Niche Research: A Few More Weeks in the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Academy

I’ve been a little absent from my site for a few weeks and I’m sorry about that! It’s been hectic trying to stay inside my box working on a new product through the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Academy, and Meag and I also took a mini vacation to New York. I’ll write about the latter soon, but — for now — I wanted to fill you in on my progress in the AJCA.

As you recall, I learned a lot early on from the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Academy. Productivity hacks, staying “in the box,” and different ways of looking at niche research for a product. Currently, my box is niche research and I’ve honestly been struggling a bit with it for the past couple weeks. I went into this (as well as everything else I’ve worked on so far) with a music and/or guitar product as my fall-back plan. I’m also super interested, however, in getting into an MMO (Make Money Online) niche, and have been trying to research that, as well.

Where I’ve been struggling the most with this is really just making a decision. After the group call last Thursday and a private call with Lloyd the Client Support Officer (what a title!) yesterday morning, I know that I really just need some clarity and the confidence that my decision will be good. Here are a couple things that have been said to me that really stuck:

1. Even bad choices have earned lots of money before.
2. When it comes to passion vs. profit, profit is usually a good choice.
3. Choosing something that you’re passionate about and also an expert in is probably a really good decision.
4. This is only the first product.

Let’s break a couple of these down a little bit.

1. Even bad choices have earned lots of money before.

When I was told this, it was extremely eye-opening. I think it is something I’ve known, but haven’t really been living or believing. It’s not to say that “bad” actually means something bad, it’s more about it being the “wrong” decision, niche, or product. By “wrong,” it means that maybe it just wasn’t the “perfect” choice. Maybe it was something that you ended up not staying passionate about forever, or maybe it was a niche that was hugely popular and you made some good money in it, but it died shortly after. I’m not completely sure how to explain this without it sounding like it’s all a hustle, but it makes sense to me and in this world. I’m reminded of something that my other coach, Ken Spano, says, which is that it’s all about taking imperfect action — you’re never going to get anything done if you try to be perfect every time. To me, and in this respect, it’s just about choosing something and getting it done. It may not be what you do forever. Actually, it most likely won’t be what you do forever because your business, just like you and your life, is a living, growing, evolving entity.

2. Passion vs. profit and 3. Choosing passion and expert status over profit.

These are slightly contradictory, but I’ll break it down to where I’m understanding and living with these. Choosing profit over passion, on the surface, doesn’t seem like the noble thing to do. The way I’m looking at it, though, is more like if you’ve got two things staring at you, all other things besides profitability being equal, picking the one that is going to make you more money is better. You see, while I will always strive to provide value in anything I do, I am still here to make a living. So, it’s not to say that I would choose a niche just because of the money, but I would choose a niche that was going to make me money and I was pretty interested in over one that I was really interested in but wasn’t going to make me a dime. No matter what, I’m choosing something I’m interested in … one will just help provide a better life for myself and my family.

Now, on the other hand, if it comes down to choosing between two profitable niches where you’re already an expert in and super passionate about one but the other you’d have to learn about, you should choose the one you’re already an expert in.

And this is where I’ve been struggling…

As I mentioned, I’m interested in the “learn to play guitar” niche and the MMO niche (probably something with affiliate sites or blogging). Both of these niches are profitable … one of them I’m an expert in. On paper, I should choose the one that I’m already an expert in. My issue and hesitation, however, is that while the guitar niche is profitable, the MMO niche is extremely profitable. I feel this pulling back and forth and it’s been hard to shake.

In addition, while the guitar niche is most certainly profitable, the MMO niche (at least from my view so far) has much more reach in terms of affiliates and possible promoters. As I look at it now, I’ll have to dig deep to find people to help promote for a guitar product.

I believe, deep down, that I’ll be choosing the guitar niche for this first product. It is, after all, just my first product and I’ll be able to add more products later, whether they’re guitar related or MMO or something completely different. I really want to get into the MMO niche, but I don’t think I’m quite ready yet to build and produce a product. Yes, I can interview people and research a bunch, but I feel like I still have so much more to learn.

What I’m thinking is that I’ll build this first product using my expertise, learn from everything I’m doing when it comes to product creation, sales letters, and promotion, and then take what I learn to segue into another (probably MMO) niche. I know I’ll learn a great deal doing this, so hopefully I’ll be able to package that up and teach people how to do similar things once I’ve figured it out.

Thanks for reading my ramblings while I come to a decision … I think I just needed to talk it out.