Let's start with the good news..... Anything can be a niche! There's an endless list of niche you can choose from. You can even start your own, if it hasn't been "invented" or started yet. Anything can be a niche. With that good news to start with, the question is, how will you know which niche is yours to claim?
My first online business was a fail. It only lasted 6 months and I didn't earn a single penny. What went wrong? I had the wrong niche!
I picked home design as a niche because I do love to decorate. My idea was to have a website with beautiful home decor ideas and post links to affiliate products similar to the pictures that viewers can buy. I worked hard on that website posting new products and new images everyday. But it failed. Very few visited the website and no one bought anything.
The problem? I'm not an expert on home decor/design. It is something I enjoy doing but it wasn't something I did on a regular basis. I don't get asked to decor someone's house. To be honest, a lot of the pictures posted on the site weren't my house. Though the idea was great, it really did not work well for me because it wasn't something I was really passionate about and everyone knew! It was something I enjoyed doing but it wasn't something people would consider I'm an expert of. People want to know that they can trust you in a certain area first before they can become avid fans.
To find your niche, you have to ask the first important question first, "What am I good at?" At first, this question brought a lot of anxiety and tears for me. I didn't know what I was good at! I've been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years and the only thing I could think of being good at is doing laundry and sadly it is not a niche I want to be involved in. It took me a month to really figure out and decide my niche. Take your time, you will eventually find your niche.
#1 question - What are you good at?
Try to answer these questions to help you find the answer:
- What do you do that gets praised by your friends and family often?
- What is it that you get asked to do often by family and friends?
- What skills do you have that you can easily teach to others?
- What are your natural talents?
You may will find several answers to these questions. And because not everything you're good at is something to pursue for as an online business, then comes the next question.
#2 Which of the things you're good are you also passionate about?
Sometimes what we're good at is not what we are passionate about. Find out what your good at, make a list and see which one of those are you really passionate about. Your viewers or readers can tell if you're faking it. If you're not passionate about it, then don't expect others to be as well. Do something you're passionate about because online business' are a lot of hard work. You will find yourself quitting if your niche is not something you really enjoy doing.
Answer these questions to find your passion:
- What do you do everyday that gives you pure joy?
- What do you look forward to doing everyday?
-What are the things that you always search for on the internet?
- What topics get you excited to learn?
#3 What life experiences do I have that others can learn from?
Focus on helping others. What are the needs out there that you can meet? If visitors know that you are all about helping them, they will always go back. Offer them your life experiences. Tell them how they can learn from your success and mistakes. Make sure that the life experiences you choose connects with questions 1 & 2. Don't go off topic. It will be easier to find your niche if you keep narrowing down the answers.
#4 Connect each of your answers and see which ones would be a great niche to pursue
In my case, I've let go of the home decor idea. I deleted that website and found the true me.
My answers that led me to my niche:
What am I good at: Being a mom, homeschooling, teaching & preaching
What am I passionate about: Being a mom, being creative, teaching the bible.
What life experiences do I have that others can learn from? Parenting, Homeschooling and lessons I've learned from following Jesus.
All these answers led me to my niche now which is life & homeschooling. I use Life for blogging that represents parenting, relationships and faith. I've put my passion for being creative in the homeschooling side of my site by creating useful worksheets other moms can use.
Check out my site www.lifeandhomeschooling.com
I hope that these questions will help you find your niche. If you have other ideas that worked for you, please comment and share it to help others as well. Thank you for reading!
Here are some books that helped me become a better blogger and business owner. (Affiliate)
Here are my popular blog posts that might help you as well.