10 Tips for Establishing Your Niche

Yesterday I rambled a bit about my history and the topic of Creating a Niche for your Blog.

Today a quick list of suggestions based on what I have learned.

1. Invest in yourself by buying your domain.
2. To really invest in yourself, also set up your site with a hosting provider that you pay instead of relying on free services that you have no control over.
3. Post updates consistently.  I recommend daily. I know that sounds like a lot, but the reasons are multiple. Readers like daily updates.  We tend to forget you if you skip days or weeks.  Search Engines like updates.  Google is always looking for the best fresh content.  This is one of the easiest ways to establish yourself, by being found on Google. But this also presents a problem with time management.  But I have an answer.
4. Write updates ahead of time.  There was no way I could have posted 3 to 5 times a day on my blogs and worked 50+ hours a week at my paying job if I had to work in real time.  Even now with one update at 9am every day, I am not always available to do this 7 days a week.  And so I don’t. Unlike Facebook which only allows you to write and post in real time, you can write and schedule updates with most website/blog platforms.  I am usually 5 to 8 days ahead when I write which also removes the pressure to write. * Guess what…Facebook is now allowing post scheduling in certain circumstances.
5. Promote your website with other social media. Every day my updates are promoted on Twitter automatically. Every week I update my LinkedIn profile with a link to something on my website.  Same thing with Facebook.
6. Promote again.  We live in a fast paced world.  I don’t catch all of the updates and posts that others do on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter and I know they don’t catch all of mine either.  I will promote with links, updates on Twitter more than once. Sometimes later in the week, or later in the month. Sometimes later in the day.  People are busy but they want to have the opportunity to read what you write, so give it to them.
7. Create a community by Promoting others. If you only promote yourself, you become a self-serving me-monster that comes off as being spammy.  Add comments to other peoples blogs.  Retweet. Press the Share Button on Facebook. Thank others publicly.  Write recommendations for others on LinkedIn.
8. Use tools you are already using, differently.  My email signature includes a link to my website. Does yours? Do your business cards include your online contact info?  I had cards made up specifically for that purpose so when I give someone one of my radio station cards, I also give them a personal card.
9. Get Involved in face to face activities. Hiding in a room with your laptop, or being so involved with work that no one gets to see you and form face to face relationships rarely works. I touched on this subject recently.
10. Be genuine.  You are your niche. Be honest. Be opinionated about your passions. Be Real.