Picking the perfect niche market for your blog requires a lot of thought and self evaluation.
I would like to cover more within this article before you dive into creating your first niche website, finding yourself more confused than ever.
As a writer/blogger and soon to be online marketer, this is a very critical step and something that requires a lot of thought and in most cases, some trial and error.
I repeat…TRIAL AND ERROR.
Nothing is perfect and finding that awesome niche isn’t going to be either.
If you’re anything like me, I am the most indecisive, not so aware, type of person that could not select a niche if my life depended on it.
I entered many niches thinking that it was something I was interested in, but it was far from it.
I wouldn’t say it’s so much the indecisiveness but rather that I really had no clue as to what I was truly passionate about.
Truth of the matter is that I really didn’t understand what a niche really is.
At least in regards to the world of blogging and making money online.
So What is a Niche (Market) Anyways?
We all have our thoughts on such a simple word but putting a finger on it is the real problem.
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines as the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact
Thanks Wikipedia!
With all that being said, I’m sure some of you might have had that “aha!” moment and some of you had that “aha! I thought I got it, but I’m still confused” moment.
Whatever the case may be, I’d like to show you how I was able to find my true passion/s through the 3 years of my online career.
In the world of blogging and making money online, a niche is a group of people looking for something.
Not just something, but something very specific.
Okay, fine, I got that from Kyle of Wealthy Affiliate, but I do agree with his thoughts on finding a niche.
Whatever.
Your First Niche Might Not be Your Last
Remember how I said nothing was perfect?
Because it isn’t.
Chances are that you either picked something because you heard it was profitable or you went with something you thought you were really interested in.
That’s completely normal and you’re not alone.
It took me MONTHS before I could figure out what I really liked, so I was snapping up domains like they were free just to have them expire without even working on the sites.
I thought I was into watches, so I got a domain for that.
I thought I could build a site geared towards the army because I used to serve, but that didn’t work either.
And yes, I got a domain for that too.
So you can see the problems I faced when I started and after months of going through different categories, I knew I had to make a decision and sit down with just one, which is really the key to success.
We ALL Start Broad
This is a big problem in the blogging world and I’m guilty of it too.
Trying to cover one topic on one site and that was the perfect recipe for disaster.
I know we all think that we can be the next Men’s Fitness, but unless you have a team of writers to get something like that going, let’s start with the basics so you can actually generate an income from the world wide web or you’ll be in for a world of hurt.
Let’s start with something like fitness, the ever so popular topic.
Entirely too broad and a great way to get you burnt out and most likely quitting because you didn’t make a single penny.
We’ve all seen the thousands of sites out there and we all want to copy theirs because well, it looks pretty.
Yes, and no.
Look at Men’s Fitness for example.
Not only do they cover all aspects of “men’s” fitness, but they are now covering women!
Definitely not the route you want to take, so don’t copy what you see with this site and others like it.
Do this for ideas, but please (I said please) don’t try to copy exactly what they are doing as this is the best way to get you overwhelmed, lost, and back to the drawing board.
They have hundreds of people writing for them and they have not only the budget, but the skills behind them to make it happen.
I’m not saying that you can’t do it, but let’s stick with the basics for now until you start making a decent amount of money through your blogging efforts.
You’re one person and one looking to make money blogging, not another statistic of those “failed” bloggers.
Narrow, Narrow, Narrow!
Super hard to understand, but please try your best to narrow your niche down to something very specific.
Remember the Men’s Fitness site?
There are many categories on it but don’t let that send you in the wrong direction.
Choosing just one of those menu items is enough to get you started, but even at that, you still want to narrow it down.
You will have more than enough content to create for your site, so build up this little topic and you can be sure to get rankings, traffic, and ultimately money.
Here’s an Example of how I would breakdown a topic to find a niche for my blog.
> Fitness – Too broad of course
> Demographic – Gender, age, body type, etc
> Type of exercise – Cardio, abdominal, muscle building, etc.
> Focus training – Running, hiking, skiing, etc.
> Focus area – Trail, gym, home, etc.
Just a very simple breakdown, but I’m sure you get my point.
Let’s go with something like a band.
Grab one instrument and start breaking it down from there.
Drum reviews?
How to play a guitar?
Although one of those can work, you can still very much narrow them down.
Trial and Error
For me, the best way to find my true passion was by gaining experience with different topics.
I say topics because we’re still in the broad side of the fence and the starting point for our soon to be niche.
I’m a member of Wealthy Affiliate so I’m able to use their free domains.
With this I was able to get some hands on in different things I was interested in without having to purchase a domain, just yet.
I wasted way too much money buying domains that I had to put a stop to the leak in my bank account.
What you want to do is create actual sites on something you think you may like and get the feel of putting actual content on there.
This ins’t going to be your final site, unless you have a really good feeling about things and you actually think this is the one.
If it is, good for you.
If it isn’t, build another one until you find “the one”.
You Have Been Niched
In the End, you want to test, test, and test again.
Figure out what you really want to blog about no matter what it takes.
Stay narrow, create engaging content, and the money will follow.
If you ever feel like quitting, just remember that we were all in your shoes at one point in our blogging careers, so just keep moving forward.
And if you’re still confused about all this or you don’t know where to start, get with the program and join the Wealthy Affiliate.
Get the education, help, and support that you need to be successful online or you’ll keep running in circles.
Did you find your niche?
Please do share your ideas on how you came up with yours or what you think needs to be done to get over the niche hump.
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