Self-Publishing

The Right Niche Can Make You Rich

Okay, so maybe you won’t get rich, but to really make money as a self-publisher you have to find a niche market and work it thoroughly. It just makes more sense to research and publish a series of products aimed toward the same audience, rather than something on home improvement today, something else on fly fishing tomorrow, and something on sport parachuting next week.

With a series of products aimed toward one area of interest, you can focus your research and marketing to produce and sell products to the same audience cover and over again, rather than starting from scratch with every project.

What is a niche market? Simply put, it is an area of interest that you are familiar with, or interested enough in to do the research to become familiar with, and that you can develop written products for and market to a wide enough audience to be profitable.

My primary niche market is recreational vehicle travelers. We serve them with our Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper www.gypsyjournal.net, with five books I have written for the RV crowd, eight booklets, and several CDs. I also present RV lifestyle seminars at RV rallies and shows, and at Life on Wheels RV conferences www.rvlifeonwheels.com. By developing a series of products aimed at this niche market, we can sell them in different formats (resembling the Publishing 4 Profit theory?), and we have developed an interested and willing audience who are ready to purchase other products we create to make their RV travels easier and more enjoyable. While there are many RV publications to choose from, our library of specialty titles goes beyond the typical newsstand fare to fill specific needs our readers have for finding free campgrounds, RV parks with WiFi internet access, and other information they will not find in mass market RV publications.

So what niche market will work for you? The perfect niche market will have an audience of potential customers who need the specialized information you can offer them, and who have the money to pay for it. The larger the potential audience the better, but even small niches can be developed into profitable marketing opportunities.

Are you interested in classic cars? If so you could produce Special Reports, booklets and books on restoring classic Mustangs, Thunderbirds, Corvettes, and GTOs. Much of the information will be applicable to any vintage automobile, but with research you can uncover restoration secrets that apply to specific models. How do you release that interior door panel on a 1969 Corvette without damaging it? How does one decipher the serial number code on an early Mustang to determine what drive train it came from the factory with? What options were available on which models year of early Firebirds? By creating a series of booklets for different models of cars that includes both general restoration tips and model-specific information, you can appeal to owners of many different cars.

Maybe you love dogs. If so, you could develop a series of booklets on housebreaking puppies, grooming, solving behavioral problems, training service dogs, showing dogs in competition. Again, you could tailor each booklet to a specific breed, or go with general interest publications that cover all breeds.

Over time you can take the wealth of information you have produced in your booklets and repackage it into a book, CD, or series of Special Reports. You may decide to publish a monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly magazine or tabloid for your niche market, which will produce income from subscriptions, advertising revenue, and serve as a vehicle to market your booklets and other products. You will certainly want to have a website dedicated to your niche market, in which you can advertise your products.

Anything and everything your potential niche audience wants to know is out there. You just have to do the research to find it for them. Once you produce and package your items, they will sell for years with proper marketing. Over time you will become the expert in your niche, and your readers will seek you out, as well as suggest other products that they need and you can produce.

So find your niche, explore it and learn what information your potential customers need, and then fill that need!

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