In a recent post at Webmaster-Success, Kharim brought up a very interesting topic: what happened to the passion for blogging? This has been on my mind a lot lately; it had me thinking: what if it’s that we had been deceived? What if blogging about a niche truly not the way to go?
The [Perceived] Benefit of Niche Blogging
Everyone and their mother understands that the purpose of niche blogging is so that you can reach a specific part of a community/market. Niche blogging allows you to stay focused on a specific passion or interest that, in turn, lets you build authority within a niche – this leads to further potential to turn it into an online business at a later point (if you chose to do so).
We can all agree that niche blogging allows us to define our own … niche; it’s touted by just about every blogger that talks about blogging. Okay, you get the point – don’t need to tell you what you already know.
More like: The [Deceived] Benefit of Niche Blogging
But where’s where Kharim got me thinking: what if, by choosing a niche, you’re really setting yourself up for failure?
Let’s face it – people like you and me may love a niche to death but we don’t want to talk about it 24/7 – 365 days a year. It gets old. It gets stale. We lose focus because we don’t have anything more to say and that eventually leads to the blog dying out or being sold.
Sure, in the back of our heads we have that glamor that niche blogging will give us that authority to launch new projects. And sure, we could always just start a new blog if we want to talk about something else but we’ve already worked our ass off establishing ourselves in the first place – do we really want to start all over again?
Maybe by limiting ourselves to a niche, we’re really just dooming ourselves.
You know Mars, right? He gets it.
Mars Dorian is a cool cat; he ‘gets it’ when it comes to blogging because he’s unapologetic and picks up on the subtle things that the “big boys” don’t seem to be telling everyone – you don’t have to worry about alienating your readers if you write with personality.
Mars mentioned this in his article: How to Be Ridiculously Interesting
Whatever you do, always fully express yourself, no matter how un-popular the choice.
It hits you right in the face, doesn’t it? By niche blogging, we’re essentially taming ourselves to the point that we no longer have an edge in our writing – we’re trying to fit in.
A niche which has to be defined by keywords. A niche which has to be defined by a the ‘ideal avatar’. That’s. Fuckin’. Boring.
Ask yourself this: “Hey me, would you like to write about the same subject for a years on end, over and over again just to satisfy the same group of commentors”. If you ask me, sounds a bit like a circle-jerk.
So then, what do you do?
I’m not telling you to drop focus on your niche but don’t be afraid to go off the rails from time to time to talk about whatever you want.
Why? People come to your blog because they want to hear from YOU. They don’t want just another canned post that feels like it was pulled from a quick copy & paste job. They want to hear your own voice. They want to hear your own experiences.
Need some suggestions? Here’s six:
- Write about yourself – It’s not narcissistic; it’s your blog, you get to decide the content so why not interweave yourself into some kind of post? Alex Whalley did it not too long ago with his ‘23 things‘ – it was human, it was real, it was fun to read. Side-note: Alex was once in a Human League re-imagination band.
- Write about a recent trip – Went on vacation sometime? Write about it! Share pictures. Take some videos. Tell people about what you experienced because we all live, in some way, through other people – your experience becomes our experience; we love that.
- Share a failure – I’ve failed plenty of times and I’m perfectly open about it. What about your failures? As long as you’re ‘failing forward‘ (thanks Steve) than there’s no shame. Not only can you let people in on your own personal experiences (which makes you human) but you can also teach a very valuable lesson in the process.
- Share what you really feel about something - Don’t like this post? Write a follow-up telling everyone what an idiot I am – I don’t care; it’s your blog, it’s your topic, it’s what you think. (Don’t hurt mah feelings ;~;) But you get the point: write about something you don’t agree with; share your own thoughts and experiences with what may be perceived as common knowledge.
- Be entertaining – Not every post needs to be jam packed with information; it can be just flat out entertaining such as a funny story. People don’t want information every second of the day – people want to kick back from time to time and if that means you’re going “out of the niche” than be it so.
- Talk casually – Get that stick out of your ass. No one wants to hear your dry ass explanation of whatever-the-hell-you’re-talking-about. Add some flavor in your post. Talk like you’re hanging out with your friend where it doesn’t matter if you’re rippin’ ass in front of them. You get the point? Cut loose a little big – hell, wang-chung!
Do you get what I’m saying here? You don’t have to just niche niche niche – shit gets boring. We want to hear what YOU have to say. What YOU’RE doing. What YOU’RE thoughts are. That’s why we visit your blog – we want your perspective and it doesn’t always have to be just another tutorial.
What say you?
What do you think about the whole idea of niche blogging, blogging burn-out and the overall idea of losing your passion?
Do you think it has to do with niche blogging?
Let’s get a bad-ass discussion going on in here so we can figure out what’s really going on behind-the-scenes on why so many people drop out of blogging so frequently.
I think the problem is that so many people are afraid the market is being saturated with broad topics they enjoy so everyone is clamoring to find a micro niche. They get more and more specific so as to really target a niche and don’t realize that the more zoomed in we are on a subject the less there is to discover.
Broaden the niche and broaden your love for the topic.
Exactly Jason – like, a perfect example would be as if all you focused on was ONLY niche website creation on your blog but as you have said – you’re trying to make that 67 dollars a day from a variety of ways – this gives you sooooo much room to really talk about whatever you want to get the job done.
Going too focused will just be a real bore even after a few weeks, ya know? Everyone needs a bit of room to stretch and try new things from time to time.
Hmmm… I disagree!
