Think You Have An SN Niche? Doubtful.

With the boom of social networking, what could be considered a great niche 3 months ago, is now being considered a common playing field. Areas that use to be deemed an under served niche, now have 3, 4, or even 5 + social networks aiming to serve the same space. Here are just a few examples:
Athletic Training

The recent launch of Traineo, makes the third social networking site to launch in the past 2 months targeting physical training, body building, and working out. Bulkd.com was the original on the scene, and bodybuilding.com’s BodySpace.com recently launched a few weeks ago. While all a little different in their own way, they are still vying for the same demographic.

Stock

SocialPicks.com just came out of their private alpha to release their beta version this week. I wrote about SocialPicks and FeelingBullish.com back in May. Other competitors, Bullpoo.com and Gradr.com. I still think SocialPicks has the best platform out of all these sites.

SportsÂÂ

4 months ago there was no one serving this space, which is why I started my own project Fanlete.com (new release coming soon). The space is now being flooded with more down pours to come. Recent launches include Fanspot.com, Sportsmates.com, NHL Connect, and NBX.com. The real killer? ESPN is expected to launch their own “Myspace for Sports” sometime next month.

Art

The latest buzz has been around AmateurIllustrator.com, but the niche veteran here is DeviantArt.com. I expect at least a couple more to appear in this niche by the end of September.

With all of these niche social networks vying for the same targeted demographic, what will determine who lives on, and who secures a spot in the Web 2.0 cemetary? My personal belief is that the social networks with the big names (i.e. Bodybuilding.com for Working Out, and ESPN for sports) will be the ultimate niche killers. Social networks live and die off of their user base. Whoever can gain a user base the quickest, and reach that coveted critical mass will win. Social networks backed by big names may not necessarily have the best feature set, design, or usability, but what they do have is marketing leverage. They can gain a large user base, fast, efficiently, and cheap.

In fact, the working out segment is already seeing this. During a conversation with Nick Mazza, founder of Bulkd.com, he said that when bodybuilding.com launched BodySpace.com he literally saw his new member registration stop. Is there a saving grace for the smaller players? Of course…but it will take more then a rip off of myspace for a certain subject. My advice to niche social networks - Combine, Collaborate, and Innovate.

[tags]Social Networks, Social Networking, Niche Social Networks, Fanlete, Sportsmates, Fanspot, SocialPicks, Bulkd, FeelingBullish, BodySpace, Traineo[/tags]