Building Websites

Using Placeholder Sites to Start Creating Valuable Websites

This is a guest post from Philip Rudy of ContentCustoms.com.

There are a lot of ideas that can come to a person’s mind throughout his or her life. Ideas usually always sound great, especially when it comes to dreaming up website ideas that will one day make you boat loads of money, but one thing that has to be learned about ideas is that before an idea can be a good one, it has to stand the test of time.

One huge problem with great ideas with websites is that it can be forever before you even get around to making your idea happen, and the longer you wait to start your website the longer it takes for your website to start making money – and this my friends is exactly why we have all come to know the phrase, “time is money.” It can be a long time before your website is even worth money, and if you are trying to flip websites, you don’t want to be wasting time on a website that is never going to pan out.

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10 September, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (2)

12 Places Where You Can Outsource Work On The Cheap

Outsource Work Whether you are new to website flipping or have a lot of experience, sooner or later you’ll need help if you want to scale your Internet business. You’re only one person and you can only accomplish so much in a day. The easiest and most affordable way to scale your business is to outsource some of your work.

Anything you currently do yourself can be outsourced but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. In fact, you should take an inventory on what your strengths and weaknesses are and what you enjoy doing the most. Anything that falls under the “weakness column” or under the column of, “things you don’t really enjoy doing,” should be outsourced. You should only do things yourself that you are good at or enjoy doing.

22 August, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (11)

FREE Blueprints For Website Development & Flipping Success

I get a lot of emails every week from people who think I’m some kind of website flipping guru. I wish I was but I’m not – at least not in the traditional sense where I’m buying and selling (i.e. flipping) on a regular basis.

As I have detailed on my about me page, I specialize in developing SEO websites that I hold on to for at least 6 months that I then sell. In short, my specialty is flipping websites that are established SEO sites that are making money. As a result, the bulk of my time is spent working on sites – not flipping websites.

As an Internet Marketer who builds websites for the long-term flip, getting started on the right foot is critical. I can’t afford to work on a site for several weeks only to discover it’s a losing niche or that I’m using the wrong revenue streams. And because I spend so much time on my sites, it’s imperative that I not only know they are a “sure thing” in terms of the money they can generate while I own them, but that they’ll be in demand when I sell them.

Diving head first into the website flipping niche was a godsend. It has allowed me to study and learn the market. I know what sells and what doesn’t – but better yet, I am given the blueprints to all of these websites. If I can follow these blueprints and add my own skills and expertise, I can be assured that most sites I develop will make money and will sell for big money when I flip them.

For any given website listed on Flippa, I can take notes of all the things the sellers say about their websites. Things like how they have been marketing their websites, how they monetize them, how they create content, how they get email subscribers, etc. etc. Then I can actually visit their websites and see what they’re doing. I have complete blueprints provided for FREE!

No other tool or resource in the Internet Marketing industry can provide as much information for free as the website flipping market. Every time I visit marketplaces like Flippa, I’m amazed at the amount of information I can get my hands on and not have to pay a dime for it. I consider this the golden era of having access to these free blueprints, however.

I have a feeling that as this industry matures, sellers are going to be more guarded about what they share publicly. I envision a future where the majority of sellers will require all buyers sign NDA’s before they will reveal anything about their websites – and even then you will only be given brief information as the “good stuff” will be reserved for serious buyers only. I can see this happening even on even popular marketplaces like Flippa.

Until that day comes, enjoy what you have at your fingertips today! Spend time at popular marketplaces like Flippa and learn from the auctions. It can greatly reduce the learning curve and give you a head start with any of your projects. To get you started, visit the Past Website Sales section of this website and enjoy all the free blueprints for website development and flipping success!

12 July, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (7)

What Is Private Domain Registration and Should You Use It As A Website Flipper?

When I first got into Internet Marketing back in 2005, I was always told that private domain registration was the only way to go. As a result, it’s the only thing I’ve ever done. Since getting into website flipping, however, I have realized I may have been shooting myself in the foot and will never opt for it again. In today’s post I will explain what private domain registration and then I will tell you why it can work against you as a website flipper.

