Newbie - How to Pick the Best Vertical or Niche

[iac]

Hey everyone,

My name is Ana. I've just joined the forum and i must admit i'm impressed with the level of knowledge you guys have.


I'm quite new to the whole affiliate marketing thing. I know a bit but really not much.

Anyone got any tips on the best vertical to go for just now?

Which networks are the best to work with?

Thanks

[turbz]

You're Just Starting Right, So I Recommend That You Sign up with ClickBank.com And Search For A Good Product To Promote. I Promote Ewen Chia's Product As It Converts Very well.

Get Hosting And A Domain Name And An Autoresponder.

Next You Create A Landing Page With An Auto-responder To Capture Leads. The Autoresponder must link to You Affiliate Link.

You Send Quick Traffic To Your Website Via Adwords And You Should Gain Leads And Sales

That Should Get You Started

If You Need Detailed Instructions I'll Be Happy to help You Via MSN So Don't Hesitate To Ask For Help

Thanks
Jameel Mukadam

P.S Read Some Of My Other Posts, They're really helpfull

[iac]

Thanks for the advice.

Just a few more questions.

Can you recomend the best networks to join?

Would you say advertising via PPC is the best way to get leads and sales rather than going down the SEO route?

I know SEO takes longer to get picked up by search engines but wouldn't that be better long term if i can set up a good web site?

A

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Ana,

Each to his own, but I feel the advice given above is the WORST way to get started. Thats the way most newbies go and that why most newbies fail. CB is very saturated and most newbies start there and try to sell "how to get rich online ebooks." How do you expect to be to sell programs about making money online, when you don't even know how to make money online yet. The pros, snakes and gurus in the market will eat you for lunch!

See some of the feedback that advice got in another thread.
How To Setup The Ultimate Website
Again each to his own and I appreciate turbz feedback, I just think it's the hardest way for newbies to start. (If millions of other newbies are going this route how can it be easy and if most newbies complain that can't make any money, how can this route be a good way to go???)

The best and EASIEST way to start is to find YOUR niche.
No one else can tell you what a good one is because it depends alot on you!

Start here:
Newbies - Follow your Passion - Money will Follow!

Then read the other stickies in the newbie forum. Look at your life - what do you love and know a lot about? OR who are you? (Mormon mom? Female car sales person? Those are fairly targeted to specific niche markets) OR what problems do you have and know lots about that others may need help with (disease, mental health issue, goals you have trouble reaching.) Think pleasure or pain. Think about things people want or are struggling to find a solution for.

Then go to our niche marketing forum and start making lists of potential niches. You'll find many tools there that will help you research to see how in-demand and also competitive the niche is. If you find a niche you really like but it seems too competitive, then drill down with some of the tools provided to find a smaller, more targeted SUB niche.

As you begin your niche-finding journey ask us questions along the way whenever you need to. But if you think you found a RED HOT niche no one else knows about, don't ever mention it in a public forum as you'll just create competition for yourself.

General stuff like should I focus my dog site on collies or German shepherds is no big deal to ask about - but if you know about a unique disease lots of dog owners are worried about and a new cure that just came out for it - you may want to keep it to yourself.

Hope this helps!
Who else has tips to share?

[Linda Buquet]

Oh and regarding networks, I would find your niche or at least general product category 1st because some networks may be focused more in certain areas.

But in general CJ is the biggest - Share Results Affiliate Network - Best Affiliate Program Alternative for Ecommerce Merchants looking for Quality Affiliates one of our clients has some really great programs including lots of very cool mom/family/kid products type sites. Another great network is shareasale.com.

BUT if your niche is one that a pay per lead or B2b or CPA type offer may be a good match for then there may be other networks I would recommend for certain specific things.

NETWORK WARNING - Just a thought, I've never preached this before but seems like a good idea right now. If you join CJ for instance BEFORE you find a niche I think your eyes could glaze over like a kid in a candy store. I think the 2000 affiliate programs there could dazzle you and get you all confused. Heck I know better and every time I go in there I waste time thinking wow thats cool - hey I could market that, or that, or that.

Realize too if they are in any of the major networks lots of pros are already promoting the program. That's why I say 1st find your niche and then find the best affiliate program, which may not even be on a network but may be an in-house program with less competition.

[Liquid1]

UMMMM NOOOO!!! Do not try clickbank first. Linda gave some great reasons for that.

Shareasale has been really making a name for themselves as the best for tracking and customer service etc....

If you want the big name brands, go to CJ and Linkshare, if you want good personalized attention form a network go to shareasale, I have never worked with Kolimbo, LinkConnector, shareresults, affiliatebot, Performics, or some of the others so no advice on them. I have spoken with people from Link Connector though and they have been very professional and seem to care about both the merchant and affiliate so they might be worth looking into.

Be careful of naked linking as well if your sole purpose is SEO. The better ranked your pages get, the better the link to the merchant gets as well. You are basically giving your SEO competitor an extra push when it is you who did the work.

When you are just starting your site, PPC is a great way to drive traffic to your site as well as generate sales, however you should use that until your SEO picks up. SEO is free and PPC obviously costs money, so why would you pay when you are getting it free.

Be carefull though. Read and learn PPC before you start or you will loose a ton of money and fast. In the long run SEO can be your friend, but keep up with the trends so you do not loose your rankings as easily. PPC will also be a great compliment and something you can rely on when you learn it well enough. Stay with your SEO and when you need to restart you can use PPC for the extra boost in your income.


Ohh ya, and as far as picking a niche, pick something that intests you if you are doing an information site. Something you can write about and enjoy without getting tired of it. If you are doing a sales site, pick something you know about and know the trends with to try and boost up the sales. Basically, go with what you know!

Originally Posted by iac

Thanks for the advice.

Just a few more questions.

Can you recomend the best networks to join?

Would you say advertising via PPC is the best way to get leads and sales rather than going down the SEO route?

I know SEO takes longer to get picked up by search engines but wouldn't that be better long term if i can set up a good web site?

A

[Linda Buquet]

Lots more great points. Thanks so much for adding.

Me thinks this one's going grow into a "sticky" thread.

[iac]

Thanks for all the great advice guys.

I was thinkng of going down the travel and finance vertical. I know this is quite a competitive market but i know about both and i also think there is a lot of money to be made from it. Any thoughts?

I was under the impression that cj didn't have a very good reputation? I didn't realise they had a lot of big named merchants.

Ana

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Ana,

Travel and finance are 2 of the biggest money makers but also the MOST competitive. So you really need to go niche, at least for starters and focus on a certain locale, demographic or something.

I just scanned something about a growing trend where parents want to take a trip before baby is born while they still have their freedom and also parents that take a trip right after baby is born to get away from family and just get to know a baby. I think it was called a "BabyMoon"? Not saying that's a great niche, just trying to tickle your imagination.

Well CJ is a mixed bag. They are the biggest and I think have the best reporting and interface of all the big 3 networks and the best tools for searching and finding the right merchants. They also have some of the best merchants.

They have in the past come under fire and rightly so for allowing "parasites" and adware type players in the network. I think they've worked a lot to clean up the network, but they still have some bad players. BUT all the big 3 networks do, to some extent. So if you want big name merchants you'll need to go to one of the big 3 and CJ I think is easiest and best (aside from the P issue).

Shareasale and ShareResults and a couple other smaller networks pride themselves on being parasite-free which is tough to do and not guaranteed, but VERY commendable and affiliate-centered. However the smaller networks just don't have the variety and big names the top 3 do.

All that said, many big companies have an in-house option as well as a network program and sometimes you may do better with the in-house program, but it isn't as convenient and you wont get consolidated checks like you do with the big networks.