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niche

Evaulting a Niche Market

This is part 3 of 34 in Poker and Making Money Online, a 34 Part Series.

If there are too many competitors (some irrational or inexperienced), even if you’re the best it’s a lot harder to win.

Being the best at something doesn’t mean you’re going to be #1.  Consider the 1980 Olympics when the USA Hockey team defeated USSR for the gold medal. The Russians were heavily favored, they were clearly the best, but in 1980 they weren’t #1.

1980 USA hockey Victory Picture

So what does it take to be #1? Hard work and picking the right horse. Some people think that determination will suffice with hard work, but you can be the most determined player in a niche market and still not be #1. There are people with more money, more time, a better team, an older domain, more backlinks, and an established foothold in your market.

Here are a few things I look at when determining if I can become #1 in a niche.

1. Number of SERP results. If Google lists 64 million results for your term, it might be time to narrow it down. Google “computer parts” vs “laptop computer parts”. Which do you think would be easier to become #1.

2. Is there a name brand involved? I always avoid a trademark because they’re obviously the market leader. Consider “laptop computer parts” vs “hp computer parts”.

3. Age and authority of #1 domain. For “hp computer parts”, HP.com is the #1 site. HP.com was registered in 1986, has over 1,000 Wikipedia mentions, is ranked in the top 200 for all websites by Alexa and is clearly the best choice for “hp computer parts”. What makes me think I can beat HP at their own game? What advantages do I have over them?

4. Knowledge of the industry. Do I know any other webmasters that own similar (but not competing) websites? Can I look to someone for a few links to kick start my link building? Am I familiar enough with the market to come up with creative link baiting and viral ideas? If not, what separates me from the other 1,000 niche sites in the industry?

When you find yourself stuck in a market where you’re the best, but not #1, consider this…you may never be #1. We like to believe that if we stick with a site long enough that we’ll eventually beat that big competitor, but you might never win. I’m not trying to be a downer, I’m just being a realist. That’s tough to handle news. You might never beat NewEgg, TigerDirect and Geeks.com for top rankings for “computer parts” no matter how determined you are.

So even if you’re the best SEO, link baiter and viral marketer, there is a great chance that you’ll still be ranked #12 at the end of the day. Switch to a niche or product with less competition, or weaker competition and become the top dog!

By |January 27th, 2009|General|2 Comments
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Choosing the Right Table to Play At

This is part 1 of 34 in Poker and Making Money Online, a 34 Part Series.

Table selection is the most important decision you can make.

Poker Room

When you first walk into a poker room, you’ll see tables, lots of tables usually. At these tables, you’ll find both fish and sharks. When you’re playing poker for money, you’ll want to find the tables with the most fish and the least amount of sharks. Unless you play every day at this poker room or casino, you won’t be able to tell just by looking at them.

The same is true when deciding on a niche. When you first start building websites and working on affiliate marketing, you don’t know how to evaluate competition. You don’t know which backlinks are strongest, and which SERP’s you can overthrow. The more experience you have, the better suited you are to choose a table or pick a niche.

Take this example, you see Paul, a guy you’ve played with before at a table. He knows you, you know him. At his table are a bunch of fish that you don’t know, that are consistently losing hands and folding to bluffs. At another table are a bunch of unknowns. Which table would you prefer?

Personally, I would rather play against known competition. I know that “Paul” is my only competition. When niche marketing it’s just as important to know your competition and know which markets you can stay alive in.

In my experience, technology related fields are like sitting down at a table with Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and Gus Hansen. Would you sit at that table? Only for two hands to say you played with the big boys right?

Jumping into a niche like iPods, computer parts, or laptop batteries is just as bad. Those markets are flooded with superstars that, as good as you might be, you’ll always be fighting a seriously uphill battle with.

Don’t get me wrong, picking a popular niche isn’t a bad idea, you might be able to do really well in a niche like Acai Berry Supplements even though it’s flooded, but when there are so many tables full of fish, why take your chances with a shark?

By |January 26th, 2009|Projects|1 Comment
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