This is one reason existing products and competition are useful. You want to take stock of what’s already available in a particular niche and then differentiate yourself. If you find that there are already a ton of popular ebooks in a niche, then you can come out with a physical product or write another ebook with a different spin to it.

How about writing an ebook as a lead generator (like a short report) to build your list and then ask your list what they would like. Would they join a subscription community? How much would they pay? Would they buy their related products (in the case of dog training, their pet products) online or are they more comfortable walking into a PetSmart? Would they rather have a DVD than learn the training tips in an ebook?

Survey them to find out what they want and then create it for them. If dog training is your niche, you can even ask them their top 5 stresses about owning their dog and create a product or even products around their answers.

If you don’t like to survey, then write up a few articles on related topics. Put a snippet of the article in an email you send out to your list with a link to the full article on your site. Place adsense ads around the article. See which articles are getting read. Study your adsense clicks.

This is a great method for collecting information on what your niche market wants in addition to asking them in a survey. After all, people don’t always know what they want. But by using adsense, you can see their wants and needs in action! Having that list is paramount to really knowing what revenue model to use. Otherwise, you’re just guessing.