I wanted to build my website and start a personal blog a long time ago. I even took online courses and learned about it. I bought the domain name, a hosting service, and even set up the rough pages. Only one problem was left. I was not sure what to write about.
I am interested in productivity, books, writing, and many other topics. However, all the videos I watched and courses I took mentioned narrowing down to a niche, which apparently I could not. Even after a year, this problem ended up procrastinating all the blog posts I could have written in all this time.
When I received the notification of my domain plan renewal, I had to decide on this. Do I really want to keep this blog? Should I start this blog without a niche? So I decided to do more research on it.
Here’s why I finally decided to start my blog without a niche.
- Yes, niche is important, but not if you are new to blogging. If you are new to blogging, the first thing you should excel at is posting something regularly. Getting into that habit of coming up with ideas, finding time to write and edit your post, and finally publishing it. Once you master that regular posting without the need of a reminder, you can think about your niche.
- Secondly, niche matters if you are really looking to monetize your blog. But for someone like me, who is new to blogging, it is not a primary goal. All I am looking for is to explore and improve my writing while having a platform to learn about SEO. And for such a goal, the niche is a priority.
- Something that took a lot of time for me to choose a domain name was this question of finding a niche first. I have finally decided to buy a domain in my name since Austin Kleon talked about it in his book, Show Your Work. This also gives me the opportunity to explore different topics and not have to strictly follow one niche.
- Another important factor is to understand that a niche doesn’t have to be necessarily a niche topic; it can be a niche demographic. I found this article that talks about the importance of the type of audience or readers. As far as our readers are interested in the content you are posting, you are good to go. For example, if I am not sure how to choose a niche topic, but I am able to describe my audience as writers interested in productivity and books, then my blog can be successful.
- Finally, something that made me make sure my decision was that the only niche that can be really a niche is YOURSELF. If I write about myself, my interests, and my learnings, it is already a niche. You are your niche, or make yourself your niche. Your life, your personal growth, and career growth would be the best niche, especially for a content creator. Thanks to this YouTuber @Dan Koe. One of his videos gave me more clarity.
So, in the end, here I’m posting my first blog, proudly without a niche (or a niche of myself). This blog is going to resonate only with me. I may be taking inspiration from others, may be referring to authentic sources. However, it will all be my opinions, my thinking, my ideas.