You hear it everywhere on the blogosphere. “Find a niche, and then dominate it.â€
It’s great advice – especially when your livelihood is tied to your blog.
I’ve long wanted to write a post on this topic, and when Michael Stelzner published his White Paper Industry Report, I knew I had my hook.
You see, Michael’s Writing White Papers blog feeds at the top of the white paper food chain, and his blog is a case study in niche domination (though he’d tell you a white paper is a better vehicle for conveying that domination).
How does he stay on top?
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His blog has a laser focus
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He produces useful content (much of it customer facing)
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He’s created an expansive, blog-centric Web presence
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He creates thought leadership publications like his Writing White Papers book
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He outright defines his niche with a just-released “White Paper Writer Industry Reportâ€
The last two are the steps that most of us don’t take, and his book and report can’t help but pay off professionally.
Certainly, a blog can dominate its niche without a niche-defining report or book, but both expand the boundaries of a niche (and offer benefits to a writer beyond the blogosphere).
What have you done to dominate your niche lately? For that matter, what have I done? (Answer: not enough.)
[tags]blogging, blog[/tags]
Wow!
Thanks Tom.
I have tried real hard to stay ultra focused on my blog.
Don’t let anyone fool you.
It is VERY hard work
Some day I will need to do a little case study on some of the outcomes of such an effort.
Mike
It would be interesting to quantify the long-term benefits of blogging on a small business. Lots of anecdotal evidence (Carson called his blog a “work magnet”), but that’s hardly unbiased.
Hey Tom – Interestingly, I think in the long term most bloggers drop out of blogging. – Mike
Gotta wonder what’s going to happen for those who stick with it. Even micro-businesses like ours…