Choosing Your Niche
Easy for Some, not for Others
So many people get hung up on choosing a niche that it’s easy to understand why we are advised not to spend too much time on deciding on one. Then again, if you are a person who can write well about any subject that you might be even slightly interested in, I can see why it would be easy to say not to worry about it.
Most of us were first time writers when we got here. Since then, we’ve read many blogs from good writers and from new writers, just the same. We’ve seen lots of things that interest us and that we can write about or ideas that we can incorporate into a future article of our own.
But getting started on writing our first article (You can use the word “blog”, if you prefer) requires that we have some direction. We have to have a subject to write about. Figuring out what we know enough about to get started can be intimidating! I mean, "who the heck am I to come off like an expert on this subject", right?
Just like you were told, you really don’t have to spend a lot of time on nailing this down.
Searching High and Low
Your friends know exactly what you’re passionate about. If you’re not sure where to start, ask them what they think you are most passionate about. They know! They will tell you!
There are other clues in our lives that we can consider.
Twenty minutes before the end of your work day, you look at the clock and think, ‘I can’t wait to get home and (do your niche)...’, or ‘I’ll be (your niche) in an hour!’.
It could be something like a candle lit hot bath that’s calling to you, or reading a great book… or both!
That can be your niche!
Three weeks into Winter, and you’re already thinking, ‘I hate Winter! I can’t wait for Summer so I can (your niche) again’
It can be surfing, water skiing, windsurfing… whatever. Whatever it is that you can’t wait to get back to next Summer can be your niche!
Maybe in the Winter you love to snow ski, snowboard or ice skate. Hey! There are some great niche ideas right there but maybe it’s something else. You know what it is. That is probably a great niche for you!
Let’s do Spring now. Perhaps you love to photograph our planet’s new beginning every year. Maybe you think photographing plants is only for people who can’t grow plants like you can. Maybe you have some great advice for growing vegetables indoors or getting flowers ready to plant? Maybe you only like tomatoes and love to grow different types. These are all great niche ideas!
Photography comes around to the Fall, as well as the opportunity to make crafts from things people replaced when the weather turned cool enough to build a new fence. Maybe you make crafts from leaves, branches and twigs. Camping isn’t out of the question in the Fall, either. These are all great niches for people!
So, identifying your niche is an introspective process, unless you just ask your friends.
No Experience Required
But it doesn’t have to be something that you feel that you are an expert in. All you really need is an interest. An honest interest. You are going to be reading about things related to your niche. You are going to be writing about these things. You are going to be developing a passion for this subject and you are going to focus on it for some time longer than you would on something that you are only passively interested in.
You may never feel like you are the expert in your niche, but you will be establishing that belief in others who experience your website.
It could be that you just haven’t yet embraced the fact that you are already really good or knowledgeable on a subject and are intimidated by the prospect of writing something about it and then having someone disagree with you.
Don’t let that idea dissuade you! Write the best thing that you can about your niche and let people's opinions fall where they may. If you find out you wrote something wrong, you can always edit it.
I’m going to end this now. I hope I have given you some great ideas for looking at your life to find your niche.
Now, start writing!
As always, I wish you the very best in success!
Recent Comments
7
Good suggestions, John
You're coming along nicely. Did you ever get back to giving Site Comments?
Chuck
Heh! Yeah, Chuck, I did. Not as much as I had planned, but I'm doing it.
I wrote that blog...or rant when I felt completely frustrated by the system after getting close to "Certified Commenter" and things started going wrong.
It felt almost like a carrot was dangling out there and that I would never reach it. But I finally did.
Thanks for following up!
John
Choosing my niche was a no brainer for me, it had to be horses. But as you say I don’t consider myself an expert, and I had to narrow it down, so it became new horse owners.
I do know enough to provide advice to newbies, and they are the ones who need it most. They are also the ones who probably need to buy the most (as an added bonus).
So what ever your niche consider if you can add the word new in front of it eg. New photographers, new kite surfers, new gardeners. I found it really took the weight off having to be an expert :)
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Great read. Thanks for sharing. Where did you take your writing lessons. lol
Yes, this is a great teaching platform for those willing to learn and put in the work.
Fantastic niche choosing post for newbies.
MARK
Thanks Mark...writing lessons? Nah. Not me. I've done the college thing. I suppose a good English Composition course might help with a few things, but that really doesn't translate well to the online world.
Yes, this was intended for new people, mostly.
I see so many people asking for others to help them choose a niche or asking others what their niche should be.
Allowing someone who doesn't even know me to help decide what I will be working on for the next few years will just get me in the wrong place.
This is a very helpful community! In fact, the help a person can get here in just a moment's time is amazing! But choosing another person's niche for them is something that I believe is most likely to steer them away from success.
Write on!