One central affiliate marketing question is: how to find profitable niches?
In addressing this holy grail of affiliate marketing, I have to address affiliate marketing synergy — between two powerful forces, emotions and the market — that characterises it.
One of the reasons you found yourself here today may be at some point you have come across a marketing headline: “Got A Passion? Monetise it.” Fair enough as a proposition. However, to succeed you’ll need more than an advertising slogan.
The real truth may be very blunt: there are no guarantees — only degrees of success, provided you can obtain good and timely advice, followed through by your own effective implementation thereof. And the master strategy of affiliate marketing, if there’s one, is to stick to this principle. And, right off it reverts back to our opening question about niches.
This approach also safeguards you from overly high expectations, some of which have to do with our ourselves. It’s called the tyranny of perfection.
Let me digress here a bit.
The Wabi Sabi Of Affiliate Marketing And The 80 20 Rule Explained
The Japanese have an expression for embracing our own imperfections: Wabi Sabi.
Some things aren’t within your control, while some are. Focus on those that are in your control and the rest slide. My reasons for stating that — “slide” — aren’t fatalistic but pragmatic. Precisely, this is because of the so-called, 80 20 rule states that 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort. It doesn’t, however, mean that we need to put in 20% effort to get 80% of the results, but rather how 20% of the right input is attributable for 80% of the results. I prefer to think of it another way: you need to spend 80% of your effort in finding the 20% that works. (You’ll understand why I talk about living with imperfections).
Notice how uncannily this converges with the Japanese philosophy.
If there are any veterans in this industry (and there are many), then they have become so by following, in their own words (however ungrammatically expressed) . . . stupidly simple ways find profitable niche . . . which I suspect is their own, intuitively deduced, version of 8020 rule marketing.
In that regard, my top recommendation: work on understanding the ideas behind the lucrativeness of a market. What drives it? The investigation also has to be a self-investigation — because it will develop an understanding of how niches, even those you may not be interested in, work. This way you leave other options open. Follow the course outlined below, starting with yourself, first, gradually radiating outwards.
Profitable Niche Ideas
Now let’s get to work — list the elements required to develop a working strategy:
- Your interest/s
- Target audience.
- Trends
This is of course not a comprehensive list but a working list to get things off to a start.
Next, some homework but before that a few more words on how to go about it.
First thing’s first. Your interests — do an audit. Nobody knows you better than yourself. It could be anything from equestrian hobbies (saddlery; riding gear; hand tooled leather riding wear — those could be further sub-niches) to winter fishing in Alaska.
The second issue is identifying and finding your target audience. How do you think you can pinpoint this without wasting enormous amounts of time? Here’s how. Given below are three sites that I suggest you look up.
But the question still remains: What specifically will you be searching for? . . . high search volumes but low competition. That’s the sweet spot. Go find the keywords on . . .
- Google Keyword Planner
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
Next, I’d like to suggest three social media platforms to extend the research from above:
Go find influencers who might be in your range of interests. Explore . . .
- what are they promoting?
- to what kind of audience?
- what other channels are they using?
- can you spot any trends?
Remember, please take notes and record them somewhere for later reference. I believe, I have spent some time in an earlier post. This is your data. Never loose it. Treat this exercise not as a one-off but the beginnings of a regular habit — a healthy habit, the habit of successful affiliates.
And this habit ideally requires you to also look frequently into affiliate networks and platforms. Not only will you find a lot of valuable insights into the industry — specially in terms of target audiences; trends; demand — but possibly also camaraderie. Nothing like finding your own flock to help you rise on your pinions (there, there, now, I get poetic).
Some of the most renowned networks are:
- ClickBank,
- ShareASale
- Amazon Associates.
These are sites that can help you understand what’s trending and which niches are profitable. More to the point, they can help you find brands that you may be inclined to partner with as an affiliate. These are pretty robust sites with helpful support structures that could also nurture your growth.
Of course your passion matters. The crux, however, is this: managing conflicting priorities.
You may find that as a online marketer you have to manage multiple competing priorities, not occasionally but on a regular basis. Get used to it. In fact, it is an integral part of the self-discipline required in becoming a successful.
The overarching priority is — to find your own 8020 rule marketing.
Go get started. Prosper.
Cheers.