2 Big Options Behind Solving 'Choosing The Wrong Niche'

Choosing a niche is not only a difficult process, but it's also a process many blogger refuse to choose, mainly because of how limiting a niche can be. You see other bloggers talk about how choosing a niche is your number one thing to do when you start blogging, 'too many topics, too few viewers' and other varied advice following a similar form.

Contrary to the advice, I don't have a niche. If we're being technical, my niche could be 'blogging', but to blog is a big subject, from social media, to marketing, to design, to scheduling, to preparing, to growth, to followers, the different avenues are vast. Add to that my book related content and I'm not a niched blogger, and I see that in my figures. However, I also see on a regular basis blogs without a specific niche achieve great things, and it's not impossible to do so.

Finding is a niche, a main topic to blog about is usually the best port of call.

But what if you choose wrong?

What if you choose a niche thinking it's 'the one' and later start to feel limited.

What if your niche starts to feel like a relationship that no longer has that spark. Sure, you might be content in that relationship, but you might also feel like you're not getting anything more out of that relationship. Hey, maybe, you're just settling, and settling for less than happiness is not a good thing.

Are you settling for a niche that doesn't fit right anymore? My friend, you chose wrong.

Oh shit, I chose the wrong niche! What do I do Amanda?

There are two things you can do, and they're both frightening..

Choice One: Expand Your Topics

Your first choices is drop the whole niche thing and go wild. Of course, there's no need to pack up your things, move to some forest and grow a beard like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, just let your imagination take you places it wants to go. Unlimit yourself, if that's even a word. Put your niche in a bottle and cast it away to see, never to be seen again.

Think about the type of topics you'd like to explore or move into, all the while keeping it relatively linked to your current choice of interest. Just because you're ready to break out into the beauty blogging world, doesn't mean your current audience, whatever that audience may be, is feeling the same. There's such a thing called an adjustment period, for you and your followers, and as much you may feel like there's more effort involved, you have to make that adjustment period smooth for your following.

Why?

What if a month, or two months down the line, beauty blogging isn't for you? Would you not rather have the previous topic, and previous following still readily waiting for you to return, or would you rather be left with no ideas, no blog, and no following, stranded on an island of one, feeling sorry for yourself? I don't know about you, but the latter sounds like hell.

Think of how you can make that adjustment period as smooth as possible by incorporating the two or more topics together. For example, if you're a book blogger and find yourself wanting to move into the movie reviewing instead, maybe consider checking out some of the books being made into movies, and review the book and the movie together. Over time, some followers may leave because they don't fancy your movie-buff self, but you may gain a whole lot more that join your most loyal followers instead.

Okay, so what's the second option?

Choice Two: Start a Brand New Blog With a New Niche

But Amanda, what about all my followers I already have, what about them?

Simple. Invite them along on your new exciting journey and don't be afraid to do an Elsa.

Sure, starting a new blog is a little frightening, and very scary, but there's actually quite a lot you can do to set yourself up nicely before you even get that blog out into the world.

Blog Ambitions has a great feature on her blog where she helped get another blogger up and running with her new blog, and shares the growth of the New Blog Experiment on hers, which you can check out here. She shares how some of the best and first things you can do before you open up is getting subscribers before you're live, and starting up a social media presence for the new blog. Letting go of followers you've gained previously won't be half as scary as it sounds if you have a new following completely ready for your new blog and it's niche.

Talking of niche, before you start any new blog, it's super important to figure out what the right niche for is. Having already been there and done that with one, you want to make sure you're getting it right this time. There are loads of posts out there talking about the whats, the hows, and the whys behind a niche, and they are great if you're looking for a focused blog with the hopes of some serious growth in that area.

So how can I go about getting the right niche without putting my finger out to search?

My friend, sometimes, you just have to put that finger out there.

Sure, you have a subject you know a bunch of stuff on, but can you really sustain a blog with the information you have? Will you want to learn more, need to learn more? Will you fall into other topics, other areas? Will you create an umbrella subject, with other subjects within that one subject? Having some idea of where you want this new blog to go will help you when you come to decide on your niche, but let me be certain. You want something you won't feel trapped in, something that gives you some level of freedom, while keeping your feet steady on the ground.

Whether or not you choose to go the niche-free or the niche way, making sure you choose your subjects right is a big commitment and a huge decision, but it's important to not forget to blog with passion, love and knowledge. Choose something you know and love and want to help others feel the same about, and you're already half way there.

Do you have a niche? Do you feel trapped or committed?