Just because you’ve got a niche blog doesn’t mean you can’t have personality in it. In fact, if your niche blog doesn’t have your personality shining through, you’re doing it wrong!
And I’d say that if you run out of stuff to say on your blog and want to give up or sell it, you’ve picked the wrong niche! It’s not an inherent problem with niche blogs, it’s the user behind it that’s sucking.
And I’m not a fan of overly personal posts. If I’m reading a blog about SEO, I don’t want a post clogging my inbox about what this dude thought about Transformers 2.
But what I DO like to see is people mixing in personal experiences INTO what the’re talking about. Staying with the Transformers example, I’d love to read a post entitled “10 SEO Lessons You Can Learn By Watching Transformers 2.”
Anyway, I think we’re really both on the same page here. Blogs that lack originality and personality suck!
Thanks for a thought-provoking post!
I hear what you’re saying Tristan – I think the overall problem that does arise for many bloggers is that they’ll often start their first blog within a very micro niche so they’re expecting a lot of results yet haven’t had the experience to see how a lot of things panned out.
Murlu is actually my 5th blog – if it weren’t for some of the first ones (which failed horribly) than I don’t think I could have taken it to the level that it’s at now because I wouldn’t have been too narrowly defined and stuck without a voice.
I do agree with you that if you can’t find something than to say than you’ve probably chose the wrong niche – we all do this sometimes and it’s better to cut the lose and move onto the next project than to drag it out.
Any personality really helps any post – it can be the most lame topic of all time but if someone poured themselves into it, than you have to give them probs, ya know? When you can FEEL passion pouring out of the post, you know the person is adding in true personality.
Sorry for the double post but I think another reason for the blog burnout is a misunderstanding of what it takes to create great content. It’s not just about your writing style, your expertise on the subject, your willingness to learn more, to adapt, to change, your ability to accept being unknown for possibly a long time, your ability to reach out to others for help…it’s about doing all of these things and more…a lot.
…and that’s daunting.
Yes, it is daunting Jason! I have been blogging for almost 3 years, and for almost a year at hotblogtips dot com, which is a very saturated niche, but I think I have made huge gains, and I am not afraid to write about failures too.
I am relatively unknown, but I still love to write about it…. so I don’t care LOL
Do what you love and what you’re good at. Always the way to go. I’m a firm believer that as long as you’re true to those rules, you’ll be aptly rewarded.
I’m doing that. You’re doing that. Let’s just keep at it until we lose our steam or the world ends.
To get deep on ya for a second – everyone will try their best to take away your drive toward a particular interest – people will try selling it out – people will try to diffuse interest – try to stop you however they can – but those that stick through it, put up their middle finger and just keep chugging along are the ones that the community will be like “yup, that guy/gal is a bad-ass, I like ‘em, I’m coming back for more”.
Relatively unknown!!?!?
If you’re relatively unknown then Murray is relatively passive in his views…
LOL, Keith – your an inspiration to more than you know brother
For real Keith (indirectly through Alex’s comment – yeahhhh comment hijack!) – I think within the last few weeks that you’ve been actively commenting here on Murlu you’ve left a monumental impact and it’s great that when we talk on Twitter – we actually talk – not just a ‘tag’ chat. You’re doin’ work man – kickin’ ass and taking names.
Thanks Alex! Was just reading through your niche challenge, oddly enough I have just started a couple of my own niche sites (a new niche for me) and am trying to document as I go so I can publish my findings this time..
You too Keith?
Man that would be awesome because I think you really nail it in the personality department – if you could easily translate that over to a niche I think you’d be going beyond just throwing up a quick site – you’d be creating another presence to build your brand.
That’s when you know you have that passion – when you’re like, I don’t give a fuuuuuuuuuu – I’m gonna write about it anyway because that’s what I like to do, that’s my hobby, my passion, my interest so screw you if you don’t like it because that’s what’s up!
Exactly Jason – a lot of it is really just great story telling. Some of my favorite blog posts over the last few years have been completely devoid of information but because the blogger has told it with entertainment and focus it really had me hooked like a great story.
People can really try to convey the idea of great content all day, every day but it’s going to be difficult because only you can really figure out what works for you – which then works for the blog – which then pulls the passionate community you want.
I’ve been a firm believer that bloggers need to expand on their topics beyond their comfort zone. As I wrote on Technshare, Don’t Be a Dodo (http://bit.ly/cvIHLT). Limiting yourself to one niche (or related niches) on your blog will most likely doom you in the near future. It’s fine for some sites to have a niche because they’re well established, but I don’t believe this is the route new or relatively new writers should take.
I still think you have to be careful, if your readers show up expecting an article on finance, and you wrote about travel (without making a connection to finance) you may alienate and lose some readers.
I agree, too far of topic will leave readers confused but aside from topics there are other ways to expand your comfort zone. Create a video, a product, a contest, etc.
So true Jason! Stepping outside the box (or comfort zone) is imperative!
One thing I am trying to do (which I preached about on my blog and then noticed I didn’t even do it myself!) is try to go to other blogs and only reply to other peoples comments trying to spark more conversation with someone other than the author (nothing against Murray
but I like networking and I think the comments section of a blog is a great place to do it!)
So, I guess what I am saying is that holds true outside your own site too, on Social Media sites, other blogs, etc…
That’s something a lot of people don’t think about. Everyone preaches “community” but they have their blinders on when it comes to other people in the comments thread (I do it too).
Thanks for pointing that out.
