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I’m just wrapping up a small series on brainstorming and how to go about finding a topic that you’re truly passionate about and now I want to do a follow up on how to narrow that topic down into a niche topic to give you a better chance of success for your online business.
What I don’t think I stressed enough in the previous lessons is how important this is … even if you ALREADY have an online business.
If you’re not as successful as you’d like to be I hope you went through the lessons as well. If you didn’t get to them yet please do yourself a favor and give them a quick listen (they’re audio/video lessons). You can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and you’ll also want to check out the post about Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, Crush It, that is specifically about finding a topic you’re passionate about (enter for the signed book giveaway too).
In fact, I once heard Gary say (I wish I could remember which interview I heard this on *sigh*) that one mistake people make is that they have a topic they’re passionate about but they change it (even slightly) because they think there’s not a market for that specific topic.
Diet Soda … Soda … or Beverages?
The example he used was about a guy who was passionate about diet soda. He figured there was no way he could make a business out of his passion for diet soda so he thought maybe soda (all sodas). After he put some more thought into it he decided he wanted to make a fortune (and there couldn’t possibly be an audience for diet soda) so he decided to go with beverages. The problem with this way of thinking is that this guy isn’t passionate about all beverages … he’s passionate about diet soda! So when it comes time to speak and/or write about vodka or juice or any other beverages for that matter … he’s just not very interested (not full of passion for the subject) and he dreads going to work on the business and/or gets overwhelmed.
This was a “light bulb” moment for me. I have a site that I’d love to work on more often and I just don’t because it’s overwhelming and I feel like I’ll never get it to where it can be truly successful. As you might already know, Ken and I got married in Mexico earlier this year and I spent a ton of time online researching destination weddings … where to get married, what the requirements were for each country, the seasons/weather, travel expenses, etc. I was so excited about the subject that I started a site/blog on the subject (Best Destination Weddings – might as well give it a little link juice huh? LOL).
Well … after hearing the diet soda illustration I realized this:
Weddings = Beverages
Destination Weddings = Soda
Riviera Maya Weddings = Diet Soda
Do you see the idea here? I could research, read, write … and talk about the Riviera Maya area where we got married (we returned to their for our honeymoon as well) all day every day and be totally excited and passionate about it … without wondering how much money I’ll make for sharing this information … B-I-N-G-O!!!!!!!! There’s my passion … don’t you agree?
I will not scrap the existing site but rather I will be adding a separate site that’s more specific to that area and then the sites can be a referral source for each other. I hope to find alternative ways to fill the existing site with steady content (article directories, guest bloggers, etc.) and that way I can focus my time and energy on the niche site and I’ll be thrilled to work on it.
So … where are you at in choosing your niche topic? Are you ready to get started? Do you have an online business? If so, was this helpful to you too? Are you considering an adjustments to any of your niches? Have questions? Let us hear from you! *SmiLes* Suzanne
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A lot of times we think we’ve got the perfect “niche market” when what we actually have is a product we’re already selling (or would like to sell) … and now we’ve decided it’s a “niche market.” Derek Gehl said it perfectly when he said, “A niche market is a group of people who are searching the Internet for a solution to their problem – and not finding many relevant results.” Most people go on the Internet to find information … not to purchase something … so that’s what we need to give them.
