When I created my first blog, Void Thoughts, in 2008 it was to document the random thoughts that strolled my mind.
I wasn’t blogging per se. Neither was I a blogger. In 2014 I gathered the courage and started publishing posts with the intention of connecting with other bloggers. I gradually accepted myself as a blogger.
But I never had a niche. ‘Void Thoughts’ was sorted as that space was purely for my creative pursuits.
This blog, Reflections, was a witness for my random musings.
When every other blogger I knew was finding their niche and getting comfortable with the niche they picked, I panicked. I just couldn’t think of a niche.
Parenting or mommy blog didn’t ring true to me.
Book reviewing was never in my line of sight.
Cooking or a recipe blog is not my thing.
Fashion or a beauty blog is not my thing.
Fitness again is not mine to boast.
Blogging expertise wasn’t mine to claim either.
My blog was a soup of all these things, a salad of this and that, a potpourri of random musings.
So I claimed that mine is a lifestyle blog because that’s what I saw other bloggers like me who couldn’t pinpoint a particular niche did.
But soon I started questioning the topics I wrote about. Is this a post for a lifestyle blog? All my random musings made no sense to make an appearance on my blog. I stopped writing many things. I took short breaks due to this uncertainty.
And all that detour had caused only to shake my confidence as a blogger and my affinity to write on topics I wanted to share. In short, trying to work with a niche broke me, as I couldn’t find a niche to work with.
Then I realized my niche is me. All things me. I don’t want my blog to reflect only a certain part of my musings while I struggle with what to do with the rest. I am unique and so are my thoughts however random they are.
My two cents on choosing a niche is to do it only if you want to do it. Not because that’s how you should be blogging. Because dear, there is no right way here. All these rules of blogging are set by people who started to blog like you and me, with no clue whatsoever. They found what works for them by trial and error. Of course, you can skip the trial and error part if you wish to do so, that’s completely up to you. That doesn’t mean you have to follow their directives. You don’t have to follow someone else’s map unless you are that someone else. You deserve to have your shot at trial and error too.
Carve your own path and the map will form specific to you. Trust me!
Do you have a niche? What are your thoughts on niche blogging?
Written for #SoulfulSunday, an exercise to nourish our creative side, formulated by Esha and supported by Shilpa and yours truly.
Your blog is quintessentially you, Vinitha and I love how you’ve created this wonderful space in both your blogs which are a repository of all the random musings that come from your heart. Heartfelt and spontaneous outpourings, more like! That’s what we personal bloggers do, don’t we …our posts are all about what we feel and think and stuff that goes on inside of the head and while we don’t have a ‘niche’ per se, the soulful musings from the heart are a category in their own right, isn’t it? Carving our own path is what we are all doing, isn’t it? And I can tell, the map will appear someday, if it has to be. Until then, let’s just share our musings the way we do.
Yes, your blog is you, all about you, and is unique.
True, all the bloggers here started without a clue as to what their niche was. In fact, when they started blogging years ago, they may not have even heard the word niche!
If one wants to begin blogging with a specific goal in mind, then they should pick a niche that they can relate to or care about enough to write about. Else, it’s best to begin writing first and then discover themselves through their writing and then decide what it is that they would like to specifically write about instead of blindly following the herd!
I think the bottom line is ‘do you’. Everyday Gyaan has been a nicheless blog for ages. The only blog with a niche is the one I share book reviews on. I’m done with giving and receiving blogging advice – except technical stuff.
Your blog, Vini, is an extension of you and that’s why I love it.
I love how nicely you’ve put your thoughts about having or not having a niche, Vini. Your blog is essentially your soul & what ultimately matters is the kind of deeper connections you forge through your words; be it a community, like-minded readers or friends that eventually come through these.
And I so admire you for your honesty.
I know where this post came from. As I understand from your blogging journey (and mine too), we tried our best to find our niche areas but we couldn’t stay confined to it because we had too much going on in our heads to give window and doors to flow out. A niche would have been like a prison. A few years ago, I settled with a term ‘Self-improvement blog’ for my blog because each time I wrote a personal post, it led to improving some part of me. Isn’t it interesting! 🙂
Your post spoke to me because I wrote exactly the same in my post ‘ Living by the beach’
I too have a blog that is me and not super niched. It works for me and I enjoy doing it. Earlier when I conditioned and labeled myself as a mom blogger it eventually made me not like blogging as much as I did.
so now I am just me on my blog 🙂