| The Internet is a huge place, covering every imaginable | | | | bowling lanes" etc... |
| topic from A to Z; but, with so much information | | | | There are some general rules of thumb for taking on |
| floating around it's increasingly difficult to find a | | | | the local beast: |
| profitable niche. Of course, finding your niche may be | | | | - Keep your information local. If you're building a |
| as simple as looking around the town in which you live. | | | | website around Chicago, don't start talking about New |
| I'm talking, of course, about finding your local niche, and | | | | York City. |
| exploiting it for profit. | | | | - Develop real content. Sure, you could easily strip a |
| Why should you bother with a local niche? Simply put: | | | | phone book of its information and just repost it to the |
| you're missing out on some serious money. Every day | | | | Internet, but then you wouldn't be any better than the |
| people enter search terms that aim for a specific area; | | | | thousands of other websites that do the exact same |
| for example: NYC dance clubs, Springfield dollar stores, | | | | thing. Offer reviews, support, community building, etc... |
| and Grand Rapids computer repair service. These | | | | - Attack long search terms. Someone might do a |
| search terms show a pattern: people looking for quality | | | | search on New York City, but you need to offer |
| information in their local area. | | | | information about a specific thing in New York City. |
| Since the Internet is so all-encompassing, it's almost | | | | Sure, you could say "New York City is a nice place to |
| impossible to find decent information about a specific | | | | visit, blah, blah, blah" but Travelocity already does that. |
| location. Just the other day I tried to find reviews of | | | | Instead, focus on specific areas, events, stores, etc ... |
| good Italian restaurants in my area, only to come up | | | | by targeting keywords such as "New York City Italian |
| with hundreds of websites that only offer a directory | | | | restaurant reviews." |
| listing. In this case I had searched for "Springfield Italian | | | | Take advantage of the local niche now, before the |
| restaurant reviews," but it could just as easily be | | | | competition heats up and you find yourself on the |
| "Memphis Italian restaurant reviews" or "Chicago | | | | outside looking in. |