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We discussed starting a website, purchasing a domain name, and hosting.
But you might wonder what a niche is, how do you find one, or do you need one?
If you have any further questions about finding a niche, leave them in the comments below.
What Is A Niche?
I’m writing this because it took me a while to realize what a niche was. I honestly had no clue what people were talking about.
Let’s break it down: A niche is a portion of an audience or market. It is the person you are directing your writing.
This audience could be something that you are interested in, such as
- A hobby
- An interest you have
- Something your friends come to you for
- Or maybe a company that wants you to write for them!
You might have many interests and hobbies.
For example, you might enjoy cooking. But would you want to write about it all the time? Performing the art of cooking is much different than writing about it.
On a personal level, I enjoy helping others. Over the last year, I’ve had questions about how I set up my blog. And that is the main reason I’m writing on Building Your Freedom.
This is just a section on this website geared towards helping you create a blog. I hope to get questions from this to expand on some of these topics. But for now, I want to help you get started!
Choosing A Niche
You might be wondering what niche you should choose. The goal is not to get stuck on it for an extended period. There is no wrong answer, and ideas are all around us.
Some might say it does not matter what your chosen niche is, which is not great advice.
Think about it this way. You take a rock (this is your idea) and throw it into the lake. What happens?
Do you see the rock leaving any impact?
NO!
What happens if you take the same rock and tossed it into a small pond? I bet you will see the water ripple where it hits the water for some time.
I’m trying to say that the more you narrow down your niche, the better.
If you have a list of ideas and need help narrowing them down, here are a few ideas
- Can you do product reviews?
- Can you make any money on the topic?
- Are there others writing about the said topic?
- Do you know anyone else interested in your idea?
I recently read an article from Ramit (the author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, a great read and the best $8 you will spend) where he said he loves ironing.
Ramit says that not many people will want to read about it, much less pay you for it.
So, keep that in mind when you are choosing your niche.
Hobbies And Your Interests
You DO want to choose something that you enjoy. You DO NOT want to have your chosen topic become a day job.
Speaking from experience, you want to choose something you want and enjoy writing about. Taking a topic and building a website takes time.
You don’t want to choose something that you quickly lose interest in.
I started my blog after going through that exact thing (more than once). It doesn’t have a set niche or direction. I soon realized that it’s geared towards the outdoors and simple living.
All that to say, you want to pick something you are interested in writing and researching a lot about.
It’s important to know now that you will be spending a ton of time on it. The topic you are choosing should be fun and exciting for you.
Another piece of advice is to remember you are starting a business, embrace it, and have FUN with it!
Ideas For Choosing A Niche
You might be one of the lucky ones with many ideas on what you want to write.
Or, you could be like me and have no clue what direction you want to go.
This will help if you need direction.
Pull out a piece of paper and your favorite writing instrument. Now, make a list of what you are good at.
If you need some help or prompts, ask yourself questions like:
- What comes naturally to me?
- Do my friends come to me for advice?
- What sort of products do I purchase?
- What have I purchased in the last 60 days?
- Do I have any special training or education?
- Is there a topic I want to learn more about?
- When was the last time I lost track of time? What was I doing?
Narrowing Your Niche Down
Once you have an idea, can you narrow it down more?
For example, let’s say you are interested in emergency preparedness, which is a broad and general idea. We can narrow this down a lot, like first aid, pet first aid, or even natural disasters.
The crazy part is you can take those subcategories and narrow them down even more!
As I’m writing this, I wanted to see how far I could go for natural disasters:
- Earthquakes
- Tectonic, volcanic, collapse, explosion
- Locations of each one
- Land or water
And that is where I’ll stop, and you might know what I’m talking about now. You take a topic and see how far you can go. You can do a lot, and you might find something that interests you more.
Don’t do what I did and start with a too broad niche.
The most popular niche I hear about is health and fitness.
As you can now see, that is a great start, but it’s way too general. I bet you can come up with at least 20 different avenues you can take with health and fitness.
At first, you might think your idea is great. But take some time and narrow it down to something more specific.
Another thing you might be wondering is if there are too many people in a niche.
The answer is NO!
To make this point, I like the perfect example of looking at retail stores.
How many stores can you think of that sell jeans?
I bet you can come up with many stores and different jeans brands. If you take it further, there are certain jeans you can only buy from certain stores.
It all depends on the group of people you are focusing on. You call them your audience.
Don’t think that you will not get any readers because you want to write about a specific section of health. You will, and I will continue to show you how!
What Are You Thinking?
Do you have a niche in mind?
Do you still need help picking or deciding what to write about?
Let me know in the comments below. I want this to become a conversation that we can all help and learn from each other.
We all have ideas that can help others. Leave a comment below and read what others are posting, too!
You might have an answer to someone else’s concern. You never know.
If you are shy and don’t want to post a comment, you can contact me directly here.
I’m not going to lie; I have been shy for most of my life. I didn’t think anyone would want to hear what I had to say. But guess what? People do, and leaving comments gets you recognized.
This simple thing has taken a while for me to learn, but it’s worth it.
Another short piece of advice: If you put content on the internet, you will want it to be perfect. Guess what? There is no such thing.
I would tell you to get started, proof your work to the best of your ability, and post it. Soon, I’ll share the writing software I use with you, and it has been a game-changer.
Getting something out today is better than sitting on something you wrote a year ago that nobody has seen. Let’s get your website set up so you can start today!
What’s Your Niche?
There are many different niches and markets that you can choose from. Remember to focus on what you are interested in writing about or something you want to learn more about.
By now, you have an idea of the niche you want to write about. If you don’t, keep thinking and keeping track of your list.
The next step I wish I had done years ago is to write your niche at the top of a blank paper.
You will now see if you can come up with thirty related topics to write about. If you can do that, you will have a great head start in your chosen niche.
Leave me a comment about what your niche is!
If you already purchased a domain, leave that in the comments below!
I cannot wait to see what ideas you have come up with!
Thank you for your post. it is useful for anyone who is interested in the online business. There are so many different niches in the world that it is hard to make decision on which one to choose.
Your article is very helpful. We need to remember to focus on what we are interested in writing about or something we want to learn more about. You are absolutely right that we need to pick something that are interesting to us, since blogging is a long term business. Without interests, it is hard to believe that we could have passions to move on.
You are correct. It’s something that you will be writing a lot about, so you may as well enjoy it.
As for this website (Leverage Your Freedom), I want to have an online business and thought it would be perfect to share the steps I am taking.
Thanks for the comment, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions about picking a niche or a direction you can go.
Wow. What an interesting concept. Niches are a very common word in the entrepreneurial world and i have been so curious as to what exactly they mean. I’ve certainly learned a lot from this article and I really appreciate it a lot! But quick question, could niche be something that is also outside of the world wide web when used in context?
Thanks for stopping by, Misael. And niches could be really anything you can think of.
I would stick with topics that could eventually bring in money, such as building a business. I guess folding laundry could be a niche that is not online, but I doubt anyone would really be interested in it.
If that doesn’t answer your question, please reply to this, and I will be sure to help you out.