What Is Private Domain Registration?

When you register a domain with a registrar (i.e. GoDaddy, NameCheap, etc.) you will have the option to register the domain privately. Some registrars include it for free while others charge you a nominal fee for it. When you register a domain privately, your personal information such as your name, address, phone number, and email address is kept out of the public eye.

ICANN is a non-profit corporation that oversees the registration of all domain names. It requires every registrar to maintain a public WHOIS directory for all domains that are registered. That means all your personal information is available to anyone who conducts a WHOIS search. Here is an example of what a public domain registration looks like when doing a WHOIS search:

Public Domain Registration

Here is what a private domain registration looks like:

Private Domain Registration

Notice the difference? With private domain registration, your personal information is kept private. Now before you assume that’s a good thing, think again because keeping your contact information private can hurt your website flipping efforts.

Why Website Flippers Shouldn’t Use Private Domain Registration

As website flippers and Internet Marketers in general, I’ll bet most of you own several domains. And I’ll bet that a large chunk of your domains are parked or have half-baked websites on them. Regardless, your domains and websites – no matter how simple or complex those sites may be – are assets that can advertise for you 24/7.

There are buyers looking for domains and websites for sale all the time – and the savvy ones aren’t looking for prospects at Flippa only. If a buyer stumbles upon your parked domain page or your 5-page mini site you never got around to working on, and the buyer really has an interest in it, wouldn’t it be great if the buyer could contact you easily?

The best way to reach the owner of a domain or website is to do a WHOIS search and then contact the owner via the contact information provided. Right there the buyer has access to your email, address, and phone number. They can contact you directly to see if you are interested in selling. And the potential buyer doesn’t have to be a professional website flipper either. It can be the average Joe off the street or a business owner who must have your domain or website. You never know who might be interested in buying your undeveloped (or developed) asset.

By electing NOT to have private domain registration, you make it easy for anyone – professional website flipper or otherwise – to contact you to make you an offer for your parked domains and websites. I have several decent parked domains and mini websites floating around out there that all have private domain registration on them. Who knows how many prospective buyers I have turned away over the years!

18 June, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (12)

10 Things To Consider When Registering Domain Names

Registering domain names is one of the most important steps in the website flipping process. A lot hinges on it when it comes to how fast you can sell your website and how good of a price you can get for it. While you may be tempted to go with whatever clever or fancy name that comes to mind when building a website from scratch or looking for one you can purchase, it’s worth going over this checklist first to see if the domain name passes the test before registering it.

1. .com, .org and .net TLDs Only

Use your creativity in other aspects of the website but stick to the tried and tested TLDs when registering domain names. People often assume that a website ends in .com, while .net and .org domains are generally accepted too. This is why potential buyers look no further than these three TLDs when searching for a website to purchase. The only exception may be when you are targeting a specific country or region such as using .com.au for the Australian market.

2. Say No To Hyphens and Numbers

For a few particular sites, numbers and hyphens could be worked into a domain name but in most cases, they may bring down the site’s market value. Stay away from these types of domains if possible.

3. Keep It Short and Sweet

When it comes to domain names, long is out and short is in. A long domain may allow you to play around with clever name ideas but if you’ve been doing this for any length of time, you know that short name domains get sold the fastest and command the highest prices. A domain name of 20 characters or less is ideal.

4. Include Keywords

What better way of boosting SEO value than putting a relevant keyword in the domain name. Such a move will help in the search engine rankings and will impress future buyers.

5. Use An Exact Keyword Only

If you can fit the exact keyword into the domain name – nothing more, nothing less (i.e. ExactKeyword.com) – then you’ll hit a goldmine – not only with the search engines by getting a SEO boost but also with future buyers. If you can’t get an exact keyword domain, then revert to rule #4 above and just make sure the keyword is included somehow (i.e. MyExactKeyword.com).

