Niche idea or Niche Confusion?

byKBobTeacher

1.7K followers

4 weeks ago

I came to WA to make money online, something I was interested in for several years before finding WA in 2015. I’ve never made the money I thought I would. One of the biggest reasons was/is because I had no idea what I was doing and it took me several years to finally settle on a niche, which is teaching English as a second language to people who want to learn English.

Prior to joining WA, I developed what I call the five Fs-food, fitness, finances, fulfillment, fun. There is more than meets the eye to all five Fs.

For example, food and fitness are not only about what we put in our mouths and fitness is not only about physical fitness. Both are about physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I believe being healthy in all those areas is tantamount to a happy life.

Although finances are very important, they are third on the list for a reason. I believe in the saying that the love of money is the root of all evil. It’s not that money isn’t important. Obviously it is. I believe that financial health is as much or more important than the actual finances.

Having said that, I still work an almost full-time day job as a teacher in a school district because I need to be financially healthy. When I began at WA, I wasn’t. I learned some very harsh lessons as a result. I want to create an online income but I will NOT quit my job until and unless I can make as much or more than what I am guaranteed by working for the school district. In my mind, the day it costs me money to go to work as opposed to nurturing my online business, is the day I will quit. I hope that day is sooner rather than later but it will happen when it’s supposed to.

Furthermore, while alluding to my fourth F, fulfillment, I need to feel fulfilled in what I do for a living and I need to fulfill my obligations to the best of my ability. My first obligation is to myself and my health. However, I get a lot of fulfillment by helping people learn English. I get a lot of fulfillment by helping people, period. There’s a lot more to that than I will write here.

The fifth F is fun. Fun for me may or may not be what’s fun for you but I need to have as much fun in life as possible. I am having fun right now, writing this and making the video that accompanies what I’m writing. I could say a lot more about that too but I won’t now.

For the last 20 or so years, I have lived by my mantra: honesty, respect, and best effort. I realized when I was teaching kids how important these cornerstone virtuous concepts are to all of life and I’ve been trying to practice what I preach ever since.

Honesty is not necessarily the same as truth. Honesty derives from the same root as the word honor. It means to try to tell the truth as we see it. The truth is, how we see things is often very different from the actual truth. Hence, the term honest mistake. I’ve made millions of them and continue to do so every day. On the other hand, lying is obviously dishonest. There is no honor in lying.

Respect is a term that I believe a lot of people don’t really understand and it’s difficult for me to articulate what it actually means to me. Yes, it’s synonymous with the word regard. But, because of the “spect” part of the word respect, which refers to the eyes (inspect, spectate, spectacle etc.). The “re” part of the word means again. The origin of the word literally meant to see again. I believe it alludes to being able to see things through someone else’s eyes, which we now call empathy. I could be wrong but that’s what I believe based on the research I’ve done.

Best effort is all we can ever do. It’s not to say it’s the best we can ever do but at any given time, that’s all we can do. I used to always tell my 7th grade students that it doesn’t mean you have to be THE best. It means to be YOUR best. Your best and my best are most likely different. I try to avoid comparing myself to others for this reason. So, if someone can’t, doesn’t, or won’t be honest or respectful, they can at least do their best to try.

Meanwhile, in 2019, I became a statistical senior citizen, as that was the year I turned 65. I created and still have a website devoted to helping senior citizens

I believe in WA, that’s why I’ve returned after leaving and why I’m still here.

I have a website for my ESL, another for senior citizens, and now one that is specifically designed to promote WA, as well as some others I won’t mention at the moment, I’m wondering it might be a good idea to, rather than divide myself in so many directions, might it make sense to streamline what I’ve written here.

So, if, as Kyle often says, a niche can be anything, I’m wondering it is possible or advisable to create a niche that is about English as a second language for senior citizens who are interested in starting an online business that encompasses the 5 Fs and is driven by honesty, respect, and best effort.

Whew!

I get tired just writing it, let alone saying it.

This is how my brain works.

I’m interested in what you think.

Bob