Developing your Niche | Blogging Effectively Series

First of all, let me say how excited I am about the feedback I got from my introductory post yesterday. It seems that I’m not the only one who gets frustrated and confused by this blogging world. I searched several different areas of the blogosphere and have spent a lot of time analyzing the “Big Blogs” and what it is that they have going for themselves. And let me tell you, we all have the abilities to make it big. But it’s going to require some effort.

 

When I asked what it was that made you return to a blog over and over and over again, three answers were prominent: The honesty and realness of the writer, the grammar and language, and how relative your writing is to your reader. I’ll start with the last one and work my way up the list. Today is all about

Relativity to your Readership and developing your niche.

First and foremost it is important that you recognize that no matter how great your design or your content, some people just aren’t going to connect with your blog. It isn’t anything that you can change or do different. Everyone just doesn’t mesh. No big deal. The important thing to acknowledge is those who you do connect with. I’m not saying that everyone is going to have absolutely everything in common. That would just be a little strange…and extremely uncomfortable, if you ask me [which you did…because you are here reading this post. Haha].

One of the key things to establishing a blog that people read and return to is establishing your niche. If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard that word spoken [errr…written?] in the blogosphere a multitude of times. Especially if you are working to grow your readership and develop a blog that will eventually bring income to your family. I went to dictionary.com and typed in the word “niche” to give a better grasp on what it really is. And this is definition number 2:

a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing: to find one’s niche in the business world.

[By the way….totally had no clue this was pronounced ‘nich’ as in rhymes with ‘itch.’]

For example, my niche is parenting and marriage with a wee-bit of military blogging thrown in the mix. I don’t push the ‘baby mom blogger’ thing too much because my son is growing up too fast. I also don’t push the military wife thing on everyone too often because there aren’t many people out there who can identify with being a military wife. And to those of you who read and aren’t military wives, if all I talked about was that aspect of my life, you would most likely leave and never come back. Because you don’t connect with that aspect of life.

Similarly, I’ve begun to push the “reconnecting with the you that you are” side of my blog. With my No Mom Talk Monday and the 30 Days of Truth Challenge, I’ve started connecting with mom’s and wives on a broader level because they connect with what I’m writing. There are a lot of women out there who have taken on the wife and mother roles and feel that they have lost a bit of themselves along the way. As someone who  has been there and is still dealing with reconnecting with that part of myself, I can identify with that on a personal level. And that kind of thing brings readers together.

So, by now you are probably thinking Well that’s great that you’ve established your niche, but what about me? How do I find mine? Well I am so glad you asked!! I’ve put together a small list of ways to figure out and develop your own niche.

ONE. Ask yourself, what am I really interested in? What am I passionate about? Maybe you are struggling or have struggled with Post-partum depression. Maybe you have killer photography skills. Maybe you have a special needs child. You niche should be something that you care about, something that you enjoy promoting, and something that you don’t mind writing about. This does not mean that that’s ALL that you can talk about, but it will need to be a viable part of your blog. One of the best examples I can give you of a blogger with an established niche is Mary over at The Mommyologist. Her “Mom Sexy” niche has taken off big time and that’s what she’s becoming known for. While she blogs regularly about other things not entirely related to mom sexy, she does make attempts to incorporate it as much as possible.

TWO. Network. Network. Network. Once you establish your niche and what it is that you want to become known for, get the word out. Join communities within your niche. If you are a Pet Blogger, seek out other bloggers with the same interests and connect. Communities like SITS, Bloggy Moms, and Blog Frog offer ample opportunity to meet and connect with others who share passions and interests with you. If you want to become known, you have to put yourself out there and get to know others. (I

‘ll talk more about networking later…this is just an idea to get you started.)

THREE. Connect. One of the BIGGEST ways to gain your own readership and connect with your soon-to-be followers is to become a follower yourself. By showing interest in the work of other bloggers, especially those in your interest/niche area, is a great way to get your blog out there and known to others. Seek out the opportunity to guest post, and COMMENT on the blogs that interest you. Not only does commenting show that you seek and desire to develop relationships in the blogging world, but it also allows for other commenters to see you. And when you post good comments [not those ‘hey I follow you, will you follow me’ kind] that show that you’ve read and thought about the post, people will generally seek you out in hopes of gaining those kind of comments on their blog.

So does this help? Give you an idea of where to start at when you develop your niche?

Some other things I’m going to talk about throughout this series include: the importance of proper grammar and language, Social Networking and your blog, Being real and honest without being offensive, Reviews/Giveaways, Blog Design, and staying true to YOU when your blog starts to grow. I hope you guys will continue to check out these posts, and hopefully will take something from it that will get you where you want to be in the bloggy world.

{Disclaimer: I am not a “professional blogger” and do not bring in any income from this blog. I have, however, begun to establish a loyal readership. This series is based upon the steps I have taken to gain said readership and personal experiences alone. This is not a magic formula that will grow your readership over night. Just a compilation and suggestion of ideas to help.}