The world loves specialists.
Generalists? Not really.
At least when it comes to seeking advice from folks, or following their blogs, or soliciting their business.
I explain why bloggers need to dive into this confusing but clarity-building aspect of picking a niche here:
But what about if you can’t seem to pick one passion? Why should you pick a blogging niche, anyway?
I read emails and comments from readers who struggle to pare down. No, these folks have not reached the niching down point yet. These awesome but unclear bloggers just can’t seem to pick 1 core passion, 1 love, 1 fun topic to tackle.
The natural tendency – one I surrendered to, many blogging eons ago, in a blogging galaxy far, far away – is to just blog about varied passions of yours. Whatever comes to your mind. Or, whatever you feel particularly passionate about that day.
Here’s the problem……
The Analogy
Let’s say you want to buy web hosting. You visit a website that offers web hosting services. But the website also offers services for shipping eggs. Seems weird, right? Even weirder? The name of the website is “ADozenAndADomain.com”, which seems strange and quite confusing.
How in the Hades can a single business or entity know the domain niche *and* the online egg selling niche inside out? Especially when businesses like Site Ground and Hostmonster spend all of their time and energy to hosting websites, or, to providing services specifically related to hosting a site like selling domains?
100 out of 100 times, you are buying from the specialist. Because everybody looks to specialists for advice, for service and for help. Specialists are trusted. Generalists? Not really. Generalists are a jack of all trades, master of none crowd. Not a trusted crowd, because they cannot possibly be as clear and skilled at doing 5 or 10 things or sharing insights into 5 or 10 topics than the human being who spends all of their attention and energy on sharing insights into 1 topic.
Can you easily see why you have to pick 1 blogging niche to succeed online?
The Challenge
Fear.
You fear letting go your 2 or 3 or 10 other passions to focus solely on 1 passion. You love talking about varied interests. So you fear getting clear.
The only way I picked 1 blogging niche and stuck with it was by spending time getting fully clear on what I loved doing more than anything else. I immediately put my money where my mouth was, literally, by purchasing my bloggingfromparadise.com domain name, then I knew all my posts needed to be about sharing smart blogging tips for bloggers.
I could not turn back toward other passions. I could not go off topic. I would look silly, confuse my audience, force people to unsubscribe and would struggle if I tried to blog about personal development, then basketball, then blogging, then affiliate marketing, every few posts.
I chose my core passion. I burned all ships after that.
I suggest you do the same if you fear letting go multiple passions to make room for your 1, core, thriving passion, that you need to choose and build a niche around.
Don’t Make this Mistake Either
Some bloggers explain how they do not need to be an expert since they are just blogging for fun.
I explain that even if you are blogging for fun, you are in the public eye. If you want readers to read your blog, and return, week after week, you absolutely, positively, cannot confuse them by changing topics frequently, or else they will disappear, and you may as well be writing a cyber diary if you change niches frequently.
Your Turn
How did you choose your blogging niche? Or are you having a tough time picking your niche?
Another Video
Sick of my talking head yet? I explain how to pick the right blogging niche to boost your blogging traffic: