Finding Your Niche ~ Should You Go Wide or Deep?

When I started affiliate marketing, I went out and signed up for every affiliate program I could find. I grabbed the banner ads, and put them up wherever I could find space. That’s what I understood was the “best” way to do affiliate marketing.

I soon realized plastering banners everywhere doesn’t really work, actually, it doesn’t work at all. I did continue to create content in multiple niches and promote many many products.  That approach created a few income streams for me, but in the long run it just really didn’t work.

Let’s talk about what DID work.

1.    Finding a niche/topic/keyword you know something about and care about ~ at least a little.

I know, I know ~ those gurus are telling you to just go out there and pick the biggest niche and jump right in. Here are a couple truths they probably didn’t tell you.

1.    They are using adwords ~ they are paying (a LOT) for traffic.
2.    They have a huge network of other prominent marketers who are willing to send emails to their list on the other marketers behalf (joint venturing).

I have tried just jumping in to a million different niches that should have made me money, everything from chainsaw sharpeners to baby footprint kits. Here’s what I’ve learned ~ it’s much harder to keep track of, do everything for and keep up with a thousand sites on different topics.

It is much easier to find one large topic ~ whether it’s outdoor sports, or parenting and then dive in deeply into that one topic. It was only once I decided to get focused on one niche that I really started building a full time income.

I highly recommend you decide on a big niche and then just learn everything you possibly can about that niche, and write blog posts about it all, build squidoo lenses on lots of it, write articles on ALL of it ~ point it all back to your blog where your affiliate links are.

You will be seen as credible, and the more information you provide the more people will trust you. They will get to know you and when they do, it will be so much easier to buy from you. Not just one time, but over and over and over again. They will think of you as the “go to” person when it comes to knowing about that topic. They will actually look forward to your emails and will quickly buy what you recommend.

It is sooo much easier to get a current customer to buy from you again than to go out and find a brand new customer. Trust me. I’ve been there.

So how do you find a niche? Think about the things you love. Think about something you are really passionate about. Think about something in your life you could talk about for the next 10 years. Think about something you have done in the “real” world for more than 5 years. (If you’ve done something that long you FOR SURE have enough knowledge to teach others about it)

This is a long term effort ~ doesn’t have to be a long time ‘til you make money, but you have to be willing to commit to this for a long time. Internet marketing is an ongoing business, it takes time, and it takes work ~ you can use other people’s systems to decrease your learning curve, and the time each week you need to spend on your business, but it does take a commitment. You have to be committed, so choose your niche wisely.

But ~ and this is a biggie ~ don’t get freaked out and obsess about your niche. Because if you start obsessing it means you aren’t going to start working, and until you start working you can’t start making money.

So take some time, find your niche and dig in.

Once you find your niche and the right programs to promote, it’s a matter of getting as many different people to click on your link as possible.  How would you like to have someone teach you ONE simple way to promote your affiliate links every week? I’m learning something new every week, and my traffic just keeps going up! Check it out here.