Niche marketing is one of the most straightforward types of marketing. If you’re selling to a particular market, you can manage your materials very effectively, and select what you sell and how you sell it. For example, if your market is computer support, you can use a whole range of integrated materials for doing your marketing seamlessly.

There are plenty of good niche marketing options, both for your own products and services and in affiliate marketing. Any problems are more likely to be related to situations related to your sources and materials than with the actual marketing. That’s why it’s so important to check out your options, and be very fussy about what you market. Cherry picking is definitely the way to go.

The easy way to cherry pick for a niche marketing operation is to research and compare products before you lift a finger. Anyone who’s read the niche market blogs and the affiliate marketing sites will be aware that according to some of these sites everything is a great business opportunity. That’s just not true. There are some good genuine opportunities, but there are a lot of duds, too.

Although the basics of niche marketing are very simple, the operational issues often aren’t. A case in point is the notorious and apparently endless online herbal products scam, in which:

  • Quality of goods and services can be a raffle
  • Operational procedures and practices are vague
  • Materials for marketing appear to date from the 1970s
  • The products are actually illegal in some countries
  • Support is minimal, bordering on non-existent
  • Publicity for the marketers and products is negative and hostile
  • Costs to niche marketers are time and money, as well as wasted effort
  • A “recruiting” drive for you to get more people selling, which is a classic Ponzi scheme approach

Cherry picking involves avoiding all these issues. You start with a bit of research, both of providers and the product or service.

Researching your niche market

The key to niche marketing can be summed up in one word- “Realism”.

The main issues to research in niche marketing are:

  • Quality of goods/services: Are the products clearly good quality?
  • Marketability: How do they compare to others on the market in terms of price?
  • Business practices: Clear operational procedures and practices?
  • Can affiliates and associated parties stand scrutiny, or does Google crash when you check for complaints?
  • Is the marketing approach built in with good backup: Or are you supposed to do everything?
  • What are your obligations, exactly?
  • How much work is involved?

Any one of these issues can be what totally trashes a niche marketing operation. More than one means the risk doubles.

Making a decision

When you’ve got all the information you need, making a decision is easy enough.

The best niche market sites all have these things in common:

  • A good quality, proven product range, preferably several good brands with good online presence.
  • A straightforward marketing process, usually no more than two or three steps.
  • Clear payment terms, no vague stuff.
  • No obligation on yourself to do much more than provide a physical management presence.

Simple, effective- and safe.