Find your niche. It’s the marketing buzz phrase for 2008. Seth Godin probably has a lot to do with that, as he continues to spread the love for niche marketing via his blog. And when Seth talks… people listen (for good reason)! It seems like every man and his dog is trying to establish their own little blogging niche (myself included). And while I generally subscribe to the whole niche marketing theory, it’s not without its limitations…
The expansion and availability of blogging platforms such as WordPress have a lot to do with the growth of niche blogging. Quite simply, people are spoiled for choice. It is estimated that over 100,000 new blogs are created every day. Therefore, if you don’t give someone exactly they want, they’ll leave in a heartbeat. Don’t I know it… I see my subscriber count see saw up and down on a daily basis. It’s almost enough to make me publish a flame post entitled… ‘Bloody hell people… give me a chance!!’. But it’s the simple reality of the blog consumer. Such a fickle little bunch…. aren’t we…? 
Getting back on topic though… Practically every blogging ‘how-to’ guide out there preaches the need to find an audience/niche. And of course it is true. But my question is – does focusing solely on a niche limit your blogging growth and opportunities…?
The specific example I have in mind is ProBlogger. ProBlogger is a fantastic resource dedicated to new bloggers. It provides tips and hints on how to establish a successful blog. The articles are of great quality and I am a subscriber myself. Yet after just a month or so of membership I find myself tiring of the content. There is a degree of sameness about the subject matter and the value I derive is diminishing rapidly. Perhaps it’s because I’m a digital marketer myself and am already aware of many of the tactics being discussed. But the issue remains – if you focus on a niche you are limited in your breadth of content. How many different ways can you write about tactics to expand your blogs subscriber base…? Quite a few apparently…
Some industries are safe from the threat of repetitiveness. SEO is a good example. The constantly evolving search engine algorithms and swathe of black hat tactics mean that there’s always something new to learn. I always knew I should have become a search geek… But most industries don’t work in this way. Sure, they evolve… but not particularly quickly. I subscribe to a number of email marketing newsletters due to my work in digital communications. But I don’t think I’ve seen an article with an original thought for months (if not years). Split test your message, segment your database… blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it all before people!
Do you get my point…?
On a personal level I’ve kept my blog fairly broad in nature. Most digital marketing blogs concentrate on a specific discipline such as SEO, social media or web analytics. Could this be the reason my subscription rate bounces up and down so drastically? Quite possibly. Is my audience interested in the full range of topics I discuss? Probably not. But at this point I’m not ready to settle on a single discipline. Maybe I just have commitment issues…
Or maybe I just need to find a niche like ProBlogger with over 100,000 new potential readers every day…
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A very good question. Actually blogging outside your niche is another (not widely used or discussed) tactic to grow your business and brand. I just posted on a similar topic a few days ago, so your thoughts would be highly appreciated:
http://www.seosmarty.com/beyond-niche-blogging/
P.S. the link is for you; if you think that’s self promotion please delete it
I’m 200% with Ann. The niche should only be your starting point. On a sidenote: Ignore the subscriber fluctuations, it’s just a iGoogle bug. People do not unsubscribe and subscribe on a daily basis.
@ Ann – Thanks for the feedback, and your link is definitely relevant
I agree that blogging outside of your niche is a fantastic growth tactic. I guess the trick is to have a broad enough knowledge base to write intelligently in different niches… not an easy task.
@ Tad – Thanks for the Google tip. It can be de-motivating at times to see the count fluctuate so randomly.
Ann’s link is really good, and I was just thinking of it myself. Anyways, you raise some good points about fresh thoughts.
That said, I find much SEO blogging to rehash stuff as well. It’s like everyone feels they can write the 101 piece (onpage factors aka the “seo tips” article), and most feel comfortable doing the 201 (join social media and be remarkable so that you can do linkbait). The thing is that once you’ve read a couple of those, you get turned off.
In fairness, I’ve done it myself. However, I try and break out of the box as well, with stuff like ‘cloning expired sites’ ’3 new metrics to waste 30 more hours a week’ ‘link buying with n grams’ etc.
I used to read many more blogs than I do.
Hey Gab. Always good to see another Sphinn regular pop by. Welcome. It’s seems a timely topic. Jill Whalen recently started a discussion on Sphinn regarding the repetition & lack of quality SEO posts.
Check it out if you haven’t already
Obviously you have a fairly similar take.
Really nice post… i like your point about niche marketing well explored!
Hey Rach. Thanks for stopping by. Glad you enjoyed the post.
Hey James,
Likewise – nice to get to know the folks behind the avatar. I’m off to check off Jill’s post.
And yeah – there’s WAAAAAY too much repetition around…
Cheers
Gab
It’s a valid point about the potential limitation. On the other hand I think entrepreneurs should focus more on going with the flow than on beign entirely rigid.
Good niche research puts more money into our pockets, but everything I post is not dictated by the intrisnic value of my SEO title tag or prior keyword research.
I believe, as with everything else, balance is the key.