Page 138 - 597 Business Ideas You can Start from Home - doing what you LOVE! (Beginner Internet Marketing Series)

1 30 Your Idea, I nc.

niche marketing is almost the opposite. Niche marketing is what
you will focus on if you have a specialty item that caters to a smaller
market segment. Just because a product has a niche market doesn't
necessarily mean your product doesn't have potential to reach a
large audience or be very profitable; it just means that it may not
appeal to a big chunk of the world.

For example, a high-quality cashmere bathrobe would be mar­
keted to spas and higher-end boutique-type retail stores, not to Tar­
get. Its smaller niche market is women who love being pampered
and have disposable income to splurge; probably women thirty-five
to fifty-five, which is a pretty small target audience.

It's great to start with niche marketing and then expand when
the item gets popular there. At that point, word spreads and you
can move into mainstream merchandising with confidence and
market share. You may have to adjust your pricing for the new mar­
ket (which is easier to do when ordering in large quantities). Mass
marketing spawns knockoffs quickly. Think of the faux cashmere
bathrobes that would follow at a lower price point, made out of a
synthetic imitation yarn that feels similar to cashmere.

Here are some examples of well-known products that have been
successfully niche marketed. They focused on smaller segments of
larger, very successful industries, like beverage, shoes , and food, and
some of them have now moved into the mainstream mass market.

Red Bull Energy Drinks: Cool and Hip

Red Bull, one of the first energy drinks available in the United
States, was given out to extreme athletes as well as young, hip celeb­
rities to give the drink its trendy cachet. It's now available in several
varieties at countless retail outlets.

Bear Naked Granola: Premium and Organic Granola

Two college-aged friends made this natural granola and gave
away lots of it at Whole Foods stores so people could taste it. Give-