“Are You Defining Your Niche Properly?” plus 1 more

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 12:05 PM PST

This guest post is by Charles Manfre of CodeConquest.com.

When I started my blog, I made the mistake of not defining my niche well enough.

In fact, I defined it with one word: “coding.”

Defining the niche my blog targeted with one word was never going to be enough. Perhaps for the pioneers of the internet it was okay, but in this day and age, with millions of websites in the competition, you need more than a one-word topic name for a niche.

I can’t emphasize how important it is to define your niche. You need to be able to know the focus of your blog inside out, what makes it so great and how it’s different from every other blog. A one word simply isn’t enough.

I didn’t know this when starting my blog. But when it did dawn on me, I knew I needed to change. I overhauled my About page, I changed my tagline, and I generally wasted a lot of time deciding on what the heck my site was about.

Luckily for me, the site was still new and unknown, and I doubt a single person noticed my change of focus, but this was time I could have spent building great content and promoting my blog.

I hope that you can learn from my mistakes. So here are the main things you need to think about when defining your niche.

Choose an audience, not a topic

This was the first mistake I made. When you decided what your blog was going to be about, did you choose a topic like business, blogging, or photography? Or in my case, coding?

I did. And it wasn’t long before I realized it wasn’t going to work. Coding is a hugely broad topic, and I had no idea who I was writing for. Beginners? Experienced coders? What kind of coding were they interested in? What needs did they have that I could address?

I didn’t even know my own blog! My blog posts were lacking purpose. They weren’t targeting anyone, they weren’t addressing any needs. No wonder no one was reading them!

Think of all the successful blogs you know. ProBlogger, Digital Photography School, Zen Habits. They don’t just blog about a topic, they’re aimed at a specific audience.

Coding was a weak topic. But those who are learning to write code and want to apply their skills to real projects—now that’s a very clearly defined audience.

Lessons

Don’t write about something, write for someone.
Know the focus of your blog, inside out.
With every blog post you write, ask yourself: what’s the purpose of this blog post and how does it address my audience’s needs?

Differentiate your blog from every other

When I was deciding on my clearly defined audience, there was one big thing I had in mind. How was my blog going to be different from all the rest?

If you’re blogging about blogging, you’re competing with ProBlogger. If you’re blogging about photography, you’re competing with Digital Photography School. If you’re blogging about coding like I am, you’re competing with Tuts+ and SitePoint.

How do you expect to stand out from the pack? You simply don’t stand a chance. Unless you differentiate your blog.

Here’s a little exercise Derek Halpern taught me. Identify the top ten blogs in your niche and for each one, explain how it is unique from all the others. Now decide how your blog can fit in amongst that top ten, with its own unique spin.

In my case, I decided that my blog was going to be focused on coding in the “real world”—guiding people along their learn to code journey, while also helping them apply their skills to real projects.

Lessons

Identify how your blog is different from all the others in your niche and how it can compete.
Ideally, choose a unique spin that no other blog shares.

Where do you want your blog to be in a year?

Knowing how you want your blog to grow is something that’s extremely helpful for defining your niche. It’s not as important as the previous two points, but it really does help.

Think about what kind of things you’ll be selling, what components there will be on your website, even how you want your site to look and be designed.

For me, I decided that in a year’s time I wanted to be selling WordPress themes and plugins on my website. So, to prepare for this, I now have a WordPress category in my blog which I add to regularly.

I also know that I want my website to be known as a supportive community for coders. Just knowing this gives me a better idea of what kind of content to add to my blog today.

Lessons

Have an idea in your head of what your blog will be when it’s fully mature.
Think about how it will make money, what it will be known for, and how it will look.
Use this insight to gain a better idea of what to focus your blog on today.

Strengthen your blog’s foundation

It doesn’t matter whether your blog is already established or not. Websites are dynamic—you can change them at any time. So take this advice: laser define your niche and strengthen your blog’s foundation.

What niche does your blog focus on? Tell us in the comments—and no one-word answers please!

Charles Manfre is the owner of CodeConquest.com, a website and blog that helps beginners learn to write code and apply their web coding skills in the real world. Visit the website or subscribe to the blog.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Are You Defining Your Niche Properly?

Become a Guest-post Ninja in 5 Steps

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 06:09 AM PST

This guest post is by Timo Kiander ofProductive Superdad.

There you are with a big smile, after slapping together another 400-word post. It took you 30 minutes to write, and now you are ready to submit it to some random blog.

Although you didn't really put your mind to the post, it got published anyway. Quite soon after this you start to wonder why you aren't getting any great results in return: no visits, no subscribers, no nothing.

You make the conclusion that guest posting is just a waste of time. You also decide to move to other, more compelling traffic methods that have the potential to drive massive amounts of visitors to your site.

In fact, a certain marketer just published a course that shows you how to get floods of traffic to your blog—by spending just ten minutes per day with his technique.

You figure that’s a much better use of your time than the overhyped guest posting thing, which isn't working for you anyway.

I'm sorry to hear that you feel this way about guest posting. However, if you let me, I can at least try to change your mind.

Guest posting is more than a simple list post

Too many times people think that a great-performing article is just a simple list post that, after being submitted to a blog, will bring a lot of traffic and subscribers. Then they become frustrated when they fail to get the results they wished for.

This frustration is caused by a lack of persistence. Guest posting is a long-term strategy that requires commitment—not just doing a random post here or there.

