Hello,

Today I wanted to show readers where they can get ideas for a niche.

For many people interested in IM, finding a niche is the first of many puzzles that the need to sort out. This isn’t helped by the fact that some people say - write about what you know - about something you love. Somehow that makes any reasonable thought about something a person likes to do fly right out of their brain! We are left thinking “I don’t have anything I know much about” or “I don’t have anything I particularly am into!”

Others say find something that people love, a niche that is popular. Then find your own angle. That can be easier said than done.

I actually think that the reason people say write about what you know is because it is much easier to write say, thirty articles about something you are passionate about.

However, if you do not want to do that, then find something that is popular and interesting, a new trend. A good place to look for new trends is provided by Google. Google trends show you the things that people are putting into the search engines.  View Here. The URL is http://www.google.com/trends.

Another place to look is ebay pulse. View Here. The URL is http://pulse.ebay.com/.  You can see which are the things most people are looking for, this can give you good ideas for affiliate products.

Nearly everything you buy online is through an affiliate link on way or another. I have a few lenses at www.squidoo.com with which I promote affiliate products, and even though they have only been up for a couple of months, they have started to bring in a trickle of money. To be honest, I don’t spend a great deal of time on them, I should promote them more really. But even if they only bring in $20-30 every couple of weeks, it’s ok for something I spend minutes a week on. (Sometimes not even that! )

Another place you can go for niche information is dmoz. View Here. The URL is http://www.dmoz.com. Dmoz is a huge directory of all sorts of information and you can dig deep into a section to find a niche that suits you. It is totally free, as well.

Once you have decided on a niche, then you can go and look for affiliate companies. These will have lots of different online stores on their books which will provide you with banners. Then you put the banners on your site or on your lens, anywhere there is traffic. People click and when they buy something, you get a percentage. Obviously the more traffic you send, the more people will click, the more you money you will make.

I use a company that deals with UK businesses.  It’s called AffiliateWindow, View Here and it is pretty reliable. You do pay a deposit, I think it is to weed out wannabes but you do get it back after the first month with your earnings. There are hundreds like Affiliate Window all over the internet. Find one that suits you.

I wish you all the best with that!

Ruth