Anyone who has ever ... in doing business on the ... ... the ... of finding their niche ... your niche market means ... which product ... to sell,
Anyone who has ever succeeded in doing business on the Internet
has discovered the importance of finding their niche market.
Finding your niche market means discovering which product or
service to sell, and then locating the people that are interested
in buying it. While finding your niche may be difficult at
first, once you've found it and established a loyal base of
customers, you're definitely on your way to success.
Much of the difficulty in finding your niche market comes from
trying to find a niche that isn't already flooded with
competitors. They key is to find an area that has customers
ready to be served, who aren't already being served by hundreds
of others.
You may think that you have to offer run-of-the-mill products to
attract a decent number of customers, but that's not really true.
Each person is different from the next, and each has his or her
own specific needs and interests. If you can find a need or
interest that lots of people share, no matter how strange it
seems, you can find your niche.
As I'm sure you're aware, there are dozens of Internet stores out
there offering general merchandise, gifts, etc. Most of these
stores offer good products at decent prices, sure, but they're
all over the place. There are simply too many of them for a
small company just starting out to find a real niche. To be
successful, you have to be different enough that a ton of other
people aren't selling the same thing, but "normal" enough to find
a relatively broad customer base.
For example, when I started my mask retailing site, I had done
enough homework to know that there was a market for a site that
sold masks, and masks only. Now, I'm not just talking about your
typical Halloween and kids' masks. I offer those, too, but I
also offer everything from dust and gas masks to decorative,
collector, African, sports, feather, butterfly, animal, and even
Indonesian masks. From my research, I knew there were surprising
numbers of people out there that collect masks, and even bigger
numbers of people who love owning a few just for kicks. I
started out with a limited selection, but with demand my site
has grown to offer over 450 different masks, both wearable and
decorative.
This may seem like a very specific niche, and perhaps it is.
However, even if you fill a very specific need, you can still be
successful, as long as there are plenty of people with that
common interest. Do some research, browse the net, and see if
you can't carve out a niche for yourself.
