RSSDigging Yourself a Niche Market
Jun 10
A Writer's Blog Comments Off
Any businessperson will tell you one way to have success as a writer is to find a niche market and dominate it. For some, that means getting hired by a newspaper or magazine to cover a specific beat (though for the record, it helps if you’re covering a topic that interests you to begin with). For blog writers, it means having a narrowly focused website. For authors, it means sticking to a genre. And for every writer, you need to be dedicated to your niche market strategy and stick with it.
The potential downside with a niche market strategy is the same as the upside; it requires a beeline focus on one industry. It is an excellent tactic for success, particularly if you’re knowledgeable in the field, genuinely interested in the subject matter, and committed to maintaining the quality of your writing over time. The reason it works is because you can establish yourself as an authority in the field. Sticking to one niche market is more likely to garner loyalty among your fans based on your expertise of the topic and your devotion to the topic. If you are involved in hosting ad space, niche targeting allows your ads to be more relevant to your readers and increases your potential for ad revenue. Plus, as you generate new content, you are continually adding to your prestige within the field.
This strategy works no matter what type of writing you are doing. A beat writer for a sports team becomes an expert on that sport and that team, becoming intimately knowledgeable about the roster, the coaches, and the history of the team. A blog writer who focuses on one topic is much more likely to see relevant traffic on the site, which is important for gaining repeat visitors and increasing subscribership. The same holds true for an author who identifies a genre to concentrate on.
Niche targeting is a good business decision if you are trying to make money as a writer. For some it’s a natural fit. Others, however, have a difficulty sticking to one focus for extended periods. If your interests are varied, it’s inevitable that your writing will reflect that. Does that make you less marketable? It can. A blog about everything will have a harder time earning repeat traffic and devoted fans because different topics will appeal to different people. Does it make you less successful? It can, but any writer offsets the potential for failure with consistency, persistence and quality. If you embrace those key aims in your writing career, you can be successful even without a niche market.
As you write, think about whether a niche market would work for you. Will you see more traffic to your website? Will you have greater subscribership or increase your authority on a specific topic? Those might be reasons to identify a niche and stick with it, particularly if you are writing to meet specific income goals. Your passion for a topic can drive your success in your writing career, and that is what a niche market can do for you.
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Andrew Marx is the author of the upcoming essay collection Thank You Is Implied The Annotated Smart ReMarx featuring some of the best articles from his 17-year career. The book will be available to pre-order in August at annotatedsmartremarx.com.
