--- title: "Assessing your niche" description: "A Google search test for how crowded your space is." canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/known/assessing-your-niche/ updated: 2026-11-03 --- # Assessing your niche > A Google search test for how crowded your space is. Mark Schaefer's framework, from KNOWN, pp. 58 to 63. Framework 4 of 19 from [KNOWN](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/known/index.md) by Mark Schaefer. Category: Personal brand. ## The steps 1. **Google your terms.** Search key terms associated with your identity. 2. **Read the count.** Under 500,000 results is very good, 500,000 to 1 million needs patient work, over 1 million means tweak the angle. 3. **Check Google Trends.** Look at whether search interest has risen over five years. 4. **Check who owns the topic.** Look for whether any single person or organisation is known for it. ## Where it comes from From chapter: CHAPTER 4 Step Two: Determining Your Space, pp. 58–63 Using Willie Keeler's line about hitting them where they ain't, Schaefer argues that your interest also needs an uncontested space. First-mover advantage, as with wine blogger Jamie Goode, is real but vulnerable, and failing to find a meaningful space is the primary reason people fail. He gives a Google test for saturation: fewer than 500,000 results is very good, 500,000 to 1 million needs work, and more than 1 million means tweak your angle. Even crowded niches can be entered, as Hickok45's gun videos show, and the chapter lists eight strategies for doing it. ## The animation 24 seconds, 4:5, no sound. - MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/assessing-your-niche.mp4 - MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/assessing-your-niche-dark.mp4 - Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/assessing-your-niche.png - Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/known/assessing-your-niche-dark.png