I’ve already written about how it’s possible to identify niche markets just by keeping your eyes open every day as you work, play, live in the offline world. Here’s a way to be very intentional about it.  If you’re a Borders freak (or Barnes & Noble, etc) like me, you’ll love this one!

The magazine stand at your favorite bookstore is an awesome place to do some quick niche market research. Just browse the shelves and see what topics people have created magazines about. If a market will sustain a subscription magazine, there are guaranteed to be enough people out there interested in the topic to make a great possibility for you to consider. What you’re actually doing is capitalizing on the money a publisher has undoubtedly already spent to research whether a niche is viable.

So, take your notepad and just jot down some of the interesting topics that catch your eye, which you will then bring home and do your own normal keyword research on to see how the market looks online. A couple of pointers:

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Of course, you expect to be sent to one of the keyword search reporting sites, like Google Adwords keyword tool.  This is fantastic resource, but consider some of these other sites that are often overlooked as niche sources:

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In a previous post I promised to come back and talk practically about where you start when you’re looking for potential niche markets.  Now there are those would send you immediately to some “keyword” search software. Hold on! Keywords are vitally important, and we’ll get to those and the tools that help you work with them – but that is second base. For the first step all you need is a pencil. (Add a cup of coffee if you like.)

When you’re starting out there are 2 primary places to get your first niche ideas: (1) your own personal passions and interests, and (2) things you can learn about relatively quickly. These could be areas you’ve always thought you’d LIKE to know more about.

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One of the questions I frequently hear from frustrated marketers is “You’ve found a whole bunch of niche markets to target, I can’t even find ONE - how on earth do you do it?”

To me the question itself  reveals a big part of the problem. There is a mindset many people have that these things called “niches” are like rare gems you have to dig through ten tons of dirt to uncover. They’ve convinced themselves from the outset that it’s going to be an arduous and painful task, like having root canal treatment.

And then there are those that take it a step further and suggest something like this: “I just got into this too late! All the good niches are spoken for now.”

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