*By the way, Murray. You’re comment form is screwed up. Every time I go to hit the submit button, it clears the website field…
I think that’s something that we can definitely pick up beyond just the guest post here Jason – let’s make an effort to really make it feel like a forum where people are talking with each other than directly at the blogger – cause quite frankly, you always feel like you’re doing some kind of trade when responding to your commentors, ya know? When you’re talking with other people it’s like – that’s how you spark ideas and conversations, that community aspect.
Really? I wonder if it’s possibly the Growmap spam thing – getting rid of that now. Hopefully it’ll fix it.
Actually, oh man, Keith, I was almost to the point of starting a post just about this because I was at work when I launched this article and had to work on other things before I got to respond to comments tonight – I couldn’t stop thinking – holy crap! people on my blog are only talking to each other instead of just about the post – that’s awesome!
You know what that does? It creates a more forum-like atmosphere where conversations can keep going and it’s not restricted to just a 1:1 between the blogger and commentor – that’s fuckin awesome. I love this.
Also, I think you got it spot on – I don’t think a lot of people expect others to comment on their comment besides the blogger and when it happens you usually think – oh dang, someone else found the comment intriguing enough to respond, ya know?
It really is awesome, the credit really goes to your readers that respond to people that reply to their comment too. Sometimes you have readers that comment for links, and never come back to the post, other times you have readers that are genuinely interested in networking and learning from others. You really seem to have that here! [jealous!]
The comment section are supposed to be forum like (at least that’s what I thought LOL…
One thing I noticed on the side as well is that because everyone really started talking with each other – comment count shot up rapidly and that got other people involved as well – people love to see when a post is very active because I think it tells them “hey, there’s some happenin’ stuff going on in there – don’t miss out!”
We should start a ‘buzz squad’ where it’s literally like a group of people that generate blog comment buzz by talking amongst each other – I know you can hire people to do that on forums haha. Get the conversation up and running and then it’ll just take care of itself as people join in.
Agreed, I think there is a balance which really matters overall and it’s very jarring when you do see blogs that do 180′s in their topics. The great thing though is that when you’re passionate about something and have your real-world experiences with it than you can port it into really anything you’re talking about.
Just as an example, say you were talking about SEO and then you wanted to write that travel article. Why not bridge the two by talking about street signs and how they were in different languages – this could relate to SEO in foreign markets, etc etc. There’s always ways to join the two – it’s that creativity that really gets people hooked.
Definitely James – Trying to focus down too hard into a single topic is just so overwhelming from the get-go because what happens when that particular topic dies out in the long run? Just imagine all those bloggers that were keeping up with Duke Nukem Forever haha – I’m sure that didn’t last long; I know it sounds like a silly example but just replace that with any very specific niche – one new technology or tactic can completely throw out the old; where do you go from there if you weren’t broad enough to go into others?
Nice little rant. Awesome suggestions. Glad you followed it up with some ideas that might knock a few bloggers over the head. Your suggestions will make for a much more interesting read. I believe part of the problem is fear. Fear of, as you say not fitting in, but also fear of exposure. Your ideas are an excellent springboard for opening up. Thank you.
Theresa
Thanks Theresa
I know exactly what you mean about fear – sometimes it’s not that it’s that we don’t get started but the “what happens when it becomes a success?” it’s that we’ve become comfortable at our own level and if we did become successful than we have to go outside the comfort zone. When you weigh it out though – success is always better than stagnation so that fear for success has to be obliterated.
I like blogs with a more broad niche, so you don’t need to read 10 different blogs.
Exactly Hunter – you think of blogs like TechCrunch and if they were only specific to only gadgets than you’d have to bounce around to so many others to get your general tech news, pc news, etc etc but by facilitating a broader niche you can just stay at the one source.
One of my websites is just like that. I already have two niche sites, so I left one as a mixed bag. I make great money with it and have a diverse reader base.
Exactly Lauren – it’s your blog at the end of the day so you may as well have fun with it – no point in doing everything serious constantly – just break it up from time to time being going off the deep end haha.
I go insane very shortly after launching a new niche blog that I’m not passionate about. I used to try to ask “where’s the money, where’s the money?” Then I figured out that no matter where the money was, if I didn’t care about it, I wouldn’t write.
So now I try to stick to stuff that I actually care about. Stuff that compels me, and stuff that I will go out of my way to study about.
I know that it’s typical for people who are trying to make money in “niches” and blogging to throw up dozens of websites that they don’t really have a plan for. They’re not compelled by the subject matter, and they will burn out like you say. I’ve done the same things and it always leads to a certain level of despair.
You hit the nail on the head with that one Caleb.
It’s interesting because just today I was listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast and one of the interviewees was talking about how she had, at once, over 100 niche websites and what she noticed was that there were just so many that she didn’t care about – she now only starts new blogs if (and only if) she’s passionate about them and if they add actual value.
I think that’s what we have to all think as well – sure, we can create niche sites that earn us additional money but I think it really helps if you ACTUALLY want to talk about it in the long run – you can also use it to help build your expertise so just think of less niche sites and more “spin-off’ sites, ya know?
The money follows the passion – that’s what we should remember.
Great points man! Funny thing is I actually think this title works better the other way around, but then that changes the point of your arguement. But then the overall point of your arguement is to find your own arguement – so technically….Im confused!
I think that blogging is killing my niche blogging, in the sense that I focus too much on the spreading of love and not enough on the spreading of income – you know what I mean (I hope)
Lovethe new look btw brother!!
Actually, I think I know what you mean Alex.
