Your very first step when you’re setting up a micro membership site is to decide on the topic and niche of your membership site.
Use the following checklist to walk through these decisions so you can get your site of to a good start…
First, you need to find a profitable niche. If you don’t have one already in
mind, then start with these steps to uncover dozens of possible markets:
- Go to marketplaces and check the bestsellers to see which markets are popular. (E.G, go to Amazon and check the bestseller nonfiction book list, see what’s popular on JVZoo.com and ClickBank.com, etc.).
- Brainstorm a list of markets based on your own problems, hobbies, and interests.
- Brainstorm a list of markets based on the problems, hobbies and interests of your friends and family. (E.G., You have a friend who restores classic cars – that’s a market.).
- Browse a newsstand/magazine rack for market ideas.
- Check what’s trending on social media.
- Use a keyword tool and enter searches such as “secrets,” “tips” and “advice” to uncover niches you never knew existed.
- Browse news sites for niche ideas.
- Consider broad, evergreen markets such as:
- Weight loss
- Fitness and health
- Hobbies (golf, fishing, car restoration)
- Sports
- Medical problems
- Relationships and marriage
- Family and children
- Caring for the elderly
- Pets and animals
- Career
- Education
- Travel
- Home improvement
- Security (personal, computer, home)
- Psychology
- Anti-aging
- Design
- Make money online
- Small business
(For each of these markets that interest you, brainstorm niche markets.)
Once you have ideas for markets, then you need to find out if the market is profitable and pick out a popular topic. You can accomplish both of these at once by doing your market research. Here’s how:
- Search the market keywords (such as “weight loss”) in marketplaces to see what types of products people are buying. Look for bestsellers on:
- Amazon (including Kindle)
- ClickBank
- JVZoo
- iTunes
- Google Play
- eBay
- Search your keywords in Google to see what the top sites in the market are selling. Be sure to check out the sponsored ads too.
- Flip through niche magazines (such as “Men’s Fitness”) to see what topics they cover, and what types of products are being sold in the advertising section.
- Use a keyword tool such as MarketSamurai.com to see what people are searching for in the search engines. Pay close attention to buying-related keywords such as “buy organic gardening book.”
- Survey your market to find out what they want. You can use a tool like SurveyMonkey.com to create and distribute your survey.
- Visit online communities such as niche forums, Facebook groups, and Quora.com to see what topics come up repeatedly.
If you complete all of these steps, it will quickly become apparent what your market wants. You can then create a membership site around this topic.
Conclusion:
While it takes a bit of legwork upfront to find a suitable niche and pick your membership site idea, these pieces are keys to running a profitable site. So don’t hurry through this part of the start-up process!
To your success!