6. Go For Mass Appeal

A generic domain can catch people’s attention more than one referring to a particular market or brand. And understandably, a domain that reaches out to a greater audience would also appeal to more potential buyers. When registering domain names, try to keep them as broad as possible. For example, Cars.com will be more appealing to more buyers than HybridCars.com.

7. Avoid Misspellings

Nothing discourages a potential buyer more than having a misspelled domain. While you may get some traffic from people searching with misspellings, you don’t want to build a long-term asset on a misspelled domain. Save misspelled domains for your feeder sites or domain portfolio but don’t build a website intended to be flipped on them.

8. Avoid Trademarks Like the Plague

Websites that contain trademark words may bring in more harm and controversy (which you don’t need) than actual traffic and buyer interest (which you do need). And that’s not even counting the cease and desist emails that are sure to come or worse yet, trademark infringement lawsuits that could be waiting for you.

9. Look For Advertisers

The more paid ads you see when doing a search for your domain’s keyword, the better the chances of your site getting sold. If people are already paying to be on the front page of Google for the keyword in your domain, they’ll likely be interested in buying a website that ranks naturally for that keyword and has the keyword in the domain to boot!

10. GEO Domains Are Hot

More and more local businesses are making the leap to the web every day, creating a significant demand for local geographical domains. Grab these local geo domains sooner than later and you’ll make a profitable income out of them.

Website flipping success starts with registering domain names that pass as many of the tests above. A good domain can be the difference between a small payday and big payday. Get started on the right foot by applying these guidelines when registering domain names for your websites!

10 June, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (19)

How To Make Money With Google AdSense Sites ($150,000+ Per Year)!

If you want to know how to make money with Google AdSense websites then you’re going to love this interview. I had the privilege to interview Cary Bergeron, a quiet and highly successful “AdSense guru.” Cary makes over $150,000 per year with just one AdSense website alone, and has flipped a couple AdSense sites for $80,000 and $30,000 in the past year on Flippa.com.

In this interview, Cary shares some great insight on how to make money with Google AdSense. If you want a step-by-step, detailed guide on how to replicate his success, I encourage you pick up a copy of his book, The AdSense Report. You can learn more about it by reading my Adsense Report review. Let’s dive in and see what Cary has to say…

FW: Cary, I know you’re an extremely busy guy these days so thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I guess the first question I have is have you always specialized in AdSense sites?

I haven’t always specialized in AdSense but over the last several years it has become a more important part of my business. I wanted to build a lasting revenue stream that requires very little upkeep and solid returns. I feel that AdSense can provide a better long term income than most other systems out there.

I got into AdSense as soon as I knew it would work. I think it was about January 2006 when I saw the AdSense light flicker. I make a good amount of money from AdSense but it is not all I do. I also do other Internet marketing as well including eBooks, opt-in lists, membership sites and work with some CPA networks.

FW: Why AdSense websites primarily, versus say affiliate websites or other ways to make money online?

AdSense sites have the staying power if you build them right. It’s not very hard to make money with AdSense but you must keep at it.

I have sites that run affiliate offers on them but when you do affiliate marketing you are at the mercy of someone else’s product and I don’t like that. I make money with affiliate marketing but I don’t concentrate on it like I do with AdSense.

FW: As primarily an affiliate marketer myself, I totally understand what you’re saying about relying on someone else’s product. It’s always a concern of mine and has been a problem a few times in the past, but I digress. When I got into this business in 2005, AdSense was all that anyone talked about. Then a couple years after that it seemed to die down and a lot of people were whining they weren’t making money with AdSense anymore. To this day I read in various forums that it sucks and that you can’t make money with AdSense anymore. You are proof-positive this isn’t true but my question to you is this, are you the exception to the rule or is the “AdSense gold rush” just as strong today as it was back in 2005? And what do you say to those that say you can’t make money with AdSense?