It’s the “do I blog about what I do for my business or do I do my business and blog about it?” If you’re too weighted in talking about your business than you don’t have time to actually do it. That’s why I’ve really been always stressing that you write post from a real-world perspective because it goes business > blog instead of the other way.
It’s way more interesting to see someone talk about what they’ve done (such as the last few weeks of a niche site challenge hehe) after the fact than to write it all out beforehand because you miss out on all those little hiccups, experiences, revelations and more that you learn while DOING IT.
Thanks about the look btw, really diggin’ it
Dude, I know exactly what you are talking about Alex! Blogging about blogging (hot blog tips) has really been more of an outlet to share my experiences because I like to. But in the past it got in the way of my sites that actually pay the bills!
Murray,
Great stuff man. Very passionate and nothing that I could disagree on. Of course my view of blogging has been mostly from the outside looking in.
But that has never stopped me from commenting on anything, after all, if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.
Being open and honest is all about voice. Some posts will go awry I assume and come off like warm turds, but enough should rock the house to make it worth it. As long as the kick ass posts way outnumber the turds, there should never be any worry
That’s how I hope to always write Gene
– I know that not every post may come across as a biggun’ but you learn as you go – you figure out what works and what doesn’t – then you just write about whatever-the-fuck-you-want anyways. Gotta change it up and confuse people; really give them a run for the money; keep them guessing and on the edge – create an epic story arch with twists and turns 
One thing that’s part of finding your own voice is to try and think of different and creative ways to say the same thing. So instead of a simple list post or how to, you can tell a story with your blog post and have some fun with the topic.
I think that’s why I’ve always been pissy about roundups and list posts is because people will just make it copy and paste – the real good ones inject a blogger personal thoughts on why they chose each item and maybe go a step further to explain a technique in further detail.
Hi Murray
After your visit to my small niche site you know that is what I have…a small niche blog. I do agree that you have to mix it up and even after only a few months blogging; although I could keep just writing about my chosen niche I realised I had to do something a bit different with my last post.
Interestingly enough it got more comments and interactive conversations going on than any of my other posts. I enjoy how you encourage interactions and it’s going okay with this post eh?! Thanks for sharing. Reading good read.
Patricia Perth Australia
I think you have a perfect example Patricia because you’re so micro niche that it would be a bit difficult to expand but since you do have the passion for talking about lavender – you’re rockin’ it! Additionally, since you’re so well defined in your niche you’re really pulling in those people that are also highly interested, ya know?
The recent post was very exciting and I did notice that as well – all the comments – I think because you’re really getting out there and becoming very social within blogs that you can now start pulling people over more easily – you can still certainly talk about lavender but you also have seen that if you stray away a bit people still love it.
I don’t think niche blogging is killing blogging. On the contrary, general blogging doesn’t give niches a chance, the quality will be lower.
Ah, I see the trade off Andreas – so what you’re implying is that general blogs, since they’re broad in nature, wouldn’t be able to focus specifically on a niche which would then limit their ability to create a truly epic post, right? Do you think that it would depend on the blogger though? Maybe on a broader blog you’d really need multiple authors so you could still be dedicated to a specific niche within a broad blog.
Murray,
First of all I like the new, “Look”. It looks pretty sharp.
You are right about Mars. He is a great example of how important personality can be to a blog. It is everything. I don’t think that any of us: you, me or even Mars, have information that is super special. Hopefully our information is deep and delivered better than anywhere else, but on a BASIC level, it has likely been said before (perhaps not said better…but before)
The difference, besides possibly better and more thorough presentation, is all in personality. You read a persons blog for two reasons you like the material AND you like them. Have one and not the other will keep some people coming for a time, but will not make for long term success.
My thoughts on niche blogging/blogging is that they are two seperate animals. Like posting to article sites and blogging.
Blogging is very heavy on personality. In Niche blogging/ article writing personality can help, but generally you use it to a much lesser degree. Those are more about quick hits of info.
If one bleeds over into the other, you can deliver the wrong message. But as long as you keep in mind that they are sort of “different audiences” and write as such, all should be good!
I really like your example between articles and blogging Steve – it makes a lot of sense because whenever I’m writing only articles for directories and PTW websites I strip out personality and just go for SEO-heavy, information based content. As you can see on the blog, I’m much more relaxed.
One thing that pops up too is the thought that niche sites are generally “passable” content – the information is made to keep people stuck on the blog long enough to build trust but the intent is to get them to click through on an ad or through an affiliate link. You don’t really want to build a community on a micro niche blog because of that intent.
So yeah, maybe that’s where the main difference comes in. The deeper meaning. There’s the scope of content you can create which defines your blog but it definitely has to do with whether you want to inject personality to build that community.
Hey Murray:
Great post! This really got me brainstorming about my own blog and has given me a few ideas to improve it. I think if your blog is personal and you are building a brand of “YOU”, then this is exactly the types of things your readers will want to read about.
I think you’re doing an amazing job Spencer because although people immediately think “okay, this site is about exactly what it says – building niche adsense sites and such” – you’re really blown away by the personality you place into it.
If you simply wrote very monotone than I think you could still give away great information but people wouldn’t be as engaged. Come to think of it – I wonder if that’s what’s happening with one of my other blogs – hrm, that would be worth a test in itself.
Btw, on a slightly side note – what do you think about your overall domain name? I could see a possibility that Google gets a little pissy about it – any concerns, would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Great post on how to blog with personality. As I just read today, we don’t sell things – we sell ourselves. I would like to propose a new angle to the blogging niche concept. The ideal niche for monetization purposes is the ability to reach a specific audience – as you said, “reach a specific part of a community/market”.
