The Meat – Sell More Low or Sell Less High
I hope you all enjoyed Part 2 of my Oyster Marketing Strategy last week where I discussed the “Shell“, or how to nurture a customer along a path in which they become a POWER CUSTOMER (aka, repeat buyer).
Today, I want to discuss the “meat”.
“Oysters tend to vary in size and although the biggest oysters fetch the most money, the smaller oyster are in much higher demand. There are many more markets for small oysters because of their popularity within the restaurant business and “smoked” oysters business (canned).”
So really you have a couple of options:
(1) Target a broad niche in which you know people are selling tons
(2) Target a unique niche in which you know there is always wanted demand
I guess it is working within a long tail (more niche) versus a short tail (more broad) here. Many people tend to naturally go towards very broad markets when starting out. They choose the “small’ oysters, ie…the obvious products that they know sell because there are droves of other people selling it.
Something that would qualify as a broad niche would be “get a 6 pack”. Sure, this is not as broad as weight loss, but it still tips the scale in my opinion on being a first rate, easy-to-think-of niche.
One thing that people fail to realize is that the Internet has opened up an absolutely ridiculously massive amount of products, keywords, and tiny little niches. Gone are the days of going to your local record shop and choosing between 10,000 artists on the shelves and here are the days of being able to sift through 1,000,000 artists through online digital stores.
This represents 990,000 new products, new brands, and new marketing opportunities within one niche alone.
Another example of this is MOVIES. Think of all the movies. Think of all the foreign movies, independent films, and movies that simply an offline movie store cannot afford to keep on their shelves.
That market is massive. I am not saying this is the best starting point for someone online, what I am saying is that the Internet has created the longest tail of niches…in pretty much every aspect of marketing.
One last example before I move on here. Look at dieting. Back in the day you would have been limited to just a few options. An ab roller infomercial product, a health club membership, some special pill out of a magazine, or a diet plan that was advertised on TV.
Now, there are 10,000′s of dieting products available online. Anything from “lose weight for you wedding guides”, to “online dietitians that will create you your own diet plan (for a fee)”.
For those that think outside of the box and choose to sell to smaller niches (sell the large, less-wanted-but-less-competition oyster meat), there is great opportunity.
But people tend to go so dang broad when starting out?
Is this a good idea?
What are the positives and negatives of tackling broader markets?
On rare occasion I see new marketers “going niche”. This is how I recommend everyone start out…but very rarely do new marketers choose something really “niche”.
These are typical starting point markets that newbies choose:
(1) Dog training
(2) Make Money
(3) Lose Weight
(4) Learn Guitar
(5) Learn a New Language
These are the niches they should be starting with:
(1) Puppy Potty Training
(2) Make Money With WordPress
(3) Lose Lower Back Fat
(4) Learn how to play Nickelback Songs
(5) Learn how to learn spanish before vacation
These are examples of a longer tail niche. These are also much more specific “problems” that people have and if you target them with targeted help…you will be much more successful.
Think about the state of mind of someone typing in “learn how to play guitar” versus “learn how to play nickelback songs”. The latter is a much more targeted visitor and one that is further along in the customer lifecycle (something we explain in depth within Wealthy Affiliate).
Some people ask how I come up with a niche. What would constitute and really unique niche for me? That leads me into…
How can I find a niche on my desk?
Well, probably something like…
Oh god…
I am thinking…
[I just popped 2 ginkgo biloba and drank a cup of coffee]
Ah, there we go. Got one.
Tie Accessories.
Where the hell did I pull that from? Gingko baby….
No seriously, finding these smaller, more unique niches is a piece of cake. I looked on my desktop for some inspiration here and low and behold, there sitting from a lunch-time snack today was a “twist tie”.
Sure twist ties are a niche, but you are either going to have to have an “in” at a grocery store, or you are going to have to sell a 100 gazillion of these things to pay your house off. Instead, I grabbed a word out of it.
“tie”
I know there are clips on the front of ties. What I learned though is that there are other accessories with a quick search in Google. Tie bars, pins, tacks and chains.
This is a very small niche.
But it has…
Limited affiliate competition.
And outward expandable (think suits, dress shoes, belts).
Although you are starting with something very small and very niche…there is room to expand outwards.
This is what I recommend for Internet marketers. It is much easier to move outwards (expand into other related sub-niches) than to start with very broad traffic and figure out what they want.
Find the people that know what they want. Find the market that is NICHE, but you know will sell versus finding a product and trying to sell it to a broad niche (that is inundated with products already).
In the oyster example, sell the large oysters that not many people are selling. Don’t try to sell the small oysters that everyone else is selling…
…especially when starting out.
Be niche, sell the right meat and be successful. Part 3 of “The Oyster Marketing” strategy down…ONE MORE TO GO NEXT WEEK.
Next week I will be discussing the Pearl. Is there such a thing as the forbidden and lucrative pearl within the Internet marketing world. I think my revelations will startle you. 
To your unbelievable success!
