There’s a famous line in the movie Field of Dreams, which you no doubt know even if you haven’t seen it:
“If you build it, he will come.”
It's a great, iconic line. However, it should not be your motto when building your internet business. In fact, when it comes to building an online business, it’s pretty awful advice. And it’s a mistake I’ve seen many would-be Internet entrepreneurs make.

Build It and They Won’t Come… 

Some people, when first starting their online business, focus on creating a product, building their website, planning marketing campaigns, and setting up an online shopping cart/store.They have this great idea for a product. It’s a sure winner. So they develop a whole business around that product.

It sounds like these folks are covering all the bases for a thriving business. But the all-important first step is missing: figuring out if there’s a market for that product. Are there actual customers out there who want to buy it? That’s the first thing you must determine.
The reality is, in business, if you want to have the best chance of succeeding, rather than coming up with a great idea that nobody has come up with yet and hoping there is a market for; instead find out what people are already buying and create a service/product that fills that existing need.
The truth is, in most cases if something isn't being done already; it's not because nobody has thought of it before, but rather people have already tried it and it's failed because there is no market for it.
With that said, if you want to go where the sales are, you need to know the best-selling niches online and get in on that action.

You’ll discover your unique place in that overall niche, whether it’s with your own product or with someone else’s through affiliate marketing. 

These niches aren’t “trendy.” They’ve been best-sellers for a long time because they appeal to people’s deeply-held wants and desires. The products may change, but these are core niches that will never go away and will always be part of the human experience.In most cases, these categories have been around long before the internet and are popular offline in bricks and mortars stores as well. And that means they’ve got staying power. 

If you want to start a profitable online business with the best chances of succeeding out the gate; you can't go wrong entering a market that is already proven to be profitable.
These are the 10 most profitable niches on the Internet:

1. Fitness and Weight Loss

P90X, Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet… the list goes on. For centuries, people have been obsessed with losing weight and getting in shape.
Companies have been right there with them with products helping them do just that: supplements, diets, weight loss programs, exercise programs, and more. As a marketer, you can’t ever go wrong on this niche. Just about every demographic in every country in the world is into this.
Again, don't let the idea that this market is very crowded fool you into thinking you can't compete in it. Where there is a lot of competition there are plenty of profits to be made. Even if you only get a small piece of the pie; the market is so big you can build a six or seven figure business in this market.

2. Health

This is closely related to the fitness and weight loss market and there is some overlap, but it’s different enough to merit its own entry onto the top 10 list.People these days more than ever are taking their health into their own hands. They don’t automatically trust what the government or their doctor tells them about their health or what they should do to be healthy. You’ve seen products in this niche everywhere: gluten-free, herbal remedies, supplements, detoxing… healing arts and products of all types. Anything that will promote a healthy lifestyle that helps avoid disease and makes you live longer.
Alternative health is extremely popular here. We’re not talking about mainstream medicine. These are cures the pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know about after all.
The opportunities to profit here are endless: books, supplements, information products, physical products, coaching, etc.

3. Dating and Relationships

Whether someone is looking for love… is into online dating… or is in a relationship but struggling and looking for a way to rekindle the passion, a whole range of products in the dating and relationships niche are there to help.

People always need advice when it comes to this area — one of the essential elements in life but so difficult to navigate.

Possible businesses here include promoting dating websites, many of which offer commissions to marketers who send them new sign-ups. You could also promote “pick up” guides, books on building stronger relationships and communication, and more.
Dating and relationships, whether for single people are couples will always be a huge market full of profit potential.

4. Pets

People love their pets. There are estimated 180 million dogs and cats in the U.S. alone. That’s not even mentioning all the snakes, guinea pigs, parrots, and other more exotic creatures people keep as companions. And if you’ve been to a pet store lately, you know that pet owners will spare no expense and will buy just about anything pet-relate. Gourmet dog food, pet toys, healthy treats, Heck, I’ve even seen dog strollers and cat leashes. Maybe a bit silly, but there you go.
Dog training is also a huge market. When people get a puppy, they want to potty train the dog. For older dogs, people also want to train them for obedience, security, even to do tricks. If you have a passion for pet training you could create your own information products - like ebooks. Or you could simply sell books and courses of others as an affiliate.
The reality is many people treat their pets and spend more on their pets than they do on themselves; I've seen dogs that eat better than I do!

