In life and on the Internet, generalists lose and specialists or niche marketers win. Google and Yahoo can spin their web sending spiders in every direction. The rest of us weave in our corners.
Internet marketing gurus stress niche marketing. Google has 21,000,000 niche marketing links. You can "find" a niche, learn the "three" niche-rules, get niche "explained", and use the "tools" of niche marketing. Key search words will help you figure out what niches surfers of the Internet seek. There's just one problem. What if there is not a niche you want to market? What if nothing grabs your fancy, or sparks your passion?
Success comes from heartfelt motivation. What sales people call "fire-in-the-belly". When passion drives us, every roadblock is a bump not a detour. We want to just keep at it because we believe in the importance and value of what we ar doing. Of course, our initiatives have to be sensible. No sense or cents in creating a niche valued by moles.
On the other hand, this does not mean skipping over small interests. Don't overlook small niches. I would rather sell to 5,000 whose passions and interests are the same as mine than attempt marketing to a million who do not care. We all want what Eric Louviere calls "an obsessed marketplace". Eric also reminds us that our partners in passion better have money to spend too. (Eric Louviere, "Niche Marketing Program", GuruSecretSociety).
Finding what people want challenges every Internet marketer. Everyone wants to make money; no one wants to be in debt or broke. No one wants to be a failure; everyone wants to succeed. Making money and achieving goals is a dream for everyone who fogs a mirror. The reason most of us don't make the money we want or live our dreams is because we are uncertain of what we should do.
We are all made with a purpose. It is as unique as our appearance. You may say, "So what. There are thousands who do what I do. What is so special about me?" The answer is "YOU". You express yourself like no one else. Your abilities may be similar, but no one does what you do the same as you. Your ways are distinctive. You can design a niche market from your own experience, talents, and personality.
Take time to look at your life (if you keep a journal, pull out some back issues). What tasks or jobs gave you the greatest happiness? When were you most creative? What work did you do that left you fatigued but not exhausted? When did you say to yourself, "I can't believe they're paying me to do this?" The answer to these questions may help you discover your niche market.
Theodore Roosevelt told his son Kermit to identify his "decided taste" for life's direction. All of the Roosevelt children gained their direction and life-calling from their experiences at home and at college. These are the sources of development. Margaret Broadley (Broadley, Margaret E., Know Your Real Abilities. New York: McGraw Hill, 1948) writes, "Most of us want work in which we can put our hearts, in which we feel we are making some contribution to the world."
Your niche market is all about you and your distinctive insights and contributions. You are your niche market.
