The easier answer is: Depends on what your goals are.
The long answer is: “I don’t know!”
… Which is precisely why I’m asking all of you to weigh in on this dilemma.
I know I’m not the only blogger who consistently struggles with whether or not I should define my niche. I started really accumulating subscribers for the first time when I wrote primarily about Gen Y topics, but to be honest I didn’t want to get typecast in that niche. I realize the irony in that statement considering I continue to put out the Top 10 Gen Y Blog list on a bi-monthly basis.
I re-evaluated my approach and determined I wanted to do with relationship marketing what Richard Millington is doing with community building.
I did that for all of about two posts when I realized that I write the best content when something I read or experience gets me fired up to the point that I just sit down and the words flow.
I dislike the name of my blog. RyanStephens.com was taken by some C++ developer, and I couldn’t think of anything clever. In fact, Jackie Adkins asked me today if I thought up the name all by myself. (Actually no, an Internet Marketing Guru who thought I was his apprentice suggested it. Don’t ask.)
Ideally, I’d have some clever name that I could eventually transform into an LLC one day, but for now I don’t mind it because it doesn’t box me in. I can essentially write about whatever I want (provided there’s a hint of marketing in there I guess.)
I realized I like my blog best the way Penelope describes it: “Your blog is intellectual exercise for you—to keep yourself thinking in a disciplined way about things that interest you.”
That’s what Ben does. And Carlos. They’re two of my favorite bloggers.
But all the best bloggers have carefully defined niches you exclaim…
Do they?
Chris Brogan writes about social media. But that’s an expansive topic that enables him to explore any number of things including trust, collaboration, content marketing, etc.
Brian Clark writes about… well writing. But not just writing copy for sales pages, but thousands of things that will make you a better writer.
Darren Rowse doesn’t just write about affiliate marketing. He writes about countless different ways to make money blogging.
Seth’s Ideavirus talks about Geoffrey Moore’s notion of Crossing the Chasm.
We can spend our time pontificating on stuff that makes us sound smart that only a handful of industry professionals will even understand, or we can write for the Layman.
Again, I guess it depends on your goals.
I think the point is that most people don’t even know what you’re talking about when you say augmented reality so let’s dial it back and write some stuff that will help Sally Small Business Owner (Business is her maiden name) and Chris College Student, as opposed to the Vic the Visionary.
What are your goals? How carefully have you crafted your niche? How hard do you try to stay within the confines of what you’ve established? Do bloggers put too much emphasis on the importance of writing within a niche? You tell me.
Do Bloggers Put Too Much Emphasis on Niche? –> http://bit.ly/81Zn9
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Thanks for putting me up there with Ben. Feels good.
I do believe that we focus too much on niches. the problem with this? Limits. That’s what niches are. Niches sound great when you are selling a product. But most bloggers won’t ever monetize their blog, so why bother limiting yourself?
In fact, to be honest, I don’t write about all the things that I’d like. Maybe the day I’m done with OwlSparks I will have a blo similar to Marginal Revolution, who talks about absolutely anything.
.-= Carlos Miceli´s last blog ..Chat With Tyler Hurst =-.
Good distinction there Carlos. If my ultimate goal is to sell books on relationship marketing I guess it’d make sense to tighten up my niche, but as it is I think my niche is “business, learning more, helping people.”
I’ve been thinking of getting a Tumbler or Posterous where I could post ALL my various rants.
I don’t think I have a specific “niche” but I do know how my writing and the topics I focus on have unfolded (naturally).
I also think it might be nice for me to write out some goals and see what I’m looking to DO with my blog. I’m sort of just writing, learning as I go along and including what inspires me to write.
A lot of new bloggers worry they don’t have a niche or one thing to talk about. I always encourage them to blog anyway. It’s nice to have a niche, but I also think it pigeon-holes you. I want to do what works for me, the community and readers. Usually a blog post is inspired by my readers or the blogs that I love to read and I think that’s how the real creative process works. I encourage that.
.-= Grace Boyle´s last blog ..Just Try Something Different =-.
Good points Grace. I definitely don’t think having a niche is a prerequisite for starting a blog. I guess it’s a little bit like finding your vocation in life. You typically have to experience a few jobs to really know what you want to do with your life.
Blogging isn’t different. For every Dan Schawbel who is completely immersed in Personal Branding there are those of us who just want to write about all the things we’re passionate about. Can passion be a niche?
I think I’ve just started to own the niche of “Awesome”.
Seems to be going well at the moment.
.-= Stuart Foster´s last blog ..There Are No "Big" Ideas in Marketing =-.
