So what does “Blogging on a Happy, Fun and Profitable Niche” mean anyway? Make People Happy!
Well, I wanted to call this blog post “Looking for a Happy, Fun and Profitable Niche“. If you’re a “Newbie Marketer / Blogger”, you may be asking “What do I sell”? I myself am having a terrible time trying to decide on a niche or a market or a “Niche Market” for that matter to jump into. But something happened to me recently that I can’t get out of my mind and I think it has helped me to narrow it down.
I went to see an Orthopedic Surgeon a few weeks ago to go over the MRI pictures of my hip. The Doctor said to me, “Mr. Anderson, as you can see in this MRI picture, your hip joint is dead…the cartilage is disintegrating…this is what’s causing your pain…You have 6 to 10 months Maximum before you WILL be in a wheelchair unless we go in and replace your hip completely.” (don’t worry, this is not another hip replacement blog post).
My first reaction was “No Way! I’m too young for that kind of thing!” Ok, I’ll skip the rest of the details and get back to what this has to do with choosing a niche to market in. What that Doctor said to me that caused me to think “Happy, Fun and Profitable” was…. “Mr. Anderson, I love my job! People like yourself who are in pain all day every day come to me and I FIX their pain. Although it’s true that my patients HATE it at first when I tell them that they need surgery, they ALL come back to me shortly after and thank me like crazy, and that makes me feel good!”
The doctor repeated, “I LOVE my job because people come to me in terrible pain, and they leave with no pain at all (after recovering from the surgery of course)”. He also explained to me that although he IS in the medical field, he is NOT a doctor of cancer and heart failure and other medical fields where people suffer and die. His Patients (his customers, are you starting to get the point yet?) Love Him and appreciate him because HE makes them happy! And THAT my dear friend (um…that means “you” if you’re reading this), is over 350 words to say:
Find Something that Makes Other people Happy, and give it to them!
If you can’t create a product or service that makes other people happy, then find someone who does and sell their stuff as an affiliate. This helps tremendously in helping to focus and find what “Market” to get into! It sounds like a “No Brainer”, but sometime it’s hard to see the forest for the trees as they say. Something else happened just in the last few days that made me think twice about a certain niche I was investigating.
Keep an eye out for the next blog post (or two) as I begin to explain certain things you need to be careful about. Hopefully you’ll learn from my mistakes. Hey, I’m just being honest here, which I’m sad to say is sometimes my downfall. Keep reading this blog, and you’ll see proof that I’m often too honest…. Take advantage of it while you still can, coz the “powers that be”, just might make me be quiet.
“Read Between The Lines and… THINK!” -Gary Anderson II
P.S. No fancy SEO Ninja stuff in this Blog post. This was something a suddenly wanted to write…No time for fanciness. Just good honest Cool interesting stuff you need to be thinking about.
Think - "How can I help"?
About Gary Anderson II
I agree Gary. I get a lot of personal satisfaction helping people launch their eBooks. I know the frustration of not “getting it” and always being sold to, so I tried to be different. Great post
Testing my Gravatar, it didn’t work. hmmm
Thanks Tiffany! Thank you so much for gracing my blog with your presence! Ok, enough butter I hope.
This was an “Inspired” post! I thought it, wrote it, and hunted that “Jumping For Joy” pic all in about 90 minutes. I didn’t make it as pretty as your blog posts are.
Which btw, to my other readers is.. TiffanyDow.com/blog. Check her out people!
Gary.
Hi Ganderco,
You look way too young to have a hip replacement butI understand.
I had to have 4 of my top teeth out at age 42 and one of them was a front tooth.
I love the internet and the opportunities it provides.
You write good posts so blogging for profit will be easy for you.
I really came here to thank you for the “squidoo Lens checklist”.
It is very kind of you and kind of Tiffany to put your link in her email to me. (I am on her list)
I wish you the best with your health.
I woke up this morning to find your comment on The GanderCo Blog. It feels good waking up in the morning knowing that I’ve done something helpful for someone else.
I’m glad you like the “Squidoo Lens Checklist”.
