What I Learned From the Weather Channel

I turned on the Weather Channel when some clouds were moving in, and stumbled onto an unusual report. The discussion was about seasonal beers, which they said have recently gained popularity. They were interviewing the owner of a brewery in Georgia, getting details about his seasonal beers and asking about how the early spring had affected production. This report made me think, “Wow, they know how to expand on their niche.” Examine their programming and you’ll find they take some diverse subjects and connect them to the weather in an attempt to get everyone interested. This same concept can apply to your blog, website or business. First, find your niche, then expand on it and finally explore new angles to connect with as many people as possible.

Your niche may be broad or narrow; for example, you may center on crafts, or focus on just scrapbooking. You want to attract a large enough audience and have some room to expand, so it’s important to choose a niche that isn’t super specialized. Obviously, a broader niche has more opportunity for development, but it shouldn't be so broad that the purpose of your website or blog is unclear. Don’t try to encompass so many topics, you don’t give any of them the attention they deserve, so the quality is subpar. No matter what you choose, it should be something you’re passionate and knowledgeable about.

Expanding on your niche topic is what will make your blog interesting and provide plenty of material for the future. Consider how your subject relates to a current news event, the time of year or people’s daily lives. When you think of an idea, write it down so you don’t forget. Just don’t get too carried away and try to link your niche with everything under the sun. A post about something unrelated to your niche, such as writing about high cholesterol in your craft blog, will not win you many fans. The connection between your articles and your niche subject should be very evident.
Often creating variations on your theme will open new markets. Think back to the example of a craft blog; the audience for the blog may be mostly female, but you could get the guys involved by running a series of craft projects for dad’s to do with the kids. The mom’s will still love you, and you could reach a new group of readers. Approaching your subject from a different angle will be appealing to your readers and motivate you to write.

To reiterate, here are what your goals should be:

• Find your niche (Love your niche, and don’t make it too broad or narrow.)
• Expand on it (Relate your niche to life, times and people.)
• Explore new angles (Think outside your niche’s box and make it relate to more people.)

Who knew watching the Weather Channel could teach us something about blogging? Whoever thought of linking beer to the weather had to be a genius.

Diversifying

“Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket.” It may sound cliché, but that’s the basic idea behind diversification. If you don’t diversify, and someone suddenly comes along and steals or destroys your single basket of eggs, you’re left hungry and wondering what to do next. Hence, diversifying your online business is extremely important if you want to stay busy and keep your paychecks regular. In an uncertain world, you never know when a source of income may unexpectedly disappear.

Unfortunately, many writers who focused on one company are now facing the reality of losing their income. Demand Media Studios recently announced to their writers via e-mail a cut in available titles and upcoming company changes. These adjustments come after Google’s algorithm update in February, referred to as “Panda.” According to The Official Google Blog, the goal of this update was to “Provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.” Google’s update affected the rankings and profitability of DMS content giant EHow, and many similar sites. Demand Media Studios still holds the stigma of being a “content farm.” However, the company consistently balks at that label and states they are working toward improving the quality of titles and content. Consequently, Demand Media Studios needs to make changes to their business model, which has resulted in a lack of material to write and is forcing many freelancer writers to diversify.

Marketing yourself as a freelancer can be an intimidating concept, but it’s the first step to diversifying. Education will make the transition easier, so take advantage of the wealth of advice available from successful freelance writers. Your initial goal will be to find new sources of income. One place many writers start looking is through online job postings on freelance websites. These sites have their place, but remember that most writing jobs listed there will be low paying and there’s usually plenty of competition. Acquiring a few jobs that way could be beneficial if you want to build your portfolio and gain more experience. However, your long-term goal should be to build business contacts that will be regular clients, and that means promoting yourself.

Here are some steps you can take to move your business ahead:

• Find a focus for your business. For example, if you’re best at creating website content, concentrate on that.

• Update and polish your resume. Revise your resume to highlight work reflecting your specialty. Don’t forget to include recent work. Assemble a link list of published work that you can easily copy into job applications.

• Create or update your website. Make your website SEO friendly, with relevant keywords and content. Include pay-per-click ads or affiliate marketing links to monetize your site.

• Start or update your blog. A blog is an excellent way to express yourself and show off your talent. Post a link to your blog from your website and social networking sites. You can also insert ads and affiliate marketing links on your blog.

• Network with other writers. You can do this through social networking and writers forums.

• Contact potential customers directly. E-mail or call local and online businesses that could benefit from your writing. If you write SEO content and see a website that needs help, let them know about your services.

Of course, growing a diversified business takes time and work, but the results are well worth the effort. You will have more security when you don’t have to rely on one source of income. In addition, writing for different clients means your work will be more varied and interesting. Market yourself and build a clientele, then you will develop a more stable and productive freelance writing business.

If you need ways to fill gaps in your income quickly, this will be addressed in my next post.