Hello, and welcome to my journey to success with my chosen niche. What I have decided to do is to take my little corner of the internet, apply some of the concepts that the marketing gurus swear will work to make my online business successful, and see what works. Notice that I say "see" what works, rather than "if it" works. Because I believe that words are powerful. The spoken word, as well as the written word, have the power to manifest that which is spoken and written about. And I, my friends, am successful. You may not know me yet, but you will. And this blog is my public progress report and testimonial to this fact.
So you may be wondering, why did I choose to call my blog Niche Voodoo? Well, it seems fitting, given that my niche is Voodoo. Yes, I am a mystical artist, healer, and metaphysical consultant with the credentials to back it up. I won't bore you with that yet, though. I plan to use creative marketing techniques to explode my online business, and I invite you to bear witness to this process.
I believe in the law of attraction. The LOA is akin to the loa of the Voodoo. The loa are the pantheon of gods and goddesses that I draw upon for inspiration and help in activities of daily living. I use the LOA all the time, from finding parking places to removing perpetrators to making money. At some point, I will share all of these things with you. Now, however, I want to concentrate on setting the stage for this very public experiment towards success.
What is a Niche?
The concept of a niche is hardly new. It simply refers to having a business that caters to a highly targeted marketing group. I can't think of a harder niche to "make it" in legitimately, than that of Voodoo art. There are so many negative (and untrue) connotations associated with Voodoo that I am quite certain I don't have to mention them here. Yet, I am a serious and talented artist, and a gifted healer, and the Voodoo is my medium. Niche Voodoo is my business idea.
Ahh yes, Niche Voodoo, my business idea. Now the word "voodoo" has more than one meaning in popular culture. I have already discussed it in the metaphysical context of art and Voodoo dolls. The word "voodoo" has also come to mean things like "not real" or "hocus pocus", particulalry in the world of politics. I claim no association with word in this context. However, the word "voodoo" has also come to encompass a group of things, a blend, a gumbo of sorts, and so I claim this collective connotation as well as the metaphysical connotation. I have to claim a dual significance because of the fact that I am a highly creative individual whose mind never wants to shut off. As an artist who excels in a number of mediums, I am breaking these down into separate niches to be part of the pot of Voodoo gumbo I refer to as Niche Voodoo. In fact, I wrote an eBook today that is called Vintage Crochet Patterns, because, well, I love to crochet . :)
You see, though I operate within the realm of magick, niches are not magical. They are simply hungry markets within other markets, ready to devour with fervish our handiwork. Let me explain.
Niche Models
Basically, there are a couple of ways to think about niche markets. The first way is called the product-centric model. This model relies on selling what people are already buying. In order to compete with the Big Boys, you have to find a gap somewhere in this market and specialize in it. For me, this market is metaphysical products. Everyone is looking for some magickal means of getting what they want, and for some people it is Voodoo. So Voodoo is the area of specialization. But I can even narrow it down further to New Orleans Voodoo. And even farther to New Orleans Voodoo Hoodoo art. Thus, my best selling niche "products" are my New Orleans style Voodoo Hoodoo dolls.
The other way to think about niche markets is called the audience-centric model. This model takes areas of information and refines them into subtopics. These subtopics guide and inform you about the products you should sell. If you don't have a clue about what to sell, then this is the way to go. Find an area of interest, narrow down the topic, and let the product reveal itself. This is how a lot of eBooks and information products are written.
How to Begin: Evaluate Strengths and Interests
In order to be a successful niche internet marketer, I need to evaluate my strengths and interests. I have already mentioned that I am a serious and talented artist, a gifted healer and metaphysical consultant. I am also a psychologist and a scientist. One might think that these things are diametrically opposed to each other, but I choose to utilize these aspects of my Self as assets and as a means of maintaining balance. I am also gifted with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which makes me highly creative and motivated. One may think that ADD is a deficit as opposed to a strength. I choose to experience it differently. Don't get me wrong, living with ADD can be quite the challenge if you have not come to embrace it. I often have stuff all over my workplace and home, evidence of my creativity and multiple projects. A person does not need to have ADD to be a clutter bug, though. Actually, the biggest difference between me and someone without ADD may be that I rely heavily on lists, now that I am no longer medicated. If I do not make, pay attention to, and keep lists, then life gets extremely hectic and overwhelming. Perhaps the best difference is my tendency to go off on tangents, like I have just done about my ADD. So bear with me as I get back on track...
Identify Your Niche
If you do not know what ytour niche is, you will need to write down what your interests are. Just brainstorm and write down everything you are passionate about. Then, write down everything you know about your interests. From these writings, you will do some research to find out if there is a potential market.
Take what you have written and pull out some keywords. Plug these words into the Overture keyword research tool and see what comes up. For my experment, I put in voodoo, voodoo dolls, voodoo art, spells. I was in the process of creating a specialized website that focused specifically on Voodoo dolls of all kinds, not just my own creations. I took the results and made categories for my website Planet Voodoo, the web's premiere Voodoo doll resource site. If you look at my left hand menu, and compare to a keyword search, you will see how the categories make sense.
More next time.
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