Thanks for taking the time out of your day to leave a comment here!
Gary Anderson II
aka- @GanderCo
In the blogging world, not sure if it would work on biological adults. That would take energy away from watching reality shows.
Hi Gary,
I am into the arts of meditation and…
I do like your style, I am talking as a wannabe blogger – getting off the ground is the hardest part for me, and trying to work out how to set-up WordPress.org – using the theme “OptimizePress”. It is a mindfield for an oldie.
Anyone using “OptimizePress”? It is the blogging part that is confusing me
Victor
Spain
P.S. Do you have a news letter ?
Hi Victor, thanks for stopping by!
It sounds like you’re wanting to jump in with both feet! On one hand my advice for a beginner blogger would be to stick with the basics at first so that you can learn “The Blogging Part” as you put it.
Normally I would advise to stay basic, but the entrepreneur in me senses that you want to hit the ground running. If this is correct that you have plans to start very serious blogging, and if you have the time (coz it will take a lot of time when you’re first starting out), and if you have the extra money to spend on OptimizePress then I’d say go for it, but only if you have big plans to build a list or sell stuff.
OptimizePress is only about 100 bucks (last I checked), but there are several other premium themes that are similar, so do shop around.
Hope this helps, and thanks for the question!
Gary.
Gander…You just may be the help I’m looking for. I’ve been at this blogging since last July 2010 and my Alexa rank is 292,000. I am heartened by fact yours seems close (tho’ better, so I’m thinking you’d be good one to ask). I am thinking of taking blog to next level; the tech end is excruciating for me in that ALL of it is a punishing new experience, so I need to know IF it will be worthwhile, and yes, marketing would be next phase and identifying products or advertisers..
Questions: What the heck does Alexa rank really mean? What can I construe from that number and how are they getting it? I have Google Analytics too and that remains pretty constant…My nos. seem to suggest I have a 50/50 split between new and returning readers but I have few comments, despite my asking for them. Can you help me understand more clearly any of this? For instance, if my Alexa is under 300,000, isn’t this foretelling good things for my blog? And how many readers does that actually suggest–in real time? Is Google waaayyy more reliable for nos.?
Thanks, Gander….
Hi Biddy Bytes, thanks for stopping by!
Wow, Lots-O-Questions you have there. Your timing is incredible coz you said,
“I am thinking of taking blog to next level; the tech end is excruciating for me in that ALL of it is a punishing new experience”
LOL! Yes, I agree! The technical mechanics of it all is painful to me too. Much like you, I’ve been at this blogging thing for a couple years just learning, playing and having fun, but I am also about to the next level. In fact, I just got my email Optin started last night!
As far as it being worth it… The main thing to remember is that as long as you are earning a comfortable living “AND” you enjoy your job, then just go slow with blogging…just have fun. If you’re NOT satisfied with your income and especially if you DON’T enjoy your job then in that case, yes it will be worth it to start marketing.
Alexa Rank is a very loose indication of how much traffic a site is getting, but it’s no where near exact (in my humble opinion). I believe that Google Analytics is pretty accurate. That being said, I “do” believe that under 300,000 Alexa Rank is a good sign.
I am also about to start marketing here on “The GanderCo Blog” as you described about yourself. I’ve done real well with SEO, but what I’m studying now is how to get “More Traffic”.
I know this didn’t answer all your questions, but I hope it helped you out some! Please keep checking back periodically because like you, I’m about to kick it up a notch or two and start blogging about traffic generation techniques that work for me. Again, perfect timing!
Thanks Biddy Bytes!
Gary.
Much thanks, Gary, for the “Support the troops” encouragement. I appreciate the time you took to answer this colleague in the trenches (Does my terminology not suggest I am “at war,” despite the fact you suggested I “have fun”.?)
Yes, I agree–blogging is just too demanding, so the blogger better be having fun (while they’re trying to build up their own marketability). If not–best to get out of it. To the contrary, I get excited if I see another–especially a person I’ve never heard from– on my blog. I wonder how they got there and what circuitous route they followed to get them to me, for it proves the power of the web.
Yes, we’ll keep in touch…