Begin to Blog: Find a Niche
Everything I have read says you need to identify with a niche or topic and write with that focus. I totally agree, but I'm breaking the rule (more about why I'm a rule breaker in a second).
People typically read blogs by topic: parenting, cooking, frugality, faith, photography, professional blogging, etc, etc, etc. The list goes on and on! Your passion will likely identify you with one common niche. What topic would you mostly identify your voice best fits? That could be your target niche. Identifying within a niche will help your blog be *found* by those looking for information on that topic.
I am a mostly frugal blogger by niche I associate myself with when I fill out affiliate applications and respond to PR. I talk about many other topics with fitness/weight-loss being another big topic. I don't have a separate blog for this topic because I don't want to :) Honestly, I don't have a passion to write strictly in the weight-loss/fitness niche. I just want to share about it. What better place to do that than your blog.
Again, your blog is YOUR space to share YOUR thoughts. Sharing parts of who you are, regardless of your niche, helps people identify with you!
It is simply helpful to stay on topic within the blogging, list-making, PR community by staying in your niche. If you share various topics, like me, just outline those in your “About Me” page. That way visitors can see what topics you share and know where to jump in with questions, comments or pitches!
Visitors will likely stay to read your content based on the quality in the post and connectivity they feel, not necessarily your niche. It's the old switch and bait, only the good kind where they actually like what else you are sharing! You are technically still providing information within that niche…just not in every single post :)
If you are writing to share you voice, go ahead and color outside the lines. I bet your readers will like it…or they will simply skip ahead to the next post you have to offer :
| Action Plan: What will you identify as your blog's niche? |
Photo Credit: mkae
SO true! After Blissdom, I kept thinking that if I wanted to be a “Big Deal,” I needed to switch….stick with just frugal blogging – zero in on my niche, but I just didn’t feel right about it. I was called to write about my beauty and bedlam and didn’t want to lose that, plus just didn’t have the time to do a separate blog for family, food things etc. This has been a good decision. Will I make the money that I could have by switching all frugal? Absolutely not, but I am ok with that…I ‘m sharing my passion. :)
Jen – thanks for sharing that! I think it makes your blog really interesting with all of the different aspects to it! Plus, it’s our blogs we can do what we want with them :) Oh, and you are a *Big Deal* cause you’re a mom :) That’s what #bigdealmoms is all about!!!
Thank you so much for doing this series. I am a self proclaimed coupons queen. It was my passion before I started blogging. I used to shared my deals with family and friends and then the phone started ringing off the hook asking for help with deals. So I decided to blog it. I also love bulk cooking it is also a passion for me. I combine both on my blog. You are so right do what you love it is your blog. I look forward to reading more of this series. Thanks for sharing.
I think that I have found my niche, I am just so spastic that I believe I have more than one, lol. I like to share a lot about my life and the lessons I learn how I learn them and encourage others to do the same. I am just not sure if I have the right “floor plan”.
I’m very excited to follow your series. I started blogging on a whim just because I love to write. But, for many reasons, put it on hold. I think your series will inspire me to get back at it, but with more direction and focus. I covered lots of topics and sorta like the idea of doing that. Again, good to “have permission” to make my blog my own. :)
Yeah, your totally right. I to just started a blog and things your saying are exactly what I was thinking. I started my niche on starting a blog for scratch and building it up to rank high, but at the same time I’m writing articles as I learn.
I totally agree with you–it is easier to focus on a specific niche–that helps the blog to have some focus, but you are right in that it doesn’t proclude other interests as well. For a while after starting my blog (FrugalCatholicMommy), I began to second guess myself and wonder if I should drop the Catholic element and just be ANOTHER frugal mommy blog. I decided to keep it as is, because it is MY blog–a reflection of me and my interests, and it is the one place I CAN combine all my interests (kids/family, shopping, deals, and my faith) in one place. I think so often bloggers try to appeal to EVERYONE, but that makes them no longer unique.
tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!