"It is seldom inheritance or advanced degrees or even intelligence that builds fortunes... there are seven characteristics held in common by most millionaires... one of the seven is: being adept at identifying target market opportunities." Stanley/Danko

Once you have a good idea of what you're passionate about, it's time to start looking for markets that are related in some way.

If your passion is playing the guitar or practicing yoga or traveling or learning languages, I'm sure there's a market online that could benefit from your passion. This article will show you how to find it. After we've found the market, we're going to research it and find out what some of their biggest unsolved problems are.

What's this about problems?

Two of the biggest drivers of marketing (what makes people buy) are pleasure and pain.

People are either interested in things that bring them pleasure or things that stop their pain. If you come up with a solution for a particular problem, you're not only stopping the pain, you're providing pleasure as well.

If you have a headache, don't you look for a solution to that problem? If your headache goes away, don't you find it easier to do things that bring you pleasure?

Every market has its problems and every market needs those problems solved. In today's world and economy, people are looking for faster and more efficient ways to solve their problems and they're ready to pay handsomely for it. If you can show them how to solve their problems and enjoy the benefits of living without their problems, you have just become their angel in disguise.

How can you find your niche market who's just waiting for you to help them?

Start by doing research on your wider target market.

* Go to Google and do a search on your general field of interest first.

* If you're interested in baking cookies, for example, do a search on baking cookies and then drill down by digging into specifics.

* Check out informational sites and product sites.

* Find e-zines (online magazines) related to your interest and read them thoroughly.

* Then, look for websites already selling something within your market. What kind of approach do they take? Do they appear like professionals or amateurs?

Keep your mind open to all the possibilities. You're not trying to find a product to sell yet, you're still narrowing in on your niche market by finding like-minded communities of people online.

By finding your ideal niche market, you're going to save yourself from wasting countless hours and dollars on a business idea that may never succeed.

Just picking a field of interest is not enough - that's way too wide and won't provide you with positive, lasting results that lead to success. You need to be very specific and you need to start looking for a problem that people are actively trying to solve.

To help you narrow in on your niche try this exercise:

** My niche market is people who are (action) + (your area of interest)

For example:

- My niche market is people who are (learning how to bake) (cookies) or

- My niche market is people who are (trying to build) (a gazebo) or

- My niche market is people who are (wanting to learn) (spanish) or

- My niche market is people who are (attempting to sell) (saunas)

By narrowing your wider market into a niche market you gain so many advantages;

* You've narrowed down the competition - you're not competing against everyone in your field of interest

* Smaller markets are easier to dominate

* Niche markets are often close groups of people who share information with each other and can more easily spread worth of mouth to their friends who share the same interests

* It's cheaper to advertise to smaller, less competitive markets even if it means less traffic - at least you know you won't be wasting your dollars on people who aren't interested in your specific area

* People searching for your solution are savvy and will usually search for specific solutions and ignore wide search terms (they're drilling and digging to)

* It's easier to gain the loyalty of customers if you provide them with "the good stuff" - they will keep coming back for more of your solutions because you satisfied their needs and increased their level of trust.

Believe it or not, you've just learned some very important information about internet marketing that most other people don't know. Thousands upon thousands of people have ignored these principles and have wasted countless hours and dollars trying either to sell to the masses or trying to find a product before they've found a market.

If you're one of those people, don't despair (I've done it too) and it's not the end of the world.

If you already have a product, do some more research on your niche market (it'll be easier to find now) and listen to what people are saying in discussion boards, chat rooms, news sites and e-zines. They will enlighten you as to what problems they've been having and you can find a way to put a spin on what you have that will appeal to their needs.

For all the rest, once you've found your niche market and a common problem among that market - you've hit gold. You can now find a product or develop one of your own that solves all or at least one of their major problems and you're ahead of the game without losing your shirt.

Once you've come up with a solution for your niche market, there's a phenomenal, fast, inexpensive way to test the market to see if it will bring you riches or rags.

But you'll have to wait for my next article to read about that or visit my website for more information.

Wishing you happiness and good fortune,

Guy Reichard, BA Psych, MBA Strategy/Entrepreneurship

Internet Marketing Specialist