Kyle
Wealthy Affiliate
www.wealthyaffiliate.com
PS. To read the other Parts of the Oyster Marketing Series, use the following links:
Part 1: The Geographic Marketing “Beach”
Part 2: The Oyster Shell – Creating More Powerful Customers
This is truly excellent post!
Those “small” long tail kw’s are true gems most of the time. Perhaps, one can work backwards? Creating foundation with deeper rarer kw’s and move to proper higher competition ones when site gains stability and authority.
Cheers
Alex
This is a genius article.
“Gone are the days of going to your local record shop and choosing between 10,000 artists on the shelves and here are the days of being able to sift through 1,000,000 artists through online digital stores.”
This article has extreme value. You have been able to put things into a picture that I had not seen before.
I will be printing out this article for my marketing library and future reference.
Thank you.
very interesting blog post kyle. you really put a lot of the long tail things into perspective for me. back to the niche drawing board!
thank you.
hi wealthy affiliate
i have been very interested to join your wealthy affiliate so long as i work as you said and get some money .so long i have been writing to you but with no reply so i have been worried, have something gone wrong with wealth affiliate that you don’t want to discuss and how can we trust that you are talking what you write?I have been interested to get out of financial debt and so i am very keen to follow your method of affiliate marketing to get the result of debt and make some money .how can i go about it /PLEASE ANSWER ME
oh boy! this is really good
Thanks Kyle, I look forward to each edition of your Oyster Strategy. Always come away with a new insight. I prefer the long tail niche approach and selling to an exclusive market. I also consider what special thing I personally can give to that audience that others can’t or won’t. I figure my input will increase my own marketability and set me apart from my competition. After all, I’m part of what I am selling. You and Carson have done that in the Internet Marketing niche. You have much to offer and you stand alone because you do what others can’t and won’t. Same thing with Jennifer. Does this thinking make sense to you? I look forward to your next blog. Thank you.
Joan
@ Larry Anderson
We provide all members at WA with our own proprietary keyword tool along with keyword and research training. Everything you need to know is provided within the Wealthy Affiliate community. In saying this, the best external (and free) keyword tool is Google’s External Tool. Type “google keyword tool” into a Google search and you will find it right away.
Cheers,
Kyle
Cheers Kyle, I really enjoyed this blog, thanks for sharing! I agree 100%, always a good move to expand outward from a well researched niche.
Great correlations – Oyster and Internet Marketing / Market vs. Niche / Shorttail vs. Longtail Keywords. Looking forward to part 3. Thanks Kyle
Nice explanation about keyword.
Can u tell me which keyword research website is the best for keyword research?
I have done something similar — too small a niche, I think. My husband is blind and uses a talking watch. I have sold some talking watches, but the numbers are really too small. I have also tried other products for the blind — I have a great affiliate program. but……………while I am happy to provide the service and information, I think to make serious money, I have to find something with a much broader base. Right? Wrong? Is this worth pursuing? I have been working in this niche for over six months and have made several hundred dollars. but I need a niche that would pay me several thousand dollars in six months time.
@Lisa: I would like the link to your eLance book for myself. And possibly as an affiliate? Thanks!
Cool post Kyle. All so very true! I remember an interview with the director of Clickbank a while ago, and he gave a nice rule of thumb on the same topic…saying essentially to pick what you think is a specific niche, but then go one or two steps deeper than you think you need to be, and that’s where your sweet spot probably is.
Thad
Although I haven’t felt that way in a while,sometimes my mind feels really sluggish. I heard that Ginko was a real mind stimulating product you just proved that for me.Thanks
That was a great marketing ideas,i am yet to prepare a not on that.
Please Kyle i want to come out with an idea for a cocoa drink in Ghana can you please help me.
This is what i want know, kindly give me the benefit/good use after taking in Cocoa, Sugar, Milk, Pure Honey and Grape.
Please give me the negative and positive functions on each
Thank you hope to hear from you.
@ Lisa
I think your product is valuable for a much greater audience that you are probably targeting it to. For example, people don’t really understand the benefits of winning an elance job unless they understand the outsourcing model. However, people are definitely willing and look for jobs that will pay them to write, build website, create graphics, videos, etc…and if you can position it that way versus something geared towards elance you will be much more successful (and the market will be much larger).
But yeah, in saying this, there are some things that can become “too niche” online, but often times you can find an alternative market it or position a product in a different way and it becomes an opportunity.
Cheers,
Kyle
Hi Kyle,
Thanks for sharing more great info – however one thing your readers might like to know is that it is possible to be too focused in your niche – for example last year I wrote a product about winning work on Elance; which I thought would be a great focused niche for freelancers but despite advertising it everywhere I only made a couple of sales and the feedback I got from the exercise was that there just wasn’t enough paying customers in the niche to make it viable.
Just my 2 cents worth – will be looking for your next niche post with interest.
Best wishes,
Lisa
Wow, That is a lot of good information to start with. But, the majorities of newbies never get a good system that they can follow along include find a good niche.
Hi Kyle ,
This is really an eye opener.
I usually target highest searched keyword but after reading your post , i will find more long tail and less searched in one month so i get less competition.
Thanks Kyle for your easy to understand explanation