Finding Your Blogging Niche
My friend, Sarah has mentioned to me on many occasions that she wasn’t sure how I came up with topics to write about, day after day.
There have been times when I have thought the same of other bloggers. Then, I feel into a groove with blogging and I get how it’s done by others (and myself) now.
The thing is you have to have a niche. As defined by dictionary.com:
Niche
a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing: to find one’s niche in the business world.
To find your blogging niche means that you’re finding your place within the blogosphere. And just like you would find your niche in the business world, based on your business passion, you’ll find your niche in the blogging world based on your blogging passion.
So, how are you going to do that?
Question 1: What do you know?
When you’re having a conversation with your best friend, what do you tend to lean to into the conversation? Something you know about, right? Your topics are things that you can actually have a conversation about. It’s all about what you know.
Finding Your Niche:
Create a list of things that you feel you know. Go back over conversations or in conversations over the next few days, pay attention to what you’re talking about. Write them down. If you repeat a topic in a conversation that’s on your list, put a check mark next to the topic every time you talk about it after that first initial conversation.
Over the course of a couple of days, with thinking and conversation, you should see what you talk about the most. Typically, this is going to tell you what you know and enjoy talking about. Both elements are key to having a successful blog, not necessarily finding your niche.
Question 2: Who do you know?
In life and online, we tend to gravitate to people who have similar interests as we do. So, take a look at who you socialize with both on and off line. They’ll be resources for you to create blog posts in your new niche that are packed with information and create your audience.
Finding Your Niche:
Write another list telling yourself about the basic people in your life. What do they do for livings? Who do you socialize with online that could be potential resources for your niche blog?
Question 3: Q & A
When I’m online I prefer to _____.
Of everything I read online, I’m most interesting in reading about _____.
I network online by _____.
The books that I enjoy reading are _____.
My favorite hobbies are _____.
I really enjoy _____.
Finding Your Niche:
Answering these questions will open yourself up to what it is you enjoy doing and reading. Paying attention to your hobbies are key to finding what your possible niche is.
At this stage, you should have some glaring answers about what it is that you enjoy doing, reading, and what your hobbies are.
Research:
Now that you have narrowed down your selection of things that you like, you should be looking at some glaring niche topics. This is your time to research, what is it that you that others are writing about?
Hit up blog search engines and put in some keywords to your niche. You discovered you like sports, which sport is your favorite? Football, Basketball, Soccer, etc.
Go to Google and do a blog search, hit up Technorati and search through the tags, visit BlogCatalog and visit their tags. This will give you an idea of what people are talking about in the niche topics that are good choices for you.
It’s important to know who your “competition†is. For example, there are a lot of people that blog about “make money online.†This niche would potentially put your blog right next ProBlogger and John Chow. Do you know what these guys know to draw in the audience that would be needed to sustain a blog about making money online?
Wild guess, probably not.
And while we’re on that subject, consider this. Too many people have started blogs about making money online. I begin to wonder, what do they really know? Can they hold up a picture, like Shoemoney has and show the world their huge check from Google?
The answer is no.
You’ll find that the majority of people are sick of these blogs because they cannot compare to the others in their niche that provide proof of what they have actually done online.
Specifics:
Carefully finalize that niche. Don’t be too limiting, more specific niches means a smaller audience and a bigger challenge for you to write. If you found that you like Baseball, choose your niche as sports. This will allow you to report news on drafts for all sports, the Superbowl, and headline news pertaining to sports. You may find that by saying “all I’m going to talk about is Baseball†that you’re limiting yourself. There are more people that like sports, in general, than people who only like Baseball.
Setup:
You’ve got the information you need, you know what it is you like; you’ve researched for your competitors and people you’ll want to network with. Now you’ve got to setup your blog. Choose an appropriate domain name.
Be serious, pay for good hosting and a domain name (I prefer GoDaddy, save $3 by using coupon code Skinny3 at checkout). Setup a WordPress blog, grab yourself a theme, and start writing.
Conclusion:
Niche blogging has to be something that you love. You must have a passion for it. This blog works for me because I have a true interest in the blogging world, marketing, social networking, and all things related to the blogosphere. I do research on these topics to see what other bloggers are saying and based on what I have read I’m able to bring these topics to you from my own opinion.
Do not be a blogger that simply says what others have already said. Have your own voice, the rewards are much more great.
And once you have that niche blog setup, remember who your go to girl is for those networking and blogosphere topics are that can help you propel your blogging to the next step.
Start today. What’s your niche?
February 19th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Great article and many great tips.
Even if you have a niche in mind that you know you have plenty of knowledge in you must always keep researching it.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Marketing Blog » Thank you. And agreed, research is always key.
I recently left a comment on a discussion at BlogCatlog and referenced researching to which I got the reply “I’m not sure why I’d want to research.”
