What's my Niche?

Webstores are downright dangerous.

At least, the whole "1-click-purchase" concept should be kept far out of the reach of instant gratificationists like myself. These last three weeks I have spent a small fortune online. And all of it, on books. I feel somewhat redeemed by the spate of brilliant publishings of late though. It'd be downright stupid not to seize the opportunity to expand the horizon a little further, so I feel I have a valid excuse for a change.

I've nearly finished Microtrends by Mark J. Penn. It explores the new niche-groups in society that might open up new markets.

What strikes me, is how many of those niches I appear to belong to. This is surprising mainly because the author defines a niche-group as a group constituting of less than 3% of the (Western) population. I am a massive minorty, clearly.

So what niches do I belong to? Well...

1. Internet Daters:
A few of my friends introduced me to Gaydar at a halls-party a couple of years ago. We spent a good few hours hunting for the worst online dating-profiles and had a really good laugh at other people's expense. Perhaps surprising then, that most of my friends had their own online profiles and regularly met up with people they'd met over the internet.
The concept wasn't entirely new to me... I flew 1700kms to meet a girl I'd never met IRL when I was only 19. But to actively seek out a relationship over the internet, didn't seem all that appealing. That was 6 years ago though, and I am now an absolute convert. The web is an excellent place to meet new people, to wield out the uninteresting candidates and to woo the good 'un when u do find her ;-)

2. Extreme Commuters:
Defined as an individual who travels more than 90 minutes to get to work. I guess that just about qualifies me. On a good day (no traffic jams) my round-trip to work takes me 2.5 hours. An average day takes 3 hours, and my personal longest record stands at 4 hours and 10 minutes.
What is interesting is that Mark Penn points out "audiobooks" and "audiolectures" as a new market for this niche. I regularly buy audiolectures from the Teaching Company, and download lectures and audiobooks for free at a myriad of other sites. It goes a long way to reducing the feeling of lost time.

3. Teleworkers:
I belong to this group for only 20% really, as I work from home only 1 day a week. But according to the book, this is the road to success. Teleworkers work longer hours in the comfort of their own home, are more willing to work irregular hours.
For me personally, the biggest upside is that I can have telcons with overseas whilst still in my jimmy jams. But don't tell anyone ;-)

4. DIY Doctors:
I'm convinced I started this niche all on my lonesome. DIYDs research their own symptoms, diagnose their own illnesses and administer their own cures. If we have to call on doctors at all, we treat them like "ATM" machines for prescriptions we already know we need.

5. Hard-of-hearers:
Young people, straining to hear. It frustrates the hell out of my girrel, but when she's walking to the right of me, we generally fall into a routine of "wha? No seriously, repeat what u just said". I've got pretty bad hearing in my right ear. This is why she sleeps on the LEFT side of the bed. Although she doesn't know this. She's convinced she chose the side of the bed and that I merely followed suit ;-)

6. Unisexuals:
Potentially my favorite niche, although I could do with a one-to-one with mister Penn. His notion of the terms Queer and Transgender leaves much to be desired. Nonetheless, as a Queer, I was content to see this niche finally noticed. Unisexuals are here defined as people who refute the binary gender classification system because it fails to account for the gray area between male and female that more accurately describes them. For the record... I pee in male toilets 20% of the time. The line is simply absurd.

7. Uptown Tattooed:
Hope this is of some comfort to the parentals: the new niche of middle-classers with tattoos. C'est le nouveau chic ;-) Whilst I would not consider myself trailer-trash, I have two tats. I guess the fact that this is a niche, no longer means I am uniquely cool??

8. Social Geeks:
The new geeks are techno-savvy socialites. We still attend Star Trek conventions, read up on the latest gadgets, get excited by gimpy dense theories, but apparently we're extroverts these days, with a fantastic social life (whether online or offline).

9. Tech Fatales:
Girl Geek Early Adaptors. Not sure I truly qualify for this niche. "Early" is quite relative, depending on who you hang out with. Also "adaptor" to me at least, has a somewhat pejorative ring to it. Almost as if u willingly/morosely swallow whatever new comes your way. But Female Techie, I must confess to being.

Be kind with your comments ;-)