The challenge for every new affiliate marketer is how to pick a niche and stick to it? If you can identify a niche early, it will save you a lot of time as you will can focused and productive. However, it is not as easy as it sounds.
You are not alone. In all my product marketing training, many students struggle with market segmentation. A similar exercise to find a target market to focus on.
How To Pick A Niche And Stick To It?
The answer lies in removing uncertainty and randomness from your selection process. You should take an approached of looking at your capability, competency, passion and interest.
In business, we try to use a proven method and my 2A formula is used to identify “Strengths” in SWOT models.
The 2 A's: APTITUDE and ATTITUDE
Aptitude means your natural abilities. By focusing on what you are naturally good at also mean you are leveraging on your strengths.
Attitude means your feeling about something… If you want to be promoting a product that you feel good about…
If you choose a niche that you have high Aptitude for and great Attitude, you will develop MAXIMUM MOTIVATION and this is a Critical Success Factor!
Doing something you are not good at and don’t feel good about have the opposite effect, which is a high failure rate.
So, the way to pick a niche and stick to, it has to give you the greatest motivation and meet the 2A’s.
Just note that it does not mean you always have the 2A’s from day 1.
You can learn a new skill and be good at it.
You can also find a new interest that makes you feel good and motivated.
So, I identified four ways you can find you niche and meet the 2A formula.
1. Find Something That Interested You
- What are you passionate about?
- What do you spend most of your time doing?
- What books do you read?
- What YouTube videos do you watch?
- Where do you spend your money?
- Look at your search history
- Ask your friends and family what you're obsessed with and won't shut up about
This is the starting point. This will help you find out what you're interested in.
2. Find Something That Meets A Market Need
- Once you have a general area of interest/passion, look further or deeper…
- What are some problems?
- Are there solutions?
- Are people happy with these solutions?
- What are some unmet needs?
- Are there inefficiencies in the ecosystem?
- Are people asking for something but not getting it?
- What are they saying?
- What are the emotions? Fear? Pain? Desires?
Write all of it down, try to connect the dots. Ask around, do a survey to validate the assumptions.
Don't make it about you, sell nothing, don't have an agenda.
Listen and observe. People love talking about themselves…
3. Find Something That You Are Good At
We could have started with what you are good at but your passion and interest comes first because what you are good at may not be transferable online. I believe you can always create an online course or write an ebook for anything.
- What are your skills?
- What do you do effortlessly?
- Do you write well?
- Can you do videos?
- Are you good with animation? Design? Drawing?
- Are you good at using any tools?
- Can you cook well?
- The list goes on and on…
There are many skills. What you do better than 80% of the people mean you are ahead and can leverage your skills to solve a problem, teach someone or write a blog to sell an affiliate product.
Do not underestimate your skills. Believe me, someone will be able to learn from you.
All of us have skills we can leverage for a niche.
4. Find Something That People Will Pay Money For
The final part may be the most important. You need to make money. This is the reason why you start an online business.
- Where do you find money?
- What will people pay for?
- Will people pay to solve a problem?
- Will people pay to address an unmet need?
- Will people pay to learn?
- Will people pay for a product?
- Will people pay to remove a pain?
- Will people pay for advice?
- Can you do videos?
Find the value that your niche will pay money for, whether it is a painful problem they want solved or they have unmet needs.
The only way is to communicate the value and then sell the product. If they pay for it, good. If they don’t, we need to ask why?
From here we learn, iterate, and improve continuously until we find something they will pay money for.
In conclusion,
So, how to pick a niche and stick to it? Using the 2A – Aptitude and Attitude formula, it is something you are interested in, solves a market need, you have the skills to deliver and people will pay money for.