Screw the Niche – Why I Failed at Niching Down and Why That’s Totally OK
When I started The Coffee Chronicle last year, I decided to start broad and then niche down eventually.
The main reason for that was, that I couldn’t decide on a niche and wanted to see, which topics work best for me.
I also wanted to focus on getting into the blogging habit first, which was much easier for me, if I didn’t limit myself on one topic.
I enjoyed this type of blogging, but I knew, I eventually had to decide on my niche.
After all, whenever you read anything about blogging, the first advice usually is to niche down. The Riches are in the Niches, right?
So I spent hours and hours on developing a new content strategy, redesigning the blog, keyword research, updating social profiles … you name it.
But it didn’t work.
As soon as I started focusing on one niche and following other blogging advice – like posting long form content with 2k+ words – I was blocked.
I had more than enough ideas for blog posts to write within my niche, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Blogging turned from something that I deeply enjoyed to just another tedious task on my to do list.
The thought of my blog, waiting for me to finally return to the keyboard, frustrated me and I’m not willing to accept this anymore.
As soon as I started focusing on one niche and following other blogging advice - like posting long form content with 2k+ words - I was blocked. I had more than enough ideas for blog posts to write within my niche, but I couldn’t bring… Click To TweetWhy I Finally Decided Against A Niche
I’m not a very nichy person.
Let me explain that. I know, that everyone has multiple interests, passions and topics of expertise. Yet many people can successfully write about a topic for years without loosing interest.
I tried to do that, and it’s no surprise for me, that it didn’t work out. The two main reasons are those:
1. I’m a jack of all traits.
Or – to use a more positive expression – a multipotentialite. I consider this to be both my best and my worst trait. I love to learn new things, but it’s hard for me to focus on just one project at a time.
I’ll propably write more about this topic in the future, but for now, I can only recommend Emilie Wapnick’s genius book How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don’t Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up
It’s my favorite non-fiction book and I already read it about once a year to keep on track.
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062566660/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0062566660&linkCode=as2&tag=thecoffeech00-20&linkId=2ebeadf2cfe268da4db177731ba4ce0f"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=0062566660&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=thecoffeech00-20" ></a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=thecoffeech00-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0062566660" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />To get a sneak peak on the books message, you can also listen to Emilie’s TED Talk:
2. I’m 23 years old.
This means, I’m quite young and my life changes at a very fast pace. Right now, I’m a college student and I already know, that my life will drastically change two years from now, when I get my degree, start working and finally move in with my soon-to-be husband.
Talking about my relationship, when I was 21 and travelled to Myanmar with my family, I had no idea, that I’d meet the love of my life – who happened to live only 150 miles away from me. Now I’m engaged and in two months, I will be married.
Just imagine, I would have started a blog on dating back then. I’d be screwed.
Niches are bad for content quality
Even when your life and interests are more stable than mine, content fatigue will eventually kill your blog – or at least its quality.
The problem is, that you can only write so much about a certain topic, without repeating yourself. With a niche blog, you need to come up with new blog post ideas every week and you’ll start to write stuff just to get something out, not because it adds value for your readers.
If you’ve ever met me, you know, I’m not the kind of person, who talks just for the sake of talking and the same goes for my approach to blogging.
I want to write something, because I have something to say, not because there’s an editorial calendar to fill.
Without a Niche, You Can Better Connect to Your Readers
Niche-based blogs tend to be rather cold and objective.
The reason for this is, that most of them exist to sell products or services.
But when you start a so-called lifestyle-blog – the general term for blogs with no defined niche – it will inevitably reflect, well, your life.
When people do a google-search to solve a specific problem, they mostly land on niche-sites. They read the article and when the problem is solved, the leave and never look back.
Lifestyle blogs are the blogs, where you hang around and stay for a while. They are the blogs, you bookmark or even type out by hand to regularly check, what’s going on at the bloggers life.
Which brings me to the next point…
Niche Blogs are replaceable – Lifestyle Blogs aren’t.
Imagine this: You are a dog owner, who wants to teach his / her dog, different tricks. So you do a quick Google Search and click on the first result.
Most likely, you will scan the article, apply the tips, leave the page and never look back. The next time, you need advice on how to teach your dog, you just google it once again.
However, for this scenario, let’s assume, you like the article and bookmark the site, so that you can come back to it, whenever you need advice.
One day, when you try to reach the site, your browser tells you, that it no longer exists. What a bummer. So you return to Google, type in „How to teach your dog to brush teeth“ and get 76.900.000 results to choose from.
Within a matter of secons, you replaced the first blog.
Compare this to a lifestyle blog. After reading a few articles on this blog, you start building a connection with the blogger. You remember the blog’s name and return to it, whenever you need some advice or entertainment.
When this page shuts down, there’s no way to replace it with a simple Google search. When lifestyle bloggers decide to call it quits and move on, they often get hundrets of emails and messages, begging them to return to the keyboard or asking, what they are up to next and how they can stay in touch.
After all, your own interests and opinions are the smallest niche imaginable and the one, that only you can fill.
Does your blog need a niche? Maybe not – "After all, your own interests and opinions are the smallest niche imaginable and the one, that only you can fill." Click To TweetFor more on this topic, read Jeff Goin’s article on Why Finding Your Niche Is Just Plain Bad Advice . He suggests, that you choose a worldview instead of a niche and build your blog around that to find your tribe.
In Shattering the Myth of Blog Niches: How to Grow a Huge Readership Leo Babauta from ZenHabits.com – one of the most successful non-niche blogs out there – talks about finding your own point of view to set yourself apart.
„Don’t limit the playing field by choosing a narrow niche — choose a wide playing field, but make yourself stand out among all the other players in your own way.“ – Leo Babauta
„Don’t limit the playing field by choosing a narrow niche — choose a wide playing field, but make yourself stand out among all the other players in your own way.“ – Leo Babauta Click To TweetI Don’t Follow Niche Blogs
Last but not least, I recognized, that the blogs I read regularly are all lifestyle blogs.
I might read an article or two on a niche blog, when doing research, but the blogs, that I type in manually and that I visit on a regular basis, are all lifestyle blogs.
It’s like checking in with an old friend to see, what they are up to at the moment and I always find something interesting on the blogs I love.
My favorite blogs include:
There you have it: All of my reasons, why I chose not to decide on a niche for my blog.
Honestly, it wasn’t really a decision, but more of a resignation.
I accepted the fact, that I’m not the type of person, who can and wants to write about only one topic for years to come.
Being consistent with my blogging and nurturing it for years to come is more important for me than making money with it.
I consider this blog as my child and if my child only had one topic of interest, I’d be quite alarmed.
What about you?
Do you prefer reading niche blogs or lifestyle blogs?
If you’re a blogger yourself, which path did you choose and why?
Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments. 🙂
