If you’ve been blogging for any length of time you’ve come to the conclusion that having in order to create a niche blog that makes money you have to have a tool box of goodies to find the right niche

So in the interest of providing you my valued readers and subscribers with the best and most accurate information possible I’m going to share with you something I found quite sometime ago and have been using to find niche markets for my blogging business.

I cant say I remember where I found it so if anyone has seen this somewhere else please do inform me so I can give proper credit where credit is due.

1. Trends

Google Trends

=> http://www.google.com/trends

TrendWatching

=> http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/

2. Directories

Directories are where search engines where born, and can give you great insight into categories and niches both by seeing who is there and visiting them.

Open Directory Project

=> http://www.dmoz.org/

Yahoo Directory

=> http://dir.yahoo.com/

3. Mega Ideas Generator

Google Suggest

=> http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en

Lycos Movers and Shakers

=> http://50.lycos.com/

Alexa Top 500 Movers and Shakers

=> http://alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global?=none

Amazon Bestsellers

=> http://amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books

WikiSuccess

=> http://www.wikisuccess.org/wiki/Main_Page

Barnes and Nobles BestSellers

=> http://www.barnesandnoble.com/gateway/bestsellers.asp?z=y

43 Things

=> http://www.43things.com/

Squidoo Top Lenses

=> http://www.squidoo.com/browse/top_lenses

Magazine.com

=> http://www.magazines.com/ncom/mag?redirect=1

Ebay Pulse

=> http://pulse.ebay.com/

Shopping.com Top Searches

=> http://www10.shopping.com/top_searches

Yahoo Recreational Hobbies

=> http://dir.yahoo.com/recreation/hobbies

Google Groups

=> http://groups.google.com/

Yahoo Groups

=> http://groups.yahoo.com/

Google Blogsearch

=> http://blogsearch.google.com/

BlogCatalog

=> http://www.blogcatalog.com/

Google Catalogs

=> http://catalogs.google.com/

Yahoo Buzz Index

=> http://buzz.yahoo.com/

Technorati Top Searches

=> http://www.technorati.com/

Thesauraus, Dictionary, and Encyclopedia

=> http://thesauraus.reference.com/

4. Affiliate Programs

Not only can you research lucrative affiliate programs you can promote, and get ideas for products to fill a niche, but all the affiliate networks will show you what their hottest offers for you to promote. This also tells you what niches are hot, or you can use those to suggest products to create yourself.

AzoogleAds

=> http://www.azoogleads.com/corp/index.php

Joe Bucks

=> http://www.joebucks.com/

MoreNiche

=> http://www.moreniche.com/

ClickBank Marketplace

=> https://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm?s=&method=Sort&c=65&keywords=#

PayDotCom

=> http://www.paydotcom.com/homepage.php

FreeIQ

=> http://beta.freeiq.com/index.dhtml?a=1

Associate Programs

=> http://www.associateprograms.com/

LifeTimeCommissions

=> http://www.lifetimecommissions.com/

2 Tier

=> http://2-tier.com/

Affiliate Directory

=> http://www.affiliatesdirectory.com/

5 Star Affiliate Program (My favourite forum and has been for quite sometime)

=>http://www.5staraffiliateprograms.com/

5. Free Keyword Tools

Google Adwords Keyword Tool

=> https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Webmaster Toolkit Keyword Research Tool

=> http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/keyword-research-tool.shtml

SEO 20/20

=> http://www.seo2020.com/seo-tools/keyword-research/keyword-research-tool/

WordTracker FREE Keyword Tool

=> http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

Digital Point

=> http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/

Nichebot Classic

=> http://www.nichebotclassic.com/

DomainCountry Keyword Tool

=> http://www.domaincountry.com/

NicheTaxi

=> http://www.nichetaxi.com/

WordPot

=> http://www.wordpot.com/

Freeaddlink

=> http://freeaddlink.com/domain/research.php

6. Answers, “How To” and Self Help

Great for for niche research, you can contribute and leave your link for traffic generation.

eHow

=>http://www.ehow.com/

WikiHow

=> http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page

AnswerBag

=> http://www.answerbag.com/

How Stuff Works

=> http://www.howstuffworks.com/

So You Wanna?

=> http://www.soyouwanna.com/

About.com

=>http://www.about.com/

Yedda

=> http://yedda.com/

Yahoo Answers

=> http://answers.yahoo.com/

Tips and Answers

=> http://www.tipsanswers.com/

This is a good gem to look out for. Use this to create custom reports and offer to your list and add value to your subscribers, or as opt-in incentives:

=>Find All About –> http://www.findallabout.com/index.php

Here is some great “How To” materials that will also generate loads of useful ideas:

Must watch => VideoJug -> http://www.videojug.com/

“Early To Rise Health, Wealth, & Success Ezine” with loads of great info:

=> http://www.earlytorise.com/

“MyGoals” pre-made and customized goal-attainment:

=> http://www.mygoals.com/

7. Article Directories

Great source for information and ideas, as well as traffic genetation.

EzineArticles

=> http://ezinearticles.com/

iSnare

=> http://www.isnare.com/

Associated Content

=> http://www.associatedcontent.com/

SearchWarp

=> http://searchwarp.com/

Article Dashboard

=> http://www.articledashboard.com/

GoArticles

=> http://www.goarticles.com/

ArticleBase

=> http://www.articlesbase.com/

ArticleDepot

=> http://www.articledepot.co.uk/

ArticleCity

=>http://www.articlecity.com/

8. Public Domain

Wikipedia list of public domain directories

=> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_resources

Gutenberg

=> http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Online Books Page

=> http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

Creative Commons

=> http://creativecommons.org/

Google US Government Search

=> http://www.google.com/ig/usgov

Public Domain Books Online

=> http://www.pdbooksonline.com/

ibiblio

=>http://www.ibiblio.org/

Health Research Books

=> http://www.healthresearchbooks.com/

Bibliomania

=> http://www.bibliomania.com/

Electronic Text Center

=> http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/

9. Interesting Facts

Amusing Facts

=> http://amusingfacts.com/

Strange Facts

=> http://www.strangefacts.com/

10. Forums

Forums can be some of the best resources for specific end-user answers, and allow you to ask specific questions.

WarriorForum

=>http://warriorforum.com/forum

Big Board

=> http://www.big-boards.com/

Digital Point

=> http://forums.digitalpoint.com/

Sitepoint

=> http://www.sitepoint.com

A Best Web Affiliate Marketers forum

=> http://abestweb.com

ZamDoo

=> http://www.zamdooforums.com

GCD ‘Unofficial’ forum

=> http://www.gcdforum.info/forum/

IM4Newbies

=> http://www.im4newbies.com/forum/