It’s Day 8 in the b5media 12(ish) days of Christmas Series and the next contribution is from By Tammy Powley from the Jewelry and Beading. She’s going to talk Niche Blogging. Feel free to add your own reflections and experiences on niche blogging in comments below.
Right now, I maintain three weblogs: Jewelry and Beading at b5media.com; Jewelry Making at About.com; and The Jewelry Weblog at Creative Weglogging. Notice a trend? While each blog has a different flavor, they all focus on one topic – jewelry.
After many years working as a defense industry technical writer, I always wanted to become a freelance writer. Jewelry was the way I accomplished this. It was my “niche,” my forte, and the way I managed to eventually write for the Internet, get published in magazines, and write and consult on a number of books. I was lucky that I happened to stumble onto my niche, and by focusing on one topic, I have found a good deal of success as a freelance writer and now Internet weblogger.
Niche blogging is a great way to promote your writing/blogging career and can even be fun, especially if you pick a topic that you’re already passionate about. If you’ve been struggling with your blog identity, moving from one topic to another but never really sure of where you’re headed, then consider the benefits of niche blogging.
- You become an expert. When you concentrate on one topic, you eventually become an expert. Your knowledge grows and so does your reputation. This can lead to more writing work and recognition. As an example, I was recently interviewed by another freelance writer for an article she was working on for Art Jewelry magazine. I’m not getting paid in cash for this, but it will pay in promotion for me because she agreed to include the URL of my writing site (www.tammypowley.com), which has links to all my other blogs and web sites.
- You can cross promote yourself. For example, use blog rolls to include links to your related sites. I do my best to keep each weblog I write filled with new content. However, if I have a new article or e-course on my About.com Jewelry Making site, I make sure to blog about it at one point or another on my Jewelry and Beading blog at b5media.com. I also blog about my latest hardcopy publications such as magazine articles or books I have pending. Keep your content fresh and new for all your blogging, but there’s no reason you can’t mention some of the same topical information.
- You build an audience. By positioning yourself as an expert and cross promoting your on line and off writing, you build an audience. Readers of one blog turn into readers of your web site who turn into readers of your books. As you build an audience of readers, you build your reputation in your chosen topic field. I’ve received numerous publication opportunities from the fact that someone found my blog or web site. They liked what they saw and emailed me about possible writing projects. Also, when I query about new writing jobs, once I mention a URL or two of mine, those “in the know” often already know me and have read much of my on line work already.
Niche weblogging, of course, first requires a niche. Pick something you are already knowledgeable about and extremely interested in because it is what you will focus the majority of your blogging efforts around. You don’t want to get burned out in just a matter of months. Many of us have interests, hobbies, or a vocation that may be the perfect niche topic for a weblogging career. More than likely, you already have a niche; you just haven’t purposely concentrated on it in order to reap the full benefits of niche blogging.