The “Gold Rush” is in full force and going strong. If people want to get out of using AdSense because they think there isn’t any money to be made that is fine. The less competition the better as far as that goes. But I can tell you I’ve been making money with AdSense since 2006 and just about every month I have made more than the previous month. The only time see a dip in AdSense revenue is when I sell a site for say $80,000 like this one on Flippa or this one for $30,000, which only lasted for about an hour and someone bought it.

To those who say you can’t make money with AdSense, I think the majority of them probably tried it for a month or two and didn’t see $10,000 come in so they gave up. The thing is that you need to put in some time and effort to make money online and it won’t happen overnight. If you want to make money and you are passionate about what you are doing you will be successful with anything.

FW: That’s great advice: be passionate about what you’re doing and don’t give up! It takes time to be successful. And congrats on grossing $110,000 selling just two AdSense sites on Flippa! Do you have any plans to get into flipping AdSense sites on a regular basis – as in building AdSense websites solely with the intent of selling them once they start making money?

I sold this site on Flippa that I built exclusively for flipping. The site wasn’t making any money really.

FW: What advice can you give someone who might be looking to buy AdSense sites on Flippa?

Yes, buy a site like the one I sold above. It was a unique design and original content. Don’t buy any site that is a cookie cutter type site because you won’t make any money on them.

FW: You recently launched an ebook called the AdSense Report. I imagine it has been a huge success given that you have proven that your system works with your successful AdSense sites you’ve sold on Flippa.

Yes, I released the guide back in March and will be releasing version 2 soon. The funny thing is that I had no intention to write a guide but people kept asking me to. After a month or two of giving it some thought the AdSense Report was released.

FW: As a guy who knows nothing about AdSense, I had to buy it myself after I saw how successful your AdSense sites were. If I can be honest with you, I was shocked at how short it was. I was expecting your typical 100+ page ebook as so many of these “how to make money” ebooks are but your report is rather short. This is a report with absolutely no fluff. It gets right down to the point in terms of what you need to do to build successful AdSense sites. For my readers, tell me what sorts of things they’ll learn about in this report and who this report is geared towards – and what makes it different from other “make money with AdSense” products out there?

Things in the AdSense Report include the “10 Things You Must Do To Make Money With AdSense”, as well as how to layout your ads to get a 20%+ CTR and a step-by-step worksheet. The report is no fluff so you will need to know certain things like FTP, web hosting and the like. I didn’t get into this stuff much because I didn’t want to waste peoples time. Time is valuable and I didn’t think it was needed. With that being said in my next version I might include some of these things for the less experienced AdSense person.

My report is different because I can backup what I am preaching. Take a look at some of the other guides out there and see if they are actually making money or just regurgitating other people’s success stories.

FW: Speaking of success, in the report you mention that you make $150,000 per year with AdSense. How many sites does it take to make money online with AdSense alone?

Well I’m actually making more than that now but I have one site that makes this amount yearly.

FW: Holy cow! Let me just pick myself off the floor right now and get back on my seat…lol. That’s crazy! Let’s try this on for size…let’s say I set a modest goal of making $5,000/month with just AdSense sites – or in your case just one AdSense site. How long would it take to meet that goal?

This completely depends on the niche and how fast someone can get their site ranked for their target terms. It’s almost impossible to give specifics but if you chose the right niche and did the right SEO you could get there within a year for sure. The sad part is that most people will give up before this time.

FW: I’m starting to sense a theme here – patience and hard work are the keys to success. So what are the most important things to know when trying to make money with AdSense? Is it picking niches, selecting the right keywords, what is it?

Niches like divorce and law. Next would be traffic and lastly it would be ad placement. Almost in that exact order.

FW: Realistically, how long does it take to get one AdSense site up and running and generating SOME revenue?

If you follow the step-by-step process in my AdSense Report you can be making money within 3 months. After that if you choose the right niche and follow the plan you can be making very good money within 6-12 months.

FW: One of the things you recommend in your report is to build HTML websites versus blogs. Has you stance on this changed?

