The Recession Proof Niche Factory!
(Sell What Sells And You Can’t Go Wrong!)

From: Andrew Minalto  eBay PowerSeller  Registered TWF Seller  CEO of SpicyAuctionTemplates.com  Contact Me | FAQ

Hello & Welcome to the Easy Auction Business video newsletter!

It has been some time since you received the previous video newsletter, mainly because I was so busy with my own businesses as well as 60 Day Blueprint program. Now, when all the program’s participants are on the board and actively working on their new businesses, I have some spare time to spend on the newsletter.

Even though summer is already here and many of you are taking holidays, I keep receiving your e-mails on numerous questions about wholesale, eBay business, websites and other stuff related to online business world. I’ll start replying to all those questions on ChatWithAndrew.com starting from this week, so keep an eye on the site for some great advice.

Also, majority of e-mails that are coming in are still related to market research, finding niches and suppliers. So, today I want to share with you some niches with great potential over the next couple of years. Yes! I call them recession proof niches as they’re the ones that are growing because of the economic crisis. Many people still don’t realize that recession not only closes businesses down but also brings up new opportunities for smart people who are not afraid of taking some risks and think outside the box! But let’s keep it sweet and short and get straight to the point!

Top 5 Recession Proof Niches

Here’s the thing – you’re already way ahead of many people as you’re looking for an online business model. As I have mentioned in the previous newsletters, the online shopping figures continue growing and there are no signs of recession on that matter. As a matter of fact, during the recession more and more people are starting to shop online for a numerous reasons the number one being: “You can get it cheaper online!” Even my father asked me the other day to look for the best car insurance policy on the internet. This simply means that even people who aren’t computer literate start looking forward to online shopping as everyone loves to save money, especially in this crisis.

Ok, so let’s find out what’s hot right now and where the biggest money making potential lies for the next few years. This is my list of top 5 niches to get into during recession period; some of you may have even better ideas. The main point here is to make observations and get into markets that are actually growing because of the recession – whatever’s the reason behind it. So here are my top 5 recession proof niches.

1. Low Price Niches

This is rather a strategy than a niche but it can be effectively used in almost any category by using appropriate branding strategy and offering great value to your customers.

So - what’s the main idea behind the low price companies? It’s pretty simple – to offer a product or service for a cheaper price than anyone else does. From a customer point of view this usually includes lower service quality, less options and some kind of quality/price compromise.

We all know how “Ryanair” started the low fare airline trend when for the first time ever flights were available to groups of people even with low income level. If 10 years ago flying was somewhat exclusive & luxury, these days it’s so accessible and affordable that we can’t imagine holidays abroad without using these services.

Yes, everyone is aware what a flight on a “Ryanair” aircraft involves but we’re ok with that as long as price tag is right. You see, not everyone is looking for an exclusive, expensive service or products. There are so many people out there who are happy with mediocre service as long as there’s a VALUE for them in it, especially if the result is same – like with flying – getting from point A to point B.

But it doesn’t stop there – now we have low price food chains, hotels and restaurants! The truth is that on almost everything you can put “The Lowest Price” tag and make it attractive to a certain group of customers.

Low price doesn’t necessary mean low quality, especially when building an online business based around this strategy, not at all! You can simply offer cheaper prices for products by:

	Cutting down over-heads (less, but more productive workers, smaller office/warehouse, saving on utility bills etc.)
	Offering slower but cheaper postage options
	Offering less product variety
	Selling products without un-necessary accessories or packaging
	Buying the stock cheaper in the first place!

All these things can greatly affect your business effectiveness and product prices at the end of the day. And this is where niche market business concept comes into play – you can concentrate on just few product groups, categories, products or even one product, minimize your day to day running costs, buy in bulk and offer the best possible price to your customers!

Here’s the thing to remember:

“You have to make sure your offer LOOKS cheap in customer’s eyes!
It doesn’t necessary mean that you have to offer lowest price on the market!”

And this is huge! Just think about it for a second... Many people do not realize that they don’t have to offer the lowest price on the market to create a low price business model. Lowest price on the market is simply an insane, never ending rat race where you’ll fight with your competitors to earn pennies! You definitely don’t want that!

Yes, there still will be people who are spending hours upon hours on research and finding the cheapest price possible! But that doesn’t matter! You’ll never be the first choice for everyone, just make sure you do everything in your power to please customers who want to deal with you.

What I’m offering you is to choose a niche market and create a brand based on the low price strategy. Yes, of course – your prices have to look competitive and more to the cheapest end of line but still, you can make good ROI because of the volume and better purchasing price.

So what products I’m referring to? It can be anything really, here are couple of quick ideas:

• Baby Nappies
• Dog Food
• Egyptian Cotton Towels
• Wedding Dresses
• Fake Flowers
• Wedding favours
• Children Shoes
• Lingerie
• And so on!

Basically any niche market you can think of can be turned into low price company. Here are most important elements on how to achieve it:

	Make sure your logo looks like a “low price” companies’ logo and your slogan clearly sends the right message. For example – if you sell baby nappies your slogan should look something like this: “Low Price Baby Nappies”. Make it very clear from the very beginning that you offer low prices. Of courses, you don’t want to use words like “Cheapest” as it will only get you into trouble.
	Another important element is stock variety – you don’t want to offer every single manufacturer or product line on your online store, this would simply be un-effective. Remember, our goal here is to offer low price and make good ROI. This can be only achievable buy getting a good price from your supplier. And this leaves as only with buying as many products from a single line as possible. If we get back to my baby nappies example, you should sell just one brand products or create your own brand buy using an OEM service factory in Asia.
	Finally, don’t forget to minimize your expenses to a minimum. Starting from cheapest packaging materials, ending up with website expenses, salaries & warehouse and shipping costs.

