Positive Niches From Useless Culture

Positive Niches From Useless Culture
by Yank Elliott, MBA & IAHBE Staff Writer

There are no positive aspects attached to useless things and the way people worldwide support them. None of this makes sense. By studying a few of these “no value” situations, it may be that an alert entrepreneur can find a golden niche opportunity. This would be a wonderfully positive outcome from our culture of useless. Whatever helps restore a balanced approach to our daily living is beneficial and could be very profitable for those who find the way.

Being an Internet entrepreneur with a number of Websites, I have long known that nobody wants to pay for anything. This idea is a constant in just about all articles addressing how to generate income from the Web. In the beginning everything was free. The Web originated as an “information highway” invented for use by scholars and researchers as a quick and inexpensive way to access the information they needed. It is now an out-of-control monster that penetrates our most secret life areas. The exploding lawsuit culture is beginning to place accountability on every keystroke we make, and the early attempts to provide free services in exchange for advertising dollars quickly disappeared when the dotcom bubble burst. Like we said, people don’t want to pay for anything.

This even goes to the demise of manufacturing in the US and the West in general. Outsourcing is another symptom of the “stuff for nothing” syndrome. For years I was in textile manufacturing, one of the first sectors to be destroyed by third world prison labor. Our customers always pushed for more quality—we provided it, but they would not pay for it. They all found foreign sources that could give quality cheap enough because of cheap labor. We tried to automate but still ended up going out of business because our costs were too high. Who can compete with people using slaves, prisoners, no OSHA, no EPA, no Equal Opportunity, nor all the other regulations our government uses to keep US citizens from working? We want everything, but we won’t pay what anything costs, much less what it is worth.

So why will we pay BILLIONS for totally useless things?

For example, the current Presidential campaign is probably going to cost $2 BILLION or more before it’s over. If Mayor Bloomberg enters the race, the cost will go way over $3 BILLION! And what does all this money buy? Absolutely nothing of any value to any US citizen other than the ONE WINNER! Now, why would we do this? Help me; I don’t have a clue. Personally, I’d rather just throw money down the toilet than contribute to any political campaign.

Now, what about Britney and her pregnant underage sister? And Britney’s ridiculous worthless ex-husband bum Federline? It’s true she has sold a ton of music that somebody likes for reasons unknown to me. That’s fine; she found a niche. But the media and the paparazzi and celebrity have destroyed her. And Federline has no reason for living after his cash cow goes away, and it looks like she’s on the way out. She may have had a chance if Kevin could contribute anything to their relationship; as it is, all he’s looking for is her money, all of it if he can get it. Circumstances have played right into his hands; the judge apparently has no choice other than to give the children to their daddy, worthless though he be. She’s in no mental state to do anything. So somebody is paying ridiculous amounts of money to this despicable group for what? Absolutely nothing as far as I can see. They are a totally worthless unit to whom some people are choosing to send money. Why?

Now we come to another useless group: professional athletes. Why do they even exist? It’s a throwback to Ancient Rome. In their effort to control millions of unruly citizens, the emperors built the Coliseum and other venues to provide entertainment. Usually this consisted of violence involving gladiators, lions, tigers and similar extreme acts. They had no problem with drug tests in those days. What is the difference between performance enhancing chemicals and computer databases recording all aspects of every opponent? Professionals exist to make money for someone and the public is naive to expect any other kind of action from these people than to do whatever is required to best all opponents. The professional sports industry is simply a throwback to the Ancient Roman Emperors. I even enjoy a few of the championship contests, but those who support these activities are just throwing good money after bad. Of what value to a Boston Red Sox fan is the World Series win? Can they sell it? Can they borrow money using it as collateral? What exactly is the win good for?

There can be a positive outcome of this discussion. Maybe someone can prove to me and show me and the other readers just why people willingly throw money into worthless projects and support totally worthless people in the process. It’s true that many athletes, actors, and other celebrities give a lot of money to charity. Would they do this if the tax laws did not encourage this as a tax reduction method? So please tell me why millions of people throw away their hard-earned money into these worthless ventures. I don’t claim to have figured out the answer, but my point is that you should “Follow the money.” There is something in all of these situations I’ve mentioned that is sufficiently appealing to cause people to give up their hard-earned cash. Look for peripheral or related opportunities to get a piece of the action. When you successfully answer these questions about why people are spending, you will have found a number of very lucrative niche markets that will make you rich. You should try to figure why this happens—seriously. I never really thought about this stuff until the horrific cost of the elections hit me. Then I began to look around. I certainly intend to get my share of this wasted money.