What we don’t see enough of is bloggers who combine their passions with their location – making the location their primary niche and freeing them up to write about many more topics.
Small businesses need to reach their local markets and bloggers need a way to monetize; combining the two is a perfect solution.
Right on Gail!
I think it harks a bit back over to the idea of doing “spin-off” niches instead of just general ones which you really wouldn’t care for if you weren’t trying to monetize it.
For example: If I were to do a spin-off niche site I would probably do it about writing online because I’ve focused quite a bit on it already and I thoroughly enjoy it.
Any blogger could really do this because once you’ve covered a topic in detail on your own blog, you probably don’t want to touch back on it but by setting up a new one you can continue to explore the topic without feeling like you’re retelling content on your main one, ya know?
Plus, if you start a niche site based on your passions you could end up finding a new one inspired by the new community!
Hi Murray, I’m liking the fresh new look! Did you design it yourself?
I love this post because it tells me what I want to do is the right thing! Whenever I start blogging/business writing, I always plan to stick in my niche but I never can stay there. I’m way too ADD and I always see all these different connections. Then I get bored, change my mind, and now I’m off on another tangent.
What I do try to do is make it interesting. If folks don’t seem to be digging a topic I probably won’t go back there. However, I never can predict it. My most popular posts so far are on mortgages, eating locally, and college. Even those three topics aren’t a niche!
There ya go Jennifer
perfect example – I think if you provide content that’s interesting, no matter what it is, you’ll get people that will love it – doesn’t always have to be the niche because I think we all have ADD in some way now because of the net haha.
*The theme is actually Spectrum by WooThemes
Exactly Bro. I failed building some forums and blogs. Finally my dailytut becomes a successful one after understanding the mistakes i have done with my previous blogs. One fatal mistake is Niche Focus which i didnt with my previous blogs..
Great article.. and it literally talks me. You are keeping the articles so live.. to make people understand better
Cheers.
_Robin
I think that’s why DailyTut works so well – you’re not restricted to just one niche which could quickly become boring. You figure that if you ONLY talked about blogging – what’s really to say after a while, ya know? After you cover the basics you can go into the deeper subjects but let’s face it – there’s really not much to actually blogging – but when you zoom out and begin to look at the relationship side of things, marketing, monetization and more – you have a lot more topics to cover which will always keep your interest within the blog.
well said bro
will follow for sure 
Cheers.
_Robin
Hi Murlu, absolutely agree.
I have experienced myself, i have many niches in my blog infact, and those post, many of them rank higher than my wordpress niche, but still my main niche is wordpress tutorial for newbie.
Thanks.
It works well Kimi because you catch them on the level of newbie and then you expand into other topics that are a bit more advanced – when you think about it, people aren’t newbies forever so instead of having them move onto a more advanced blog, you’re getting them on those levels so they don’t have to go.
Hi Murray,
I could see it right away when I started my Blogging efforts. I need to think of an angle.
When I started “The Europa Files.net” I need to be so careful. Nobody wants to hear me rant about a subject that I know nothing about. In other words I’m not trained as an Engineer. I need to be very cool at my site so that I might have a chance at being a sought after authority.
It’s in “Jeffrey’s Corner” of my Blogs where the wheels come off and I let the fur fly. Just check out the posts over at The Europa Files.net In what I had to name “Admin’s Corners” for political correctness. I didn’t make up the rules but I have to play by them.
http://theeuropafiles.net/?p=921
I hit the “Submit Comment” button before I was ready. Now where was I?
In the link given: http://theeuropafiles.net/?p=921
If I were to place that on the homepage or front of my Blog with any type of caption you can forget about my Cred as a Blogger in that niche.
No Thanks. Color me a caution. I’ll play it nice and straight. I’m not one for causing decent on the backs on American Hero’s.
Blogging is about the people behind the blogs and not about the niches they chose to be in. If the author enjoys writing about the ice-cream all the time, let him do that. If he suddenly change his mind and want to focus on butterflies why would he keeps writing about the ice-cream?
Everything in the world is changing, why blog should stay the unchangeable?
Thanks for sharing Murray, I enjoyed your article.
Adam
That’s the general idea Adam
If you’re a very likeable character than I think people really wouldn’t care in general – of course, you’ll have those that may leave if you go off topic but ya know, you have to even think about their loyalty if they’re ready to bounce from one or two posts that are more personal – do you really want that type of person in your community?
My idea is that you want to cultivate your community in some way – it’s a lot like business sometimes because you think – do you want that low-baller that always tries to get everything last thing from you? Not really. Don’t you want people that are actually passionate about your brand? Of course! If you aim to build a community which are rabid about interacting with you, you don’t have to worry about going off-topic at times.
Hi Murray,
Thanks for your point of view. I think new topics could help your readers and community to grow and think about new ideas they have never though before.
This way you could create a community of loyal people who returns not just because they will learn some more about the topics they are already familiar with, but also because they know you can push them further.
Adam
Exactly Adam,
I think it’s our duty as bloggers, nay, content creators, to give our reader much more than a walk-through – we need to give ideas. We need to distill wonder and the drive to pursue what we may be talking about.
I’ve been listening to a lot of speeches lately and the thing that I’ve really noticed is that the ones that have impacted me the hardest are the ones where it was a personal struggle by the person. Sure, they could have talked about their success or what went on by going into the minutia but the real value came from what I (and others) can learn from the human struggle; because that’s what we can identify best with.
