| There are two different ways of ideas about | | | | |
| niches. One takes the target audience into | | | | If your passion is music, for example, you |
| consideration first, which is the product | | | | know there is an almost endless supply of |
| centric model, while the other takes the | | | | potential products and potential buyers in |
| product into consideration first, the | | | | areas as diverse as: |
| audience centric model. | | | | |
| | | | - Instruments/instrument sales/instrument |
| Actually, both of these ideas are identical | | | | repair/vintage instruments |
| but one of them will allow you to have more | | | | |
| advantage. So which one is that? The product | | | | - Techniques and lessons on how to play a |
| centric based idea. | | | | certain instrument |
| | | | |
| The product centric model carries a | | | | - Memorabilia - shirts, hats, tickets, |
| time-tested rule of marketing: if you want to | | | | stickers, posters, autographs |
| get into profit quickly, sell what people are | | | | |
| already buying! There is plenty of | | | | - Audio production, recording, CD labeling, |
| information about things that sells well. | | | | booking, promotion etc |
| Niche marketing is just a job to identify the | | | | |
| gaps in the market which haven't got dug yet, | | | | You also know that any or all of those can be |
| and build a business around it. | | | | tailored towards: solo artists, bands, fans, |
| | | | managers, engineers, agents and the list go |
| If you realize, books account for a huge | | | | on. |
| portion of online revenue. Nevertheless, how | | | | |
| do you grab a slice for yourself without | | | | Now that's a great thing for you, but what if |
| competing against the huge companies like | | | | that's not you're interested? What if you are |
| | | | just not into creating a business out of your |
| The answer is simple, you specialize. No | | | | hobby, or you don't feel any passion for your |
| matter how huge Amazon is, sometimes you | | | | current expertise? |
| still wouldn't be able to find books that you | | | | |
| want. What types of books are people | | | | The good news is: It's Fine! You don't need |
| searching for that they can't find through | | | | to give up hope or bang your head against the |
| the mainstream booksellers? | | | | wall for ideas. You will however need to do |
| | | | some extra work. This brings us to the second |
| Could you become the authority and number one | | | | reason I suggest taking stock of your |
| resource for books on a particular hobby? How | | | | strengths. |
| about underground' titles like "The | | | | |
| Anarchist's Cookbook"? That's what the owners | | | | Here's a secret about most internet |
| of have, controversial and "hard to find" | | | | marketers. Ready to know? Here it is: Most of |
| title books. | | | | the famous niche marketers you've heard of |
| | | | create products for niches they know |
| Another way you can build a niche around | | | | absolutely nothing about. |
| hot-selling products is to add some spice by | | | | |
| customizing or personalizing them. In | | | | How do they do that? Easy, they either hire |
| summary, the product-centric model is based | | | | the research and writing to someone else, or |
| on giving a twist to existing markets and | | | | hunt down an expert for an interview, just a |
| trends. | | | | combination of outsourcing and "branding". |
| | | | Also, this type of marketer has his or her |
| On the other side, an audience centric model | | | | own set of "reasons why" for motivation. |
| takes a subject matter, special interests or | | | | |
| information more importantly first. | | | | They include: |
| Basically, you start off with no idea on what | | | | |
| to sell. You don't have a product in mind. | | | | - Money |
| You only know your target-audience. | | | | |
| | | | - Pride of ownership |
| The great thing about the audience-centric | | | | |
| approach is that you can create whole new | | | | - Love of the creative process |
| markets out of thin air. This is the model | | | | |
| preferred by most e-book authors and | | | | - Need for variety and breadth, rather than |
| information marketers. | | | | depth |
| | | | |
| So where do we start? You need to assess your | | | | It doesn't matter as much to this type |
| own interests and strengths before you begin, | | | | whether the market personally interests them. |
| especially if this is your first time | | | | His or her goal and passion is to hunt down |
| starting a business. What are you already | | | | as many overlooked niches as possible, dive |
| interested in? Do you have any background or | | | | into them quickly and start profiting. |
| expertise on a particular subject? Start with | | | | |
| what you know, you'll have more advantage | | | | So, if this sounds like you, you're in good |
| because your prior knowledge will allow you | | | | company! Once you learn the basics of niche |
| to narrow down your niche quickly. In other | | | | research, you'll have your pick of dozens of |
| words, you already have a good idea of how | | | | potential business ideas. |
| the topic breaks down. | | | | |