Niche Dilemma: Passion or Societal Trend Need
Last Update: May 02, 2018

Niche Dilemma: Passion or Societal Trend/Need

I recently read a question that someone posted here at WA which I know to be a common question, so I thought I would write a blog answering that question and describe why I believe my answer is the correct choice.

The question was, "I am struggling with my niche idea. I have an idea for my niche, but it is not my passion. It is, however, a need that exists out there in our society. Should I go with the societal trend / need even though it is not my passion or should I follow a niche that is my passion?" Not sure if that is the exact phrasing, but that is the basic concept behind the question.

My answer that I gave was - GO WITH YOUR PASSION. Never go with what you think is "the need" or "the trend" - unless of course, "the trend" is your passion, but if it is not, then NO!. Here is the reason is a nutshell.

YOUR PASSION IS YOUR MOTIVATION!!

Think about the following and you will see (hopefully) what I mean:

  • Your passion is what will get you out of bed an extra hour earlier to work on your niche website.
  • Your passion is what will get you to sit at your computer after a long day at work and write a new post for your website.
  • Your passion to reach out to others who share your passion is what will get you to read comments you got from your recent post on your website.
  • Your passion is what will get you to write down ideas for your next blog post.
  • And again I say, your passion is your motivation and without motivation, you have nothing!

So forget what is trendy or what is the current need out there, because trends come and go, needs come and go, but your passion typically will stay with you. And if you do develop a new passion, no problem. Just start a new niche website with your new passion. That is the beauty of belonging to WA, you can have a number of different websites.

I hope this helps some of you out with your decision making when it comes to what you should do for your niche site. As always, I am here to help.

Sincerely,

Steph

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Swangirl Premium
This is such good advice Steph! I AGREE! Of course if you have a passion that happens to address a need, then you really have a great combination! It worked for me!

A lot of people come here and seem to be trying to guess at what the hot trends are. I really think that is a bad idea, especially when you are new! If you work on a site that is your passion and learn the ropes, eventually you will be able to build more and more sites. You will be faster, more experienced and be able to sail through the process. You may be at a stage where you can outsource too. Then it would be fine to tackle a site about something that is trending. But when you are starting out it will be slow going. That is where you need your passion to keep you motivated!!

Jessica
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stephhill Premium
@Swangirl
Thank you Jessica. You are right about people coming here and trying to guess at what the hot trends are and they really should be sole searching on what drives them internally.

Thanks again!!
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MKearns Premium
Great post Steph. Passion drives uniqueness and drives all of marketing. Indeed all life.
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stephhill Premium
@MKearns
Thanks Michael. Good to hear from you. I have been away for a little bit. I had a surgery and other complicated health stuff, but doing better and I am back. :)
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MKearns Premium
@stephhill
I feel better talking with you Steph and the other members of the Former Ambassadors Club!
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stephhill Premium
@MKearns
Yeah, that is pretty cool. We are the "Former Ambassadors Club" --We have our own club here at WA. Love that!! :)
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J-KWest Premium Plus
Awesome post! A must for everyone starting out. This is one I learned the hard way... I had a blog that was my passion before joining WA and wasn't sure how to monetize it.

Full of ambition amd thinking I knew better, I shut that one down and started a blog about the importance of proper sleep.

I still find it to an interesting and important topic... but sifting through medical papers to make sure everything was properly sourced and accurate became old very fast.

Definitley choose your passion. If it's too competitive or you're not sure how to monetize... spend the time figuring out a way to make it work before jumping into a niche you don't care about.

Leave those niches for later when you can afford to outsource :-)
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stephhill Premium
@J-KWest
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I agree the need for proper sleep is better, but since it is a medical issue for the most part, if you are not a doctor, you would as you said, have to read through lots of peer-reviewed articles and dig through medical scholarly journals to find relevant information and yes, I can imagine that would get OLD - REALLY FAST! I used to be a librarian for a pharmacy department at a university, and some of the stuff that I had to sort through was boring and over my head...

But again, thanks for your input. That was awesome!
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DEversley Premium
Steph!

I agree with this in principle but I have a question for you...
What if I have the solution to a societal problem that can bring great financial reward and motivate others, but, guess what, it's not my passion? :)

David
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stephhill Premium
@DEversley
Well, I think if it is not your passion, you might become bored with it and drop it. You need to find what really makes you want to get up out of bed in the morning. I truly understand a need to solve societal problems, but if that is not what your passion is, then let someone else do it whose passion is just that. Everyone has their own passion, everyone is unique, everyone will find their own path to success, and some make take longer, and we will all make mistakes along the way, but if you stick to what really matters to you, to what gets you excited....a topic that you can talk on and on about.....then that is what you should shoot for...
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lynnsam61 Premium
I completely agree Steph. If you're not writing about something you are passionate about, blogging would it be a major drag in my opinion. It's hard enough when you do have that passion sometimes.

Erica
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stephhill Premium
@lynnsam61
So true. It can be hard enough even if you do have a passion, because we all have a life outside of building an online business right? We have spouses, or boyfriends / girlfriends, children, moms and dads, friends that need our help with this or that, work-related stuff outside of WA, and other endless commitments, etc. Yeah, I know, it can be hard even when we have the internal drive and ambition to make it work. It was awesome hearing from you Erica. Stay in touch!
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