This is a perfect time to start a low price company not only because of the current recession BUT because of this crisis people will look at many things totally different – starting with their shopping list. Many people will realize that they don’t want to over pay and good value will become the most important decision making factor.

2. Do It Yourself (DIY)

Another huge & growing group of niches involves selling DIY related products. I was literary shocked after a recent visit to my local DIY & Gardening centre 2 weeks ago. People are spending money on this stuff like never before and there are plenty of opportunities for you, as an online entrepreneur to use this as an advantage.

Again, there are several reasons behind this, value being one of the most important yet again. Many people are simply not ok with paying 100 pounds for a 10 minute plumber visit. They are not happy with spending so much money on external services and products. Also, due to the high unemployment level, many people simply have free time to learn some new skills, fix or create things by themselves.

Here are just a couple of niches that are related to this group:

• Gardening Tools
• DIY tools
• DIY materials
• DIY learning products
• Gardening info products
• Seeds & Plants

All these categories can be narrowed down if your buying power is too low or if you want to use a dropshipper for one particular product group. Say, you can take DIY tools and create a niche around Cordless Driver Drills for example.

Again, create a brand around what you’re doing so that it clearly represents “what you’re about”. A professionally made logo and eBay or website template is the first step you need to take in order to make your new business venture a success!

3. Used Goods

Another great recession proof strategy is to sell used goods. It may seem like a weird idea but actually it’s not. Recent study shows that used goods market has seen an increase of more than 10% in the first quarter of this year. That’s a massive number!!! And it makes perfect sense – people just can’t afford to spend money on brand new goods and many simply realize that they DON’T want to over pay 2 or 3 times only to get a brand new item.

On eBay, used goods market is generally driven by occasional sellers, average people who just use eBay to get rid of old stuff. 90% of them don’t know how to write a proper, keyword rich title not talking about good listing layout and professional quality pictures. You can easily take advantage of this by buying used stuff from all those people and selling for a higher price by simply creating better listings!

This strategy may also involve selling refurbished goods or catalogue returns if you don’t want to bother with buying each item individually.

Obviously, to sell used goods they must have some sort of value to make the whole process worthwhile. It would be really difficult to make a lot of money by selling used music CDs or baby clothes. What we’re looking for here are products like:

• Mobile phones
• Strollers
• Video game consoles
• Video Games
• TVs

Again, there are literally hundreds of products to choose from and you should do a market research based on your buying power and other variables (room for stock, shipping etc.)  before getting into any of the previously mentioned niches. Most likely, you can come up with even better ideas so just start brainstorming and get those ideas down on the paper!

4. Self Help & Learning

Another niche that is growing during this economic recession is everything related to “Self Help & Learning” market. We’re talking about:

• Psychological books, audio books & other info products.
• Fitness DVDs, products & learning materials.
• Diet & Slimming related information, supplies & tools.
• Home study courses
• Seminars
• Memberships

This group of niches is perfect for people who are passionate about something or have an in-depth experience in something and they would like to use their expert status and build a niche business around a theme they’re knowledgeable about.

There are huge opportunities for UK based people here as there is a free market share to take in almost any of previously mentioned sub-niches. Don’t forget about info products as they can be very lucrative and offer hands free operation from anywhere in the world. Info products are as hot as never before and people are willing to pay for quality information.

5. Online Services

Finally, a niche category that is a little bit different from everything previously mentioned as it involves offering a service and NOT products. And particularly I want to look at all those e-commerce related services that are in huge demand these days and will grow over the next decade as more and more businesses go online.

What services I’m talking about? Here are just a few examples:

• Web design
• Programming
• Customer service outsourcing
• Data entry
• SEO
• Writing
• Voice over
• Content distribution
• And so on!

Again, there are so many different services you can sell online that only the sky is the limit! If you’re without a full time job, maybe it’s time to learn something new? New skills, online business related services – the ones that can be sold for the money if you know how to do it effectively! We’ll talk more about this stuff over the up-coming months as I have some hidden gems you could use to make some serious money online.

Conclusions

So, as you can see – it’s not that bad! Even during the biggest recession in last 100 years there are business opportunities out there. The question is – are you ready for them? Are you ready for the changes? Are you ready to learn new skills and take some risk? If yes, I’m sure you’ll find your way out of this nonsense and will be able to make money whatever wind is blowing. And even if you fail, you know that the only way out is to stand up and keep trying!

Ok, that’s it for today my dear newsletter readers and watchers! I’ll see you in 2 weeks time when I’ll review the best shopping carts for your e-commerce site! I’ll show you the biggest mistake an online trader can make and how to make sure your online shop is Google friendly!

Enjoy your summer, holidays & sun! Stay tuned and I’ll see you soon. Bye for now!

Until Next Time,

Have a Question? Click Here!

About the Author Andrew Minalto is founder and CEO of the Web's largest auction templates company SpicyAuctionTemplates.com. Andrew runs successful information publishing business as well as an eBay store and an online retail store. At the age of just 23 he has achieved a phenomenal success in selling both physical and information products online. Hard work and belief in his dreams enabled him to leave a dusty Dublin warehouse in winter 2006 to go full-time online. The recently launched EasyAuctionBusiness.com website is dedicated for all people trying to achieve financial freedom or just to make some extra money by selling on eBay.co.uk

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