I have been testing blogs more and more with some very good results. In version 2 of my AdSense Report, which is coming out soon, I will explain this in more detail. I do feel that there is one very specific route you can go with WordPress blogs to make just as much money as you can with HTML sites.

FW: Walk me through the process of how you determine what niches you’ll build AdSense sites around. For example, do you go as far as using the Google AdWords tool to check the estimated bids on various keywords or is your process much simpler than that?

I do use the Google AdWords keyword tool to see exact and broad traffic, but basically I follow the money. There is more money in say the “mortgage refinance” niche than there is in the “bird house” niche. I don’t choose niches that don’t relate or equal money.

FW: Are your sites AdSense only or do you monetize with other methods such as affiliate income?

I use other monetization methods as well. My AdSense sites run mostly just AdSense but with that being said it is never good to put all your eggs in one basket. If you only run AdSense I would suggest having an alternative ready to go.

FW: I could go on forever with this interview but I better wrap this up. Aside from buying your AdSense Report, where can people learn more from you?

I write weekly posts on my blog about AdSense, SEO, my everyday life and the freedoms I have from making money online. If you visit my blog, CaryBergeron.com, you can also sign up for my newsletter which includes AdSense tips, SEO advice and tools I find very useful.

Read The AdSense Report Review

02 June, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (35)

6 Methods to Enhance Profitability for Flipping Startup Websites

Startup websites have saturated the website flipping market, and as a result, they aren’t as profitable as they used to be. Flipping startup websites isn’t a thing of the past, however. You just have to put a little more work into each site before you sell. You need to add more value to startups to enhance profitability when you flip them. Here are six things you can do to achieve that goal:

1. Create Quality and Exceptional Content

Strive for at least ten exceptional articles before you flip the website. Don’t utilize PLR articles, or be enticed by syndicated articles from sources such as Ezine Articles. Write fresh articles, or at the very least rewrite PLR articles so that they are 60-70% unique. The more you focus on content quality, the more chances you have at selling your website.

2. Create a Graphically Appealing Website

Not only is content important, but a professional looking website is equally important and if done right will grab the attention of the buyer. Because flipping startup websites is so competitive, avoid a cookie-cutter template and create a custom one instead. The goal is to create a unique template with a graphically pleasing logo and header. If the website is a blog, adding corresponding images will also help the website “pop” and enhance the sites overall look and feel.

3. Get Some Backlinks

A few backlinks on your startup website will add great value. For example, social bookmarking and comments on do-follow blogs are smart ideas. In addition, submit unique articles to popular article directories on the web. If you want your startup website to standout, then backlinks will definitely create a valuable website and more money for you.

4. Create a Mailing List

You can create an online course or free report utilizing PLR articles. Offer the report or course for free if they sign up. From this, you can create a mailing list to set your startups apart from your competition. Even if your list only has a handful of people it will help as most startup websites don’t offer mailing lists.

5. Generate Some Revenue

Work on getting some revenue regardless of the amount before listing your website for sale. Aim to generate an affiliate sale or two or even a few dollars from AdSense. A startup website that already has revenue prior to a sale has a huge advantage over most startup websites as most aren’t producing income.

6. Build Your Website on an Aged Domain

Kenny Goodman, the domain expert and owner behind DomainFace, recently said in his interview with Flippa, “Choosing a domain name is one of the most important tasks when building a website…” He further stated, “…it can make the difference between selling a website for $150 and selling it for $1,500.” Buying an aged domain may cost a little more than registering a brand new one, but the benefits greatly out weigh the additional expenses. You can find several aged domains in any niche for under $100. Wouldn’t you be willing to spend the extra money if it meant making $1,500 vs. $150 on your flip?

Staying ahead of the competition is the key to maximizing your profits when selling startup websites. By implementing these methods prior to flipping your startups you’ll not only stay a step ahead of your competition but you’ll blow it away!

19 May, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (8)

Studying Past Website Sales Is The Key To Your Flipping Success

“History teaches everything including the future,” wrote Alphonse de Lamartine in the 19th century.

