One of the latest buzz phrases in the online business world is ?niche marketing.? You have probably read that niche marketing is highly important on the Internet. If you are wondering what all this talk is about, I am going to try to explain what niche marketing means.

I have read that if you build an online business then you will have millions of potential customers. While in theory this may be true, you will have a hard time finding products that appeal to all web surfers. Your online business will be better served by matching a product with a group of potential customers that are interested in that product.

?Niche marketing? is a close relative to the phrase 'target marketing.? Target marketing is usually used in discussions where it is assumed that you already have a product and you are researching which group of potential customers to whom it would be most profitable to 'target? your marketing efforts. Niche marketing is usually discussed in situations where you do not yet have a product. You find a hot niche market then find a product to market to that specific group of potential customers.

A niche market is simply a group of people with a common interest. A common interest might be a hobby, or a problem, or social background. There are many more examples of areas where groups of people have something in common. For example, there are many people that have chronic lower back pain. There are many more people that do not. The people that do have this problem all share a common interest. This would be a great example of a niche market. Instead of finding a product that appeals to everyone that suffers from any type of chronic pain, you specifically target only those that suffer from chronic lower back pain.

As you research the Internet for marketing ideas, you will find the phrase ?niche marketing? used quite frequently. Hopefully you now understand what is meant by ?niche marketing.?