I’ve talked with a LOT of people who want to or are in the process of building an online business. Without a doubt, their most common question relates to niches and keywords.

Those who don’t have a business are often searching for that ONE niche to hit a homerun with. That type of thinking is a mistake. Honestly, if you are in that group right now, there are dozens and dozens, if not hundreds and even thousands of niches that could lead to massive success.

You see, it’s really not the idea or niche that creates the success. It is the PLAN and the type and amount of ACTION one takes.

There are literally thousands of  “ideas” that will work. Take for examples:

Spear fishing
Storage buildings
Rock polishing
Mountain biking
Dog training
Leather work
Horseback riding
Gardening
Self help
Making picture frames

Heck, almost ANYTHING in ANY AREA can make you a fortune considering the reach of the Internet! Sure, some big areas you must sub-niche, but the opportunities are there!

Again, it is NOT the “perfect” idea you are looking for. All you need is a basic idea that a number of other people enjoy, need help with, or are interested in. Then, and MOST importantly, you need a smart plan to make the idea work.

I don’t care who you are or what your interests are. 9 times out of 10, you and I could brainstorm an “idea” very quickly and come up with a plan of action to make that idea successful. THEN it’s totally up to you to supply the action required.

Too much time is wasted on “finding the right niche”. My gosh, a guy in the 70’s made MILLIONS from selling “pet rocks”. I rest my case that it’s NOT the “idea” but the plan that’s important.

Ok, you get the idea. Almost anything, any idea, any niche can work…but where do you go from there?

Here’s what I do:

I take an idea and run it through my Market Samurai software. It helps me drill down and find every possible sub-niche and keyword that I might be able to work with. Then I ask the all-important question, “If I build a site about this and get traffic, how will I make money with that traffic?” Many folks never answer that question before they begin.

If all the pieces seem to be there, I’ll go back to Market Samurai and identify the keyword I want for my home page. I don’t want a super easy keyword, nor do I want one too difficult to rank for either. Once I get my home page keyword and about 20 other of the top keywords identified, I get busy writing the content (or have someone write it) and building the optimized site. I’ll do all the necessary on-page and off-page SEO required in order to get the ball rolling with it.

All the SEO steps are parts of other posts, but I hope you take from this post how important the PLAN is vs. just coming up with an “idea” or niche.