Think of it like when a friend sits you down to show you something they’re working on. It’s not just ‘hey, I’m doing this, I’ll rush you through it’ – it becomes total immersion because along the way, they are telling you about what they had to do in order to overcome the obstacles. In many ways, it becomes a story. You feel an emotional connection with the person so it’s not just about what they’re teaching you; it becomes the journey together, in some ways, of the triumph.
If we thought about this with each new piece of content we create – not just approaching it as a tutorial – but as a story, we can capture the attention of others. We create unique pieces of content that no other can replicate. We build a community because they, in some ways, become the fans that are cheering you on – and they get to go along for the ride as well.
Hi Murlu !
You really started a great discussion here. Everyone has opinions and want to add their it, including me. Niche blogging is awesome, but I think it is hard to be out of ideas time from our own niche. I liked Steve’s comments and Murlu you have added good points, about what to write? Write about yourself, share a failure, share your thoughts abut something, talk casually. All these points can start a controversial topic that will bring lots of comments and turn your blog into a popular blog.
have a great Sunday.
franA
Right on Fran
In a lot of ways, when you share a failure, people can learn a load more than if you wrote some post specifically teaching a technique. Think about it – when you teach something, you’re telling it from the best case scenario angle but when you tell about what happened, what you learned from it and more, it becomes a real LIFE experience.
If people are keen on picking up little subtleties of your post than they’ll learn a great deal more overall.
Same thing goes for a personal milestone or accomplishment. People can see what really went on behind the scenes as opposed to just what you think is going to happen. They can take part of that and apply it to their own lives.
All these little things add a bit of personality one notch at a time – that’s what makes people addicted to your brand.
Wondering what you think about that statement in general – do you think that’s a better way to learn overall?
Hi Murlu:
You are right on the dot about the failure, people can learn a lot from it. But I have a feeling only few intimate people share those things together. I agree with you about the milestone too.
Addicted to brand, is great if the person who is branding knows what to do. Branding is something I have not worked in the real sense. I do it based on general rules. These days online people are very smart and they are not influenced with any kind of branding, but when their problem is solved by a person they start believing in his/her brand.
You want to know my opinion about niche blogging, I think niche blogging is great, and those who have decided to stay on one niche, should write about their niche. There will never be a writer’s block in the niche. As when a person chooses something by choice, it is this person’s favorite, always planning ahead about the niche, trying to know the latest about your niche, trying to know your list’s opinion and their demand in the same field will keep the blogger going to write more related contents. Then so much material niche blogger can get from the customer service. So, it is a better way of learning, I think. Indirect information based on experience, there is nothing better than that.
Now, I have to see what do you think about my opinion, can it become a source of better learning or it is not dependable. Please let me know, because if your views are better than me you have more insight and with your permission I will add to my portfolio. Thank you for giving me a chance to express myself.
Have a great Sunday
FranA
I think you’ve got it down pat Fran – I actually read over the comment three times to ensure that I picked up on the subtleness of your opinion. What I pulled from it was this:
People that do choose to write specifically in a niche can become masters of it if they choose one which they are truly passionate about. If you’re writing about a niche hobby and that’s such a HUGE aspect of your life, you’d certainly be able to write indefinitely upon the subject because it becomes less about the information you’re providing and more about your personal experiences with the niche – whether you’re conscious about how you’re talking about the subjects or not.
I think that’s the main difference in it all – really. If you choose to write about a niche that you may feel interested in about but not truly passionate about, than you’re going to struggle in some ways. But, if you’re writing about something that you’d feel empty without in your life – that’s powerful content. That’s everlasting topics. That’s creating a community and brand on a level that others can’t even touch.
I commented to Adam that, in a lot of ways, when you’re writing in a niche which you’re deeply passionate about – it’s less about the tutorials and learning that you’re conveying but more about the story behind the story. It becomes something that people can get behind.
Think about those great teachers that have influenced your life. They chose one subject out of thousands to talk about. There are a lot of bad teachers but the ones that have always left an impact were ones that could not only teach you well but they had enthusiasm in doing so; they felt that passion about what they do and they distill it within each student.
To side-track for a second: The best teacher I ever had was Mr. Tipton – he taught history. When you think about it – what can you truly teach in history that can’t be learnt through just reading the book, right? But what made his class different ws that every time felt like a new experience – he would nearly act out the scenes in history. He would share personal stories of his own travels to these landmarks where major historical events took place. He created an environment where we all felt enthusiasm to learn – not just the information but human experience behind it.
I think that’s what we can do as bloggers. We CAN talk about those niches; if we’re passionate about them. We CAN divert into our own little tangents and still give great information. We CAN create a community where people are actually looking forward to new posts – not just because we give information, but because we tell it in our own voice.
My apologies if this was a bit long but I’m feeling hella inspired today haha – I greatly appreciate our discussion Fran and I hope that we can continue it in many posts in the future. In the meantime, I’d like to hear your opinions besides just the niche aspect of it and more along the lines of – how do you personally distill passion and interaction in your own blog – how do you go beyond your niche by sharing your love for it.
Hi Murray:
I read your reply tonight. I just remembered that I had added a comment and decided if you did write a reply and there it was. You got me right. This is what I was trying to explain about niche.
Murray, I am more of a natural person and I do what comes from the heart, for interaction with my readers. Right now I am feeling I am connecting with my readers casually, as I simply write post after post, if they asked something let them know about it. It is working because I do read the comments and I give them what they want. But directly making them connect to myself, is much more important and it creates a stronger bond, I need to learn that from you.
