Alltop is a great niche research tool. Enter the name of your niche and select a related keyword from the topics list. Once you click through to the sites listed you can see:
- Website layouts – you get design ideas for your own site.
- Free gifts or newsletters they are offering – you can do something similar to build your email lists.
- If they have an Advertise With Us page – you can get paid traffic via banners or solo ads.
- Products they are promoting – helps you to identify the profitability of the niche and generate product creation ideas.
- Popular or hot topics they are discussing – you'll find topics for your blog or email newsletter.
Also, Alltop and other content aggregators can be good resources for finding new types of content to read and share.