Finding a profitable niche online in order to begin a marketing campaign can sometimes be a time consuming process---but it doesn’t have to be an expensive one There are various free methods available to you to aid you in your search for a niche.

Here’s a free method that saves you on time and on money.   Look at the articles available on Ezinearticles.com.  Look over the categories and pick one that you like.  These may pertain to a hobby you have, or it might be something you’re passionate about and have a great wealth of knowledge about.

Look at the anchor text and keywords used in the articles about the topic you’ve chosen.  Next, click on http://www.kwbrowse.com/ and get keywords related to the niche/topic that you’re interested in.

Your next step is look at the competition for these words on Google.  Google has a free search tool called, appropriately enough, Google’s Keyword Tool. If there are at least eight Adwords ads, the niche should be a profitable one.
 
You’re not done yet! Take the main keywords you’ve chosen and researched thus far and do a search on them in Clickbank.  If there are 4-5 books, then it should be profitable. Now you’re going take a look at your competition in this niche and see how much there is.

If you don’t already know a lot about the subject, learn. Go to a number of forums where people in this hang out.  Learn what  issues they have, what problems they talk about.  Check into Yahoo Answer  and see if there is activity on this niche. 

Lather, rinse, repeat the above steps with two other niche ideas/keywords. 

Then choose the niche with the best numbers and focus your time, energy and money on that niche market.

To find out how to build a successful affiliate marketing business, visit http://www.passiveincomenews.net/super-affiliates/