Well I have no idea who Lamartine was or the context in which he made that quote so famous, but nothing could be truer. If you study history, you can learn from it to help you have a better, more successful future. And this holds true even when flipping websites.

Whether you are buying or building websites from scratch to flip, it’s important to study past website sales. By studying websites that have sold, you will learn what to do to have similar success. To that end, I have launched a new section on this website that provides historical data on past website sales.

Let me show you how this historical data can be so helpful for website flipping…

I will be compiling the “most actives” and the “top sellers” for each month as these are the most important historical metrics to know. The most actives show those websites with the most bids. Essentially, it will tell you what types of websites are in demand. This information is particularly useful for short-term flippers as they will be able to determine what types of sites to develop to meet the demand.

The top sellers obviously show those websites that have sold for the most money. While this information can certainly be interesting by itself, especially when a website sells for $250,000 like ReTweet.com did, what you can learn from these website sales is what is truly interesting. These sales provide a wealth of information not only for website flippers but for Internet Marketers as well. The top sellers are blueprints of success!

To read these “blueprints,” you’ll have to reverse engineer the sales, which is incredibly easy to do given how I’ve laid everything out in the individual past website sales pages. For starters, the tables will show you when the websites were established, the number of unique visitors they got, and most importantly, how much revenue they generated. You’ll also see brief notes as to what niche the websites were in and how they were monetized.

Then you can click through to the actual auction listings to learn more about the websites. You’ll discover specifically how the websites were monetized and what sorts of things the previous owners did to promote them. To gain more insight, you should visit the websites themselves to see how they are designed, organized, and generally structured. All of this information will be helpful in learning how to either improve an existing website or how to build one successfully from scratch.

Finally, if you are improving an existing website or building one that is in the same niche as a website listed as a top seller, you’ll want to check the backlinks to the website. By doing this, you’ll be able to determine how many backlinks to get – and where to get them from – so that your website can have as much success as the top seller.

Learn from history and let the past website sales guide you to future website flipping success!

12 May, 2010 Posted by:
Travis Van Slooten Filed under: Building Websites Comments (4)

13 Quick and Easy Ways on How To Find a Niche

No matter what kind of site flipper you are, you need to know how to find a niche that is popular to know what sites to buy or build for maximum profit down the road. There are two kinds of site flippers: short-term flippers and long-term flippers. A short-term flipper is someone who builds (or buys) websites that they’re going to flip relatively quickly – most likely within a year but often times within a few months. A long-term flipper is someone who builds or buys a website with the intent of hanging on to it for at least a year. Depending on what kind of flipper you are will depend on what kind of niche research you conduct.

How To Find a Niche for Short-Term Flippers

1. Flippa.com
If you’re looking to turn a site around relatively quickly, then you need to know what is selling now! The best place to find out is to head to Flippa.com. Specifically, you want to browse through the “Just Sold” section of the website. This should be obvious, but what you are seeing are websites that have actually sold. If you browse through them, you’ll be able to see which niches are most popular. These are the niches you either need to build or buy websites around.

Conversely, if you want to know what niches to avoid, then browse through the Ended Unsold section. Now you need to be careful when looking through these listings because many times a site won’t sell because the seller doesn’t know what they’re doing (i.e. pricing it too high, not highlighting what makes their site valuable, etc.) or the site itself is just a train wreck. Still though, you will be able to spot trends as to which niches aren’t so hot.

2. WarriorForum.com
The Warrior Forum is another decent place on how to find a niche that may be worth pursuing. You’ll want to browse the complete websites for sale section of the forum. This site is a little harder to quickly get an idea of what’s selling given the forum format. There aren’t a lot of websites for sale here compared to Flippa so it’s easy to check out each post to find out what level of interest there is in the niche.