Right now I give them an honest and best information about the topics of their choice.
Murray it has been pleasure to know you better, keep in touch.
Talk again.
I think that’s a great system Fran because if you’re thinking about great customer support and interaction – it begins with the end-user (the reader). Those little things that show you listen by answering their questions are bricks of trust and authority being built one step a time.
It took me a while to really bond with people commenting because it was engrained that you “simply reply to comments to be social” but it’s so much more than that. It’s a lot to do with actually talking to them like a human instead of only replying to their comment.
You have a great personality and spirit Fran; if you keep that up and build your community one step at a time than you’re going to get to that point where it’s tipping past just writing for your community – you’re hitting them with value after value – and the funniest thing is that it doesn’t have to be a crazy informative post – it can be a touching post, personal post, pictures, video, audio, answering questions, asking questions, speaking your mind.
Just keep in mind that whenever you write a post that it’s you who are speaking. It’s not a copy & paste job so always make it a point that the information you’re providing it coming directly from you. Go off the wall a bit. Shake things up. Question the status quo. Don’t think outside-the-box – get rid of the box!
Thanks for refreshing my mind. Yeah, even though I do not leave my niche blogging after read this article, It ring a bell to be more creative and try to express my self through my article.
Certainly Dana – you don’t have to give up niche blogging in general, you can stay within your niche but still expand it by adding in your personal insights, ya know?
For example: Moon and Alex are doing a great job with their own niche site challenge. Even though Pat and Tyrone already completed theirs; it’s the unique perspective from other bloggers that work really well because each will have their own approaches and tell it from their personal experiences while doing everything. That’s awesome value while staying within the niche but expanding through their own voice.
Hi Murray,
No doubt that personality holds a great importance and being unique in some way or another is pretty much the only way to stand out and make an impression. Adding your own personal touches and style to the articles is what makes it worth reading. I agree that if you don’t do that, it kinda looks like a copy-paste job. Keeping it personal to some extend can help you look more human to your readers, which is a big requirement for making it big. How do you expect being successful in blogging (or whatever the subject) if people don’t know you and can’t remember you with something? No way!
Exactly Daniel; those little touches of personality go a long way. It reads less like a college text book and more like a casual chat instead – so much easier to read and comprehend and also let’s you (essentially) have that benefit like you’re talking face-to-face.
I mean, even now – us commenting back and forth shows such a better level of connection than just one-offing everything; less content and more interaction!
While I’ve got you here – do you have any little tricks that you like to add into your post to personalize it? I’ve noticed we all have these little ticks in our writing much like when we talk; those add a lot even though you may not even notice them.
I really like your idea, Murlu. I definitely agree with you that we need to go off limits. But I also disagree with you – I don’t focusing on a niche is too bad – Niche blogging allows you to sharpen your skills in one niche. I will try to write on other topics.
Anyway, Thanks for the wonderful share
Jeevan Jacob John
That’s a good point that you bring up – when you’re really, really focused on your niche and make it into your everyday process than you will become that expert – the challenge is to take yourself beyond the basics and display that to your readers (which many bloggers fail to do after a while) – a lot of this comes from actual experience which comes around full circle and allows you to make those personal posts
So yeah, I guess if you do focus mostly on your niche you can go off target a bit while staying in it – you just need to push yourself to that level.
Disregardless of how good your content is, using slang and/or bad language can quickly get your site or blog labeled as porn by the search engines, specifically google !
Mo matter whether you said it or quoted it, if its on the page, you may eventually recognize the reason not to use it.
Hrm, thanks for bringing that up – in some ways I’m not worried about it because I try not to use it that often; mostly when I’m passionately writing about a subject – probably should restrict it overall.
Niche blogging is the best way to go but it can brings the worst results also when the topic is no more popular and not getting search by everyone.
Up until know I don’t understand the niche in blogging. I have been blogging for more that a year and I write what’s on my mind. Whence others write with conformity, I write what’s on my deepest thought. The ways I see it, if we express the humaneness in us, other can relate.
Don’t you think blogging should be this way?
That’s the way to go Walter and look where it’s got you – you’ve been awarded for being so personal
– it’s hard to replicate a personal post which is why I always recommend it overall; you can easily create lists and such but it feels like a cop-out – those personal posts will always leave a better impact (even if it’s just one person at a time).
I like both kinds of blogs, blogs focused on a specific niche and blogs focused on a more broader subject. Each has its won benefits. Though I rather niche specific blogs, because I feel like I get much better information because of the specialty factor. Thanks Murray.
Hey Murray,
You may be on to something here, while there are times that I worry that my blog is all over the place, it is what I was wanting to post at any given post. I really never optimized my blog for certain keywords or certain terms to rank for, while many people may be totally taken back by that….who cares…..it is my blog.
Some days I write an article on something that pops in my head, some times I shoot a video and talk about a book that I finished reading, sometimes it is a story with a lesson to be learned. Guess what it is my blog and ” I can cry if I want too”….see I can be of base on my blog and with the thoughts that come through my mind.
I agree with you that there will become a time that if your blog is so niched down that you will run out of thoughts, ideas and reasons to to keep communicating on your blog …i.e. burnout!
I say be creative and throw a curve ball to your followers – you may be surprised! We are all human!
Right on man! Robert, you’ve got it down!
Our blogs are … our blogs. Why must we be set into some cookie-cutter mold? Part of the fun of it all is that we CAN play around with our site however we want to. It’s not fun when everything is just so sterile; changing up a few things from time to time can really lively up the place.
