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Niche - the Holy Grail!
Well here I am and at this point, I have to admit, I'm feeling somewhat dazed and confused. The reason for this feeling has been initiated by my deciding to embark on the 10 day thing at W/A.
As I joined on the 2nd of this month and it's now the 8th, I wonder what on earth I can do in the next two days before my time expires, if, indeed, this is the case.
To get to the point, firstly, I've had one hell of a time trying to come up with a suitable "niche", i.e. something that I feel passionate about, something that I'm interested in, a thing or subject that I can build a site around and I've recently been acting like a cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof on this problem.
As maybe evident from my articles, both here and elsewhere, I have a fairly wide range of interests. Let's see; there's gardening (water in particular), there's science (although that's more hypothetical than proven) and so on.
In fact I haven't really touched on other subjects that have captured my imagination during my life. I had a real passion for tropical fish once, I play the guitar, piano and, some time ago, drums and I write songs, occasionally, when I'm in the mood, perhaps, maybe etc. I draw and paint things (see my website) although, to be honest, I don't do so much of that these days.
I've partially restored an old mill, here in France, virtually single-handedly (including carpentry, floors, plumbing, drainage, electrical wiring, masonry etc, etc) and so far it's still standing which can't be all bad!
I'd considered all the stuff mentioned above, plus a few more, but nothing that I could get enthusiastic about; I still couldn't arrive at a point that shouted at me:
"THIS IS IT, YOUR NICHE!"
Then, the other day, I started to analyse this situation. Firstly, I like to write, specially in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek- sort of way. Secondly, I asked myself: "What, if anything, do I feel a passion for?"
Answer: the country where I now live; FRANCE!
So where do I go from here? I realise that "France" is a rather broad subject and I lack so much knowledge of this country but that doesn't stop my interest in it, does it?
Maybe I could localise it to my region but that, for me, is a bit restrictive. Maybe I'm being too ambitious, too soon? Initially, I searched for domain names with "France" or "French" and there's no shortage which is good from an SEO keyword point of view isn't it? This is just another thing I need some advice on.
Ideally, I'd like to have a website that's French related but that I can write product reviews from, start a blog, write about life here, make some income (even if gradually), and generally enjoy the pleasure of doing it.
I want to ask you, my small but knowledgeable and talented circle of friends at S/A, if any of you have any ideas on this, my dilemma, to comment below or to contact me directly either by PM at W/A or by email (on my website) as I'm slightly at a loss as to how to proceed.
And thanks, if you have been, for reading.
Does anyone have thoughts on the French/France keyword issue, please?
I'm glad I'm not alone in this. A phone call with a friend today made me think a bit. Perhaps I should go back to my original idea which was product reviews and affiliations just to earn some pennies. Maybe it's back to the drawing board! Thanks for reading. Your interest in golf might be a good starting point; have a look at Amazon's affiliation programme perhaps?.
Hi Kim, I'm certainly no expert but if you've moved from England to France and love it you could try to go at it from the helping people in the same boat as yourself angle and target people in the UK who are considering moving there. What knowledge do you already have that you could share with others in the same position you once were. Start by brainstorming the who what when where why how questions. It's something you have first hand knowledge and experience of so would be quite easy to start. When you have the basic structure you could develop it into the 'What you need to know/have/do/avoid when you get here' angle. Once you have this you could go in all sorts of directions along the lines Joan suggested. If you're targeting the British they'd love your dry sense of humor and perspective.
Good suggestions Penny. More to think about eh? Must stop thinking and DO something!
Wow what a response! Thanks for all your suggestions. Lots to think about while I'm mowing my severely neglected weed patch! Thanks again everyone.
Hmm, from what you have said about all the work you did restoring the old mill, maybe you can have a site on restoring old houses and properties in France. You can write some amusing material about obtaining permits, buying building materials, anecdotal human interest things, hiring help, and making friends in France. You can have a site on regional French food, and wines, or just where you live. You can do a cultural thing on the architecture, people, food, land, social aspects, politics. Or, impressions of France, from a British point of view. We have friends from Normandy who introduced us to dishes from that region. I like to cook, but wasn't familiar with much of that cuisine. I found it very interesting. It's all butter and cream. Most people know only classic French food. Travis Sago at WA suggests that people choose a niche where people have a "hair on fire" need for something, where you are solving a problem. This may not necessarily encompass your passion, but from a profitability standpoint, it's worth considering.
Thanks for that Joan. I've been thinking along those lines a bit. Which article by Travis, what was it called and I'll have a look.
Not sure if I'm allowed to put a link in here, but it is Bum Marketing Method. You can look it up in the WA training, or go into Travis' website under that name or Travis Sago. His newsletter is quite good. Travis is keen on seeing people make money. Nothing wrong with that.
Hi Kim. I know you've kindly read a few of my articles. I don't know if you remember the topics but my 30 in 30 (30 articles in 30 days) SA challenge started with me building a website and writing about patchwork. I thought I had it made. A great hobby (and I would have called it a passion) that it didn't seem many others were doing. Before long I was pounding out articles about how life is like a patchwork quilt (uuummmm.... a little off tangent from the first article about needing to sew a straight 1/4 inch seam). My point is that while writing for 30 days on SA has been maybe a little back to front it has very much consolidated for me what I like to WRITE about (as opposed to what I like to DO). Lets face it, anything web based involves writing so it's a little bit important. I have now started a new website (and the 30 day WA challenge again) and the only thing holding me back is hours in the day. I have ideas coming out my ears and a book started on the side. I still have a long long way to go an yet I KNOW my niche. I'm excited about it and can't wait to get back to it if only for half an hour in the evening. Even reading a book over my morning coffee is about my learning and understanding to pump into my life and my website. Now the downside (in case it sounds all glowing) is that I have a lot of content on SA that could have been on my website... so I'm re-doing some stuff from a different angle. Having said that, without SA I wouldn't have known where to go with it all and would be sitting around saying "This is too hard. I don't have a niche". Sheesh... I've gone on a bit now. How unlike me!
From busy London to peaceful southwest France renovating an old house by a stream. Seems you could turn your memory into London Tourists and your day to day of now to Restful Tour. Well, especially if you're willing to then meet up with groups and take them there as an additional non-Internet but in-person thing. Schedule 10 days a month for a year and don't use them up in other plans! Then step forward... ? Just an idea.
Yes thanks for that Cynthia. (I'm not sure why there's an opps/ link problem with my reply to Heather!?)
Thanks - try "Reply" again. Sometimes the Internet winks at you:-)
Geeee...... Kim that set of articles you did three or four in a row I think it was when you got stuck due to something (you can tell I'm an old fart don't remember the details) you had to go back to England for a bank signing or something, I enjoyed that series so much and your humours content of where you stayed etc seemed to be up your street, why not write on the area you stay? Golfspice I think it is, writes on different places and what goes on there, I think you would do well in that line.
Yes Rob, that's what I'd like. My article at ezine entitled Good Moaning is a case in point.
Not at all Mike, all contributions welcome! I thought it was the Swiss and clocks, no?
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