Niche or Not so Much?

September 10, 2007 ·
Filed in Blogging ·
5 Comments

After a busy couple weeks with the server change and home renovations, I’m finally starting to get back into the swing of things. When I first started this blog I did a lot of reading, just as anyone does when they first start a blog. What is the one big piece of advice that every pro blogger advises that you follow? Select a niche, right? Well, what about a sort of, pseudo niche? Similar to what Random Jabber is?

I Have a Niche, but I Don’t

Before having a blog, I knew the niche that I wanted to dive into. At the same time, I didn’t want to feel like I could only write about one topic, which is what I would feel like if I had chosen a specific niche. So, although I do predominantly talk about topics around one niche, by choosing the name Random Jabber, that in itself leaves the site open to really discuss anything and everything that comes to mind.

I believe that for me, the way I have Random Jabber set up is best for me. I think I would get really bored writing about the same topic, so what I’ve done is picked a few topics which interest me that I anticipate writing about majority of the time, but also left my options open as far as being able to write the occasional or even frequent off topic article.

What are Your Thoughts? Do You Agree?

What are your thoughts on the topic? Do you agree with me in what I’m doing with Random Jabber or do you think having an exclusive niche is the best way to go? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the topic and what you feel is the best way to run a blog?

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Comments

1Deaf Musician jabbered...

I used to do blogging on all kinds of topics, as you may remember. But then I realized you wanna narrow it down, because you want certain type of audience. I noticed that not many people subscribed when it was wide variety of topics. It might work differently for you, who knows, try out different things.

Posted on Tue Sep 11, 2007

2Deron Sizemore jabbered...

Yeah, I like to keep my topics to a few, but not just one either. I guess I like knowing that if something totally random off topic pops into my head, I can write about it here and hopefully not scare off to many readers. I hope that with my about page and just the name and title of the site I will be letting visitors know what my main topics are ith the occasional off topic article.

Posted on Tue Sep 11, 2007

3Brian Purkiss jabbered...

I am right there with you.
Unless you’re a full time blogger (like problogger - who has several blogs for his different niches), then you don’t want to contain your blog to one topic - unless it is your absolute passion.
I don’t have one of those.
Thus, my blog, plainBETA, is an open ended blog. Although I am going to start making it slightly more specific - web design, blogging, and technology. That still is pretty open ended and covers enough of my hobbies/passions that it’ll keep me entertained.

Something to keep in mind though that this is the world wide web. There’s already something out there about anything. If you’re completely focused, you better have some really good content if you want to get anywhere.

At any rate, I think it is best to have at least a slightly open ended blog - unless your blog is on your absolute passion (that others are interested in), or have multiple blogs (which pretty much requires full time blogging).

Posted on Tue Sep 11, 2007

4Michael from Pro Blog Design jabbered...

If you knew you were going to get fed up with just the one topic, then you were definitely right to set things up this way.

I picked a pretty tight niche for Pro Blog Design, but I like it. It forces you to really examine your niche, and when you get down to it, there is a lot more to write than I originally would have thought. I love that.

Posted on Fri Sep 14, 2007

5Deron Sizemore jabbered...

Brian: Yeah I agree with the slightly open ended blog statement. That’s what I’ve tried to do here with Random Jabber and it works out good for me, or at least up to this point it has. Maybe as the blog grows I’ll have to reevaluate my position and stick one niche instead of a few, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Michael: I don’t know if I would get fed up with one topic (it’s a possibility) but I like the idea of essentially being able to write about anything that comes to mind, but sticking to a select few topics majority of the time. That way people know what they’re getting before they come to the site and it’s not just totally random stuff, but it keeps it open so if I so feel like it, I can post a golf article and not really worry about it.

I see you’re point too. If you select a very specify niche and stick to that one niche, it really makes you examine your niche very close to improve your site. That’s a little more difficult to do with a blog such as mine, but still possible I guess.

Thanks for stopping by to comment. I appreciate it.

Posted on Sun Sep 16, 2007