5. Self-Improvement 

Also known as self-help, this is a huge niche online. There are courses and programs, books, videos, online training, coaching. Whether someone wants to build self-esteem, experience career success, increase their confidence, set and achieve goals, overcome adversity or obstacles… there is a self-improvement product out there.
You’ve heard of Tony Robbins. Same sort of deal. It’s a $10 billion a year industry, and always growing. People want to feel happy, satisfied with life, and stress-free. And they almost never buy just one book or program, which lends this market well to repeat purchases and higher-ticket programs.
Again, you don't have to be a big name like Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, or have a big brand like The Secret. A small piece of this big market can provide for a very successful online business.

6. Wealth Building Through Investing

Let’s face it, people want to make money. And they know that stocks, bonds, options, forex (currency trading), futures, and other investment products are a way to do that. They’ve seen the news and all those hedge fund billionaires and super-successful investors cashing in. They want to get in on the action.
Unfortunately, most people don’t really know what they’re doing. So they have to educate themselves. They need advice on which investments to make. That’s where a variety of products related to investing come in. Trading services, financial newsletters, trading systems… all different ways that show people how to invest successfully - whether it's basic budgeting and investing advice or advanced day trading strategies and speculative penny stock recommendations.
Whether the market is going up, down, or sideways… whether it’s a recession, depression, or boom time… bull or bear market… investment products do well. Because people always want to make money in the markets and you do so no matter how the economy is doing.

7. Make Money on the Internet

This is a way you can share your expertise about making money on the internet. You could create your own information products, courses, ebooks, or coaching programs. And if there are any programs or courses from other big-time marketers that have been extra helpful… you can promote those too as an affiliate. You could be part of the next big launch campaign.
You could also get into network marketing (no, not all these “multilevel” marketing companies are scams). Some are actually valid ways to make money if you do it right.
Even if you're building an online business in any of these other niches, you can teach others the strategies and tactics you've used online to build your own business, creating another side business of your own teach internet marketing.

8. Beauty Treatments

Having smoother tighter skin, being more radiant, erasing wrinkles. Looking younger and more attractive is a goal of many people. So any sort of creams, formulas, or similar products that promise to eliminate or reduce the signs of aging are very popular.
Anti-aging cosmetic treatments, skincare products, and more are a huge business. Industry watchers say it will grow to nearly $200 billion in sales annually by 2019.
With more and more baby boomers aging and looking to reverse the signs of aging this is potentially one of the largest markets on our top 10 list of profitable niches.

9. Gadgets and Technology

Whether it’s a tablet or smartphone, computer speakers, mp3 players, smart devices for the home, thumb drives, cellphone cases, earphones… people are in love with gadgets and accessories. Everybody wants the latest technology (can anyone say new iPhone). And you can capitalize on that in a few ways.
The easiest would be to sell the products as an affiliate through an e-tailer like Amazon. Or you could import products through a site like Alibaba.com or Aliexpress.com, which link you to manufacturers and wholesalers abroad.
Once you have the products sorted out, you have to focus on marketing. One approach is to make money blogging where you highlight all the latest tech and products coming on the market. You could also have a review site in which you offer reviews on several different products in a category. Every product has a link to buy (with your affiliate link), of course.
You could also create your own tutorials, information products, and such as well.

10. Personal Finance

Credit scores, mortgage refinancing, debt relief, personal loans… there is a shortage of needs when it comes to the personal finance niche. People need help managing their money or securing money they need for important expenses.
Maybe they’re in debt and need help paying it down or getting a lower interest rate. Perhaps they’re facing bankruptcy and need help navigating that process. In severe cases maybe they’ve gotten that dreaded letter from the IRS saying they owe back taxes.
In any case, you won’t be offering legal help. But you can connect your prospects with expert providers, promote information products as an affiliate, or offer products like credit monitoring as an affiliate. This is a huge niche with a lot of opportunities.
You can also create e-learning and education products to help people navigate these issues and improve their financial situation.

