A Tale of 2 Cheesecakes: Mass Markets -vs- Niche Markets

I love cheesecake.

My wife makes the fluffiest, creamiest, most delectable cheesecake I have ever tasted, slightly browned at the edges, delicious light yellow, dripping with cherries or blueberries. There is no store-bought cheesecake that can hold a candle to it.

Yet companies like "The Cheesecake Factory" or "Junior's Cheesecakes" make literal fortunes selling cheesecakes at $50.00 apiece not including the shipping! Those store-bought or Internet bought cheesecakes are good, but my wife can makes them so much better.

And this got me to thinking: Cheesecakes mass produced under the most ideal conditions are still inferior to those made with love by wives and grandmothers everywhere. What does this mean for the Internet marketer? It means a lot, because it points to new niche markets. Can you get several grandmothers to produce a few cheesecakes each? You pay them 15 dollars for every one they produce. They win because they produce as much as they want, and in some cases that may be something that gives them a new purpose! There are so many widows and others who, having retired and having families that have moved away, have time. Some may need a few extra dollars too.

You have your own product resource here, a freelance cheesecake factory if you will. And don't stop there, what else can be produced in this way? Knitting? Gifts? Crafts? Cookies? Fried Chicken?

You can sell these obviously superior products online and ship them anywhere in the country, and if you use Ebay as an example, you can do it without even having to set up your own web-presence, just create an Ebay store!

You see older retired people may not want to bother with running their own business, but they may want to feel useful and to get a few dollars for it as well makes it even sweeter. Why not? Everyone wins: The customer gets a superior product, the retired person gets worth and dollars, and you make money with your on-line business.

By the way, Colonel Sanders started KFC when he was over 60! He "invented" something called "home meal replacement" selling complete meals to busy, time-strapped families and called it "Sunday Dinner, Seven Days a Week." Could you have some grandparents or others create complete meals, store them with dry-ice and ship them using the Internet?

And no matter what the Mass producers say, properly positioned and skilful marketing will pit them against "Grandma"! Not an enviable position for them, but a great place for the savvy marketer.

Niches are funny things... They typically exist right in front of you unrecognized by almost everyone, but one thing I have noticed, they always seem to exist close to un-used resources. This is a case where there is unused wisdom and experience, in our elderly population and amongst those who have skills and abilities but perhaps not the time or energy for full-time employment. If you can use Internet technology to leverage these resources, you can create wealth where nobody ever thought to look for it.