Narrowing the List of Niche Topics

Over the past several days, I have been boiling down the list of 116 niche topics that I had reported earlier using the criteria:  "Am I interested in the topic or product category enough to research it, ‘live with it’, write about it, and build a site around it over the next several months?"

I admit that I went a bit geeky on the original list and put them into a spreadsheet so I could better analyze them.  I’ve uploaded the spreadsheet to Google Documents so you can view it.  Take a look at the spreadsheet.

I’m now down to 25 topics that are at least interesting at some level to me personally.  Some are still a little too broad in scope, but that’s okay for now.  Here’s the list:

1. Continuing education / online grad schools / online MBA’s
2. Bicycling (still too broad)
3. Cat furniture
4. Custom t-shirts
5. futons
6. gifts for men
7. men’s shirts
8. men’s watches
9. model train gifts
10. outdoor heaters
11. outdoor lighting
12. personal checks
13. prepaid cell phones
14. puzzles and games
15. rechargeable batteries
16. emergency kits (house and car)
17. recognition awards
18. robes and pajamas
19. getting a good night’s sleep
20. sofa covers
21. tech tools for small business
22. tech tools for enhancing a website
23. toys kids can ride
24. tools (way too broad)
25. health advice for people over 30 (or 40)  (still too broad) 

The next step is to dig a little more into each one of these topics, see which have affiliate programs that are lucrative, and get a sense of the popularity of each topic.  I will end up choosing my next site topic from the further analysis of the list above.

I have a busy weekend ahead, so I probably won’t get back to this project until Monday, August 6th.  Actually, this will probably work well because I can let this list percolate in the back of my mind. Chances are I’ll drop a few more from the list after a couple of days away from it. 

Another update next week!