How to Get Started Making Money Online With Niche Marketing

1. Go through the list of top 10 best-selling niches. Figure out what piques your interest the most or what meshes with your product idea.
2. Explore affiliate networks like Clickbank.com, CJ Affiliate or Amazon for products in those niches. Note the best-selling products in the best-selling niches.
3. Check out other online businesses in that niche to see what they’re doing to promote their products, like email marketing, marketing funnels, social media, etc.
4. Model your new business on the “winners” you spot out there. Remember that affiliate marketing is a great way to get started with low risk. You could also develop your own products as you grow your business online.

Going for It

Focusing your efforts on building a business in an already-popular niche is a great way to get your online venture off the ground. There’s no guesswork here. You know these are products people want… and they’re based on innate human desires and needs that are never going away.
You’ll have a huge head-start in your market research and that means you can be making money online sooner than you thought possible. Whether you sell as an affiliate or create your own products, you’re sure to have the makings of a profitable online business.

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is a well-established form of online marketing that aims to drive targeted user traffic to a buyer's websites. In short, an advertiser pays a website publisher a specific fee for each legitimate visitor click that redirects to the advertiser's predetermined destination. Google Adwords is the best known PPC program employing a “display” advertising formula today, but other search engine companies and affiliate networks also offer attractive PPC plans for merchants, entrepreneurs and start-ups looking to gain exposure or simply earn some money.

PPC is a good way to measure the effectiveness of Internet marketing for your products and services, because clicks are an indisputable metric for performance evaluation. If the publisher produces valuable, relevant content, chances are that a reader will notice your link or banner and be motivated to click. Otherwise, it is probably time to try other publishers or a new marketing strategy.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising Basics

The basic PPC formula is:
Pay-per-click ($) = Total Advertising Cost ($) ÷ Number of Ads clicked.
For example, if you had a $100 budget for a specific campaign and were able to get fifty (50) visits to your website via publisher site clicks, the average cost per click would be two dollars. Obviously the more clicks you generate for a set campaign cost, the lower your PPC rate becomes.

Click Through Rate

Another interesting metric for marketers is the click through rate (CTR), which is defined as the number of clicks made on your ad (click-throughs), divided by the total number of impressions (number of occasions that your ad is shown on a publisher's website):

Click-through rate (%) = (Number of Click-throughs/Total Number of Impressions) * 100%

Typical PPC campaigns achieve a click-through rate of between one and four percent, although actual performance varies depending on what niche market you are in, actual products/services sold, and many other factors.CTR merits more detailed discussion, as does the concept of revenue per click, which for most business people is the gold standard (bottom line) for online advertising effectiveness.

Measuring PPC Advertising Performance

How valuable is a click that comes to you from an indirect source? This all depends on the type of person your ads are attracting, and your PPC  objectives, such as:

• What will you gain from each visit? A new opt-in for a newsletter, a 'Like' or 'share', a lead, or an actual sale?
• Are your short-term and long-term goals for this PPC ad campaign being met?

As for general prospects, your choice of keywords and/or the quality of ad placement by affiliate networks should follow from precise targeting criteria:

• What is my ideal “clicker” interested in?
• Are you more sales motivated, or do you want to grow a “fan” base?
• Do you want clicks from people from a specific region (geo-targeting)?
• When to you want clicks to come in (day, time)?

Common Pay-Per-Click Advertising Models

There are two (2) dominant models of PPC today. Flat rate pay-per click implies that the advertiser and the web publisher agree to a fixed amount that will be paid for each click. Publishers often have a rate card, which allows for different rates for different parts of the website based on content attractiveness or other criteria.

