What is Niche Blogging?

Before we talk about niche blogging, we should start by defining what niche blogging is. We had a bit of a discussion about this on Facebook. Wikipedia defines niche blogging as “the act of creating a blog with the intent of using it to market to a particular niche market”. Going by that definition, we could argue that every blog is, in some form, a niche blog aimed at a specific audience, whether it's a design, food or travel blog. So we need another criteria.

Some blog genres are unarguably more popular than others, both in terms of people who write and people who like to read them. For our purposes, then, we decided that a niche blog was aimed at a specific audience AND only had few competitors, i.e. there weren't that many other people blogging about the same topic. And then of course you can have a niche within a more popular topic, e.g. a general travel blog may not be considered niche by our definition, but a travel blog aimed just at women or just focused on Africa would be.

So then someone asked, where do we draw the line? Let's take the example of museums. You might have a travel blog that covers all kinds of things you can see and do worldwide on your travels, including visiting museums. But we wouldn't really consider that a niche. Then you might have a blog that covers things you can see and do worldwide, but it only focuses on museums. That's a niche, right? But what about a blog that focuses on museums, but only museums in London. Which one is the niche blog now?

http://www.justtravelous.com

http://museumdiary.com/

http://101londonmuseums.com/

I will leave to you draw your own conclusions, but if you feel like you are a niche blogger, then you probably are!

The Challenges of Niche Blogging

I was asked to talk a bit about the challenges of niche blogging. Obviously I can only speak from my own experience as a Museum Blogger, so these may vary depending on what topic you specifically blog about.

Preconceptions

One of the biggest challenges are the preconceptions people have.

Would you ask a fashion blogger if they ever get bored of fashion and clothes? How about a food blogger, would you ask them if they ever get bored of food and recipes. Probably not. But if someone blogs about museums it somehow seems okay to ask that question.

I guess it stems from the assumption that museums are boring to visit, and so by extension they must be boring to blog about. Obviously, I disagree. I love museums. I wouldn't waste my time visiting them and writing about them if I didn't. One of the best pieces of advice you'll be given over and over again as a blogger, is to write what you are passionate about. If you don't feel it, don't blog it! Vice versa, don't let yourself be put off blogging about your passion by people who think your topic is boring and feel the need to comment about it.

So no, I'm not bored of them yet – you can see why if you look at the selection of topics I've blogged about:

And besides visiting lots of really cool museums, I also get to eat lots of cake and watch lots of movies. But more on that in a moment.

Growing your readership

Of course, it's not people thinking your topic is boring to write about that's the problem, it's people thinking your topic is boring to read about or just not relevant to them. Because how are you then going to grow your readership?

Obviously, your main readership is going to be the niche market you share an interest with, so for me that would be museum lovers. Someone who hates museums is never going to read my blog. But what about all those people in the middle? Those who may not classify themselves as museum lovers but are generally interested in art or culture, or enjoy visiting museums on their holidays.

You have to accept that your blog is never going to appeal to everyone, but wouldn't it be nice if some of those semi-interested people could be swayed to read your blog? Which takes us back to relevance and preconceptions. One of my biggest problems initially was peopleʼs preconceptions that my blog was aimed at peers, i.e. other museums professionals. Sure, they are part of my main readership because they love museums, but it's not a blog that deals with topical museums issues. Itʼs aimed at a more general audience interested in culture and travel. Since Museum Diary started I've blogged about museums in 16 different countries!

Created with http://www.ammap.com/visited_countries/

But how to get that message out there if people aren't even giving it a first look? Here are some of the strategies that have worked for me:

* Blog Directories – list your blog in a popular directory like Bloglovin'. There may not be a category that fits your niche topic, but try to avoid sticking it in 'other' and see which category comes closest, e.g. I've listed Museum Diary in Bloglovin' under Travel.

* Social Media Profiles – find the social media channels that work for you. My main channel is Twitter. Because it's an open platform I find it much easier to connect with people interested in my niche, e.g. through hashtags or if a museum I've blogged about is on Twitter I'll mention it in my tweet and they'll often re-tweet it to their followers.

* Twitter Chats – on the subject of Twitter, I also regularly try to take part in Twitter chats that relate to blogging (e.g. #blogst), museums (e.g. #whyilovemuseums) or travel (e.g. the German travel talk #RN8).

* Special Interest Networks – if you blog about a niche subject, it's likely there's a special interest network to go with it where you can put word out about your blog. Some have their own websites, others are organised through Facebook groups. Just do a little bit of research.

* Photography – Iʼd say over 90% of the images I use on my site are taken by myself, so I like to make them work double time for me. I pin them to Pinterest and post them to Flickr, and always include a link to the relevant blog posts under each photograph.

