Knowing your niche market can be one of the most lucrative ways of generating online cash-flow. It can be quite difficult to do something without knowing the basic steps. While trial and error approaches may get you there in the end, it is highly recommended that you follow a proven path. Following in the successful footsteps of others almost guarantees your success.

At the heart of any type of marketing is one principle - people. Marketing is simply selling a product that people want. There is no point having the greatest product in the world if no-one wants it. You may have come up with a truly revolutionary idea but if no one wants it what is the point? Do your marketing first before you even contemplate designing a product. Finding a niche market ensures that you have a viable market that is not too large or too small.

1. Start off with a subject that you have an interest in. If you have some experience of knowledge in a particular area you already have a head start. Barring that, pick a subject that interests and excites you. Trying to sell something that doesn't get you enthusiastic or something that you don't believe in is hardly the best strategy to success.

2. One of the best places to identify niches is special interest magazines. If a specialist area has a dedicated magazine that chances are that niche is highly profitable. Ideally, you want a niche that isn't too big or too small. Specialist interest magazines are a great way of finding such ideal sized niches. If there is more than one magazine in your niche all the better but if your search engine returns a long list of such magazines - chances are that your niche is too big.

3. Read these specialist magazines for problems that people are having in that niche area. This is where you begin to formulate your product or service. Once you have identified a particular problem try to see if it is a recurring theme. If the same problem appears more than once you may be on to something.

4. Scout dedicated forums in your selected niche for the particular problem you have identified in specialist magazines. Locating a problem in a forum not only gives you a good idea of the marketability of your product or service it may also provide you with the answer. If you are feeling inventive you can even ask people how they would solve such and such aspect of the problem.

5. Create a simple ebook on the topic and distribute it for free and ask people to give their comments. Therefore, the feedback that you receive becomes the basis of the content for your product or service.

Finding a niche market is all about market research. It is an empirical means of testing demand. There is no second guessing - you find a real problem that people are having and you provide the solution to that particular problem. If you put the above into practice you will find that mastering your niche is a lot easier than it looks provided you have the correct strategy.