We have run into a number of competitors during our niche market research process. Hopefully made some notes about them along the way.
While the initial inclination is to be discouraged by the competitors, the truth is that for the most part, they are a good sign. One you should be grateful for, because their presence in the market indicates that people are willing to spend money in your niche. Thus when you get your product(s) out there you should have a good shot at making money.
If there are a lot of competitors, that means a lot of people are making money.
What you want to do is subscribe to their mailing lists, and analyze their follow-up emails. You want to go to their web sites and make a copy of their sales pages and analyze them as well.
Make note of the commissions they pay, the % of payout etc. Figure out how long they have been around. Do they frequently update their web pages? Do they offer bonuses. What types of free offers do they use? And what type of up-sells do they present? What are their price points?
You want to make a study of the major competitors and then you want to explore what they don’t offer. What could they do better?
You want to do a SWOT analysis. Swot stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
For each of your top competitors, identify what their strength is, Where are they weak, how can you turn it into an advantage for you, and what will be most difficult to overcome.
Odds are you won’t become the dominant force in your niche overnight. But you can find a toe hold and build from there. Find an angle of attack keeping in mind everything you have learned during your market research. And then don’t over analyze.
While it’s vitally important to research your niche don’t get stuck in the process. Get it done, and create a plan and take action.
You have picked a niche, you have researched it and determined that it is vital. You have identified the types of problems people in the niche are looking for solutions on, and have a good idea of who those people are.
Now it’s time to create a product or find one of more products you can represent as an affiliate.