* Workshops & Courses – taking part in blogging workshops and courses is a great way to tap in to the wider blogging community, perhaps you'll even meet some other people blogging about the same niche topic. I've actually taught social media and blogging workshops myself, as part of my day job, but I've still found it worthwhile taking part in others because it's a valuable networking opportunity for me and I've gained new and loyal readers through it.

* Guest Contributor – as someone who blogs about a special interest topic you can stand out from the crowd, which is often what people are looking for in a guest contributor, so seek out opportunities to collaborate and draw attention to your niche. I'm not recommending you work for free, which I know is a controversial topic, but as a niche blogger the exposure I've received e.g. for taking part in The Hive has been more valuable to me than any speaker's fee could have been. I've also contributed to sisterMag several times.

The Double Edged Sword

At the end of the day, despite your best efforts in trying to grow your readership, if you're blogging about a niche subject for a niche audience, your potential number of readers may always be quite limited. But don't be

disheartened by comparing yourself to others, because it cuts both ways. As a niche blogger you may have fewer readers, but because the content of your blog is so much more specific – you may even be the only person blogging about it – your readers may be more loyal and it's easier to build a long lasting relationship with your audience than if you are one of many other blogs writing about the same subject.

In our discussion on Facebook, Juliane, who blogs about her work as a doll maker, made an interesting observation: “...as a blogger with a special topic you do not only fill a niche, you can also create a niche...the majority of my followers usually is not into dolls...but there seems to be something that appeals to them. Sometimes I think that the fact that we blog about a special topic in itself might be the reason for people to read what we write because a niche blog requires qualities such as a good portion of staying power and endurance.”

The Onus is on YOU

Another challenge of being a niche blogger, is continuously finding new content. Of course, all bloggers are faced with that challenge, but the smaller your niche, the more likely that there is no other content out there to draw on or inspire you, or fellow bloggers to bounce ideas off or create link parties with. Often YOU are the 'go to' blog for your subject. So there is much more onus on producing original content. And what do you do if, for example, you blog about museums and there just aren't any near you? (though thatʼs unlikely to happen as long as I am in Berlin). You have to start thinking outside the box.

Creating Original Content

So, I wanted to finish by sharing how I go about creating my original content. Most of it isn't new, a lot of it is fairly common sense, but we all like a good check list, right? And whatever topic it is you blog about, I hope it will inspire you to go away and create lots of good, original content of your own.

First, some practical tips:

Always carry a notebook! Whether it's a notebook app on your smartphone, or the old fashioned paper and pen variety, as a creator of original content the notebook is your constant companion! Sometimes I'm not specifically on a content hunting mission, but I might see or hear or think of something that relates to museums and I'll write it down. Perhaps it will become a blog post at a later point. I always have a notebook in my bag. Or next to me when I'm reading a book or watching television, just in case museums get a mention.

Always carry a camera! Again, this can be a swanky DSRL, a good old point-and-shoot, or simply your smartphone. But as a creator of original content, original photographs are key. For me, I have the issue that many museums don't allow photography, so I'll photograph exhibition posters, or the

architecture of the buildings, or get creative in other ways. But I always have some kind of camera with me and I'll take photos of anything that seems relevant, whether I have a specific blog post in mind or not.

Remember there's audio too. Last year I was in Armenia and a choir gave a surprise short concert for us in the ruins of an historic cathedral I was visiting. So I recorded a clip of them singing with my smartphone, and added that to the blog post I later wrote (Note: check with whoever youʼre recording that itʼs okay to do so, so that youʼre not breaking any copyright!)

Use an editorial calendar. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. I just use a paper based diary and some post-it notes so I can move things around. As a niche blogger, I find I have to be a lot more organised in thinking ahead. I also have another personal blog, where I post whatever comes to mind as it's not got such a specific subject, but for Museum Diary I find that planning is key.

Keep to your schedule. For example, if I've just been on holiday and visited lots of museums in a short space of time, there's the temptation to get all the new content out there quickly. But instead I'll stick to my schedule, post anything time sensitive first (e.g. I wouldn't want to be posting about something Easter related in July), and keep the rest for later. Then if my kid gets sick, or work takes over, or I just can't get to another museum any time soon, I'm glad to have some reserves to fall back on.

And finally, tune in to your niche. Once you stop actively going out to look for your topic but instead let it become second nature, you'll automatically start viewing everything through the lens of your particular 'obsession'. You'll start seeing everything as it relates to your niche.

The Content

So finally, what do I post about? Well, of course there are reviews of the museums I visit, which form the majority of my content. But I like to mix it up a bit by blogging about other things that are relevant to the topic of museums. I generally tend to keep these additional posts to no more than one per week and the individual features themselves to no more than once a month, because I don't want to loose sight of my main content. Obviously it's up to you how you want to schedule it, if you want to go down that route at all. I hope these ideas will inspire you to think up posts for your own blogs.

