Believe it or not, one of the most asked question when people starting out online is how to come up with niche ideas, particularly potential niches that have good demand on the Internet.

This stumbing block is also the reason why so many people procrastinate for months or even years, waiting for any inspiration to come. The good news is, there are things we can do to start the creative juice flowing if we are willing to do a bit of work.

It actually is not that difficult. The results of this work can be used again in the future. The process itself will be easier and takes less time the second time you do it. Do I say process? Yes, it involve a very systematic way of thinking if you will, although flexibility is also part of it so it is possible to do it your way.

The final result of this process is a list of niche ideas, preferably ones that you are passionate about, or simply are willing to invest your time to learn more about. I can’t stress this enough that we are going to build a business here.

I’ve seen many people stopped working on their business (websites) after six months because it didn’t earn them enough money. Their energy were depleted because there are no passion on the topic they built their “business” on.

To put in another way, building an online business takes time. Make money fast gimmick didn’t, don’t and won’t work, at least for most of us. I might sound like a broken record — or writer/ blogger — but I’ll say it again the other way: after deciding on which industry we are going to build our business on, I will only go for it after I am 100% sure when it comes to dedication and persistence.

What will you do, if after the journey starts, there are no turning back?

Building a half finished website for six full month is like having a strong concrete foundation, where any building built upon it will reap nothing but strong building.

Stopping after six months is like having the foundation ready, but decide to leave it without a building on top of it.

So without further ado, let’s start. First and foremost, find a place where you can sit down and relax. Bring a pen and a stack of paper. Start writing about what excites you most, your hobbies, what you do best, think about your routines.

Intriguing questions help in one way or another:

• What does people usually come to you for?
• What do you know more than others?
• What book do you usually like and read most?
• and so on..

If you really let yourself relax and write anything without even thinking about it (nobody will read your notes if you don’t let them to, it’s for your personal use only) then most likely you’ll come up with quite a long list. Probably some of them potentially are good niches, the one you can build your business on.

It is important that you write as much as possible instead of filtering things out, which is what we are going to do in the next step.

We all understand the feeling that sometimes when we sit and want to write something, there are only a few things we can come up with. Oftentimes, what we need is simply a bit spark of ideas here and there from external source to get it going. This is when it is a good idea to sit before your computer, run your favorite browser and bait for some ideas.

Here are some places that I think perfect to get ideas for niches:

1. Online bookstore such as Amazon.com - An online bookstore and retailer which has huge range of products in a large number of industries.
2. Shopping portals - Shop.com directly comes to my mind. A never ending source of ideas. There are thousands of others, just do a quick search on Google.
3. Auction sites - Ebay is the most popular one with so many categories and sub-categories. Each one may potentially be a niche.
4. Affiliate networks - Merchants selling different products or services for certain market segment.
5. Magazines - Go to a magazine store and see what’s there. Alternatively, browse an online magazine store, or digital (electronic) magazine and book store.
6. Keyword research - use the term buy, purchase, learn, etc. on WordTracker or Overture keyword service to find out what people were searching for.

The list goes on and on, you get the point.

Just make sure that you come up with a list of at least 5-10 (more is better) niches you think you can work on, and take it to the next step.