What is a Niche?
One of the commenters on one of my blog articles, My Online Business Journey: Welcome to My Blog! commented that it would be nice to see how I came up with my niche. Merium Webster defines niche as a specialized market and an activity for which a person is best suited. If I must pick just one that I am interested in, my niche is making money online (MMO). It was not always that way though and is not the only one I dabble in.
Blame Childhood for Niche Selection
My childhood has a lot to do with my choice of Niche. Let me explain. As long as I can remember, I was good at math and strategy games. I was playing chess at 4 years old and playing and beating adults in card games at 5. I was in a household with a mom who was both a professional and an entrepreneur with a tax business and rental property.
In college, on break, I would do externships, shadowing her and helping her with her business. I was destined to be interested in entrepreneurship, analysis and strategy, real estate and careers related to math like accounting and finance.
The Oracle of Omaha: Entrepreneurship and Investments
I also grew up in Omaha. If you know anything about Omaha, one of the richest people in the world lives there. We call him The Oracle of Omaha. The one and only Warren Buffet. Warren Buffet is a Billionaire investor who was a serial entrepreneur from an early age and is good at numbers. I do not think I knew much about him at an early age, but once I was introduced to investments, it was inevitable that I would try to follow him.
I joined an organization called Junior Achievement when I was in junior high school. We learned about business and how to make and sell things.
In one of our sessions, we learned how to create and issue private stock. I guess to make it more relevant to the stock market, my mom bought me a share of one of Donald Trump’s businesses. I was hooked.
In high school, I joined an investment club where we picked stocks and analyzed them. My mom and I even tried to start an investment club of our own. Somewhere in there, I learned about Warren Buffet and that is who I wanted to model myself to be; An entrepreneur who uses numbers and strategies to buy and sell companies for profit. That was my dream.
Tragedy and Crushed Dreams
Things do not always work out the way you imagine them to, though. My Junior year of High school through my sophomore year of college were rough for me. I went from being at the top of the world in everything, to almost not graduating from high school and barely making it in the first several years of college.
That is a long story I will save for a book, maybe. Things were not going well for me at home while I was in high school, and in college, my two grandmothers and my dad passed away. I did not handle it well.
What that all meant was that my plan to enter the prestigious Commerce School at the University of Virginia was derailed. Instead of having a degree based on numbers or business, I ended up with an International Relations degree. I was broke, surrounded by broke people, and couldn’t start my own business easily. Wall Street was out of the question. I even tried to get into a numbers-based job after graduation, but that did not work. I tried a career in personal finance but realized selling was necessary, and that was not me.
Dream Replacement
So, I got a job in collections at a financial institution, then became a credit analyst, then worked my way into their finance department within 3 years and started my Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and International Business.
Working in the corporate world in finance and accounting is where I have been for almost 30 years, never forgetting my dream of being an entrepreneur, and market and real estate investor.
The truth is, even though I searched often for something I could do working for myself, I never found anything I thought I was passionate enough to do. I was also afraid of potentially risking my growing success in my day job. I bought many books on investing and real estate along the way, though. One book I bought was a real estate book by Dean Graziosi after seeing an informercial of his one late night. More on how Dean fits in a bit later.
Introduction to Online Marketing
Banner Ads
Fast forward many years later to 2018. I would use my long winter breaks to try to come up with business ideas. I do not think it ever really occurred to me to search the internet for help.
It was common knowledge people were making lots of money with banner ads, but it seemed like something out of my reach and scammy. I had tried to buy something on the internet several years prior, and during the purchase, I kept getting upsold without end. After paying hundreds of dollars, I gave up mid-sale (funnel) and never received the product(s). After that, I was hesitant about buying or selling online.
YouTube videos
Somehow, probably from searching for ways to make money, I started to see YouTube videos on the internet. That was and has been a game-changer for me. People said you could make money quickly, easily, and anonymously. My interest was peaked, so I started searching for every money-making opportunity I could find, and I started to take notes on them and organize my notes into groups and categories of opportunities. I started to narrow my interests. I was getting closer to finding the business for me, and for once, I saw the potential opportunity to escape my 9-to-5.
A YouTube video about how to build a WIX website and how to run native ads selling a product on how to increase your ability to jump high enchanted me for almost 2 hours. Luckily, I could not get the ads to work. Native ads will empty your bank account if you do not know what you are doing. It almost happened to me later in my journey. That YouTube advice was free, but because of the time it took and the lack of results, I started to think free was not the best way for me.
My First Gurus
Dean Graziosi had moved to advertising on the internet, and he was selling one of his real estate programs on wholesaling. I liked his informercial and book, “Be a Real Estate Millionaire”, and his style. He intrigued me and was someone I began to like and trust. I bought the program.
Dean’s style was heavy on mindset and ideas, which is something I needed and fed off of at the time. I started to follow him and others on mindset training and started to listen to a lot of motivational videos, which were big in moving me forward in my journey.
His real estate program did not have enough tactical detail for me. I needed more detailed instructions on implementation. He actually endorsed someone else named Sean Terry and I started to buy his products and follow his tactics.
Tragedy Strikes Again
Unfortunately, in late 2018, I became a single parent. I realized I was not ready for what it was going to take to make wholesaling work. My schedule did not work well with it, and I could not find real estate agents in my area to work with. There are other ways to make it work, but I thought it would be too much for me, given my situation.
