Choosing the wrong niche as an affiliate marketer means business failure right from the outset.
Imagine for a moment the steps you would take to start a brick and mortar business.
Understanding that opening a store is a time-consuming and costly venture, you would (at very least):
- have considerable interest in, and knowledge about, the niche in which you plan to sell;
- determine whether there is a market for the products you plan to sell;
- have, or source, sufficient funding to open a store and stock those products; and,
- do proper marketing to get the word out about your new business.
So, it's not likely that you would choose to sell ski attire in Jamaica or open a farm feed store in downtown Manhattan. Those would clearly be the wrong niche.
Unfortunately, because many aspiring entrepreneurs are conned into believing that affiliate marketing is the way to ‘get rich quick' online, they fail to consider even the most basic business principles before venturing into the fray.
I find that very sad because the most successful affiliate marketers and bloggers approach their online business start-ups EXACTLY as an entrepreneur starting a brick and mortar business.
Take for example my former student/now good friend, Lynn Terry.
She learned basic business and affiliate marketing principles from my Super Affiliate Handbook and then went on to launch her Traveling Low Carb site, with which she has enjoyed HUGE success. She chose the right niche for her, not the wrong niche.
Visit her site and you'll notice that she:
- Practices what she preaches on a daily basis and has done so for years, i.e. considerable interest
- Posts regularly – every few days
- Took 2 niches (food and travel) and combined them
- Finely niched one of those topics (food to low carb)
- Has a very active presence on social media, i.e. 13K+ Facebook followers
- Is building a mailing list using Aweber to re-connect with them on a regular basis
In other words, she lives, breathes (and eats) the topic she chose to blog about.
In my experience of 18+ years of researching successful affiliate marketers (and being one), that's the only way to be successful in the long-term.
You must OWN, believe in and be faithful to your topic. You have to WANT to share your experience and success with others.
In other words, you have to GIVE of yourself honestly BEFORE you have any expectation of returns from others.
Success really is that simple.
For more hints on how to avoid choosing the wrong niche, read Profitable Niches as Revealed by WordPress Theme Sales.
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Cheers,