The answer to me is so obvious that I couldn’t even respond. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one that places value on researching.
February 19th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Thanks so much for this post, Katy. Definitely given me plenty to think about. Now I’m off to answer those questions. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally figure out my own niche, and who knows, maybe what to do with the other blog I’ve got that hasn’t been used in awhile, ;)
February 19th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Sarah » You’re Welcome!
Obviously there are many more points to this. But I sat down and thought about what worked for me and these are the questions that I came up with.
And, your “sitting” domain has great potential. Name domains have any number of things that can be done with them. After finding your niche, you’ll have to discover maintenance mode and giving two blogs a go!
February 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Oh crap, I wasn’t even thinking of my name domain, XD. I was talking about my Random Amusements blog, ROFL. Three blogs o.O Now that’ll be a chore, but hey, writing is writing ;)
February 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
LOL Good luck!! :D
February 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Thanks! I think I’m going to need it, if my most recent post has anything to say about it, ROFL.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:03 am
When I took my current site live I had no idea really in which direction I was heading with it. Some general thoughts but that’s as far as it went…
Already, I am starting to find a more ‘me’ voice in my articles rather than trying to force something that is not really there in heart.
I think for me I lack the uber professionalism aspetct, sounding in charge and one of great wisdom. I tend to feel a fraud when not allowing my real voice to show it’s head.
I don’t think i have a niche as such, more a style that I am obviously comfortable with. So I am relaxing a bit with the content. As you said, no real point mirrowing what other more experienced bloggers are saying, as you need to know about it to be able to put your own spin on things. Otherwise you end up literlly just almost copying word for word, because you feel it’s an important issue. But I think thats really not what blogging is about. Otherwise you might just be a news service.
Blogging is adding your personality to your site, and I see so many ‘major’ blogs that have become so sterile and clinical that you feel unwelcome. BEcause they have grown so much, it’s hard to develop a uniquie personality or voice.
]
This is why I like reading and commenting on sites like yours, it has a more social, local feel to it. That your input is noticed rather than one of many. Just more cosy.
I think my site will keep finding it’s voice for a while whilst I experiment and maybe it will end up a ‘niche’ corner somewhere. Who knows. Right now, im all over the place. :) But learning.
Graham Smith
ImJustCreative
Blog & Web Ramblings from ‘my’ Gutter.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:04 am
Graham » Finding your voice is probably the most important thing you can do for your blog. It’s not always easy and few times to people realize when starting that they’ll need to find a voice but your point is valid.
As far as niche versus style, you know, not all blogs have a specific niche. I think that’s OK as long you’re getting what you want from your blog and are able to give your readers something.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:46 am
I’m sure my “niche” is parenting and mommy stuff, but I’m just all over the place with it I don’t think I have it down right. xD
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Jenny » That’s one place I wish I could find my niche. I have the ‘personal’ blog which is my place to do it. But, it’s been a month or so since I’ve written a post over there.
Ultimately, I think I’m just too private these days to be openly sharing those details. And I have a hard time sharing intimate details about my daughter because I don’t want her birth-Mom to know anything.
March 7th, 2008 at 5:25 am
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March 17th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Thanks for the tips. I think I am still working on finding my niche, but I am getting closer. Keep up the good work.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Jason » You’re quite welcome! Good luck finding your niche. :o)
March 31st, 2008 at 7:41 am
[...] nearly all niche blogging topics, there is competition to be the best and the biggest. Knowing that your visitors can go to any [...]
April 11th, 2008 at 9:27 am
[...] Being a blogger that has done both personal blogging and niche blogging, I thought I’d take a moment to share some of my lessons. Most of which I wish I had known prior to switching I’m Blogging That from personal blogging to niche blogging. [...]
May 8th, 2008 at 12:13 am
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May 14th, 2008 at 9:47 am
[...] times bloggers setup blogs without thinking about a blogging niche or really knowing what they want to talk about. Likewise, it’s not uncommon for bloggers to [...]
May 16th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Thank You for twitterin’ me! I’m so glad I found your blog. Definitely saving it and adding you on blog catalog.
Very beneficial…I’m trying to figure out my ‘niche’ as we speak and trying my best not to get in my own way.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Cynthia » Quite welcome. And thank you for the compliment. Hope you find some tips here that work out for you. Good luck finding your blogging niche, sometimes it’s much easier said than done. My best advice — when all else fails, just write and let it come to your naturally.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:20 pm
[...] of the benefits of having a defined niche blog is being able to play off of your own knowledge. If you know a great deal of information on math, [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am
[...] And while big businesses started picking up on blogging as a means of promoting news, more and more niche blogs grew to create the blogosphere that we see [...]
June 5th, 2008 at 12:25 am
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