Have you ever been part of a brainstorming session? Big companies form brainstorming panels all the time. This is a process that can generate creative solutions and ideas. In a company setting, many smart and innovative business people are brought together.
Everyone is encouraged to think out loud and suggest as many ideas as possible. The idea is not to hide anything, and to share every possible thought you have on a particular subject, no matter how bizarre or crazy those thoughts may be.
You may be thinking, “I am my only business asset! There are no other people in my business but me. How can I brainstorm myself?” It’s easy, you do exactly what big businesses do – you harness the ideas of a lot of people, even if you are the only person in your business. You can do this by digesting information in print and online media. All of the work has been done for you. It just requires some time sorting through the information.
There are also some ways you can select a niche in the next few minutes. You don’t need any input from anyone else. You already have all of the required information, and you may not even know it.
So, how do you get started brainstorming for niche selection? There are many ways to do this. A few are listed below. Use the following proven brainstorming tactics, and selecting a profitable niche for your blog or business is a cinch.
Head to the Nearest Bookstore or Magazine Rack
One really great way to use the opinions of a vast number of people is to go shopping for a magazine. Take some time to visit your nearest bookstore, or the magazine section at Target or Walmart. Before a magazine is published, it’s owner does a lot of research. It costs a lot of money to produce, publish, ship and market magazines. So when you see a magazine consistently offered for sale, you know that the topic it covers is one that is profitable.
The same is true with books, in this case nonfiction books. You don’t even have to purchase any books using this niche marketing brainstorming method. Look through the magazines you see, and jot down any niche markets that strike your fancy.
Let Amazon Do the Work for You
Head over to Amazon.com, the largest online retailer. If you think you would like to get into large dog training industry, type “dog training” into the Amazon search engine. You will see a huge list with tens of thousands of results.
Now look on the left-hand side of those results, and you will see a bar where you can filter what you are looking at. A recent search yielded these dog training subtopics in the Amazon pet supplies subcategory:
- Dog Training & Behavior Aids
- Dog Training Collars
- Dog Training Clickers
- Dog Agility Equipment
- Dog Carrier Backpacks
- Dog Whistles
- Slip & Martingale Collars
- Dog Training Leashes
When you click on any one of those results, you get even more laser-targeted niche markets to choose from. This is a way to use Amazon’s massive information database to choose a targeted niche.
Go with What You Know
Do you love gardening? Are you passionate about creating beautiful and fragrant butterfly gardens? Maybe your gardening area of expertise is organic food that people living in small apartments can plant on their patios. One thing a lot of successful bloggers and infopreneurs do when selecting a niche is simply move in the direction of a current hobby or pastime they truly love.
This means working on your business is not like work at all, and you already have all of the knowledge you need, so research is minimal. You can also go in the area of some special certification or education you have earned. This may or may not be something that you are passionate about. However, any time you know more than someone else about a particular topic, there is a potential business there.
Keep Your Ears Open
As a budding entrepreneur or blogger, you should always be on the lookout for untapped niche markets. This means keeping your ears open to all opportunities. At a crowded line in the grocery store, at your favorite tavern or pub, at a public gathering – these are all places where people speak freely. Always have a pen and notepad handy to jot down any possible niche marketing opportunities you hear.
Ask
This is a simple, often underused, method for discovering powerful niche markets. Ask your coworkers, friends, family members and even strangers what area in their lives is being under-serviced. What nagging problem in their personal and professional lives continues to plague them?
Do you remember the old dovetail clasping, round, wooden clothespins? No one ever thought to make them square, until a budding entrepreneur took action. One gentleman whose name has been lost to history frequently heard women complain that they were tired of having to pick up clothespins off of the floor or ground.
This is because the round, wooden clothes pins rolled. They were constantly rolling out of reach, but they were what had always been used, so no one thought of trying to improve them. The gentleman invented the first spring-loaded, rectangular shaped clothespins we use today, and the rest is history. He listened to a frequent complaint, and created a solution.
