BLOGGING AND MAKING MONEY ONLINE

What is a Niche?
A niche is the profitable segment of any market with a focused audience who are looking for a solution against their problem. This is where you come up with a solution and promote it in the respective niche.  
It can be further segmented into more categories such as sub-niche, and under that sub-niche, there could be more sub-niches to cover.
How to find your niche in 6 steps

1. Evaluate your passion and skills

1. Find a few different potential niches

1. See if there is a market

1. Narrow down your niche

1. Validate your niche

1. Test your niche

   7 Reasons You Might Want To Start a Blog:

   There are several reasons to start a blog. You could be looking to start a blog to try a fun hobby, generate some side income, build a community or for any of the following reasons:

   1. To Document What Happens to You

   The word “blog” is a shortened form of “weblog,” a relic from its origins as a way to document what was happening. You may want to create a blog to have a space or a way to save your thoughts and photos in one centralized place.

   2. To Have a Creative Outlet

   Blogging encompasses writing, editing, and to some extent, design. This makes it a very creative pursuit. If you’re looking for a relatively low-cost way to express yourself, blogging is a great option.

   3. To Share Your Thoughts and Experiences

   No one else is you—which means you have thoughts and experiences that are uniquely your own. A blog is a platform through which you can share your thoughts with others, have discussions and build genuine connections while doing so.

   4. To Connect With People

   Blogging is an excellent way to connect with others, whether they be other bloggers, content creators or your intended audience. Blogging opens doors to meet people that you otherwise may not have come into contact with. The blogging community is highly active on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Reddit.

   5. To Get Better at Writing and Digital Marketing

   Blogging is a craft. If you’re looking to brush up on your writing skills, writing daily or weekly for a blog could be beneficial.

   Similarly, running a blog takes a lot of work behind the scenes. Bloggers are often their own webmasters and social media marketers in addition to content writers. If you want to build skills in those areas, starting your own blog will allow you to gain valuable experience.

   6. To Build Your Brand and Credibility

   Creating a blog can help you build your brand and establish you as a credible expert in your niche or industry. Your blog content can demonstrate how knowledgeable or experienced you are on certain subjects.

   7. To Bring In Sales or an Income

   Blogging can be used to bring in sales—whether that’s for your existing business or an entirely new one. According to Indeed, bloggers bring in an average annual income of $37,073.

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   Why is it important to find your niche?

• Helps you build brand loyalty. Customers will choose your brand over a mass market company offering more product types. They also will connect more with your niche brand, knowing it will meet their needs. 

• Lowers marketing costs. By knowing your niche, you can target specific groups of customers. These people are more likely to act on your promotions, which brings down marketing and advertising costs.

• Shows expertise. Choosing a niche establishes you as a thought leader in your space, as opposed to someone providing a generic product. It also positions you as an expert, signifying credibility and building trust amongst relevant customers.

• Increases profits. Narrowing down on a niche lets you learn about specific customer groups. If you can show you’re the best brand to meet their needs, they’ll spend more with you more frequently. 

Misconceptions About Blogs:

You don’t need to be famous to start a profitable blog. Anyone can blog, no matter their experience. Here are the most common misconceptions people hold about starting a blog:

Blogging Is Expensive

You can start a blog for free, as long as you have an internet connection. Even if you decide to pay for a custom website, domain name or photography, these costs are relatively nominal compared to the amount of money you can potentially generate from your content.

Blogging Is a Dying Medium

Blogging is not dead or dying. It is more saturated now than it was a decade ago but that doesn’t mean you can’t create a successful one. Building a profitable blog nowadays may take more effort and initial investment than it would have if you started earlier but that shouldn’t necessarily dissuade you from starting one.

Every Blog Post Needs To Be Perfect

You should publish blog articles that you’re proud of but don’t let the fear of your content not being “good” enough or “perfect” enough hold you back. Blogs are editable, so if you find you’re not satisfied with something after it’s gone live, you can always go back and change it.

You Need To Have an Existing Following To Start a Blog

You don’t need to be a celebrity or existing social media personality to start a blog. Many now-famous bloggers, including Joy Cho, Carly Riordan and Blair Eadie, were not famous until after they started blogging.

Blogging Is Easy

Blogging may seem easy in theory: write words, press post, done. But in reality, unless you have a staff or have outsourced the marketing or webmaster aspects of running a blog, you’ll be spending time on more than just writing.

Depending on your niche or goals, you also might need to spend considerable time researching your topic or creating complementary assets such as photos or videos. Blogging is not necessarily easy but that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable or rewarding.

Blogging Is a Fast Way To Earn Money

While it’s true that blogging can be used to earn an income, it’s not something that will help you “get rich quick.” You need to build an audience that wants to purchase items from you before you can start earning any money. 

To succeed in business, you need to carve out a niche. Choosing a niche helps you build credibility with one audience and dominate a particular corner of the market. When you niche, you become the go-to business for a specific group of people.
Niching also:
Suppose you own a shoe store. You sell many types of shoes in the store. One day, in order to attract more customers, you add shirts, hats, sunglasses, and jackets to your shelves.
If someone is looking for a specific work boot or running shoe, are they going to come to you? Chances are, no.
Say you position your shoe store to be the #1 place for nurses to buy shoes. You sell durable slip-resistant shoes that offer support all day long. You spend money on ads and influencer campaigns targeting nurses. Over time, you become the go-to spot for nurse shoes and establish your place in the market.