How To Find a Niche for Long-Term Flippers

3. Amazon.com
Amazon is the cat’s meow when it comes to finding hot and popular niches to build or buy websites around. As the largest ecommerce retailer in the world, you will be able to quickly and easily spot the best niches to pursue. First you want to visit the Amazon Best Sellers. And once you are there, you can browse the best sellers by category – enough said. Don’t ignore the Hot Sellers, Most Wished for, and Most Gifted sections either. All of these are indicators of what niches are popular.

4. eBay Pulse
This is another old stand-by for niche research. You’ll see the most popular searches for all of eBay but then you can drill down by category. Not only will you discover popular niches, but you will find some great keywords as well;)

5. eBay Popular Products
This is often an over-looked area on eBay by site flippers and Internet Marketers in general but is one you definitely want to add to your list. You not only get the top products overall, but you also get at a glance the top products for each category. Then if you click to any of the categories, you get the top ten products for that category.

6. Buy.com
Buy.com’s most popular categories should be another site in your niche research arsenal. Buy.com is ranked as one of the largest ecommerce sites behind Amazon. If something is popular there, you can bet there is strong overall demand for it. At just a glance, you can see the most popular products in each category and subcategory.

7. Shopping.com
As one of the largest comparison shopping sites, these guys have the inside track on what’s hot. If you want to know how to find a niche quickly, this is your site! They have created a Consumer Demand Index which reveals emerging trends and “hidden gems” while of course highlighting what’s currently hot.

8. Magazines.com
This site has thousands of magazines you can subscribe to. The “gurus” will always advise you visit your local bookstore and browse the magazine rack for niche ideas but why bother when I can have instant access to thousands of magazines with just a few clicks – from the comfort of my own home no less! The idea here is if there is an entire magazine (or magazines) dedicated to a particular subject, you can bet there is demand – especially if the magazine is published monthly.

9. SmartBargains.com
This is another site that flies under the radar when it comes to niche research but it’s a good site to add to the mix. SmartBaragains.com is all about getting great bargains on home, fashion, and jewelry. Browse through all the categories and you can sort the products by best sellers to see what products are selling well.

10. OverStock.com
Like SmartBargains.com, OverStock.com is also about getting great deals on home, fashion, jewelry – and a lot more. Same thing here – browse through the categories and sort by top sellers to see what’s hot.

11. 43things.com
Now this site provides a much different niche research experience than any other I’ve mentioned so far. Here you’re not going to find information on what products are hot or selling well. Instead, you’re going to get into the minds of people to see what they want. It could be a relationship, a diamond ring, or a dog. At the time of this writing, the most popular things wished for were to make $100,000 per year and to stop binge eating (something I suffer from myself). These are two niches (make money online and dieting) that you could pursue. And what’s really slick is that binge-eating is a very targeted niche within dieting so a smart marketer could do very well with it!

12. PayPal Shops
Chances are, if you are reading this, you are all too familiar with PayPal. As Internet Marketers, it is a service we use every day but did you know it also provides an incredible niche research tool? Click on any of the Shops Categories and you’ll see all the ecommerce stores (ranked by volume) that use PayPal as one of their payment processors. This provides a wealth of information. You can not only see what types of products are selling the most, but you can also visit those stores and see what specific types of products they are selling. You can also study those stores to see how they are laid out to convert so well. After all, if they are making so many sales, they must know what they are doing.

13. ClickBank.com
No niche research would be complete without mentioning the ClickBank marketplace. If you are new to Internet Marketing, I can promise you just about any ebook or course you buy on how to make money online will mention ClickBank. It’s the largest marketplace of info products. If you are building or buying websites based on providing information – as in an ebook – then you need to familiarize yourself with ClickBank.

Here you can search info products by category and then sort them by popularity and gravity – the two recommended ways of sorting them by. Popularity tells you how popular it is to the general public (duh) and gravity tells you how many affiliates are making money promoting the product. The higher the gravity, the more affiliates are promoting the product and making money. In many cases, the most popular and highest gravity products will be the same. Obviously if more affiliate are promoting a given product, then it’s likely it will also be the most popular!

Do You Have Any Tips on How To Find a Niche?
Please Share Them In The Comments Below!