Ready to conquer a new niche, but want to make sure you’re on the right track? You can’t just build a site on underwater basket weaving – you’ve got to make sure that:

1. People are looking for information on the topic
2. That there are buyers (not just freebie seekers)
3. There are actual products you can sell or affiliate with

1. KEYWORD RESEARCH

Initially, you’ll do your keyword research.  That is, identifying a possible niche and running it through Market Samurai to see if it’s got potential.  You want a keyword that has a decent number of people searching for it (so your new site gets traffic) but also doesn’t have too much competition.

I’ve put together a series of videos to show you how to use Market Samurai to dig out profitable keywords quickly, the most recent one is below:

For all the videos in this series (and more free niches you can steal) check out the Steal This Niche page.

2. MONETIZATION

Next, we ensure that the niche can be properly monetized.  Are there products you can create and sell, or simply affiliate with, within the niche?  If not, the niche is dead and we should move on to another.

To check that a niche can be monetized, we can use the “Monetization” Module inside Market Samurai.

We can also do a Google search and see if any of the top results or Adwords ads displayed on the right have affiliate programs.

Checking sources like Clickbank, Datafeedr, Ebay, Amazon, Commission Junction and ShareASale can identify further affiliate opportunities.

You want to have a laundry list of products you can sell on your site, so when it’s time to build, you know you have an offer for site visitors.

Also, make sure the products you’re identifying are a tight match for the keyword you identified with Market Samurai.  If you identify people as searching for “How to make your own soap,” you don’t want  attempt to sell them a candle making kit.  Yes, people interested in making their own soap might well be interested in making their own candles too, but it’s not a perfect message-to-market match.  You need a perfect match from what your users are searching for and what you’re selling to encourage sales.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ

Checking the social media buzz for a niche serves two purposes:

1. Ensuring that people are talking about your niche.  If they’re not, it’s dead.  People must be interested enough in it to talk about it, otherwise they’re probably not buying.
2. Give you a point of entry to use social media marketing in your campaign.  Checking the buzz allows you to identify the social media sites, forums, blogs etc. that are most active within your niche.  When it’s time to promote and build links, you’ll already know the hotspots for your niche.

You can go to each social media site individually and use the search function to check if there’ buzz, but that’s tedious.  Plus, it leaves out blogs and forums, which can be a huge source of conversation and potential traffic.

Instead, use the service WhosTalkin.  You simply search for your keyword and you’ll get a look across all kinds of social media platforms where people are sharing images, articles, thoughts, videos and chatter.  Plus, it gives you an RSS feed for your search so you can subscribe to it in Google Reader and catch everything people are saying within the niche and respond to it once your site is up.

Another place to check is SocialMention.  While this service isn’t as comprehensive as WhosTalkin, it gives you a look, in the sidebar, of the reach, passion, positive & negative percentages and top users talking about your topic.

4. TOPIC TRENDING

You don’t want to climb on a niche bandwagon when it’s just about to die.  So check with Google Trends and Google Insights to identify any patterns in your niche.  Does it peak at certain times? Is it generally climbing upwards or downwards?  Where is it right now in relation to where it’s been in the past?

Don’t beat a dead horse (or niche).  If it’s time in the spotlight has ended, take a pass on it and find another niche with a longer lifespan.

5. VERTICALS & RELATED MARKETS

You may have identified other related markets (that may be more profitable, or could provide you with other categories, topics or subtopics for your site).  We’ll investigate those further to ensure we’ve covered all our bases in our keyword research.  Simply follow the tips above for any related markets, keywords, niches or sub-niches you’ve found.

To identify additional related markets, check with the following sites:

• Keyword Spy
• SpyFu
• SEMRush

With each of the above resources, you’ll be able to get an idea of the advertising spend in the market, as well as other, related keywords you can look into further.

CrowdMountain members, check your members area over the next few days – we’ve got some pre-made markets ready for you so you can just jump right in to site building!

   

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Tagged as: affiliate marketing, amazon, clickbank, commission junction, datafeedr, ebay, google insights, google trends, Keyword Research, keyword spy, market samurai, market-research, monetization, semrush, shareasale, social mention, social-media-marketing, spyfu, Steal This Niche, whostalkin