niche (type in your niche + blogs).
Blog authors often refer to forums and give forum links from within their blog posts (these are the most popular you’ll probably find that people use them!)
Or you can go to forum directories- (directories online that list forums that are available).
For example: www.Big-Boards.com (There are over 2100 active forums listed here-on many topics!)
This is cool- because you get to see how many members there are and how many posts there are on a forum.
At www.Big-Boards.com
You’ll see the forums listed- and sorted by number of posts.
Choose your one (closest to your niche- you can also use the search function) and once you’re in the forum, look for the number of threads and posts (to see if it’s a hot topic!)
Click on a topic with lots of threads. Scroll down past the sticky posts to the actual threads.
Look at the threads with the most posts and views. Look at the subject matter.
Ask yourself- could you find a product/service here that could serve this need?
Dig deep into the threads and posts to see what people are talking about and if there’s an affiliate product that you can join- that is related to the topic.
If you put a post about the topic on your website/blog (so that people find it when searching on Google), you could
monetize by including links to the related affiliate product (or your own product!)
Remember: Go through the posts thoroughly to see what their questions are so you can write your post in a way that answers your target audience’s questions!
Lets Recap:
Look for a forum related to your niche.
Search for active threads and active posts.
Read what people are asking about.
Find some products that are related (or that serve a need). Or find a competitor’s product that could “fill a gap” or create your own product!
Write your blog posts answering the questions being asked and have links in the blog post that directs them to helpful products that you are affiliated to! (Make sales!)
Niche Market Research: Key Questions To Answer
When you’re going about your research, have these questions in mind:
What are people talking about?
What are people asking about?
What are people complaining about?
What solutions are others offering?
What products are being discussed?
What are the price points of those products?
Figure out how to tailor your solution to their needs. Perhaps you find people are having an issue with a certain product?
Show them why your solution is better!
“The smart and savvy marketer will always seek the wants and needs of others first, and
then supply exactly what they are looking for.”
They will:
1. Find a market they can sell to at a profit – even a small market is good if its profitable.
2. Find a product to sell to that exact market.
3. Build a marketing concept around their product.
4. Create a website to again sell that concept.
5. They get the word out, so others know where to find them – and buy!
Remember, a good niche is one that has three major qualities:
* It exists already;
* It’s easily identifiable;
* And it’s easily targetable.
Let me explain why this is important.
The most commonly asked question I receive from aspiring entrepreneurs is this: “What
product should I sell?” (Or “what sells well on the Internet?”) Quite frankly, everything sells
(and can sell well) — from pet food to travel packages — in some way, especially online.
In fact, everything is being or can be sold, somehow, in some form or another.
But that’s not the problem. It’s not what you sell. It’s to whom.
In other words, don’t look first for a product to sell.
Look for an easily targetable market with an easily identifiable need or problem, and fill their need or provide them with the solution.” [Michael Fortin]
Niche Target Market Research
Questions to ask yourself about your target market
Target Market Research
1. Who is your target market? How do you define them? What is your ideal client? (Customer avatar).
2. What Makes my Perfect Customer Tick (Why do they get out of bed? Who is the most important person? What do they want to achieve in this world? What do they love about life? What is most important to them?
3. Their Hot Points and Pain
4. Their Top Fears and Frustrations. What gets them mad and worried
5. And What Do They Want? What outcome are they really after? What are their top desires and wants. What end goal do they think they want?
6. What does my site and products do or give that my ideal customer doesn’t know about? What are the hidden benefits that they don’t know about
7. What does my perfect customer expect me to deliver?
8. What I am going to give my ideal customers … What’s included in my products/services
9. How am I going to deliver it
10. Where can I improve?
OK. So you’ve identified your niche, done your niche market research, (to see if there are buyers with needs) and now you need to plan what solutions/products or services you are going to provide them with.
After this you’ll start targeting the niche market by providing excellent quality information on your blog (or using a PPC campaign) to drive traffic to your site- and make sales!
But hang on, we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. The next thing you need to do (after your niche market research) is to find out what keywords your target market are typing in, so your blog post can be found!
Want training on Niche Keyword Research and How To Find a Profitable Niche?
Visit Put Your MLM Biz Online to join the Savvy MLMers in Training Club – we cover Niche Marketing thoroughly in step by step weekly videos and a full training manual.
Niche Market Research: Resources:
Forums, Blogs and Message Boards for your Niche
Search.twitter.com
eHow.com
About.com
Amazon
Niche Market Research: Related Articles
How to Find Your Niche: Finding Your Niche within your MLM Network Marketing Business
Definition of a Niche
Find a Profitable Niche (5 short articles taking you through the process step by step)