The second option, bid-based pay per click, is most closely associated with Google Adwords, Microsoft AdCenter (Bing), and other search engine companies. These networks run real-time auctions that determine the cost of ad clicks generated by keyword searches.
Conclusion
Pay-per-click advertising can help your company grow its customer base, increase your marketing reach to previously inaccessible audiences, and from a web publisher's perspective, be an important source of revenue. In order to exploit this opportunity, seek out and research the various PPC options currently available and test them out to see what works best.

In today's competitive, information-based economy, Internet marketers must increasingly think "outside the box" to stand out. Therefore, as you seek to establish your online presence, do not underestimate the power of photo marketing, i.e. the use of images, graphics and other visual elements to further your marketing goals.

Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, you have the potential to use photo marketing to enhance your profile.In a matter of moments, you can capture photos, add appropriate filtering messages, and make these images go viral by sharing them on your favorite global platforms.

Why should you embrace photo marketing for business and social media marketing purposes? Here are five ways to drive traffic to increase sales by adding more visual elements to your marketing.

1. Stand Out on Social Media

While text-based communication (such as email marketing) is often ignored in an “information overloaded” world, photos strike an immediate and powerful chord with people. All it takes is a quick glance from a follower to trigger comments, likes and additional shares with their followers.
Using photos to gain followers and grow brand recognition has worked remarkably well for celebrities, be they entertainers, athletes or politicians. However, you don't have to be a celebrity to implement photo marketing strategies.

It is often the key to better social engagement.

2. Tap Into an Existing Audience on Social Media
Today, there are well over two billion camera phones in circulation worldwide. This has accelerated the growth of image content and fueled the emergence of photo-centric social networks: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and many others.The popularity of these networks underlies the reasons to get in on the act by following a simple formula: find, create, upload, share and engage.
3. Improve Search Engine Optimization with Images
A majority of website visitors prefer to contact businesses that show up with a meaningful, high-quality image during local searches. The reasons are simple:

• Images grab your attention and give the business more credibility.
• Photos of your business and to lesser extent business logos are powerful stimuli.
• Images motivate you to contact them about their products and services.

Images also give you another opportunity to get ranked with and found in the search engines.

4. Increase Article (and Other Content) Views

There is a good correlation between photo marketing and article marketing, i.e. the use of articles to drive traffic to your blog, websites etc. for specific purposes. Using images in articles is useful in many niches, but not surprisingly, some niches will benefit more than others.
Some popular areas for combining photos with article marketing include:

• News and Current Events.
• Political Events.
• Sports and Entertainment.
• Food-related niche blogs (e.g. cooking, restaurants, nutrition, etc.)

Of course, you really can use photos no matter what market you are in, as long as it's relevant to the content you are using it with.Tip: Make sure your photos are relevant to the article and use search-optimized keywords for captioning.

5. Use Images for E-commerce Marketing

When it comes to e-commerce, pictures are indeed worth a thousand words. Websites like Amazon.com and eBay owe a large part of their phenomenal success to visuals that pull in prospects and buyers across the business spectrum.
In most retail surveys, consumers claim that they are more influenced by images (and image quality) than other factors like ratings and reviews, specific product information and detailed descriptions.  Apparently, photos on e-commerce sites make the best first impressions.
Photo marketing is at the vanguard of what business insiders have dubbed a “Visual  Content Culture”. If you are a “bricks and mortar” business owner looking to establish an online presence for the first time, photo marketing is for you.

If you are opening an online store, then consider high-definition HD images to draw in more attention and sales. Overall, to get better response rates, add photos to complement your current text and links updates. They work!

Free Places to Promote Your Website Online

Foursquare
Foursquare is a location-based social media site for mobile devices that allows users to find great places to go with their friends.
Friendster
With more than 95 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network. Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them.

Blogger
Blogger is a free blog publishing tool from Google that lets you quickly and easily share your thoughts with the world.

Facebook
Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Goodreads
Goodreads is a site that allows users to search user-populated books, reviews, and annotations. Users can make their own book suggestion and discussion groups.

