I’ve said this before, but it deserves being said again. One of the most persistent internet marketing misconceptions out there is that the place to start your online business is to “select a niche that you are passionate about”.
Chris Rempel of “Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate” certainly agrees. As he says, “the myth of ‘do what you love and the money will follow’ has been responsible for more failure than likely any other influence – perhaps even more so than laziness or a lack of perseverance.”
The assumption is that there are tons of people out there interested in every conceivable niche and that no matter which one you choose, a lot of people are going to be interested in what you have to offer. This is simply not true.
In any event, even if several thousand people are interested in, say, growing giant watermelons, you have no guarantee they will be the type of people who might actually buy your products.
Want to learn what is important when choosing a niche or product? It boils down to this:
1. Large Demand
2. Large Number of Buyers
If you want to be even moderately succesful online you need to tap into markets with tons of demand, where the majority of the visitors are valuable. “Valuable” means “likely to buy”.
Whether you’re into affiliate marketing, or any other kind of online marketing, this course by Chris Rempel is really eye-opening. Check it out.
“Confessions of a Lazy Super-Affiliate”
- More Posts
- Part 18 -- Internet Marketing With, SEO, youtube, Myspace,...
In early 2008 I spoke at the Secret Society of Traffic and Conversion Seminar for my friends Buck Rizvi and Brock Felt. The attendees paid...
Email Marketing Strategy » Blog Archive » Why Most People Will Never Make a Full-Time Income Online - Local ... 7:49 pm on December 10, 2008 Permalink
[...] Another fellow blogger created an interesting post today on Why Most People Will Never Make a Full-Time Income Online – Local …Here’s a short outlineLocal business marketing using web and other online strategies – SEO strategy, prospecting, email marketing, and more – from Rick Hendershot of Linknet Promotions Inc. Sign up for this free eCourse. The Next Web Marketing Gold Mine … [...]
Email Marketing Systems » Blog Archive » Why Most People Will Never Make a Full-Time Income Online - Local ... 8:04 pm on December 10, 2008 Permalink
[...] Another fellow blogger placed an observative post today on Why Most People Will Never Make a Full-Time Income Online – Local …Here’s a quick excerptLocal business marketing using web and other online strategies – SEO strategy, prospecting, email marketing, and more – from Rick Hendershot of Linknet Promotions Inc. Sign up for this free eCourse. The Next Web Marketing Gold Mine … [...]
John 12:30 pm on December 23, 2008 Permalink
I would have to disagree. I see where you are coming from, but the fact is that 95% of marketers won’t make any money no matter what they do! That’s just a sad fact of life and is not strictly an internet marketing thing.
I believe that passion is more of a plus than a minus, but you have a point when saying that it doesn’t mean that any niche is profitable.
Thanks for the post!
Rick 3:17 pm on December 23, 2008 Permalink
Hi John,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. You are probably right that 95% of marketers will not make any money “no matter what they do”. But I don’t believe it is just a fact of life that applies to all attempts to start a business.
The well known cliche is that 80% of traditional businesses will “fail” within the first five years. That is not quite the same as “not making any money”, but for the purposes of the point being made is close enough. 20% is a lot better success rate than 5%.
The primary difference between traditional business and internet marketing “businesses” (if you want to call them that) is that there is virtually no cost of entry for the latter. So any Tom, Dick or Mary can start an internet “business” without any research, training, or investment whatsoever.
It is no wonder that so many fail – probably even higher than 95% – because they are not really “businesses” in any substantive sense. There is no investment, no commitment – nothing other than a whimsical desire to make money by doing as little as possible.
John 4:57 pm on December 25, 2008 Permalink
You’ve made some good points! It is my opinion that the mindset of a person is what determines the person’s level of success. That’s why I said that it’s a fact of life, ’cause most people don’t have a mindset that brings in success. The percentages can be discussed, but you get the idea.
Thanks for making such a long reply, I extremely appreciate that:-)
Enjoy your holidays!
Rick 9:27 pm on December 25, 2008 Permalink
Yes, for sure John. That is what I thought you meant – about the mindset thing. I agree completely with you on that one.
Happy holidays to you too.