Niche Writing: One Case Study

The numbers are of such tonnage as to bring a herd of elephants to its knees. Okay, maybe several herds. The fact is that there are literally millions of writers in the world, and they all have access to the internet and many of them are after fame and fortune.

How, then, does a writer increase his/her chances of being discovered, being read and yes, making money?

If you have followed along with my writing articles, you know by now that I am a huge believer in niche writing. In other words, instead of trying to appeal to all readers in the world, concentrate on appealing to a small, select group of readers.

Let me put this another way: How many craft writers are there in the world? Now, how many quilt writers are there? Now, how many Amish quilt writers are there in the world? The internet is flooded with craft articles, but it is not flooded with Amish quilt articles. As we narrow the scope of our writing, we also diminish the number of competitors we have to go toe-to-toe with, and any old way you look at it, that is a good thing.

Of course, if you do not write to make money then there is no reason for you to read any further. If, however, your goal is to one day make some supplemental income by writing articles, then you really need to hop onboard the Niche Writing Express.

Today I am going to introduce you to a friend of mine. Suzanne is her name, and on the writing site Hubpages, her name is Suzie HQ.

Suzi is doing everything right when it comes to niche writing. She has carved out a small niche in the personal beauty product field by writing about homemade personal beauty products, and she is pounding it for all she is worth. Let’s take a look at a sampling of some of her titles:

• Homemade Shampoo Using Coconut Milk and Castile Soap
• Homemade Cherry Face Mask Recipes
• Easy Homemade Face Toners and Tonics
• Homemade Carrot and Mango Butter Face Cleanser
• Homemade Sunscreen Recipe
• Best Homemade Mouthwash
• Homemade Sensual Solid Perfume Recipe For Women

And the list goes on and on and on, each hub with a common theme within a very select niche.

This, my friends, is marketing at its finest. Just on a lark I did a Google search for homemade masks using almonds and guess whose article was number one? That’s right, my good friend Suzie!

On a related note, when a writer narrows the field by grabbing hold of a particular niche, the next step is to establish oneself as an expert in the field. Part of this is done by pounding the niche so that your name continually shows up in the search engines. Suzi is doing this, and every single time someone does a search for homemade beauty products, chances are the name “Suzie HQ” will show up. As that continues to happen she automatically becomes a name associated with homemade beauty products and thus, an expert in the field.

Now I’ll be honest with you. I have no idea what Suzi’s background is in this niche. I have no clue whether she has trained in this field or whether she has worked in this field selling products or whatever, but it really makes no difference. Selling, or marketing, is all about perception. When I quit my teaching job a little over two years ago I decided I would become a freelance writer. Please note that I had no experience at all, but that did not prevent me from setting up my own freelance writer website and start marketing myself as a freelancer. Within six months I was paying most of my bills from my freelance income.

Perception!

Once you have determined what your niche will be, you then need to establish a website and a blog pertaining to that niche. Remember that this is about image and it is also about maximizing the effect of the internet on your business. The more “hits” to your site, the more often your name will show up when people do searches, so you not only write articles on your niche topic, but you also have the website and blog drawing internet traffic, and of course you have links on your blog and website that lead back to your articles.

It is now time for Suzi to write herself a tagline. A tagline is a marketing tool that summarizes your business in a nice, snappy line of text. Think Nike and “Just do it.” As of the writing of this article, Suzie is hard at work developing her tagline so that her product, which is herself, has an identifying line of advertising to go with it.

I recently decided on my own tagline for the writing articles that I write. “Helping writers to spread their wings and fly” is the tagline I decided upon, and it appears at the end of every article that I write. It identifies me as an expert in the writing field and a person to turn to for writing advice. Soon I will have business cards printed that include that tagline so that my business has that professional feel to it.

Establishing yourself as an expert in a particular field is a numbers game. The more you pound your niche into the collective consciousness of the public, the more established you will become.

What do you think of when you hear the name Martha Stewart? If you said home decorating or something of a similar ilk then you understand the importance of marketing and perception. I have no idea what Stewart’s background was before she became famous, but I am convinced that she used a variation of the ideas I am presenting to you today.

You are the product and never forget that. You have to first decide what interests you and what you would like to write about. Then you have to answer this simple question: what am I providing that my readers need? Once you have established that niche and found your focus, the rest is repetition and more repetition of the same central message.

My friend Connie (Grandmapearl on HubPages) is working on this process right now. Her niche is birds and creating a healthy yard for you and our feathered friends. It has been interesting watching her settle into her niche and develop it. Now she is working on a tagline, and I have no doubt she will soon be an established leader in this interesting field.

And I could go on and on. Another friend, Deb (aviannovice on HubPages) writes a weekly series about the wildlife at Boomer Lake in Oklahoma, and in the process has established herself as a local expert in that area. Lizzy (Radcliff on HP) has her healthy eating and Abby (Abby Campbell on HP) her workouts for a healthy lifestyle. All have embraced the concept of niche writing and all are slowly but surely making a name for themselves in their chosen field of expertise.

Can it be done when writing about less specific fields? Say, for instance, that you are an essay writer who writes about life and reflections; could you make that a niche? I believe you can. I have done so with my “Moment With Bill Reflections”, and my friend Joe (Hawaiianodysseus) has done the same with his Walking series.

If so, you know how to get hold of me. You can email me any old time at holland1145@yahoo.com and I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have, or give you advice if you seek it. We are a community and as such we should be helping each other as often as possible….at least that’s what I believe.

I hope you take this information and reach for the stars. I want to hear from many of you that you are now experts in a particular niche, and I want to see the gods of Google bow down in your honor. At the very least, I want you to make some money doing this thing called writing.

One last word and then I’ll let you go: an old saying of my dad’s was that you can put a dress on a pig but it is still a pig. What did he mean? There is no substitute for good writing. You can pick your niche and pound it home; you can develop the best tagline known to man and you can put together a beautiful and professional website; but if you can’t write it will all be for naught. Work on your craft before you start working on your niche. In other words, the horse always comes before the cart.

2013 William D. Holland (aka billybuc)

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”