When you think about your business niche, it’s only natural to go for a broad topic with large appeal. The problem is that you’re not the first to have that idea. General wisdom about online business says that you should choose a highly specific niche that caters to a small segment of the market so there’s less competition.
Think of it this way. Everyone wants a new smartphone. But if you set up a business selling smartphones, there are lots of huge, established companies who are selling smartphones. Choose a micro-niche, and you can focus on one specific group that needs a more specific product. What Is a Micro-Niche? A micro-niche is a topic within a topic that caters to just one segment of a target market. Examples of micro-niches within a larger niche would be: Florida tourism -> Miami bus tours Smoothies -> Banana smoothie recipes Laptops tips –> Surface Pro tips Clothing for men -> Winter coats for men Dog food -> Food for elderly Alaskan huskies A micro-niche is just a regular niche drilled down to something more specific. Why Choose a Micro-Niche? The main benefit is that if you can find a micro-niche with a high need, then your niche will become more profitable. When people search for the keywords within your niche, they’ll find your site first because the search results aren’t already saturated. You can become a knowledgeable individual in this topic area. Choosing a micro-niche allows you to better serve your customers. You can’t be all things to all people. When you cast your net too wide, you end up with nothing unique to offer. With a micro-niche, you can get to know the topic well and offer the exact specific help people are looking for. It’s also ideal for smaller businesses who don’t have unlimited resources. How to Choose the Right Micro-Niche A good place to start is with keyword research. Use a free tool to see what searches people are performing. Enter your niche and look at suggested keywords. Pay especially close attention to long-tail keywords. These are longer phrases and full sentences where there is often less competition. For example, you might sell products related to car enthusiasts. Through your research, you might see a growing number of searches for electric cars or hybrids. You can then focus in this area. Gather Feedback from Your Audience Watch your audience closely on the internet, especially social media, to see what they’re talking about. You may find that certain sub-topics are getting a great deal of discussion. You can also run your ideas by your audience, asking them, “What would you like to see a blog about?” Start with Your Own Expertise Look at the niche you’re currently in. What areas within that topic are you most knowledgeable about? For example, if you’re into social media and you have a great deal of experience with LinkedIn, you could focus on LinkedIn marketing or finding jobs on LinkedIn. Fill the Gaps Look at your industry. Are there any areas that they’re not talking about? This is a gap you can fill. Create content related to this micro-niche that helps people solve their problems and see how it performs. This is a great way to find your own place in a marketplace. Do you want to learn more about choosing the perfect business niche? Do you want to learn more and grow your business? Check Out memberships at Innovate Academy. Click HERE Pat Simes is a blogger, entrepreneur, and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs.
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One way to find the right business niche is to conduct keyword research. Keywords are terms people are entering into search engines to find information they need which helps them solve their problems. Search engines like Google track this information and make it public. You can use this data to refine your niche ideas and discover which niches people are actively searching for.
Start with Your Passions and Interests Start with a little brainstorming. What topics are you passionate about? What do you have experience in? Once you have some ideas, you can use keyword research to narrow down and refine. For example, you might want to do something in self-improvement. This is a huge niche with a great deal of interest. Through keywords, you can take the broad idea of “self-improvement” and narrow it down to something more feasible, while also getting an idea of trends within self-improvement to help you further refine your niche. How to Find Keywords There are many premium SEO software programs available, but most people find that Google’s free Keyword Planner tool is enough. The purpose of this tool is to help you assess keywords for Google ads, but we can use it for basic keyword research. There are also free alternatives available like SEO Book and WordStream. Enter into the tool some keyword related to what you do. You could use any simple phrase like “online business” or “how to fight clutter.” You’ll get a list of similar keywords that are related. Skim this list and look for other areas that might be interesting. For example, under “how to fight clutter,” you might find keywords like “office clutter” or “organizing clutter.” These are more specific ideas you could use for your niche. How to Assess Keywords Look for a high volume of monthly searches. A good guideline is over 1,000 searches. This tells you that people are actively looking for this information. The next step is to check out the industry. You’re looking for keywords that have high search volume. To assess the keyword, go off the tool and perform a simple Google search. Put the keyword in quotation marks so you can get the exact phrases. You’ll then see how many sites are targeting the same keyword. Since you’re not doing actual SEO planning, you don’t need an exact assessment of these keywords. Look at the sites that come up on the first few pages of the search results, and you can see whether other businesses are covering these niches. Here is the thing to remember, it doesn’t matter how many other businesses are covering a niche if you know that you should enter this niche. When choosing the right niche for your business, you should consider objective data as much as possible to assess whether your ideas are popular and profitable. Keyword research is one effective way to do this. Do you want to learn more about finding the right business niche and learn strategies to help you achieve your business goals? Check out the memberships at Innovate Academy. Click HERE Pat Simes is a blogger, entrepreneur, and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs. Having trouble finding the right business niche? The winning formula is to find something that you’re passionate about and that your audience is interested in. Figure out the problems your audience is suffering from and offer them a solution through your content and products.
The best way to do this is through objective data from your target market. See what they’re discussing online and find out how you can help. Where do you go for this information? Here are 10 places to conduct research and see what your audience is talking about so you can choose the perfect business niche. Keyword Search. Use Google’s free Keyword Planner tool to see which keywords are popular. You can find out if your ideas are popular but also get suggested terms to consider. Social Media. Social media offers a wealth of information. See what people are discussing related to your topic. See who people are following and what content they’re liking, sharing, or engaging with. Blog. Look for blogs in your topic area and see what people are writing about. Read the comments of popular blogs to see what readers are saying and asking. YouTube Videos. Search for your topic area in YouTube and see what you can find there. You’ll find videos on your topic with comments you can read but also sub-topics that can be niche ideas for you. Online Reviews. Product reviews offer a great place to get ideas. Look at review blogs and customer reviews in online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. Community Forums. Sites like Reddit and Quora offer a great place for you to be a fly on the wall and listen to people ask questions and discuss issues they’re facing. It’s a great way to get niche ideas. Look at Products. Look at online marketplaces for products you might sell. If you find something your audience needs, you can choose a niche based on that product or product type. Your Industry. Look around online to see who else is in the niche, what content they’re producing, and what they’re selling. You’ll learn what’s popular and also learn about what’s already out there. Turn on the TV. See what’s on TV and watch the news for trending topics. You might find something timely or a problem many people are facing that you could address. Check the Calendar. What big holidays or events are coming up? Sometimes you can find a highly timely niche that’s related to a time of year or seasonal event. The best practice is to start with the things you’re passionate about. Conduct the above research to assess the interests and needs of your target market. Then, assess whether your niche ideas are potentially profitable or not. Brainstorm a big list and narrow it down until you’ve found the right one. Do you want to learn more about finding the right business niche? Check out the memberships at Innovate Academy to help launch or grow your business and helps you achieve your business goals. Click HERE Pat Simes is a blogger, entrepreneur, and Founder of Innovative Business Solutions. She currently resides in the Midwest and is committed to inspiring and empowering entrepreneurs. |
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