An Eastern Philosophy Look At Niche

I remember business 101 the first time I went to college a millenium ago. Simplicity and thinking it through was the key. Those were business principles. Do they still hold true? There was no Ebay, Google, MSN, or Yahoo! at the time.

Could there be?

They told us in college, yet again, this time around "do what you know and do best". Do what you love and the money will come. Yada yada. I researched how other businesses started. Peg at Ebay knew a lot about Pez dispensers so that was their focus the first year or so.

I'm an entrepreneur. My mind is complex. Chances are, if you are reading this, so is yours. Some days we are ready to conquer the world, some days we are in bed late licking our wounds from trying to conquer it yesterday.

Don't deny the forces of zen, especially the yin and yang. Doesn't matter if you believe in them or not, they do happen. It is a part of making choices. We get pulled one way and then another. Which choice do we make. If you don't believe it happens, try the choice that does not go along with your business instincts and watch the consequences. Not very fun.

May I make a suggestion regarding Internet gurus? The whole idea of the Internet is iconoclastic. It is anti-guru so those who try to build themselves up as Internet gurus are going against the grain. All of us or none of us are gurus. We are all in this together. We live in the information age and just because someone else has more information, resources, or money than you, does that make him/her a guru? Ever hear Bill Gates call himself a guru? He could buy out every "so-called guru" on the net with the click of a mouse. He knows better. He doesn't have to be a self-proclaimed guru. He offers a service and product, like it or not, that gives us *all the chance to be gurus.

We learned in college not to follow the big sellers necessarily. That is because generally someone with more resources and money has already grabbed them and can outsell us by a mile. Find a niche that you like, that you know is a needed product or service, it need not be fancy or sexy, but one that sells, and you can make much more than the Ebay powersellers competing with each other for Gucci, Dell, Armani, and Rolexes.

When or if you can't find something on the web to sell you like, then try creating your own. If you are an artist, got to Cafe Press or one of their competitors and digitally produce products. Let them worry with inventory and orders and such.

You have an advantage if you owned copyrighted art or slogans. Take advantage. There are plenty of print on demand companies who will do all the worl for you.

Having your own product brands you, not someone else. So if you have an idea for a product, do it. If you don't have the money, either save for it, or draw a business plan and present it to investors. Someone will eventually buy in. And you are in business!

I researched and decided to test a shop and call it Just Funny Aprons. I put my cartoon designs on it, spent a bit on adveritising, and presto, people were ordering funny aprons. The niche business principle still holds true. They were begging for unique funny aprons and still are.

Once you've found a basic product, or created one, and see that it is just a bit different enough to focus and advertise on that difference, you are on your way to a good living.

Find your niche whether it is cell phones (a certain kind), chocolate, pet treats, organic dried fruits, your own private coffee label (yes I have one of those too), or whatever you think will sell; perhaps do an informal survey or focus group and you would be surprised what people want.

Then promote, promote, promote with blogs, article marketing, ppc engines, pinging, and every other method of which you can think. Suddenly you will wake up successful. The odds are on your side. The harder you work, the more research you do, the more action you take, the luckier you get. In fact, the big dogs did the same thing to become big dogs, and they have nothing on you, if you just allow yourself to take the action. Keep an open mind and be prepared to get off track a few times. As long as you get back on track, that is what matters.

It is not how many times you fall down that count, but how many times you get back up. And if you use your "Zen", you will get back up. It's all a matter of physics, getting pulled back into balance.

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Cartoonist Rick London, founder of Londons Times is famous on the Internet. He started in 1997 with nothing, in a metal warehouse, and now has one of the biggest comic gift and t-shirt mega-stores on the net. He recently launched Londons Times Superstore funny t-shirts, and more

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