This is a copy of my
recent blog post.
Let me preface this discussion by saying I have the utmost respect for Mike Mindel and I am thankful for all that he is doing to help us with the 30D challenge.
This post was written to help clear up some confusion and generate discussion. thoughts?!
Like tension, you can cut the confusion in the forum with a knife! The idea of niche markets is a confusing but valuable concept. Therefore I think it is worth revisiting.
Mike Mindel posted a fantasitic explanation, including examples on his blog. However, you must ignore the spreadsheet examples (more on this later). The example he uses of "property buyers of unusual property in England" is a great example. Utilizing the concepts in Day 3, he would simply do a keyword search for those unusual properties in England to find out how many people are looking for lighthouses, churches, houseboats, etc.
The part where he goes too far in his spreadsheet is:
When he combines the niche and the market he is creating products. The actual niche market is "property buyers of unusual property in England" the product is showing them how to buy. He explains that the ebook, hardcopy, video or DVD is the actual product however, the service of "showing them how to buy" is the actual product.
I love dictionary.com and wikipedia:
From Dictionary.com
Main Entry: niche market
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a specialised and profitable part of a commercial market; a
narrowly targeted market
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A niche market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector.
Niche market simply means a smaller subset of a large market that is not being addressed by mainstream providers.
Let's look at some examples:
Market **** Niche **** Micro-Niche
Reading **** Speed Reading
Reading **** Children's Books **** Children's Non-Fiction
Singles **** Internet Dating **** Jewish Internet Dating
Cars **** Car Racing **** American Muscle Car Racing
Cooking **** Sausage Making **** Polish Sausage Making
Pets **** Dog Training **** Clicker Training
Marketing **** Internet Marketing **** Affiliate Marketing
Notice that in each of the niches and micro-niches there is no product or service. It is simply a group of people with shared behaviors, experiences or interests.
So what is all the fuss.... By not defining the product, utilizing the techniques in day 3 we can start to identify what that niche wants. What better way to develop a product than to identify a market, find an under served niche within that market and fulfill its needs. I assume that is where the 30-Day challenge is taking us.
It hit me like a ton of bricks when Ed said, "are there real people selling real stuff to real enthusiasts for money" When you look at the example of speed reading, there were lots of affiliates selling stuff to real people for money but very few real people selling stuff. That is because that market is over saturated, the real people have long since moved on to new projects while their affiliates sell their products for them.
The ideal market is one where there is an interest from a small but sizable group of individuals (niche market) and no one is fulfilling their needs. And while we joke around about Sausage Making, it may prove to be a great niche *wink*
Mike
08-06-2007, 10:03 AM
Thanks everybody, what a fantastic thread for clarification.
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