This is the most important thing you will ever read about affiliate marketing –

Before you choose the product that you want to sell make sure that there are people out there who want to buy it.

There is no point in spending time and money trying to sell something that seems like a good idea to you but that no-one else can see the need for. This seems extremely obvious but many internet marketing newbies and even those that are moderately successful will tell you at one time or another that they too have fallen into the trap of trying to sell or promote something that nobody wants. It’s even worse when you spend a lot of time creating and developing a product without first checking that there is a market out there.

Niche Marketing

The next thing that you want to consider when choosing the product that you want to promote is how much competition there is. Some of the most profitable markets on the internet are related to health, wealth and happiness but these are the most competitive as well. If you choose a market with a large amount of competition it will take much longer for you to get a result. Whilst you are learning I suggest that you pick a less competitive market so that you have small successes before you get discouraged. The major reason that people don’t succeed in internet marketing is that they give up way too early.If you pick a smaller goal to begin with you will have small successes and this will encourage you to keep going. If your target is too large to begin with then you may not have enough determination and persistence to keep going. Set yourself up for success rather than failure by using effective strategies.

Narrowing your target market down is called finding your niche. Niche marketing is when you target a product or service to a small part of a market that is not being catered to by the main suppliers to that market. For example, in the skiing market if you type the general term “skiing” into Google there are more than 40 million results but if you get more specific and want to market a product directed towards people who enjoy skiing in out of the way places then the competition for “heli skiing in Alaska” is way less. When I typed this keyphrase into Google there were only 1.7 million results. This is probably still a little too competitive to begin with. When I typed “heli-skiing Alaska” in quotation marks into the Google search box there were only 2,000 results. This tells me that I have gone a little too specific and probably there are not enough people on this topic to make it viable.(Check it out for yourself)

One of the most important things about a niche is that it is very specific and you are able to clearly define your target market eg women between 40 and 50 who are interested in …. Once you understand your target market you will be able to provide them with what they want and need.(If you are not exactly sure – then ask them)

Validate Your Niche

To make sure that your are choosing a profitable niche ask yourself these 3 questions about your target market:

Do they have a need?

Do they have money to spend?

Do they need or desire to spend money?

This is an important distinction to make. Make sure that your target market has money to spend. A cookbook with fast, easy meals for the time-poor single mother may not be a good bet because single mothers are usually doing it tough and don’t have much extra money to spend. They would probably appreciate your wholesome  quick dinner ideas but they would probably be looking for the free recipes. Contrast this with the wealthy, retired car enthusiast, a person with plenty of time and cash to splash. This would probably be a profitable niche if you took it down to something more specific like a particular make or model of a car. (I’m not a car enthusiast so I don’t even know which car brands would evoke passion and desire but I know there are a heap of car enthusiasts out there!)

How To Choose A Niche

Sometimes it is easy to promote something that you are passionate about so think about your own passions or hobbies. Is there something that you like doing that other people are interested in as well?

If this doesn’t work for you then walk around your house and list every product or service that you have purchased and utilize that cost you more than $100. the BBQ, your camera, TV, computer etc – you get the picture. All of these things can and are sold on the internet every day.

So start thinking about the products that you want to promote and find your niche market…

Related posts:

1. Affiliate Marketing for Newbies – Niche Product Ideas
2. Affiliate Marketing for Newbies – Finding a Product
3. Affiliate Marketing For Newbies – Test Your Niche

One Response to “How to Find an Affiliate Product to Promote”

1. Kouba says:

   August 18, 2009 at 9:48 am

   Thank you! You often write very interesting articles. You improved my mood.