February 5, 2008
How do we find niches? What a great question.
For me, an idea will pop into my head at any time for a possible niche store. I keep a spreadsheet with ideas I’ve thought of. But my ideas will start out being written where ever I can find something to write on.
I’m including pictures of my desk. Yes, it’s a total mess (for the life of me I can’t get this one part of my house tidy - almost everywhere else I am very organized but not my computer room):
This is where I do most of my BANS work, although I do have a laptop for those times when I want to get away from my desk. Notice the piece of paper in the middle of the desk. Here’s a closeup of that paper:
This paper was a drawing from my youngest daughter. I had an idea (Magic Tree House books, an idea I got from my older daughter who reads these and my knowledge that there are a ton of stories in this series) and grabbed the first piece of paper I could find, which was this one.
The second note on this paper, “large print books,” was first written on my arm. I got the idea while driving and had a pen but no paper. So, onto my arm it went until I got home and added it to the earlier idea. They both were then moved from paper to my spreadsheet.
I think one of my problems is I have more ideas than I’ll ever have time to work on. Just about everywhere I look, at home or out, gives me ideas. These days my thinking is usually BANS-focused. As in, “Oh, that’s neat! I wonder if I could make a store for that?” I even have several catalogs sitting next to my desk that are from this past holiday season as there are great store ideas in them.
Rochelle
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9 Responses to “Some ways I come up with niche ideas”
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Wow - Great idea posting a picture of your desk!!
Dont feel bad Rochelle - Mine is in the same state of disarray!! The keyboard and mouse are about the only open spaces!!
I keep the same notepads or scratch paper on the left side (left handed) and constantly scribble!
I can relate to practically all my thought goes into BANS. One of the ways I have come up with ideas is talking about BANS with friends and relatives. They have been very good about giving me ideas. I think most people have ideas for hobbies they would like to pursue
or some item they have on their wish list that they can share with
you.
I carry a note pad around and as I see things of interest I make a note. I talk to people about Ebay and what they are looking at or buying. Different people look for all types of things on Ebay. I use Terapeak ( http://www.terapeak.com ) to research Ebay to see viability of the niche. If the items are selling then I start the writing process with keywords on wordtracker and google adwords keyword ( https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal ) this gets some good keywords and lets me see the competition for that keyword.
What criteria do you use when determining which of you ideas to actually create a site on. I am very good at thinking of niches. The problem I have is narrowing these ideas down to actionable niches. I would love to know your thought process.
The best service I ever discovered was jott.com. I put it on speed dial on my cell and I never miss a note. Friends have just learned to accept that I will be doing this in the middle of a conversation. I urge you to check it out if you haven’t.
Part of this weeks topic will discuss ways you can research your niche for the purposed of demand and likely profits!
It will be posted tonight or tomorrow!
Thanks
Re: “What criteria do you use when determining which of you ideas to actually create a site on. I am very good at thinking of niches. The problem I have is narrowing these ideas down to actionable niches. I would love to know your thought process.”
If you saw my thought process on this you’d be hopelessly befuddled. See my desk above? That is a good representation of my thought process for BANS. It is an area I struggle with. That’s one of the things I’m looking forward to learn.
I don’t feel so bad about how much of a piler I am. My office, at times, can be hard to get around in. I know where everything is but I am sure the mess pulls my mind in too many directions.
To keep my wife happy I always keep a picture of our wedding in a spot with nothing around it so it doesn’t get hidden.
I keep a pencil and notepad with me at all times. Okay I don’t take it in the shower with me but it is in the bathroom, just in case I stop singing long enough to think of something important.