And here is another positive idea that emerges from uselessness. Although in no way scientific, the fact that all this money flows into sources of no value at all should give heart to all those who constantly wail that the US economy is in recession, or about to be. If things were really bad, would people continue to throw their money away like this? This positive idea seems to show the economy is much stronger than it appears to be. Which means they will spend money if you can find those niches they think they just must have. Let’s now discuss how to find and sell to our niches.

Every marketing seminar, class, or book at some point addresses the importance of determining your target market or niche market so you can properly direct your advertising .This knowledge may cause changes in your product line as well as the copy for your ad message. How important is this? It could mean the survival of your business. People really don’t want to pay for anything, so why would they want to buy something from you that does not fill their need, does not solve their problem, or does not give them pleasure? They won’t, and your business will die on the vine if you don’t find what potential customers want.

So, what is a target market or a niche market? What is the difference?

Not everyone in the world, or in your community, or who visits your website will want to purchase your products or services. There will be a few members of these groups, however, who do want what you are selling. Everyone in the world will be your total market, but only those who are interested in what you provide will be your target market. This target segment will be people with similar interests, perhaps in the same geographic area, with comparable economic circumstances, or any of many other similar characteristics. To find who these potential customers are, the entrepreneur must analyze the market for their goods and services to spot the specific members of their target segment. This information may cause changes in the kinds of articles offered. It will certainly determine to whom advertising is directed and what the ad copy will be. If you miss the target your business may get killed!

A niche market is just a segment of your target market. This group will be very small relative to the larger target group and those people in it will want unique products or services in such small quantities that large corporations or other competitors will not want to serve them. If you can find such a niche and meet its requirements profitably, go for it. When a niche is filled with satisfied customers an entrepreneur can build tremendous customer loyalty. Satisfied people will tell their friends and they will all continue to buy from the successful niche provider and that business will be very successful. The niche marketer will further be protected from competition because mainstream marketers don’t want to go after these small market segments. So, if you can find a niche that’s right for you, this can insure your success. The niche search also involves a lot of market research. Use this gateway (http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Target_market ) to find many avenues of market research information.

While you are searching for a niche be sure to include your present customer list as objects. Why? You may see small groups with special requirements you have not been able to satisfy. This would indicate an opportunity to add some feature that will cause these people, already your customers, to be unable to refuse to buy your wonderful enhanced product. This is a way to further monetize your existing purchasers; this is a very cost effective way to market because you don’t have to advertise for new people: “…a bird in the hand…”

This begs the question, “How do I find a profitable niche for me?” First, look for something you have a passion about so that you will be able to devote the time and energy to find it and then promote it to your customers. You need some knowledge of the niche in order to market it to your audience. It could be a hobby or something you can develop with other skills you possess. If you have no knowledge or skills about the product, but you are passionate about wanting to find out about it, then by all means devote time and effort to develop the idea. This is what niches are about: little known market segments you can serve for a profit while your competitors are totally not interested. This protects you from outside pressure while you develop the niche.

Before launching a niche campaign or finalizing a product or service, be sure there is a demand for it with not so much competition from other providers. It’s not too difficult to do this but it does require a little time and effort. To do your preliminary research, go to Wordtracker (http://www.freekeywords.wordtracker.com/)
and use their “FREE keyword suggestion tool.” I recommend adding their search box to your browser; that way you don’t have to go back and forth to get your information. To use this, simply enter a keyword or keyword phrase in the search box and it will return your entry plus 99 related terms (total of 100) all with the number of hits these words have had during the past month. You now have an idea of how many people are interested in your project. Next, go to Google and enter the same terms. The result will be how many Websites are devoted to the same idea. You will have to use your judgment a bit to see if there will be too many competitors. 1,000 may not be too many while 100,000 would tell me to run away, fast.

Another way to find a niche is http://www.alexa.com; this is an additional search box you may wish to add to your browser. All these boxes are listed at the top right of your browser window; probably you have several available already, so just click the down arrow at the right end of the search box and choose whose box you want for your search. Using the Alexa search box, choose the “Site Info” link and find the section “People who visit this page also visit” which shows what people want to know in the marketplace. Follow these leads and you may find some great niche possibilities.

You can further refine your search with a questionnaire to your present customers to see if there are any changes you can make to cause your current line of products to be more interesting to them. After doing all of this you should create a personal Unique Selling Position (USP) by seeing how your competitors are marketing similar products. Then do something to make your ideas stand out from the rest.