March 6, 2008

How To Choose A Niche Topic For Your Blog

The following article is based on a post Inspired by ProBlogger

It all begins with you: what are your passions & interests?

I’m sure you’ve heard this before but it bears repeating. Choosing a theme or niche for your blog is not simply a matter of blogging about what other people are interested in or what looks like it will make a lot of money. It has to start with you and your interests.

Why? Blogging takes work. Growing a blog into a popular and well-respected authority on a particular topic can take considerable time. There are no over-night sensations in the blogging world. You need to take a long term approach to building it up. Ask yourself: Is this something I’d still be interested in writing about in 12 months time? If not, choose another topic.

There’s another reason why you should choose the topic for your blog based on your own interests: your readers. A reader who visits your blog does so because they are interested in the topic - in fact, chances are they’re passionate about the topic. Your readers will quickly discern if you’re not passionate about your topic and won’t come back. Blogs that are dry and passionless don’t tend to grow - it makes sense really as no one wants to read something that the author doesn’t really believe in.

Is the Topic Popular?

All that being said, it’s also important to consider if people want to read about your topic. After all, our goal is to build a popular blog that we can monetize. You might be really interested in your topic but unless others are also interested, you may always be writing in a void. If your goal is to write simply for the pleasure of writing, then it’s not necessary to consider the popularity of your topic. But if your goal is to turn your blog into a source of passive income, you’re going to need to find an audience.

Do you have competition?

So let’s say you’ve picked your hot niche topic. What happens if you’ve stumbled across a topic that has a lot of competition? Do you need to walk away from that topic? The trick to succeeding in competitive markets is to differentiate yourself from what others are doing. While your competition may have an established widely read blog, where are the gaps? Can you identify an area they’ve overlooked and build your blog to suit that niche? I recently discovered something interesting about a gardening blog that I keep (http://www.everythingoutside.com/blog): the posts that get the most hits are centered on gardening & curing the blues. So it’s possible to develop a great little sub-niche around that topic. But there may be a stumbling block in so doing, which brings me to my next point.

Is there enough content?

I’ve said this before: content is king. Readers love quality. Search engine spiders love quantity. The example I gave above might not be wide enough to sustain an ongoing conversation - I might run out of things to say.

Some points to consider when deciding if there’s enough content:

As an author, do you have enough content within you to write about the topic? If you’re extremely passionate about your topic, then the likelihood is that you will be able to write non-stop about your niche.
Are there enough sources of content and inspiration? Sometimes you need a little push to write or to generate ideas. Are there sources for your topic?

Can you earn money with this topic?

This only applies to you if you’re interested in earning passive income from your blogging activities. Choosing a niche that has an obvious income stream may be a factor to consider. Not every topic is going to be suitable for every income stream. For example, my Million Dollar Rolodex blog (http://www.million-dollar-rolodex.com) is well suited to earning income from affiliate programs rather than contextual ad programs like AdSense. The Gardening Blog (http://www.everythingoutside.com/blog), however, is proving to be better at generating revenues from pay-per-click ads.

Putting It All Together

By now, you probably have a good idea as to the niche topic (or topics) for your blog(s). Remember: it’s not necessary for your topic to score well on all of the points listed above and it’s highly unlikely that you will find a topic that does. Don’t get stuck in the selection process. While it would be nice to have a topic that meets all the requirements listed above, it’s also important to get into action: pick a topic and start blogging.

One Final Note

We’ll use my own blog as an example (you can find it at http://www.myvirtualpartner.com). This blog has recently undergone a major overhaul (you can find the previous incarnation at http://www.deborahblogs.com). You’ll note that the new blog has a much more specific focus: tips for earning passive income. While there are many blogs and websites that tell you how to earn money online, I’ve decided to focus on earning passive income - that is the tips that I’ve learned from working with different internet marketers and online entrepreneurs on how to make money in your sleep. The blog is still evolving but the topics will be geared to examining the tools and different revenue streams you need to implement in order to earn passive income. It’s a nice little niche that doesn’t have too much competition and in which I am personally interested so it will be sure to grow as my own interests develop.

WANT TO ADD THESE ARTICLES IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Deborah Carraro is a succcessful online entrepreneur who got her start in the Inner Circle of many of the top Online Entrepreneurs today and is now sharing their business blueprints & online secrets with you. You can get a free subscription to her “Partner for Profits ” ezine by visiting www.myvirtualpartner.com