You'll also need the focus properly when you’re doing the actual writing. Your goal should always be to produce as valuable and meaningful stuff for your readers as possible.

Unfortunately, if you are not focused enough, you end up offering some superficial advice that has been said elsewhere many times over.

The more time you spend on guest posting, the more certain you can be that you’ll get the big rock rolling—and you'll get great rewards in return.

On the other hand, if you expect the results fast or you are not willing to put enough hours in, then you should definitely start figuring out some other promotional strategy that suits your better.

Mindset and success are connected

The lack of success is traceable—to your mind. In other words, you might lack the proper mindset to succeed at guest posting.

To succeed, you'll need to be consistent and persistent with your efforts. You also have to be ready to test and tweak different things related to guest posting: headlines, landing pages, and the blogs you submit your posts to.

Unfortunately, guest posting is not for the person who wants to reach the big figures in this very moment: the traffic, the subscribers now, and the sales. Sure, you'll get those, but only with enough commitment and intense work.

If you don't own the right mindset, guest posting is just another way to get some random traffic to your site. A lack of focus is going to give you a lack of results.

Becoming a guest-post ninja

Do you want to become a guest-post ninja? Well, I have good news for you—it's totally doable!

Instead of jumping around like a real ninja warrior, I want you to develop a proper guest posting mindset. You can do this using the steps I'm about to tell you.

First, don't hold back on anything!

I remember the time (when I started writing guest posts) when I was always thinking, "Is this post too good to be given away, or should I publish it on my own blog?"

If you are feeling like this, then stop. Don't hesitate to give your best stuff for other blogs.

My blog doesn't have tens of thousands of readers (at least, not yet!), so it's useless for me to publish all my best content over there.

Instead, I try to get my content published on those blogs which already have those tens of thousands of readers and who will (at least partly) come back to my blog for more.

Second, writing is just one part of guest-posting.

Guest posting is also about interacting with the readers of the guest blog's audience. If you think that your job is done after getting your post published, you are wrong.

The worst thing to do is to stay quiet during the conversation. This just proves to the blog's author that your posts are not worth publishing in the future.

Third, the biggest fear in guest posting is about rejection.

I can totally understand this—especially if you are just starting out. However, the more posts your write, the less you’ll experience this feeling.

You can always offer the rejected post to another blog and, unless it's badly written, it'll be published elsewhere.

Fourth, systematize your work.

When you start writing posts on a regular basis, a good system will help you a lot. This means that you have certain guidelines to follow whenever your write a guest post, and you'll be able to produce great posts easier and faster.

Finally, plan ahead.

Never start writing your posts without outlining or planning them in advance. This becomes especially important if you are building your blog while you have a day job and a family.

Every minute counts! The more effective you are, the more you get done with your available time, and the better the results you are going to get.

Put that black mask on, and become a guest-post ninja!

Now that you understand the guest posting mindset, and how to become a guest-post ninja, it's time to look at the action steps that you can take next.

1. Give away your best stuff

Don't save the "good stuff" for your own blog—give it away, especially if you are just starting out. Your blog gets more exposure that way, and so do you.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't be writing awesome stuff on your own blog—of course you should! But you should publish your great content where the people are, rather than posting it only to your blog.

2. Reply to comments

There are really two parts to this piece of advice.

First, I batch process all post comments at once, on a daily basis. This way all the comments get a reply. This is also what the author of the blog you’ve been a guest on expects.

As soon as I know that the post is live, I'll let the author know that my comment policy is to reply to all the comments once a day. I also let the blogger know if I'm travelling and I can't reply to comments right away. This way the blogger is informed and knows that eventually the comments are going to be replied to.

3. Kill your fear of rejection

To feed your fear of rejection, write your first guest post and try to get it published on a big blog.

A much better way to kill that fear is to get your stuff published on smaller blogs first, and then, once you’re more confident, to go after the big fishes.

This is exactly what my strategy was in the beginning, and the fear of rejection is nowadays pretty much non-existent.

You should use this strategy too: start on the lowest steps of the ladder and then proceed upwards, one step at a time.

4. Create your system

You can create your ownguest-post system from scratch, or borrow a system from someone else.

I have a certain way of writing posts and this system works for me. On the other hand, you'll definitely want to put your own tweaks to existing systems, so that they suit you better. It’s the best way to create quality guest posts that get results on a consistent basis.

5. Plan and execute

Finally, there is the planning part, which shouldn't be underestimated. In fact, the planning is critical part of my system, but I wanted to bring it up as a separate step.

Every Sunday, I outline my posts for the coming week. This ensures that I'm ready to start writing as soon as I wake up.

Mornings are technically the only part of the day when my home is quiet enough for writing. Besides, writing stuff after getting back home from work is not practical for me as I want to spend time with my family or with my hobbies.

Like me, you'll have to find the optimum time for you to write. Then, plan and write around that schedule.

Are you a guest-post ninja?

Guest posting works, but you have to concentrate on it properly if you want to get good results. To get that concentration, build a strategy and a system for your guest posting efforts. Take these steps as a starting point or implement your own system if you want.

Have you done any guest posting? What is the most important lesson you have learned so far?

Timo Kiander, a.k.a. Productive Superdad, teaches WAHD superdad productivity for work at home dads. If you want to improve your blogging productivity, grab his free e-book, 61 Ways for Supercharging Blogging Productivity.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Become a Guest-post Ninja in 5 Steps