How do you pick a niche?

[built]

^^^^^^^^^

Do you look for high CPC words?

Do you look at competition?

Affiliate offers?

 

[CCarter]

Depends on your end goal.

If you are looking to sell and not stay in very long, they you have to make it as profitable or perspective as profitable for the buyer, So something with great CPC, lots of competition - meaning there are people actively looking to get an advantage.

If you are not looking to sell, then get into something that you'll actually like working on, sounds cheesy, but jumping into a niche you are in for the long term means you are in it for the long term... so make sure you at least like or are interested at some level, otherwise you'll lose motivation when the hard times come, cause with every project there are always hard times when you feel like quitting and wondering why you even got into this - don't go for the instant gratification, but keep grinding.

It helps if you are passionate about a niche if you are going for the long term, helps mentally for you, but for something you are looking to flip it's not necessary.

Affiliate offers are extremely great as well, cause it shows that niche is profitable, you see affiliate programs for non-profitable niches... there is a reason, no money, why would anyone bother?

 

[built]

Depends on your end goal.

If you are looking to sell and not stay in very long, they you have to make it as profitable or perspective as profitable for the buyer, So something with great CPC, lots of competition - meaning there are people actively looking to get an advantage.

If you are not looking to sell, then get into something that you'll actually like working on, sounds cheesy, but jumping into a niche you are in for the long term means you are in it for the long term... so make sure you at least like or are interested at some level, otherwise you'll lose motivation when the hard times come, cause with every project there are always hard times when you feel like quitting and wondering why you even got into this - don't go for the instant gratification, but keep grinding.

It helps if you are passionate about a niche if you are going for the long term, helps mentally for you, but for something you are looking to flip it's not necessary.

Affiliate offers are extremely great as well, cause it shows that niche is profitable, you see affiliate programs for non-profitable niches... there is a reason, no money, why would anyone bother?

Took the 3 bolded points and I've created an insurance magazine. CPC is ~$180. Now am I fukn retarded for choosing this niche? Maybe but I think I can pull it off. Will be fun. the way I see it is everyone is avoiding things like this, so im going to be a lone wolf in the non SEO territories

 

[Ryuzaki]

We've recently had an entire Q&A thread about this. Read this and it'll likely answer most of your questions. If you have more, ask them in there so we can continue building that nice resource:

https://www.buildersociety.com/threads/aba-choosing-a-niche-and-analysing-competitors.645/

 

[MosquitoHawkr]

At the risk of sounding like a shill for this guy because I've mentioned him already in my previous posts, humblesalesman on reddit has a great post on this topic that I found to be incredibly helpful in expanding my somewhat tenuous grasp of "niches," "keyword selection," and basic market and profitability analysis:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/2heedi/case_study_how_to_choose_a_niche_for_you_to/

Covers everything from picking a niche genre, getting it down to a sub-niche that can be later expanded to include a wider array of offers, and how to check for products that do well in that category. A few key ideas are:

Many bloggers and affiliate marketers will tell you to write about your passion. I have never once written about my hobbies or interests. Why? Because affiliate marketing is hard and grueling work. I don't know about you but I want my passions kept separate from anything I find hard or unpleasant. Rather than choose a niche revolving around your passion, choose one you are less knowledgable about but would like to pursue as an interest.

By targeting a niche you are less knowledgable about you are able to see it with a fresh set of eyes.

and

Still stuck for a niche to explore because you cant pick an interest?

http://creativitygames.net/random-word-generator[1]

I used this to generate my example. Seriously, finding a viable niche is so easy that it can be done at random.

It really opened my eyes and showed me to stop over thinking and start over DOING. I'll be the first to admit that I get stuck analyzing and second guessing myself. I'm sure that's not unique or special in any way.

 

[Zachary Barden]

I agree that affiliate marketing your passion is a dumb move unless you are A) a big mover in the industry, B) insanely dedicated to the point of obsession. Unless one of those two points are met, you will down in a sea of saturation and desolation.

I personally suggest a combination of Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner. (Amazon seasonal features usually help too.) These two have helped me form my niche sites.