{"id":7814,"date":"2014-04-30T10:36:10","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T15:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=7814"},"modified":"2014-04-30T10:37:35","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T15:37:35","slug":"find-niche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/","title":{"rendered":"Find Your Niche"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"What<\/center>Niche is a great word. It\u2019s a shallow recess within a wall, used as a display tool for a really nifty object, it\u2019s a cranny (another great word), and it\u2019s a nook. It can be the ecological role of an organism in a community (especially the role of said object in relation to food consumption), and it\u2019s a habitat that supplies the factors that are necessary for the existence of an organism or a species. The original definitions of the word had absolutely nothing to do with the business world, but, like the Internet, just because something originates as one thing it doesn\u2019t mean that it cannot turn into something completely different through alternative usages. Niche, in more recent history, has come to also be used to describe either a job or activity that is suitable for someone or to describe the situation by which a business\u2019s products or services are able to succeed by being sold to a particular group or type of people.<\/p>\n

As fascinating as the evolution of a word can be, we\u2019re not here for an etymology lesson. (Though if you have some free time while surfing, I do recommend looking into the origins of your favorite words it can be quite illuminating!) Speaking of surfing, this lovely little side lesson in definitions does have a purpose.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In The Interest Of Finding Your Market<\/h3>\n

The thing is, no matter how cool you may think your product is, the fact of the matter is that you may have trouble finding someone else who thinks that it\u2019s a cool concept as well. You know that your idea is a good one, but you\u2019re not seeing your business go anywhere. Does this mean that you have failed? No! What this means is that you just haven\u2019t found your niche yet. It\u2019s possible that you just need more advertising than you\u2019re currently using, that you haven\u2019t found the right way to convey what it is your product does in a manner that appeals to the public at large, or that you\u2019re looking in the wrong target market.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No Matter How Absurd The Idea May Be (dot dot dot)<\/h3>\n

If nothing else, the Internet has shown us that products that one might think are absolutely ridiculous can sell, and can become huge successes, while others that are quite useful may not do so well because of a poor choice in marketing; still others are fantastic ideas, but haven\u2019t really taken off due to a lack of exposure. Let\u2019s take a look at a few examples (please note that we\u2019re not affiliated with any of these companies or products, they\u2019re just being used for example purposes!)<\/p>\n

A Ridiculous Idea That\u2019s Doing Well: Poopsenders.com The url says it all. This site was created solely for the purpose of sending people poo through the mail. For this month the specials are 'cow dung, elephant crap, gorilla poop'\u009d and a special three types of poop for one combo pack. Not only is this just plain silly, but you have to think about the logistics of the operation. Someone sat down and thought about how great it would be to send poo to people, determined the types they wanted to send, and created a whole… ahem… production process, getting them straight from the animals, so to speak, to the door of the person its being shipped to. In spite of the ethical and moral issues associated with this type of business, the mind boggling process of actually creating such a business, and the sheer ridiculousness of the idea, the company is doing fantastically well. Turns out, humans love shipping poo to people; the site\u2019s been around since 2008 and shows no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or How Reasonable The Idea May Be<\/h3>\n

A Useful Product That Failed Due to Poor Marketing:<\/strong> Bic Cristal for Her Yes, Bic goofed big time. As one Forbes writer states, Bic made 'lady-pens.'\u009d\u00a0 The reviews on Amazon tell it all. The product has become a huge joke. The sad thing is, it didn\u2019t need to be. The pens are just like every other Bic pen in existence their only difference? The fact that they\u2019re in pretty colors. The ink isn\u2019t it\u2019s still basic black, it\u2019s just the outer clear tube that Bic changed. For those of us who still use pens (yes, I know we seem to be a dying breed), there\u2019s nothing wrong with a pretty pen. I happen to grab them by the ton, different roller ball thicknesses, different kinds of ink, different casings. I like the variety when taking the time to write by hand. If Bic had just called them 'Bic Cristal'\u009d the company would have been fine, had a new product, and people like me would have happily added to their pen collection, but alas, that 'For Her'\u009d served to imply a whole host of sexist connotations (really, check out the reviews they\u2019re hilarious), and caused Bic to appear as though they had real mud in their eye.<\/p>\n

