Looking for micro niches can make you go blind

Back before the Panda and Penguin I was the same as most people, find a micro niche where I could buy the exact match domain, slap up a page of content and throw some amazon products on the back end and make money from amazon and adsense while I did something else. Throw some automated exact anchor text links and go to the beach.

Most of my sites got killed in the updates, not all of them but most of them.  And to be honest I was PO’d at Google, not sure why as I had a pretty good idea they were displeased with this kind of site building but I just rode the wave a bit to long and got splated on the beach with my shorts in a twist.

I took more than a few months away from niche sites, I let domain names die (50+) I did keep some that do ok with Bing and Yahoo traffic , I used a few choice words when describing Google and basically moaned and did other things.

But I want to get back at it, I want my Adsense income back, I want to have it as an extra income stream again..I want new sites to build lists from and sell products into.

What I Look For In A Niche In 2013
The things I look for in a niche have changed dramatically, I do not start looking around my home for items to just bang into Market Samurai and hope to find  a longtail word pop up. I ask myself questions..

• Do I ever see articles on the niche in the newspapers or magazines we have in the house?
• Can I explain what it is to my mum and have her understand (and not be embarressed)?
• Can I build a list in it?
• Are there products to sell in the niche (not just on Amazon)?
• Could I do a Facebook page and have people actually sign up?
• Can I face reading about the niche?

Things I DO NOT worry about

• Exact Match Domain names being available
• Being able to rank instantly with no work (which always meant it was a tiny niche)
• Getting it built in a day

I used to have a site on head lice, and it did ok because people who have head lice want them gone. If they have to buy something from Amazon, or a short report on how to remove them using all natural items they will. It is a pain point and they want it fixed.

The issue with that niche was that whenever  I started researching it I ended up itchy as can be and uncomfortable, so I stopped researching. So no new content, no new link building, it just died. I also had a site on man boobs, Gynecomastia, and it paid really well.. I just cringed every time I did research for it and I gave up on it.

I had sites on all kinds of home bits and bobs which I either had never bought in real life or couldn’t tell you a thing about even if I did own them.

The Big 3 Markets

Health
Wealth
Love

Those are the 3 things that affect all of us.
We want to fall in love, have a relationship and procreate .
We want to have money, money to live comfortably and take care of ourselves and our loved ones
We want to be healthy, live long and comfortably

I could start posting a image of Maslow’s hierarchy of need  but I think you get the picture.

Niche it Down
Health is not a niche it is a huge market. I like to find a smaller part of the market so I can get traction a lot easier. I just picked up a Sunday magazine from one of the papers and it had an article in it all about heart health for men over 50.

Health = Market
Mens Health = niche
Health for men over 50 = Sub niche ..They have credit cards and income normally so they can buy stuff..

There are a lot more articles and news items aimed at the men’s health market than there are aimed at “white under counter dishwashers”. This means two things, one is that there is enough interest in the market for national publications to write about and that you have an easy source of content to read and rewrite.

It Isn’t 2012 Any More
No matter how much we wish we could slap up a quick site with one page of content, have it make money almost instantly, forget about it and move onto the next one we can’t. You need to look for niches where you can add content easily, where you can build a list and where you can sell them more than one thing.

Embrace the new reality and build fewer but better sites, you will be glad you did.

What do You do to pick a niche? Do you have niches you avoid? Comment below and let me know your thoughts on niches in 2013

A saying that I have seen in many investment magazines and online articles is “Money Loves Speed” . It is true online as well, the projects that you start and never finish will not make you any money. You need to get a project started and released fast. We call it a MVP, here is a podcast I recorded with my partner in this project Mark Thompson.

Here is a link to the product Fast Implementation System

Once on the inside you will be able to walk through the process of not only researching for a product but how to make it, sell it and allow the customer to download it. We have a Facebook group dedicated to helping you produce a product.

Fast Implementation System is all about removing any barriers you may have to producing a product. We have modules on research, on making the product, on what payment and delivery platform to use.

We include information on sales pages and even show you some ways to find affiliates that you may not have thought of. Having your own products is how you build your business, each product is an asset which pays you regularly and you can sell easily if need be.

I have products which still sell years after they were produced, neither the Panda or the Penguin affected them. Can you say the same?

If not, well now is the time to think about it and join the Fast Implementation System