Just switch on CNN and it’s patently obvious that world economies are being thumped to
their knees. However, some smart niche marketers are using these uncertain market
times to set-up an online presence that actually takes advantage of the credit crunch
and debt crisis that seems to be dominating newspaper headlines every other day. Today, I want to merge the topic of identifying potent niches with something that has
sent shockwaves through global economies – I want to show you how abundant good niches
are, why they’re all around us, and how to use current events to identify them (as
opposed to the moronic ramblings of many “guru’s” out there). So, what’s so special about today? As this article was written, something almost
unprecedented has happened – The banking giant Lehmans has gone bankrupt. Yes, it’s
gone bust – kaput – bye bye. Within financial circles, this was not a complete
surprise (nor the fact that there are more banking disasters out there which may well
come out of the cupboard sooner than you think). Many of you know I used to work for a
famous U.S. investment bank. I know exactly how they work from the inside, which is
why I’ve known for a long time that something like today’s debacle was inevitable.
Trust me, asking the bank to look after your money is like asking McDonalds to look
after your cow. But that’s another story for another day – lets get back to how this
story fits in with picking a solid niche.
First, we need to understand what drives a potential niche before getting involved. Do
you know why Lehmans has gone bust? It’s almost a spitting image of the recent
Northern Rock fiasco – whereby banks have approved mortgages to people who simply
cannot afford to repay their debt. The result? So many people have been unable to
repay their debts on their housing loans that it has caused a “credit crunch” –
leading to serious problems in the financial sector, and today, the insolvency of
Lehman Brothers. And, if you think we’re over the worst, we’re not.
1. How This Event Can Help You Identify The Basics Of A Potent Niche To Set-Up
Your Websites & Blogs In..
One of the hardest things for budding internet entrepreneurs is to identify quality
niches to be involved with. Visit any forum, and you’ll see cries for help –
energetic, bright eyed folk who are ready to start something – anything – but have no
idea what. Typically, a big name guru then steps in and sells them some piffle PLR
package on “how to weave your own wicker basket” or whatever, and it all ends in
disaster (look out for forum posts like “help – wicker basket site not making
anything!).
Today’s article is really all about using your own intelligence (of which you have in
abundance given that you’re still reading this) to identify the good stuff for
yourself.
Sometimes, you only have to open your eyes and it’s right in front of you.
For example, can you imagine the scale of debt problems within the U.K. and U.S. to be
able to murder a top tier bank in the mould of Lehmans? To give you a clue, Lehman’s
third quarter loss (that’s just 3 months of trading) amounted to over three billion
dollars. You may be wondering, how anyone can actually make money from all this – I’ll
get to that in a bit, but I want to make a crucial point first:
“Potent Niches Are All Around Us – Keep Your Ears And Eyes Peeled To See What’s Making
Major Headlines In The News…And Then Find Out If There’s A Way Of Monetising It (There
Almost Always Is)”
Let’s get back to the niche we’re analysing today – the credit crunch, and debt. Pour
over some research reports (or Google it if you have the patience) and you’ll discover
some alarming facts about debt in the Western economy. For example:
- U.K. and U.S. consumers have a combined debt of over 5 trillion USD, and
that’s BEFORE taking into account mortgage debt. Sooner or later, someone is going to
want that back – and when people cannot pay, it’s going to cause further devastation
in the economy (I hate this article I’m writing, I must be coming over like a right
doomsayer).
- Over 5 million credit card owners have recently (within a six month period)
been unable to make repayments on their card.
- According to a research report by Myvesta, over half of Americans are now
struggling moderately to critically with their debt repayments. That should tell you
about the potency of the debt market.
- The amount of home repossessions has increased by 30% since the same period
last year.
I could hit you with more facts, but I think you get the general idea right? The
question you should have at this point is…”well that’s all well and good, but how can
all this carnage create a thriving business for me?”. Read on…
2. Turning Potential Into Dollars – How To See If There Really Is A Way To Make
Big Returns From A Niche.
The above is all promising – it’s by no way definitive. Once we identify a potentially
good niche we need to carry out a number of checks to make sure it’s the real deal. I
have a long spreadsheet of stuff I go through that I wont bore you with, but in
essence you need to make sure:
- There is a high level of financial activity within the niche and..
- There is a generous payout for affiliates (I don’t know about you, but when
I send people my traffic, I want to get paid very well)
- You have the technical skills to develop a good site within the niche (or
the resources to get it done for you)
- You can effectively and economically drive targeted traffic to your site.
To do this, you have to research the niche inside out. Understand who the major
players are and what they offer for commissions – that sort of thing. Let’s keep our
example of the debt niche.
What you must remember is that over the next few years, tens of millions of people
will seek debt help – the companies that are perfectly placed to do well from this
credit crunch are debt help/restructure firms, credit repair companies and similar
service companies.
Take a look at some of the returns that these companies offer:
- Some debt relief and credit repair companies offer upto sixty dollars per
lead. That means, if you send them a qualified lead who (for instance) fills out a
debt help form you get paid that amount every time.
- As debt companies are clambering over each other to get business, it’s
sparked a bidding war on Adwords – great news for publishers as top bids get to $20
per click on Adsense for some keywords. In short, this is a very potent niche to be
involved in.
This is the green signal. You’ve just identified a startling growth niche that’s got
millions of people and where there is a powerful structure in place for you, the
website owner, to get paid handsomely.
