Copyright 2006 Patric Chan

Most people will determine an online niche market to be profitable or not based on the tool from Overture.com

If you're not familiar with what I'm referring to, you can check the searches of certain keywords that have been made on search engines at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion

There, you'll find out how many searches a month for certain keywords from search engines like Alta Vista, Yahoo, MSN, etc.

And most marketers will tell you a certain yardstick number of searches will be good to determine how profitable can that niche be.

If you're still using this strategy, OH BOY.

First and for all, this strategy is correct. It makes sense. The problem with this strategy is you're not applying any marketing techniques in it. You're relying on how profitable a niche can be based on numbers only!

Besides, this is 'old' technique. I think, the first time I heard about this strategy was way back a couple of years. Does it still works? Yup -- But you're missing out so many other ways to determine how profitable a niche can be.

I mean, let's say the keyword "lobster" has 30,000 ++ searches. Based on the number, it shows good sign. But really, do you think you can make money in that niche, the "lobster" niche? Maybe, maybe not. But for me, I'll definitely make sure that I've researched it by using the numbers and marketing strategies first. The next question is what is the medium that you're going to use to make money in this niche? Sell Lobster online? I doubt it. So really, numbers don't tell.

The worst is when you're not applying any marketing concepts and senses to it. Here's one advanced filters that I shared to my Chan Do Internet Success System students:

- Finding Hardcore Believers/Followers

There are certain niche markets that have people willing to spend. These are the 'believers/followers'. It's really hard for me to tell you which niches these are ... but as a simple guideline, ask yourself,

"How much do they really need it?"

For instance, model train hobbyists are crazy spenders for anything related to "model trains".

If your niche is "save marriage", you'll have a very profitable online niche market because these people need the information desperately. The value of getting the problem solved is worth many times the cost of your product.

Building a successful online business is no guessing game. It's a matter of making no money, some money or A LOT OF MONEY. It can be scientifically "predicted" to ensure your risk of failing will be very low.

You need to have an overall marketing system to be build a long-term profitable online business.