This guest post is by Kid In The Front Row.
I once watched an interview with Ricky Gervais, where he talked about how a lot of people don’t like his stand up comedy. He said he didn’t care. All he needs is 5,000 people in each town to fill a theater, and then he’s set. Whether the rest of the population like him or not is irrelevant.
It’s the same with your blog.
You might be extremely passionate about obscure German movies, or maybe you’re obsessed with antique books; or perhaps you happen to have an unusually large amount of knowledge about Mongolian fruit. Whatever it is, that’s your niche.
And sometimes you don’t even know your niche—at least, not at first. The important thing is to get writing—to discover your niche. What do I mean by “discover your niche”?
I mean: figure out who you are.
At first, I blogged generically about movies. I thought my passion was film. Turns out, I think most films are terrible. But I love it when you really hear a voice in the writing; when a film is actually saying something. When you feel you’ve witnessed a real piece of art.
Gradually, my blogging changed—it became more about auteurs, writer/directors, and about the incredible opportunities of independent film.
I found my niche. I found myself. And the blog exploded after that.
Once you’ve figured out what you want to write about, then you can really become an expert within your field. That doesn’t mean that you know everything; it means that you’re leading the quest.
On my blog, I interview screenwriters and directors who inspire me, in the hope that they can lead me further to the truth of what it is to be an artist. They help me figure out why the struggle to produce great films is worth it. They keep me on track.
I’m in a constant dialogue with the readers. Sometimes I inspire them with my insight. Other times, they shoot me down for talking nonsense—which in turn teaches me a lot. We learn from each other, and we’re on the same quest.
Having a niche is about that one corner of the world that is totally yours. Everything about it, you’re in love with. Lots of people might have blogs about how to make cupcakes, but your blog is about how to make cupcakes without sugar; or using only chocolate; or using leftover pieces of chicken—who knows? Only you do!
Whatever it is, you’ll figure it out along the way.
Once you truly focus on being yourself, you’ll stand apart from the rest, and the readers will flock to you, because you’re telling the truth, and your excitement makes them excited.
When that happens, you know you’ve found your niche.
Kid In The Front Row is a cult film blog with a more personal outlook. It’s not about reviewing movies, it’s not about criticising movies – it’s about loving movies. About loving them so much that still, after all these years, we’re just Kids In The Front Row, shoving popcorn down our faces as we stare up at those wonderful people on the big screen.
I’m discovering something uncannily similar as well.
I started my blog generally on the topic of technology, learning, and professional development, but I’ve only ever written about learning. The more I reflect on the topic, the more I’m finding I’m particularly interested in education reform. More specifically, reforming humanities programs.
I publish once a week on my personal blog, every Friday morning, and that for only a month now. But even this short time is enough to get me refining my ideas. I expect my blog will evolve even further, and specialize even more in the coming years. (Otherwise, what’s the point?)
So anyways, that’s a long way of saying: “Great post!”
High five.
Shawn
I really struggle with the Niche concept because I love to write about so many things. I belive it is the right way to blossom but haven’ got there yet. This post made me pause and think so thanks for that.
First, how on earth is this posted on the 11th? Today is the 10th. Regardless, I love this! In order to have a killer blog, you need to develop a niche and also develop your voice in your writing.
Good stuff!
Thank you , i appreciate your blog.
Thanksss :)
That is hilarious about Ricky Gervais!
He don’t care about no one! :)
That surely teaches us a great lesson!
Write like you mean it!
That is what I try to achieve and add content that is my extreme quality to Internet Dreams!
Thanks for the article!
Samuel,
Internet Dreams
This is true with any business. You don’t really need a ton of customers to become successful. Just a bunch of enthusiastic and returning customers.
Great post. I love industry posts that discuss more psychological aspects, so I loved reading about the two types of disinhibition.
I have read a quote “If you do what you love, you don’t have to work” same goes for blogging. If you blog on the niche you love, blogging would give you laurels. Great post !
Such a good case study. I myself find it’s quite difficult and confusing when choosing my own niche. In my opinion, this step is one of the most important in the whole process. Choosing the niche without passion, you will not able to move any where so far.
Thanks
Finding niche markets and niche keywords is not hard. In fact, it is very easy if you have the right tools. Dont short change your marketing efforts by avoiding anything that costs money for doing market research. With a good tool, the small amount spent will save you a lot of time in the long run and make your efforts more profitable.
Knowing your niche is really essential. Sometimes the niche you want is not the niche to which you belong. Like now, I want to feature better on the Tech and blog niche but I found out that I do better in criticising- which I’ll start on a full scale soon. To find the niche to which you belong- you need to discover yourself. It’s all about that. Know who you are and the rest will fall in
Nice ideas. I have diversified my writing from beginner guitar tuition to the making money teaching guitar niche. Some would have thought that this would not work as you are writing on separate niches, but I believe the two niches work together. What do people think about this approach? Thanks
Nice post….
This really suggests me to write posts particularly benlonging on my niche instead of searching random posts and making it publish on my blog…
Thanx for the article Kid In The Front Row…
Finding that niche is a bitch, ill admit. I’ve tried 100’s of different things and failed at most of them. Video and Marketing (social media…etc) is my strong suite and been demonstrating it on my blog, where users love what I have to say.
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Ive just started out with blogging and to be honest i dont know what my niche will be, so for know i will learn all about how to blogg and in time i hope to find a subject that i will enjoy blogging about and i suppose at that point i will know what my niche will be
I find this interesting because I have four different blogs – all of them get good traffic except the one that I love writing the most (my humor blog – The Bitchy Girl Diaries) and I am certain that its because for two years now I have been struggling to find a niche for it.
I’m lucky if I get two readers a day!
So this has inspired me to really focus on niche-ing things up a bit. But its hard to pick a focus because I worry about limiting myself. I am not so much worried about alienating any readers, because I only have about 8 – but I am worried about feeling constricted in my blogging. All my other blogs are very specific but I feel like I cannot be myself in them – i am always sensoring myself. I would love to be able to be truly myself in my blog AND have lots of readers.
This really nice post, I couldn’t agree more. In these days, competition in every field is tighter and tighter. Not only in real business, writing/bloggig needs also specialization or niche. Thanks for sharing
Found this article to be very helpful. I must admit that I have had challenges identifying my niche. Working in the graphic design arena, there are SEVERAL niches that extremely populated and saturated. I know that one day, I will find the niche where I can flourish in. Thanks for this article!