I’m apparently supposed to be finding mine.
All the blog advice floating around the world wide web says that all good blogs have a niche. Something you write about… something you know well and can write with some modicum of authority.
Um, excuse me, but if all good blogs have a niche, then what does that make me? Chopped liver? (P.S. I don’t even want to know where that saying came from!) Seriously, what am I supposed to write? I don’t really want to write about only one thing. I want to write about random stuff that tumbles around in my head. Does that mean my blog’s going to be unappealing?
It’s true, most of the blogs I subscribe to seem to have their own little “thang” going. Like Simple Mom, for example (my ultimate favorite blog). She writes about “life hacks for home managers”, and dang is she good at it! Or Keeper of the Home, who writes about “Naturally Inspired Living for Christian Homemakers”.
But I don’t really have a niche to blog about. Nope, I can’t even decide on a style of writing. Sometimes I think I’m funny (Yep, I laugh at my own jokes, cuz I’m hilarious like that), sometimes serious (um, really?), and sometimes I even feel reflective (as in all that mushy emotional stuff. Not as in the shiny tape that crossing guards wear).
But you know what?
I think I’m going to give myself permission to just be without a niche for awhile.
Niche-less-ness.
I like it.
Do you have a niche? Do you consider a niche a vital part of a successful blog (ie. blog you wanna read)? Do you agree with me that niche is really quite a strange word? How do you even pronounce it??
Red and Honey 
9 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 30, 2009 at 11:13 am
Krista
I think your blog is perfect. I love it. 🙂
Krista
March 30, 2009 at 2:27 pm
bethricci
Thanks Krista! That’s nice to hear 🙂
March 30, 2009 at 2:51 pm
katrinacarson
I hope that blogs don’t all need a niche cause if so I’m never going to have one. I think that its good to write about whatever is on your mind…I at least enjoy that 🙂
March 30, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Amy Jane (Untangling Tales)
“Niche” is a term most applicable to those blogging for money.
That is, those trying to focus on a particular niche are usually doing so b/c they hope to create a consistent readership (isn’t that word cool?), those who will return and become faithful followers who in turn keep stats (and revenue) up.
What other blogs (like yours and mine) are more built around is personality. That is, like your favorite Radio DJ, or columnist, followers are just interested in your take on things. I’d even go so far as to say it’s more about relationship than information (though, without information you end up with a *really* boring relationship that is likely to fizzle).
I’ve been blogging for three years now. My hit-counter is consistently higher than 20 or 30 (low for the big bloggers, but warm-fuzzies for me) each day, but I only have a very few consistent commentors (actually I’ve added on average one-per year I’ve been blogging…).
Write what you love, let the natural pull of the *idea* of interaction keep you writing consistently, and let it help you refine your ideas and take on life. (I’ve been frequently prepared for real-life interactions with people because of my refining essays I created on my blog).
If comments are important to you, or numbers, you’ll have to decide what you’re looking for in readers, then simply, give them what they want. {shrug} I won’t call you selfish if you don’t want to cater to strangers.
But some people find it energizing and I can understand that too, though I could never live that way myself.
Do what you like, and you may after a while discover you do have a center. When you do, putting it in your sub-title might help your readers understand your angle. (Mine is horribly broad, but it actually seems to cover everything, so it stays.)
March 31, 2009 at 8:10 am
Elle
I know its pronounced “neesh” – but I always think of some poor little kid with a lisp saying “Oh, that’s nysh”
I think our blogs would fall into the same category.
I like to cal it “willy-nilly”
March 31, 2009 at 8:12 am
Elle
Ugh. I hate typos. I’m such a nerd. That “cal” up there is really irritating me! Obviously, I meant to say “call.”
Now I’m just revealing my inner geek.
Sigh…
March 31, 2009 at 10:57 am
naomi
niche schmeiche.
lol
btw I sent someone a link to your blog (a mommy-to-be) that I know and she loved it. she said that she though you were a great writer and had a really fun blog.
March 31, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Filvin
Your Blog fulfills the postmodern niche of niche-less-ness. I put your blog in the blog-box of blogs that can’t be boxed 😉
April 3, 2009 at 10:45 pm
melodyofamom
Who says you need a niche? I don’t have one and I’m pretty awesome. lol. Seriously though, what mom can keep all the things in her head straight as it is with out having to worry about a niche? :0)