Outside of the question "Can I really make money online?"  this is the question that gets asked the most.

Finding a niche can feel confusing and awkward. When I first read Holly Mann's book, I was truly lost.  First, she said to find something I was good at or enjoyed, then , she said to select a product from Clickbank to promote.  Finally, in a forum, somebody clarified what had evaded me until then. 

I'll try to spell it out for you...

There are several ways to find a niche...

• Broadly search for a product - like a video game- and narrow your search to a specific game with a dedicated following.  Build a landing page or website based on that.
• Find a product that is selling well, that also offers a reasonable payout,  and find a set of descriptive words for your ad that have lower competition"

•     Find a product or topic that you absolutely love, or are an expert on.  Do some research to find out how high the competition is, and tweak your focus enough to reduce the competition.  Build a website based on that topic, and monetize through links to related products and services.

From this point, a sale depends on how the marketer has written the sales letter, landing page, or review.  But by being in a smaller category, you have improved your chances at making a sale.

For some people, like Holly Mann, a niche is defined as a product or a phrase that shows a million  or fewer results when Googled.  Additionally, she wants to see around 200 searches per day on that phrase.

For others a niche is even more tightly defined, as a phrase that shows fewer than 500 results on Google.  Either way, you want to make sure that your new website that you've worked so hard on is not competing with 15 million other sites.

For example... don't ever make your keywords "Make Money"

Ouch!!   You'll never get noticed!

I'd say anywhere in the middle of these two numbers will allow you to build a successful campaign.  The thing I look for above anything is if there is a row of Google ads on the right hand side of the page.  When you see other ads over there, you know that people are interested, and marketers are making money.  On the other hand, if you are the first ad that gets placed on a search page, you could very well get a lot of traffic- so don't go by the number of ads alone!

The last kind of niche is the most fun!

Finding a niche based on your personal passions is a treat, and makes the difficult process of building a website enjoyable!

Finding a niche for your website is a very personal process, as opposed to finding a niche for a marketing campaign. However, your skills at finding a marketing niche will better help you find your positioning for your website.

The point is that you find something you love, and are good at,  you are happy doing it everyday-- and that happiness translates into dollars.

It takes a little while to figure out what you want to do, but when you do, the whole world seems to open up.  When I finally thought of the topic of my big website, I could think of a million things that needed to be on it.  What makes me happy with my concept is that there are ways to earn money, ways to educate people, and ways to raise money for organizations that need it. 

I hope this has been helpful to you as you work on your new business.  I wish you the best of success, and truly hope that my pages here are useful to you.