An Eastern Philosophy Look At Niche
Rick London
When I was in college (the first time around), I was always told to find a niche and keep it simple. Little did I know at the time, I was learning a sound business principle. After all, there is nothing simple about Ebay, Yahoo, or Google.
Or is there?
They told us in college, yet again, this time around "do what you know and do best". Do what you love and the money will come. Yada yada. I researched how other businesses started. Peg at Ebay knew a lot about Pez dispensers so that was their focus the first year or so.
I'm an entrepreneur. My mind is complex. Chances are, if you are reading this, so is yours. Some days we are ready to conquer the world, some days we are in bed late licking our wounds from trying to conquer it yesterday.
Zen is at work here. There is a yin and a yang pulling us in either direction. The secret is to get centered, focused, and open to learn.
May I make a suggestion regarding Internet gurus? The whole idea of the Internet is iconoclastic. It is anti-guru so those who try to build themselves up as Internet gurus are going against the grain. All of us or none of us are gurus. We are all in this together. We live in the information age and just because someone else has more information, resources, or money than you, does that make him/her a guru? Ever hear Bill Gates call himself a guru? He could buy out every "so-called guru" on the net with the click of a mouse. He knows better. He doesn't have to be a self-proclaimed guru. He offers a service and product, like it or not, that gives us *all the chance to be gurus.
Why sell what everyone else is selling, even if they are the "hottest products on the market". Unless you are a trust-fund baby, you won't win. I'd rather sell kitchen cutting boards that sell well than Calvin Kleins best fragrances. Why? Why not. Why beat my head against the wall competing with people who have been doing it for years, have a name, have more resources, etc. Provide a service or product that is needed, carve a niche, get wealthy, and have fun.
When or if you can't find something on the web to sell you like, then try creating your own. If you are an artist, got to Cafe Press or one of their competitors and digitally produce products. Let them worry with inventory and orders and such.
Copyrighting your own designs simply deepens your brand and public awareness. If you don't want to sell someone else's sell your own!
Having your own product brands you, not someone else. So if you have an idea for a product, do it. If you don't have the money, either save for it, or draw a business plan and present it to investors. Someone will eventually buy in. And you are in business!
I researched and decided to test a shop and call it Just Funny Aprons. I put my cartoon designs on it, spent a bit on adveritising, and presto, people were ordering funny aprons. The niche business principle still holds true. They were begging for unique funny aprons and still are.
Then research further, and find a product on the web that people need, and use, and make it a little different than what others are selling.
Find your niche whether it is cell phones (a certain kind), chocolate, pet treats, organic dried fruits, your own private coffee label (yes I have one of those too), or whatever you think will sell; perhaps do an informal survey or focus group and you would be surprised what people want.
Then promote heavily with all the Internet has to offer; blogs, article marketing, ppc engines, pinging, and every other method of which you can think. Suddenly you will wake up successful. The odds are on your side. The harder you work, the more research you do, the more action you take, the luckier you get. In fact, the big dogs did the same thing to become big dogs, and they have nothing on you, if you just allow yourself to take the action. Keep an open mind and be prepared for faux pas. You may make them and that's okay. It's how many times you get back up that counts.
It is not how many times you fall down that count, but how many times you get back up. And if you use your "Zen", you will get back up. It's all a matter of physics, getting pulled back into balance.
Cartoonist Rick London, founder of Londons Times is famous on the Internet. He started in 1997 with nothing, in a metal warehouse, and now has one of the biggest cartoon gift and t-shirt mega-stores on the net. He recently launched Londons Times Superstore http://www.LTSuperstore.com/funny-gifts/) funny t-shirts, and more This article is available as a http://www.uberarticles.com/?id=27121&b=79 unique content article with free reprint rights.
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