Google+
Google+ (Google Plus) is a social media site that lets you connect with others who have similar interests and enables you to post and share content with others.


Instagram
Instagram is a mobile application that allows you to share pictures with your followers who can “like” and comment on your posts. Instagram also allows you to share those posts on Facebook and Twitter.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an interconnected network of more than 36 million experienced professionals from around the world. The site can help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return.

hi5
Hi5 is a social networking Web site where users create an online profile to share pictures, updates and interests with friends.

BuzzNet
BuzzNet is a social media network for sharing photos, journals, and videos. BuzzNet allows you to share content based on your personal interests.

Reddit
Reddit is a source for what's new and popular on the Web — personalized for you. Your votes train a filter, so let Reddit know what you liked and disliked, because you'll begin to see recommended links filtered to your tastes. All of the content on reddit is submitted and voted on by users like you.

Snapchat
Snapchat is a mobile application that allows you to send photos and videos with captions and filters to friends. Once the viewer sees the picture or video it will disappear.

StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is a free service that helps you discover and share websites with others who have similar interests. The more you use StumbleUpon, the more likely it is that you will "Stumble" across pages you like.

Metafilter
Metafilter is a Weblog that anyone can contribute a link or a comment to. Metafilter breaks down the barriers between people, to extend a Weblog beyond just one person, and to foster discussion among its members.

Mixx
At Mixx, all of the content is user-generated. Mixx makes it easy for people to submit stories, photos, videos — whatever you find interesting, informative, different or fun. You can also see and vote on the stuff that other Mixxers submit.

MySpace
MySpace is an online community that lets you find the latest on music news, videos, and albums. Users can also listen to radio stations based on a specific artist or genre, or create mixes and playlists.

Netlog
Netlog is an online platform where users can keep in touch with and extend their social network. It is an online social portal, specifically targeted at European youth. On Netlog, you can create your own Web page with a blog, pictures, videos, events and much more to share with your friends.

Newsvine
At Newsvine, you can read stories from established media organizations as well as individual contributors from all around the world. Placement of stories is determined by a multitude of factors including freshness, popularity and reputation. Contribution is open to all, and editorial judgment is in the hands of the community.

Path
Path is a mobile application that allows users to share music, movies, trips, photos, and more. Path also allows users to send private messages to other users.

Pinterest
Pinterest is a social media site that is displayed in a vision board-styled photo sharing platform. You can search for different categories and save pictures to your own “board” as later reference, or share them on other social media sites like Twitter or Facebook.

Stylehive
Stylehive.com is an online style club for people who live for fashion, design and shopping. It's where you meet your style muses and follow them as they discover and share their latest finds.

Tagged
Tagged.com is a social-networking destination with over 70 million registered users and over 2.5 billion page-views per month. Tagged helps people keep in touch with their friends and make new ones. The site provides a fun media experience featuring expressive custom profiles, fluid widget embedding, integrated video, chat and more.

Twitter
Twitter is a real-time short messaging service (SMS) that works over multiple networks and devices. In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens — from breaking world news to updates from friends.

Vine
Vine is a social media platform that allows you to film and share seven second videos that can be integrated with Facebook and Twitter. Vine is can be used as a mobile application or on your computer.

We Heart It
We Heart It is a social network site that lets users save and share daily inspiration and photos .

Wordpress
WordPress is a blog publishing system with a rich set of features.

Yammer
Yammer is a private social network that helps with internal communication within companies. Yammer lets employees communicate with each other across departments, locations, and business apps.

YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website that hoses user-generated videos. YouTube can be integrated with and shared amongst a variety of different social media sites including Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and many more

 

If you have a website, a blog or any other kind of presence on the Internet, then Google has money to give you. It's called Google Adsense, and it's a program that literally makes everyone a winner.

Advertisers get new clients or sales through the Adwords program. Google gets money to serve those ads. And you get money when people click on them. How do you spell cha-ching?