A Great Product With Limited Exposure:<\/strong> Loot Crate They send a grab box of goodies to your house each month. These boxes are filled with all things Geeky. March\u2019s box was Titanfall themed (for you Xbox lovers out there), and we have no clue yet as to what April may bring. It\u2019s a product filled with goodies for those who like mail and goodies, it\u2019s a surprise, and it\u2019s geeky happiness in a box, working to target a variety of different markets. They\u2019re not big yet, but if they advertise more they will be!<\/p>\n

Anyone with any business model can become successful online; that\u2019s one of the beauties of the Internet. Chances are that if you like the concept as a good idea for a product or service, someone else will too and you shouldn\u2019t give up just because you\u2019re not an overnight success. Instead, take a careful look at how you are marketing your product (Don\u2019t be like Bic!), whom the product is being marketed for, whether or not there is enough exposure for your product or service, and whether or not you can punch it up a notch by simply changing the wording. Three years ago I never would have bought clothes online for a tortoise; in six weeks the household tortoise will have a stegosaurus costume. It just goes to show you that the Internet is a wonderful and mysterious place where anyone may find their niche!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image Source: Make Income on the Side. (2013). What is your niche?. [image online] Available at: http:\/\/makeincomeontheside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Niche-Blogging.jpg [Accessed: 26 Mar 2014].<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Niche is a great word. It\u2019s a shallow recess within a wall, used as a display tool for a really…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-startup-small-business","category-web-and-hosting-tips"],"yoast_head":"\nFind Your Niche - HostGator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Find Your Niche\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Niche is a great word. It\u2019s a shallow recess within a wall, used as a display tool for a really...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HostGator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-30T15:36:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-30T15:37:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brandi Bennett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HostGator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HostGator\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brandi Bennett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brandi Bennett\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/abbd0470397104d23c8717f47520d838\"},\"headline\":\"Find Your Niche\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-30T15:36:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-30T15:37:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\"},\"wordCount\":1139,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Startup & Small Business\",\"Web Hosting Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\",\"name\":\"Find Your Niche - HostGator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-30T15:36:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-30T15:37:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png\",\"width\":428,\"height\":256},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Find Your Niche\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"HostGtaor\",\"description\":\"Web Hosting and Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"HostGtaor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png\",\"width\":1092,\"height\":215,\"caption\":\"HostGtaor\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/HostGator\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hostgator\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hostgator-com\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hostgator\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/hostgator\"],\"email\":\"support@gator.com\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/abbd0470397104d23c8717f47520d838\",\"name\":\"Brandi Bennett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28724b2e22365debf65c3e8bbcfb1050?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28724b2e22365debf65c3e8bbcfb1050?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brandi Bennett\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/author\/brandibennett\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Find Your Niche - HostGator","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Find Your Niche","og_description":"Niche is a great word. It\u2019s a shallow recess within a wall, used as a display tool for a really...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/","og_site_name":"HostGator","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator","article_published_time":"2014-04-30T15:36:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-30T15:37:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png"}],"author":"Brandi Bennett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@HostGator","twitter_site":"@HostGator","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brandi Bennett","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/"},"author":{"name":"Brandi Bennett","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/abbd0470397104d23c8717f47520d838"},"headline":"Find Your Niche","datePublished":"2014-04-30T15:36:10+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-30T15:37:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/"},"wordCount":1139,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png","articleSection":["Startup & Small Business","Web Hosting Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/","name":"Find Your Niche - HostGator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png","datePublished":"2014-04-30T15:36:10+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-30T15:37:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/What-Is-Your-Niche.png","width":428,"height":256},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/find-niche\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Find Your Niche"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/","name":"HostGtaor","description":"Web Hosting and Marketing Tips for Entrepreneurs","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HostGtaor","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/cropped-HG-Logo_default-default.png","width":1092,"height":215,"caption":"HostGtaor"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HostGator","https:\/\/x.com\/HostGator","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hostgator","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hostgator-com","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hostgator\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/hostgator"],"email":"support@gator.com"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/abbd0470397104d23c8717f47520d838","name":"Brandi Bennett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28724b2e22365debf65c3e8bbcfb1050?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28724b2e22365debf65c3e8bbcfb1050?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brandi Bennett"},"url":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/author\/brandibennett\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7814"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7960,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814\/revisions\/7960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}