Does Niche Marketing Always Work?
By Anna Johnson on December 11th, 2008There’s a market for everything right? I mean, there’s even a market for a social network where sneaker lovers (yes, people who love sneakers) can congregate and talk about… sneakers, I guess. Or is there?
TechCrunch reports that Sneakerplay, the online community for sneaker fans, is looking for a buyer. Apparently it’s not formally shutting down… but it has no plans to grow. (I’m not sure that’s actually better than shutting down… but maybe that’s just me…)
The founders of Sneakerplay say that part of the reason for the site’s demise is that the founders lost their focus and were diverted by other projects. Sounds familiar…
That doesn’t mean Sneakerplay never made money. In fact, the site was started with just $1,500, never got outside funding, and was actually profitable. It received sponsorships from major sports brands, Adidas, Nike, EA Sports and Microsoft.
But making some money isn’t the same thing as making ENOUGH money, and it seems that Sneakerplay never achieved enough momentum to become either lucrative or sustainable.
And there’s the lesson for Internet marketers.
Focusing on a niche or ‘niche marketing’ is all very well… but you really need to ask yourself: is this niche ever going to make ENOUGH money? Do I have enough interest in this niche to do everything it takes to grow it into a SUFFICIENT money maker? Do I have the resources to make it REALLY successful?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of these… it’s probably time to look for another niche.
