As I previously mentioned, for the past several months I have been studying the subculture of “Internet marketing” (more accurately known as MMO or “making money online.”) I have also been digging into the “content marketing” (inbound marketing) strategy that many businesses are using as a hedge against the decreasing effectiveness of traditional advertising.

These two fields of study are now converging in my latest series of posts: Making Money with Expert Content — in which I will share the essential strategies and tactics for generating revenue by publishing expert content.

The first step in building your Expert Content business is to determine what your niche will be. Niche is another word for audience segment and it implies a small, defined group with a specific common interest.

While you can choose any one of thousands of niches, the general consensus among MMO experts is that it is best to choose a niche topic that you are both passionate and knowledgeable about.

There are some other criteria you should consider when choosing your niche:

• Are others making money from the niche?
• Is it large enough? What’s the size of the niche?
• Is the niche overcrowded and very competitive?
• Do you have the opportunity to become a recognized expert in the niche?

Ideally, you want a niche that taps into a good sized audience, but is not hyper competitive (like fitness, dating, making money, etc.). Some experts advise narrowing down and specializing within a competitive niche — like fitness for people recovering from sports injuries or dating for dog owners.

One good quick test of a niche is to visit a large bookstore and see if there are books and magazines about your specific topic.

Goal

Choose a niche that is big enough that you will have a decent number of potential customers who buy products and information related to the niche. The niche shouldn’t be so broad that many, many companies compete for the audience. Finally, you must be both passionate and knowledgeable about the topic of the niche. Alternatively, you might partner with an expert in the niche.

We’ll identify what you do next in Part 2.