Niche Idea

[Junin]

Hey there everyone,

I've been having some difficulty trying to discover a niche for my freelancing / business. I mulled over some ideas and I think I may have a viable idea but I wanted to hear your thoughts. 

I've started teaching myself website development about 6 months ago. I still have a lot to learn but I recently felt comfortable enough to create my website and start doing some cheap / free projects.

The site is fine enough, though still needs a decent amount of tweaks and fixes. However, the way it's currently being marketed is far too broad. I was thinking that after I finish the small project (and it's only my second project)  I am currently on, I re-brand and re-structure the site to focus on creating websites specifically for people in the self-help field. It seems self-help is still a very lucrative market, and I should specifically target teachers, gurus, and others in the area.

Do you think website development specifically for self-help focused clientele is a good idea? Any thoughts appreciated, and thank you for reading.  

Edited September 9, 2020 by Junin

[JosephKnecht]

2 hours ago, Junin said:

Do you think website development specifically for self-help focused clientele is a good idea?

Why limit your demographic to only self-help? Typically people who are into self-help will help themselves to develop their own website. 

Widen your target demographic if you want to make money.

But in general web development is a good skill to have. 

[Junin]

5 minutes ago, JosephKnecht said:

Why limit your demographic to only self-help? Typically people who are into self-help will help themselves to develop their own website. 

Widen your target demographic if you want to make money.

But in general web development is a good skill to have. 

Thanks for the reply!

The idea behind the idea is if I do websites for that demographic in specific, I could have more direct experience in working with a niche clientele. I could re-use a lot of code if I am building similar apps, create custom themes, and understand their problems and how to solve them better than a developer who works in a broader sense. 

I suppose it could be the case that it may be TOO narrow, but I figured a yoga teacher or a motivational YouTube could learn to make their own site, but may not want to invest the time. 

[JosephKnecht]

4 minutes ago, Junin said:

The idea behind the idea is if I do websites for that demographic in specific, I could have more direct experience in working with a niche clientele. I could re-use a lot of code if I am building similar apps, create custom themes, and understand their problems and how to solve them better than a developer who works in a broader sense. 

You can start with that demographic. See how it goes... 

If it doesn't work well, change the demographic. 

You can start by asking Leo to make him a new website. 

[Junin]

1 minute ago, JosephKnecht said:

You can start by asking Leo to make him a new website. 

 Perhaps sometime in the future.

You are right, I could give it a go and test the waters for a while, the redirect as necessary. I don't have to be locked-in to any specific niche if it doesn't work out. 

[Yarco]

I think web development for self-help websites is a good niche. But if it takes you 6 months to build a small site, I think you're going to have a hard time.

[Junin]

14 hours ago, Yarco said:

I think web development for self-help websites is a good niche. But if it takes you 6 months to build a small site, I think you're going to have a hard time.

Creating the site didn't take 6 months, learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, CSS Frameworks, JS Frameworks, PHP, node.js, etc...
That takes a bit to really get down, and it will take longer to get advanced.

[Elisabeth]

Before you restructure your whole web...

Find some people in your target demographic and talk to them about what they want. Try to get some clients that way, and not through internet marketing. You need experience with the target demographic. If you're not ready, at least collect some contacts - ask, if you can let them know when you are available, and get their email as "proof of interest". If you can't make a single "sale", not even collect contacts in real one on one talking, it's probably not a great idea. 

Check out if there are other developers working in your niche already. See how they work, how much they charge, if they can make a living off it. If there is no competition, it may mean that it's not a great idea - find out why. Talk to other web developers, who have already found their niche and have a business feel, run your idea with them to get their view.

The website comes last. You should already know what exactly you are selling and how to sell it when you're making the content of the website.

(so much the content of a "business for beginners" course I took in the spring) 

[Junin]

11 minutes ago, Elisabeth said:

Before you restructure your whole web...

Find some people in your target demographic and talk to them about what they want. Try to get some clients that way, and not through internet marketing. You need experience with the target demographic. If you're not ready, at least collect some contacts - ask, if you can let them know when you are available, and get their email as "proof of interest". If you can't make a single "sale", not even collect contacts in real one on one talking, it's probably not a great idea. 

Check out if there are other developers working in your niche already. See how they work, how much they charge, if they can make a living off it. If there is no competition, it may mean that it's not a great idea - find out why. Talk to other web developers, who have already found their niche and have a business feel, run your idea with them to get their view.

The website comes last. You should already know what exactly you are selling and how to sell it when you're making the content of the website.

(so much the content of a "business for beginners" course I took in the spring) 

Thank you for the detailed reply!

One of the reasons I asked this forum in particular is because the people who browse here would most likely be the clientele I would be looking to work for. I was curious to see if the forum would think it's a solid idea before I started looking for clients. I am probably not allowed to advertise here so I won't look for actual clients on Actualized itself, but it would give me a bit of an idea of what "market" wants.

As for other developers working in this niche, I haven't seen it. It could either mean it's an untapped market, or it's not desirable. I am not sure which it is yet. 

I am new to business, so I appreciate the great advice. 

[Elisabeth]

@Junin I think you can have a signature link to your website. @Nahm has one. Nahm also made his website on his own using a template, I believe. You can ask him why he didn't hire a web developer  

Edited September 10, 2020 by Elisabeth

[ElvinNelson]

A great option to start in an area where there is a lot of competition. The main thing in such a business is to immediately understand the necessary development tools, like backend frameworks, and determine the ultimate goal, that is, earn a certain amount on orders or something like that. So good luck with that.

[Leo Gura]

On 9/9/2020 at 8:33 AM, Junin said:

Do you think website development specifically for self-help focused clientele is a good idea?

It's gonna be very tough to fine client unless you have connections within the self-help industry.

That can be a long-term goal of yours, but I don't see how it will be immediately viable because people who need self-help websites is very narrow and specialized. How you gonna find such people. You need a lead-building strategy for that to work.

If you want to niche in web development, I would look for a niche which is lucrative and has lots of demand. Like e-commerce or the like. This way you can bootstrap your biz. Later you can try to transition it to self-help if that's your jazz.