Google Adsense: The Basics

Using Internet search technology, Google will serve ads on web pages that are based on the specific content of that web page.For instance, if someone is on a webpage that's covering the latest golf tournament, Google will serve ads for golf clubs or golfing attire. If you own that site, you get paid every time someone clicks on that ad. Not too shabby. This is usually called CPC (Cost Per Click) advertising.

The Major Benefits of Google Ads

You may not even notice banner ads anymore. As an Internet-savvy society, we have learned to filter them out. There is also banner filtering software available because banner ads can be very annoying, and that could harm your website readership. But Google Adsense is different:

• Google Ads are less intrusive, so they don't annoy people
• The content is RELATIVE, and therefore has more impact
• People trust Google Ads because people trust Google
• The payment model is generous and reliable
• It's possible to make a healthy living from Google Ads

That last point is paramount. How do you make a living from Google Ads?

Well, with the right combination of traffic, content, and users, you can make thousands of dollars every single month.

Making Google Adsense Income

Let's be clear. You cannot expect to throw Google Ads onto your site, sit back, relax, and watch the money roll in. It doesn't work that way. Like anything in business, it takes an investment of your time to get a return that you can bank on.To understand the logistics of making money, you need to know the basic way Adsense works.

How it Works

Let's say you currently have a blog or website that gets 100,000 visitors every single month. That's over 1 million every year. Sounds like something that could make you money, right? Well, think of this:

1. You have 100,000 ad impressions (views)
2. You have a CTR (click through rate) of 1%, which is standard
3. 1% of 100,000 = 1000
4. If the CPC (cost per click) of the ad is $0.01, you make $10
5. If the CPC (cost per click) of the ad is $1.00, you make $1000

There's a big difference between the two, and obviously, most ads do not pay out at the $1/click rate. The more obvious and widespread the keyword of the ad (which is what triggers the ad itself), the lower the CPC. And that is info you can use.

What You Can Do To Maximise Adsense Income

Whether you want to make money off the blog or website you already have, or you want to create a blog with the sole purpose of making Adsense money, there are several ways you can increase your revenue:

• Use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) writing to maximize the keywords in your content.
• Write more. The more you write about your subject, the more keywords you have for Google to search and feed ads to.

• Write often. More content is everything, and the fresher the better.
• Post useful, accurate content. When you post garbage filled with keywords it is difficult to read and doesn't bring people back. You want your site to be sticky, so that it generates traffic.
• Find a niche. Talking about football is all well and good, but thousands of people are doing it. But movie soundtrack collections, that's another story.
• Don't create too much bad traffic. It's easier than you'd think to create a lot of traffic, but if it's not qualified, which means there to read your content, then it will be a flash in the pan. It also affects your CTR.
• Make use of Google Analytics. Google gives you the tools, for free, to make a profit.
• Think differently. Don't just write the same old boring content that everyone else is. Have a new take on Mad Men? Got a better angle on knitting? PlentyofFish.com, earns over $300,000 every month! But it's not just given away. You have to earn it. Now go, be successful.
   

Tackling the Issue of Competitor Ads

One of the biggest issues you will face when you start running ads on your site is the competition. Depending on the kind of site you run, you could find that ads start being served that are in direct competition with what you are selling, or offering. For example, if you have a site dedicated to drop shipping a certain product, perhaps Disney toys or snowglobes, you could suddenly see ads for those products directing your visitors away from your site. This is not good for business.
Can anything be done about this? Well, yes. Google anticipated this very issue, and therefore allows you to block content from up to 200 different URLs. However, it's a little tricky to know who to block until you start seeing those ads show up. Even worse, you may never see those ads, due to the way Adsense serves up the content.
Also, as an Adsense user, you cannot click on these links directly to see where the ads are being directed to. It's a clear violation of the rules of using Adsense, but you can right click on the ad, if you're lucky enough to see it, and discover the link/URL to block. Again, this is all going to depend on a little luck.
Perhaps the best way to create a list is to search Google for the kinds of products or services you are selling, and note the top 50 different URLs that come up. That's a good way to block ad traffic from sites that are clearly in competition with you.