Writing what’s on your mind is the best because you have so much opportunity to show your personality and share a very unique story that can’t be replicated. It’s not like creating a list post that has the same resources as EVERYWHERE else. When you write from the heart, you convey the message more easily and can leave an impact.
This is my first visit to your blog Murray, and I liked your introduction page. I was a bit stuck otherwise, I didn’t know where to start.
I picked this post, because I thought I would agree with it, and I do.
I have only been blogging for 18 months, but I realised straight away that if I have to post regularly, I can’t confine myself to a niche, I would get bored to death.
My blog is I think, like the orginal blogs, a personal diary. I just write about anything I’m interested in, and hope someone else will connect with it.
The strange thing is, I have been apologising recently for not focusing on a niche.
Although I enjoy writing my blog, I do have a long term desire to make money out of it, and maybe this is not the way to go?
I don’t know, I would rather not change, but maybe there is more money to be made out of a niche blog?
John
Thanks for swinging by John – and welcome!
I know what you mean about feeling bored about your niche because it happens here at Murlu all the time – I’ll be honest, I’ve thought about dropping Murlu to work on my other (profitable) niche blogs but what I think it comes down to overall is whether or not you’re using it properly as a platform.
Remember that every piece of content you create is essentially a person you hire to market your business (blog), services and more. You make your own authority by telling about subjects that people want to know – showing your expertise – but you solidify it by making it personal. Anyone can write a post about traffic but it’s what YOU make it into that really matters – it’s how YOU gain traffic and YOUR experiments with doing so.
It’s all very tricky because it’s hard to make the decision to alienate your existing community. If you want to make money than it seems (in a lot of ways) you have to go outside your comfort zone to promote items which you do endorse but you still have a tingling feeling that it’s not worth it for the money – it’s about building a platform that lets you launch bigger things.
In terms of niche blogging – it works great if you’re not really associating yourself too much to it – at least that’s what I think. The biggest blogs that make my own money are ones that I don’t really add any personality – I’m not using them as platforms, I’m just providing content and converting visitors into sales – it’s the nature of the game.
It’ll all hit you at some point – I think we all get it – where we fiiiiinnnnally see what we need to do. For some, it’s within months, others it takes years. It’s going off the regular path that lets us do this.
We’re not going to make money by writing a blogging ebook – because that market is cornered and dried up by the a-list bloggers – we have to make our own, unique item that appeals to our community and rocks their socks.
You just stick with it – grit your teeth – keep working and wait for it to pick up; that’s basically what I see as the defining factor in becoming a successful content creator.
I think there is a place for niche blogging, Murray.
Niche blogging has one purpose: make money. Hopefully, it’s still done while providing value, i.e. education about the niche.
However, as an end consumer, I’d rather go to a site that is dedicated to what I am looking for and nothing else.
Of course as far as my main Traffic Generation Cafe blog goes, I’d never dilute the content with anything that is not who I am.
Ana Hoffman
I hear ya Ana
The benefit we have as experienced bloggers is that we can always launch a new blog related to a niche; we already have the skills and setting one up doesn’t take all that long. We get to fulfill that need in us to write on different topics without sidetracking the main blog.
I know I do it here which is why I do a lot of article writing for sites like Helium – I just have a need to write on certain topics but I know they don’t fit completely on Murlu – it’s a good way to get the ideas out there.
I guess a lot of it comes down to whether you just want information or if you want a connection. I’d much rather connect with a fellow blogger in most cases but when I’m looking for a specific set of information than I just want to get in and get out.
Hi Murray
A healthy discussion on niche blogging. As it is rightly pointed out, we have both advantages and disadvantages. While the disadvantage is that you are not able to diversify and express, the advantage is that it leaves you focused and takes the message straight to the target audience
Regards
Alex Papa
It’s a bit hard to choose which one to go with in the long run, Alex, but it all depends, in my mind, on whether you want to become an authority within the niche or if you want to just have fun with it – you can have fun doing both but sometimes you just want that experience over the traffic.
Murray, the big question is, do you wish to be a coffee table magazine or a reference book? Both have value, but one stays out in plain view, while the other is tucked away until needed.
Thankfully, with a blog and good SEO, the answer can be “Both!” I’ve learned this by sticking to my eclectic format over the years. When I have reference material, I know that – if it is good enough – the SEO will help keep that post within reach of those who need it.
The rest of the time, I want to have fun with my visitors, inviting conversation, laughs and insights from them.
When is the last time your dictionary made you chuckle?
Cheers,
Mitch
“When is the last time your dictionary made you chuckle?” I love that!
Seriously! I had a really great conversation with Thu before where I was really brunt during the conversation and told her that her writing felt like it was a giant white paper. For some, that’s perfectly fine but when you think about it – anyone can write a really factual post because the information is so freely available online; it’s taking the time to craft it into your own that creates a legacy in your work and doesn’t read like a dictionary.
The balance of it all is difficult because one hand I know exactly how I’d capture SEO for my post so it’s not that I don’t know it’s that on the other hand, I want things to go beyond just the normal scope of “here’s how you blog, do A, B, C” – will it hurt me overall? It certainly has already but what I’ve found is that people that come to Murlu truly appreciate the work that I put into the blog because it (at least I hope it does) has voice! I have no shame with my failure, I share my experiences and success, I try to change it up by being a bit snotty at time – that’s where the fun comes in, just doing what you want to do because, at the end of the day, it’s your blog and no one can take that away from you.