80/20 Strategies for Web Marketing, Business Systems, & Personal Productivity
Perhaps the most important principles for learning *how to start an Internet Business* is this little caveat you will likely hear again and again: “Find Your Niche!”
This is great advice.
The only problem is most people will never really tell you what a niche is or how to go about finding one. Like anything else with successful business-building, one always seems to encounter these little enigmas.
Much of this problem is directly related to the definition itself. I recently hunted around for an appropriate explanation of “niche” and turned up these two interesting definitions:
1. a position or activity that particularly suits somebody’s talents and personality or that somebody can make his or her own; or
2. an area of the market specializing in a particular type of product.
These definitions seem clear enough, but here’s the problem:
The second definition is the very general approach you’ll hear most of the time. “Go find your area of speciality,” they say. “Look for your target market.” Good advice? You bet it is. But something is definitely missing here. This is where we need to reconnect with the first definition, especially the part about what “somebody can make his or her own.”
Here’s the bottom line:
If you’re going to be successful in any niche, it must *suit* you – it must be an appropriate fit for who you are. BUT – it also must have the potential to succeed based on your business-building abilities and know-how.
I recently read about one Harvard professors theory of “Multiple Intelligences” and how each of us occupies one or more areas specific to who we are and where we excel – whether in kinesthetic, linguistic, spiritual, musical or other such areas.
This is a great place to begin looking for your niche.
The key, of course, is to bridge that gap between what’s unique to you in personality and what can be developed into a valuable product and service for a hungry marketplace. Still, I do think many aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be Internet Business owners often make one fatal error in searching for their niche. This is the part where I live up to my article title since I know you’re already asking, “What is the Internet Business niche secret?”
The secret is you must find a profitable niche in which you can actually make a profit.
I know this sounds obvious, but really think about the meaning and the implications. Many people start this process by pursuing a niche they love. Perhaps it’s a hobby like knitting or a personal passion like solving world hunger. These are both fantastic areas to explore for making money online, but likely not the best place to begin.
In his immensely popular book “The Four Hour Work Week,” Tim Ferriss argues that these types of business ideas should be relegated to the back burner until you have actually produced a significant cashflow from an initial business development process.
You see the true secret in developing your first Internet Business is to combine effectively your interests and aptitude with profitability and business success. Your real goal is to learn about business development, not to further enhance your passions. If you can create a steady stream of income – especially passive income – from the first successful venture, then you can afford the time and resources to invest more time and energy into your personal passions or to develop a second or third business based around that specific area.
Here’s a quick way to get started –
Remember: the goal here is to brainstorm, explore, research, and ultimately test your ideas. Don’t spend too much time in the analysis area. As we all know, it’s important to avoid “paralysis by analysis.”
Even if you choose an idea that fails or flounders, this experience will be immensely valuable for future attempts.
Failure is your best friend because it is the greatest of teachers.
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