Figuring Out This "Niche" Thing

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I've been struggling since I stumbled upon WA several months ago. I recognized an awesome opportunity when I saw it, but just couldn't get my head around it. I just came back to actually participate in the training this past week - which is all great, btw! - but having done the training, I still could not, for the life of me, figure out what a "niche" was supposed to be! Or at least what it was for me. When you consider that choosing a "niche" is what everything else here is built on, I hadn't much hope of moving forward. I am, however, nothing if not determined!

Turns out I'd confused myself with some ideas I'd picked up 'round the internet, and I complicated that by thinking of websites in terms of the sites I've designed in the past - very pretty ones - for people who didn't think they needed to rank in search engines. So I came into this with no understanding of SEO, and no clue how to actually monetize a site.

Today it dawned on me that the key to this whole thing is not so much a pretty website as it is a useful website. It's in the CONTENT! Yeah, content! Of course Kyle talks about content in the training, but I was thinking about content in terms of design (I DO like design!). When I finally realized the meat of the process is content, and "blogging" is what makes relevant, fresh content, it all started to make sense. But I've never blogged - I haven't even really read many blogs! So, in my search for information on how to blog, and what to write about, I stumbled upon a tool that found SO helpful I wanted to share it with you. You can find this tool at www.mindmeister.com. The demo alone (I haven't even looked at pricing - I HAD to tell you about it) opened my eyes. I simply put in a keyword (that "niche" thing again) I thought I could write about, and the structure of this tool very simply inspired me to come up with categories, and then sub-categories after that! In less than 10 minutes I had thought of 10 categories and 30 sub-categories associated with my keyword! It really is brilliant!

Maybe it's just the way my mind works, but this was extremely helpful to me. Take a boo at it yourself and see what you think! And, hey, I've just written my first EVER blog post!! This could get fun!

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Recent Comments

11

Thanks so much for sharing, mjw57. I find when I'm most frustrated I figure things out....:) The issue with that is...trying to remember how I did what I did. :)

I hear ya!

Thank you for your tip about that website that you have referred us to.
And BRAVO mjw57 on your first blog. See, it wasn't so difficult after all, was it. Maybe if you thought of it as a post it would be easier. Maybe it's just the word blog that's got you turned off ?

Gary

Hi Gary - it wasn't so much that the word "blog" turned me off, it was that I kinda really didn't know what a blog post was supposed to look like. I know, unbelieveable - I'm "old" LOL! The reality is that it's not unusual for me to use 3000 words to say what could be said in 300 - I'm constantly going back and editing my emails, and posts on discussion forums, to try to be more concise. Maybe I was born to blog, eh? Although I know from being on the reading side, you don't want to be too wordy or you lose 'em! I'm grateful for all the positive comments here - it's kinda scary putting yourself out there the first time, I was worried someone was going to come around and say I'd got it all wrong! I know I've a lot to learn, but it seems to be coming together slowly but surely. I love the community here, and the support, and it feels really good to be able to offer something back! Cheers! M

Hello M
I'm in the same boat as you. I felt really shy I guess when it came to writing my first blog. Kinda' silly I know bc any criticism on here is generally constructive.
Regarding being long-winded, I'm constantly hearing from my wife and some others near to me that I don't seem to know when to stop. I could say something in 2 sentences rather then 20 sentences.
I guess that should make us both leaders at WA.

I'm all for that :) How long have you been around WA? Are you making any progress? I know it's a process - I have the time to put into it, and I'm willing to give it whatever it takes. I've only been through the first training, tho, so I'm still trying to figure out how we "monetize" these sites we create. I believe in the potential - but I still don't see the big picture. Glad I'm making friends, though. It's a great community here!

Hi M
I've only been here for a couple of months. I arrived here from reading a review about an online business that I was in. I truly believed in them although they were basically sucking all the cash I didn't have, out of me.
I've never looked back. I wish I had have found WA first, but nonetheless, I'm here now.
Training, well I'm still working on the first section. I have my niche and I've built my first website, although it's still in its beginning stages. 'It's not a race', I keep telling myself.
If you have read my profile, you will see that I have 2 Special Needs sons, both whom are at home and both whom need 24 hr care. I'M an Oilfield guy with no work, so it's worked out well.
Unfortunately, these 2 dudes are so demanding, that when they're up, I have no time to focus. I have been getting my day started at 4am so that way, I can try to get something accomplished with my WA career.
My other Distraction is the never-ending emails from WA blogs, questions and trainings. A completely controllable Distraction, but I'm weak. LOL
So there you have it M, that's me in a nutshell.
Have an Awesome Day !!!

Gary

Thank you for sharing :)

How cool! I was confused, too, and then it came together. Now I'm working on constructing the website. Yes, it's all about content... but also about appearance, at least for me at first. The main point is to keep developing it, and eventually you'll get the results you want, until you decide to change them. Best to you! Carol

My head is just swimming - are you feeling like you're getting a better grip on things?

Definitely. I had stopped reading at Course 1, lesson 5 because I felt so overwhelmed. So I checked out other websites and started adapting theIr stuff. I also spent time writing content. I went back just today and finished Course 1. Turns out that I had done everything covered in the rest of the course, and more. It was a really good feeling to know that I had figured it out, just by studying other websites. Now, I'm ready to start working with the search engines. So, I'm feeling really calm and ready to move on. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.

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