If you want to start a business online you need a website to reach out to the billions of people who use the internet daily.

But what will your website be about (your niche)? An obvious question when you want to start a business online. But the answer might not.

In my article "The first steps to success in affiliate marketing" I gave in a nutshell what those are. In this article and the coming ones I gonna go deeper into each step.

Ok, here we go...Step 1: Choose your niche.

What is a niche?

The definition of a niche is simply a small segment of the population or a group of people – your audience.

You will be concentrating all your marketing efforts on a small but specific and well-defined segment of the population.

Choose something that is ideally an interest, a passion, a hobby, but it could be something that you would like to learn about. You don't need to BE an expert, you BECOME an expert.

Your niche will be addressing a need for a product or service.

How to choose your niche?

The following you need to take in consideration when choosing your niche:

Identify the talents and skills you’re good at.

Do something you love. It is more important than making a lot of money. It’s not that I say not to make money. But I would prioritize doing the work I love over making more money — any day.

Here are a few tips to help you determine what your interests and passions are:

• How do you like to spend your free time? What do you look forward to doing when you aren't doing it?
• What magazines do you subscribe to? What topics do you like to learn about most?
• What clubs or organizations do you belong to?

What do you enjoy doing most?

If you are working in an area that you don't care about, your odds of quitting will greatly increase, especially as a first-time business owner.

Do you see yourself easily writing 25, 50, or 100 blog posts about?

You might enjoy, but do people need it?

How are you going to help people in the area you choose to market? 

Your niche market is something you create by identifying a specific need or want.

You first need to find problems your target customers are experiencing, then determine whether you can actually solve them.

For instance, find forums related to your niche, then take a look at the discussions that are taking place. What questions are people asking? What problems do they have? 

Profitable or not?

Are there affiliate programs available?
This is obviously a crucial factor to consider. You might come up with an idea for a niche you know a lot about, but are there affiliate programs for? No affiliate program = no sales.

Final thoughts

Certainly, you want to do your due diligence in selecting a viable niche business, but it's better to get up and running than to wait around. That way, you can test out ideas, enter the market sooner and learn from your successes and failures. That way, too, if your first business doesn't take off, you can always take what you've learned from previous attempts and move forward with new ideas.

All the best,

Luc

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