I was worried when I first started getting more traffic to my blog that I didn’t have a “niche.” I barely make Gen Y (I’m the first year of the generation by most counts,) I don’t focus on a topic, and the only consistent piece I have is my BlogCrush (which is a great series but not the ONLY thing I want to be known for.)
Then when I was on Jenny Blake’s blog I saw that she had me on her blogroll, but not under Gen Y where I expected to be. I ended up in her “Life” blogs. And I decided that I would make THAT my niche. If it was anything that happens in life, then I would write about it.
So my niche became the biggest generality on my blog. All because of Jenny. 🙂
.-= Elisa´s last blog ..What Is Love? =-.
Isn’t Jenny helpful? You’re both rockstars!
The more I read the more I realize that a great writers with fun insights can be just important to me as a topic I’m interested in. I’d try virtually anything Neil Strauss writes.
I liken it to your favorite actor/actress perhaps. Until they disappoint you you’ll keep trying their films even if they try to do something a bit different or outside the realm of what they’d normally do. Right?
I guess it can depend on the niche, Ryan.
Like the bloggers you pointed out, some niches can actually cover a very wide gamut and allow you to explore cool new areas and ideas you may have missed out on by being in a more focused niche.
Then again, if you find a niche that has a potentially huge audience and no-one is really doing anything in that space, it’d be crazy to pass it up.
So… I didn’t really offer a good answer here, huh? 😉
Great topic and conversation starter, though!
.-= Danny Brown´s last blog ..Have Your Say =-.
I think you probably just stimulating a slew of more questions as opposed to any answers Danny. I could get on board with exploiting a large niche with potential PROVIDED THAT you had a passion for that niche. I doubt most people would be successful in a niche (no matter how primed it is with customers) if they’re having to consistently create content they’re not passionate about.
Agree 100% mate – and if you’re not passionate, don’t even bother blogging, full stop.
.-= Danny Brown´s last blog ..Have Your Say =-.
Hey Ryan
Good question, again!
The blogs I enjoy the most are authored by individuals who write about various things, and share their own personal perspective.
I think the niche business is an easy/ viable approach that draws on your real life work profile & becomes a reflection of ‘what do you do?’
But what we do at work isn’t necessarily a complete reflection of who we are. A blog is a great way to expand your ‘limited’ profile.
My personal take is that a blog should be:
a laboratory to test your ideas
a library that shares thought-through personal narratives
an amusement park where you play and thrill your heart!
Make sense?
Cheers,
Anita
.-= Anita Lobo´s last blog ..[new] Have sport-led triggers harmed Australia’s business interests in India? =-.
@Anita – I love your assessment of what a blog should be. I’d like to think that I use my blog for all three of those reasons, and hopefully in the process people are able to learn from the insights I uncover.
I struggled with this for awhile. While I think niche blogging is great – and it definitely played a role in where I am today with my career – it’s not for everybody.
Under Sydney Owen on: New Media, I had two motives: personal branding and establishing myself as someone who is about to graduate that “gets” social media. Mission accomplished.
I got tired of writing only about new media, and under that title, that’s all I could write about. When I posted password-protected posts to my family before I moved to Chicago – I got several emails about how that “wasn’t appropriate”. Well excuuuuuse me, but it’s my blog, I’ll do with it what I will. Then I got to thinking, if I’m promising content only about new media – then I need to deliver.
Fact of the matter is, I don’t have enough to say about new media to blog about it exclusively. That’s why I opened it up to Sydney: Unfiltered. I still write about the new media stuff, but I can open it up to what matters to me at the time. If it has something to do with new media – super – and if not, fine.
If you want to switch it up – go for it. The only thing I suggest – don’t change your URL unless you have to. In your case especially, you don’t want to lose any link love or SEO juice you may have already established.
Niche, no niche, write about what matter to you. Passionate writing always wins out over forced content. Know what I mean?
All this really depends on what your goals are for your blog? Thought leadership in X? Do you want people to see you’re knowledgeable about a variety of topics? Do you want to rank for a keyword/phrase and hope people find you from when they’re looking for consulting help?
I like to look at a niche as being beneficial in that it sets an expectation for your audience about what you write about…generally. I think this is good, especially if it is a niche that people are interested in–or you’re creating your own niche and attracting people. I also think owning/creating a niche is good for newer bloggers–since your audience may not know a lot about you yet and may be more attracted to you based on your niche than based on the fact they have a relationship with you.
But I don’t think a niche has to limit you, if you’ve positioned yourself/your blog properly.
Bottom line though – it’s more important to be liked/trusted as a person than for your niche. You’ll build better relationships and be able to transfer your audience’s loyalty over to new projects or niches.
.-= Jason Peck´s last blog ..Speaking at York College =-.