How To Find A Micro Niche

As a trainer brainstorming has always been one of my favorite approaches to coming up with ideas! There’s something really powerful about being able to let go of all rules, doubts, and judgments and just allowing your mind to explore the possibilities. I find that it can be both freeing and empowering at the same time.

When it comes to brainstorming micro niches or even potential business ideas, there are a variety of approaches you can take. Which approach you take or prefer will largely depend on how comfortable you are with brainstorming and also how you prefer to organize your thoughts.

Remembering what we said earlier about what a Micro Niche is let's take a look at a few methods that you might want to consider:

Pencil and Paper

Yes the trusty pencil and paper still has a place in today's internet world!

Make sure to set some time aside for yourself when you are feeling relatively relaxed.  Then you just need to grab an empty notebook or some sheets of paper together with your favorite pen or pencil.  Then start writing down any ideas that occur to you. As a start point you might want to consider starting with topics that you are interested in.

Just write as the ideas come into your head.  At this stage don't start judging them for their profit potential or even for what you perceive as a potential interest from others. That will all come later because at this stage we are looking at potential micro niches.

Just write down what you like, what you know and what you’re good at. If you are good at making lasagna, then write it down, and follow through with the micro niches or long tail keywords that flow from it - so as an example how to make lasagane quickly for 4 people might come to mind!

Mind Mapping

I have used mind mapping in so many different ways ever since I had the good fortune to work with the Buzan Organization.

Mind mapping is a really powerful way to do brainstorming because once you have created your mind map you can add to it and change it as you start your niche research.

There are variety of free, and paid mind mapping software programs found online.  My personal favorite is the one for the iPad or iPod Touch which you can get when you Shop on iTunes

Alternatively you can simply use a piece of paper. In the center of the page on which you are going to create your mind map write down the words "Possible Niches" or something similar. Then for each new main or major niche idea create a new branch. You can then create smaller branches coming off the main branch for each main niche idea as you think of smaller niches and then your micro niches.

Spreadsheets

You might think that spreadsheets are not that suited to brainstorming because they are quite structured. However for some people they can provide organization to an otherwise unorganized process. Again, you can find free and paid programs online.

The first column of your spreadsheet might be the one you list your niches in then your second, third, fourth columns might be where you start to get down into the micro niches of your main niches.

Of course there aren't just three options when it comes to ways of finding micro niches and brainstorming is just one approach.  However, it is one I used extensively when I first got involved in online and niche marketing.

Just a reminder that when you are preparing to brainstorm do make sure that you are reasonably rexaled and comfortable.  That is going to help you to be even more creative. If you are stressed you are unlikely to be able to think outside the box. It's when you are really creative in your brainstorming, that the real potential shows up.