I would like to pass on some experience I have gained from a few years of Internet Marketing. I hope that this helps someone. I truly hope it helps you avoid months of wasted time and frustration. I do not profess to be an expert, so I try to apply what little common sense I have. All of my IM experience has come the way of hard knocks and hard work. If you are new you are probably suffering from information overload. I would urge you to simplify things and keep it simple to begin with. What confuses most of us is what to promote. My initial thought was to promote products that have wide general appeal and lots of search traffic. The disappointment came weeks later when I was not able to drive any traffic without paying for it, and that little paid traffic I did get did not convert. Little did i know that I was competing in a market that was dominated by big dogs, with much more experience, and tons of SEO experts, things I will ever have. I eventually ran across one of those Internet Marketing videos that was offering some product, and although I did not purchase the product I did take away some good ideas regarding market selection. I found this information to be valuable. Since then I have concentrated on finding products/services in underleveraged markets with manageable competition. I first search for a product, not a keyword. The search for keywords comes next, and is an integral part of the process. Once I find a potential product, only then will I research to see if I can compete with the keywords necessary to drive traffic via a first page Google rank. If I cannot compete for my desired keywords I move on. To locate a product I may use search terms such as " does work", or "how does work" to see what people are searching for, and needing a solution to a problem. This will give me ideas to start with, and then I can look to my affiliate networks to see if they have corresponding products to fill this potential need. I will also check to see if a potential product has an independent affiliate offering that may not be offered through my affiliate networks. Then I will search for those products to see what the competition looks like. After this I will use Samurai to do some in-depth research for hundreds of potential keywords, the search volume, and the competition. I do not rely on just the keywords that any tool will suggest. I may sit on the porch with a notebook and a cold drink and think of all the keywords a potential customer may use to locate a particular solution. I paid good money for my keyword search tools, but they sometimes miss some winning keywords. Keep them relevant, these need to be terms people are actually using to search with to find the solution you offer. Remember, competition should be manageable. YOU get to pick what you promote. You will spend many hours building a site, and promoting it. It's worth it to spend a couple days researching your product/service selection before moving forward, only to discover your competition is overwhelming, and much worse, that you do not have the conviction and resolve to work hours on end promoting your site.....which is a whole 'nother deal in itself. This is actually the short version of what I do, but I hope it gives you some insight as to where you might start. Good luck!
Focus on the niches that u're really familiar with and have the most interest, now for marketing, be professional and valuable content are the most vital points.