Introduction.......................................................................................... 5
Part I - Finding and Choosing a Niche............................................ 8
What is a niche market?............................................................................................ 9
Which niche is right for me?....................................................................................... 16
Researching Trends to Find a Niche................................................................... 17
Examining Popular Topic Lists................................................................................... 21
Spotting Trends in Top Product Lists......................................................................... 22
Amazon Bestsellers Lists........................................................................................ 22
Using eBay Pulse to Spot Product Trends............................................................. 24
Other Trending Research Resources.................................................................... 25
Using Keywords to Find a Niche.......................................................................... 27
The Long Tail.............................................................................................................. 28
Digging for Niche Markets – Google Tools................................................................ 30
Google Insights....................................................................................................... 30
Google AdWords Keyword Tool............................................................................. 32
Let’s get serious – Wordtracker.............................................................................. 36
SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool..................................................................... 38
Finding Niche Markets within the eBay Marketplace.............................................. 39
Summarizing the Keyword Approach...................................................................... 43
Using Actual Sales to Find a Niche...................................................................... 44
Using Google to Mine
for Gold................................................................................... 44
Observe Categories on Major Shopping Sites........................................................... 45
Using eBay Categories to Find Niche Ideas.............................................................. 45
Wrapping Up Your Search...................................................................................... 47
Part II - Start Selling in Your Niche................................................. 48
Two Approaches to Niche Selling........................................................................ 49
Your Niche Store....................................................................................................... 50
The “Mom & Pop”
approach....................................................................................... 50
Product Sourcing is a State of Mind........................................................................... 53
Making Bundles with
Bundles.................................................................................... 53
Hang Out Your Shingle............................................................................................... 54
Your Own Website.................................................................................................. 54
What about a blog?.................................................................................................. 56
Amazon Webstore, eBay Store, Yahoo Store – the answer?................................ 57
Earning Money as an Affiliate................................................................................ 59
What is an affiliate?..................................................................................................... 59
For the non-gurus out
there….................................................................................... 62
Pieces of the
Affiliate Puzzle...................................................................................... 62
Affiliate Niche Stores - Rinse and Repeat.................................................................. 64
A Niche Store? Or a
Niche Mall?............................................................................... 64
A Look at the Major Affiliate Programs................................................................ 66
eBay Partner Network
(ePN)..................................................................................... 66
What’s an ACRU?”.................................................................................................. 66
Getting Started with ePN......................................................................................... 67
Link Generator......................................................................................................... 67
What are Geo-Targeted Links?............................................................................... 69
Campaign Names and IDs...................................................................................... 69
Link Text.................................................................................................................. 69
Creatives Generator................................................................................................ 70
eBay Widgets.......................................................................................................... 71
Editor Kit.................................................................................................................. 71
eBay To Go............................................................................................................. 72
eBay Partner Network – in Summary..................................................................... 72
Amazon Associates
Program..................................................................................... 73
Working with Affiliate Networks............................................................................ 74
Working with Commission Junction and LinkShare................................................... 74
Working with
Clickbank.............................................................................................. 75
Tools to Build a Niche Store.................................................................................. 78
Build a Niche Store (BANS).................................................................................... 79
Fine Tuning a Little
at a Time...................................................................................... 79
Is it worth the
money?................................................................................................ 80
The first one is the
hardest......................................................................................... 80
Search Engine Love – Organic Search Results........................................................ 81
Using phpBay Pro and Wordpress...................................................................... 85
A Crash Course in
WordPress.................................................................................. 85
phpBay and Search
Engines...................................................................................... 86
Yet Another Way to use phpBay Pro…..................................................................... 87
The Bottom Line on
phpBay Pro................................................................................ 88
Content is King.......................................................................................................... 89
Qualities of Good Content.......................................................................................... 89
Five Ideas for Creating Good Niche Content............................................................. 90
Wrapping Up.............................................................................................................. 91