Affiliate to Digital Products
After that, I came across someone selling a digital product that piqued my interest. He made it seem so easy. I was skeptical, but never saw a shiny object that I did not want. I purchased his program. It taught how to be an affiliate and build a list. I just cared about the $500 per sale commissions he made seem so easy. The list building, getting traffic, and other nuggets were just by-products of the program.
It was not a good product. Looking back, he left out some things, like many programs do. However, I learned how to drive traffic from native ads, how to set-up a funnel in click funnels, how to build a list and use an auto responder, and how to use graphics. He had been a solo ad vendor and even taught us the concept of selling solo ads.
I have learned a lot more since then, but that solidified my decision to do mmo (make money online). It could be easy with practice, you could make a lot of money, you could build your own asset (email list), and you could do it anonymously. His teaching style was very patient, medium- to slow paced, and low tech. If necessary, I thought I could have my own product and teach lessons just like him.
Niche selection
So that is how I initially picked my niche, or how it picked me. I am interested in other niches, but mmo fits me the best. Since then, I often check myself to see if mmo is still the best for me. My niche picking methodologies change as I grow and gain knowledge. For instance, I used AI about a week ago to confirm what is hot and most viable for a niche in 2024 related to affiliate marketing.
According to AI, out of the things I am interested in, fitness was an excellent choice in the health niche. I am also evaluating potential opportunities in plant-based diets, since my diet is plant based and I have a lot to say on the subject.
16 replies to "Niche – How I Selected Mine"
What a compelling account of your journey to finding your niche! It’s fascinating how your childhood experiences and early exposure to entrepreneurship and strategic thinking have influenced your path. The blend of personal anecdotes with professional insights really brings your story to life and offers invaluable lessons for others navigating their niche selection process.
Your experience emphasizes the importance of adaptability and leveraging resources (like mentors or AI) to refine one’s niche. Thanks for sharing such a detailed and thoughtful journey—it’s a reminder that finding the right niche often involves a blend of personal passion, market research, and resilience. Looking forward to seeing where your explorations take you next!
Thank you Alison for taking time to experience my journey with me.
Michael, what an amazing and inspiring post. You’ve faced happiness and tragedies in life, with many setbacks and failures, yet here you are. You did not give up! I believe our setbacks and failures are what define us and what God uses to prepare us for our purpose. Looking back on my life, I’ve had some extreme disappointments only to realize a year or so later they were a blessing. It seems your disappointments led you in a different direction on the map, with your long and winding road to an MBA and becoming a corporate finance and accounting expert. I have a feeling your perseverance, determination and finance/business knowledge and experience will help you succeed in affiliate and digital marketing. I truly wish you the best and look forward to seeing you succeed, step by step.
Thank you Jordon.
Thanks for sharing your awesome journey to finding your niche in the Make Money Online world! It’s so cool how your childhood experiences, like playing chess and cards and growing up around your entrepreneurial mom, shaped your interests. And being inspired by Warren Buffet—who wouldn’t be? It’s such a relatable story!
It’s awesome that you found your groove with affiliate marketing and email lists after trying out so many different things. Your insights into how finding the right guidance and mindset training helped you move forward are really valuable.
I also love how you’re open to exploring other niches like fitness and plant-based diets. It’s a great reminder that our interests and expertise can change over time- mine have too so this was comforting to read.
Thanks for sharing such a detailed and personal account of your niche selection process. It’s inspiring and packed with useful lessons for anyone on a similar journey. Keep up the great work, and I’m looking forward to seeing more from you!
Thanks for the encouragement and I’m glad I could help.
Great story telling! They say the financial niche is good for making Adsense money on You Tube- stock advice and the like. My you tube channel is growing and my niche from the beginning was Baby Boomers! 9 out of 10 people on you tube are boomers!
Thanks for the info. I hope to get to YouTube myself.
It is good to read about your upbringing and what led to you selection of niche. You mention alternately about AI telling you Fitness in the health niche as well as opportunities with plant-based diets. I can certainly relate. I even won a 21-day plant-based challenge with a company I am an affiliate for.
That’s interesting. It’s good to know there is a market for it. Can you share your affiliate link or the name of the company?
Hi Michael,
Your journey to discovering your niche in making money online is truly inspiring! It’s amazing how your childhood interests in math, strategy games, and entrepreneurship have shaped your path. Despite the challenges and setbacks, your determination to explore different avenues like affiliate marketing and digital products shows your resilience and passion for learning. Looking forward to seeing how your journey continues to evolve!
Meredith
Thank you for the encouragement.
Hi Michael,
I loved your story, particularly that your niche found you! I think people (me) struggle to find their groove, I think I’m on the road to mine and blogging helped! If only I’d started that years ago!!
the MMO niche does seem to fit with your life experiences, your mom, and living in Omaha seem to coalesce around that and you feel called to it and that you have other interests as well you may pursue.
Thank you for this post, I appreciate your honesty as it has helped me to accept where I am on my niche journey.
Thank you, Eleanor; I’m glad it helped. I wish I had started blogging years ago.
Michael thanks for sharing your personal journey to finding your niche or better yet your niche finding you. You packed this post with so many personal experiences that it’s hard not to come away from reading this without having related in some way. Good Luck moving forward with MMO or whichever niche you find yourself in. Keep up the Great work.
Thank you Ken.