Seasonal DatesLet's start with something easy: Valentines Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas...most niche blogs will find at least some seasonal dates they can relate to their topic. For example, a gardening blog I read posts about seasonal flower arrangements, and one of my favourite niche blogs about names had some special posts about Christmas inspired names. Here are some seasonal examples from Museum Diary:

Annual EventsAnother good source are events that take place over the year, whether they are recurring events such as the Olympic Games, Fashion Week or

Movember, or one off events such as a Royal Wedding. Seek out what's happening locally, nationally and internationally and see if you can in any way relate it to your niche topic. (Though obviously, you don't want it to seem like you've shoe horned it in.)

Popular CultureIf you blog about a niche subject, then popular culture is your friend. People love special interest lists relating to music, film, literature, whether it's songs about historical events, famous dogs from TV and cinema, or a list of fictional automobiles. This has actually led to two regular features on Museum Diary relating to music and film.

The first started when I blogged about songs featuring museums, with an “Ultimate Museum Playlist” to listen to on Spotify. A spin off from this has been “Music To Visit Museums By”, which are shorter playlists inspired by museums. I use the site http://8tracks.com to create them, which also lets you embed them in to your blog. If you want to give it a try yourself, the music blog of the British Guardian newspaper has a great resource called “Readers Recommend”, with lists of songs about almost any topic. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog+series/readersrecommend

My other recurring popular culture feature is called “Museums and the Movies”, where I introduce movies that feature museums, both as a prominent part of the storyline – such as Audrey Hepburn's “How to Steal a Million”, the Sesame Street classic “Please Don't Eat the Pictures”, and of course “Night at the Museum”, as well as movies that feature a museum in just one or two key scenes, such as Alfred Hitchcock's “Blackmail” or the Hollywood classic “Bringing Up Baby”. If you're thinking of doing something like this for your special topic, then the Internet Movie Database is a good starting point, or searching on Amazon e.g. for “films about dogs”.

InterviewsInterviews are another thing that work really well for niche blogs, because special subjects usually mean there's some kind of specialist you can interview, whether it's the author of a book about your topic, or someone who is somehow related to your topic either through their work or through their hobby. So, I've just started a new feature where I interview people about things they collect, because I find private collections fascinating and it's related to my topic of museums. By the way, if anyone here collects something interesting or unusual or unique, please come and see me ;)

Gift GuidesGift Guides are really fun to do. I just do them at Christmas, because it's not a main part of my blog, but once in a while it's fun to sit down and basically create a great big wish list of gifts for museum lovers. You could do the same for doll or car or cat lovers, depending what you blog about.

How-Tos'How to' guides are also really fun to do, though they don't work with every topic. If you have a niche blog about knitting or gardening, you're more likely to have a chance to include them than if you e.g. blog about history or names. But I've included 'How Tos' once or twice:

Recipes & Craft IdeasRecipes and craft ideas are really tempting to do because they are so popular, and I think you have to be careful not to include them in your blog just for the sake of it. Again, it won't work with all topics, but if you can make it fit naturally, why not make it an occasional feature.

Last year there was a day-long Twitter chat dedicated to Museum Cafes, and as a spin off from that I started a feature on my blog called “My Museum Cafe” where I introduce cake recipes that you might find at a museum cafe.

My regular “Museum Craft Corner” feature evolved from introducing craft ideas I had come across in museums I had visited and reviewed. After that it seemed like a natural progression to actively seek them out. Last year there was a travelling national exhibition about DIY in Germany and they did a DIY Advent Calendar at Christmas and asked me to contribute a post from my blog, which was a great opportunity to get word about my blog out there and attract new readers.

App ReviewsDepending on what you blog about, there may be some apps out there relating to your topic that you could review, e.g. lots of museums have apps and I've written about a couple. Or if you produce most of your own photographs, you could blog about your favourite photography apps.

VideosAnd finally, consider including videos in your blog. I recently took part in Kat Conte's video portrait workshop, and made a video about my favourite museum which I've now integrated in to my blog. It was a really great way to get my passion for my niche topic across. I'd like to finish by sharing the video with you: http://youtu.be/HKCr1unrY78

Jenni Fuchsmuseumdiary.com May 2013

Further Reading: My Top 3 Favourite Museum BlogsIf you enjoy Museum Diary, you may also enjoy these other museum blogs:

This Belongs in a Museum - http://thisbelongsinamuseum.com/ - “dedicated to the small, random museums and weird attractions of the world”

Jack's Adventures in Museumland - http://jacksadventuresinmuseumland.wordpress.com/ - Jack chronicles his visits to museums, galleries and other cultural places and, like me, has a “particular soft spot for the odder kinds of museums”

The Exhibition List - http://www.theexhibitionlist.com/ - a collaborative blog where anyone can “share [their] experiences of museums, galleries and historic places with the world”