I get a lot of emails, texts, skypes, and private messages asking all kinds of things about making money online. Surprisingly, I rarely get asked about what niches are the easiest to make money in.
I think the reason that question doesn’t come up much is because so many budding IMers have already been convinced that to make money online, you have to teach others how to make money online. This not only sounds absurd, it is absurd!
Think about where IMers spend their time. They frequent chat forums like the Warrior Forum and Digital Point. They are constantly learning the latest tricks and techniques to capture leads, make sales, and upsell customers.
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Marketing to marketers is hard work!
They already know what to expect from you. They analyze your every move. They know that that free product you are offering is just bait to get them on your mailing list. They’ve seen it all before. They know what you are going to do before you even do it.
Why on earth would you want to market to marketers?
Now take all those marketing tricks and use them on somebody that is searching for information about training their beagle or making soap or getting their ex-girlfriend back. Do you think that these people are raising an eyebrow with every click of the mouse? Or are they just happy that they found a place where they can get a free ebook on the subject that they are searching about? The later is your answer.
Another reason that budding IMers should not be in the make money online niche is because they haven’t done it themselves yet. Don’t try and teach magic to a magician if you don’t even own a silk cape.
And then there’s the fame factor. While most of us are in this business to make money, there are quite a few that are in it to become famous. They have figured out that they will never play bass guitar for Van Halen or third base for the New York Yankees, but they figure they have a shot at becoming the next online guru. A few screen shots of their ClickBank account and the chicks will come swooning in. Unlikely, my friends.
Look, I’m certainly not one to knock somebody for being a ham, but I will say to all those rock star wannabes that you need to know what you’re talking about before you can become a famous “guru”.
For those of you that started reading this article because the title led you to believe that I was going to reveal the secret niche that money is pouring out of, I’m sorry. What I will offer you is the fact that the money is not in the “make money online” niche, at least it’s not for you yet.
I’ll end this article with a tip on where you can find profitable niches, though… and without busting your butt on research. This is actually a tip that Brittany Lynch gives out on her webinars. Go to Dummies.com. If they published a book on the topic, then you can bet there is an audience for it.
Just stay away from the make money online niche, until you have actually made money online.
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Hey EBR,
Thanks for this post. What you mentioned is so true because I know some of my friends who fall into the category you mentioned above.
Indeed the non-IM niches are the easiest to target due to them not totally understanding the mechanics of how IMers work. On the other hand, fellow IMers already know all the “tricks” that each other deploy, for instance using baits to get your email address for our email marketing campaigns later.
Cheers,
Lester
Great tip about the Dummies books, I’ll be checking them out for my next niche, thanks
Sound advice. One IM training membership site that shall remain nameless actually teaches newbies to email all their family and friend with a call to join the same site. Obviously self serving for the site owners but from my own years of offline commission selling I thought it was the stupidest advice anyone could give to a newbie online marketer.
Let’s suppose you were my best friend and yesterday I started selling insurance. Today I come to you with a fantastic policy you could buy. Surely your first question (in your mind) would be “hey man you weren’t advising me to buy insurance before you started selling it” and your reaction would be to wait to see if I became successful. Quite rightly so.
Keep up the good work EBR.
The problem is as well that many courses use the examples of niches that should be the last ones on a newbie’s “let’s make some money on it” list: weight loss and dog training.
E Brian — interesting post. I both agree and disagree with it. I am with you 100% on the argument that people should not sell “How To Make Money Online” products until you have actually figured out how to generate traffic and monetize it (i.e. they have figured out how to make money online).
However, I do not agree with your statement that “marketing to marketers is hard work.” The reason I say this is because there are very few people more motivated than marketers and entrepreneurs. They are not only motivated, but they are also hungry buyers who are willing to invest money in products and services that will help get them to where they want to go.
I will concede that running just about any business is hard work. However, if you can offer products and services that offer real solutions to marketers and entrepreneurs — you’ll find a market that is literally “in heat” for the solutions you are offering. They will not be able to get enough of your stuff. But you have to deliver value.
I’d much rather pursue that market than try to sell stuff to people who want to train their beagle or who want to learn how to make soap. That’s just me.