As blogs continue to shape and mold themselves from old to new again, and our popular bloggers only become more popular it’s easy to begin to wonder what other’s are doing and try to duplicate success.

Some bloggers just get it and some, frankly, never will. So let’s break down three types of niche blogs to learn more about them, understand some tactics, and create more interest for our own blogs.

Personal Blogs

There was a moment in the blogosphere were it seemed as though personal blogs were over-rated. But, highly under estimated. It’s my opinion that those who created blogs, way back when, just for the sake of posting about their personal lives laid the ground work for the types of blogs we see today.

• Monetization
  I believe that personal blogs may have a leg up as they are not tied to a specific niche but can reach advertising endeavor in various niches based on the type of content they choose to post. From the latest house cleaning trends, to taking care of baby, weddings, marriage, and much beyond — opportunities are nearly unlimited for the personal blogger.
• Promotion
  Personal blogs tend to have the “something for everyone” approach and if you’re living life at all, you may just find something to fit your needs. This is especially true when you hit the personal blog of a writer for many niche blogs. They tend to bring more to the table which enables the blogger to promote themselves in a variety of ways across many niches.
• Networking
  More times than not, I’ve seen the personal blogger create larger social networks than any other niche blogger. The exception however is when a niche blogger is popular. I doubt that you’ll find a personal blogger who has a larger network than Darren Rowse or Michael Arrington.

Niche Blogs

Niche blogging may be the most popular types of blogs today. From blogging about blogging to blogging about celebrities, niche blogs create a very specific audience.

If a reader has no interest in our niche of choice, we don’t have an audience. And seeking out those who don’t have a few favorite blogs for the niche of our choice takes a lot of hard work and dedication. This perhaps is where we begin to lose bloggers before their blog reaches 3 months of age.

• Monetization
  Niche bloggers tend to be a bit more specific about the type of advertisements that they’ll take. For example, it wouldn’t make sense for me to promote a house cleaning product to you or tell you about a new Dyson vacuum cleaner. When I don’t cover these topics, my advertisements shouldn’t either. While it appears as though there are many opportunities in the sea for niche bloggers, most of these bloggers tend to become incredibility specific about the type of advertisements that they’ll take.

• Promotion
  Something that tends to be a beast all on it’s own for any blogger, niche bloggers work to find people who are interested in just one specific topic. For example, if I was blogging about coffee, could I capture your attention if you were only interested in drinking tea? Probably not.

• Networking
  At some point, every niche blogger finds a gathering of people who are interested in their niche topic. But creating a valuable relationship between bloggers seems to be a never-ending chore of give and take and frankly, who’s ass you can kiss the best.

Business Blogs

Today, there are no shortage of businesses who are using blogs to promote, advertise, and sell their product. Zappos comes to mind at the moment for a great example of a company who has used social media/networking, and blogging as a way to promote their product. And if you don’t know, their product is shoes (and great ones, at that).

Of course, there is also the company that I started working for, BatteriesInAFlash who has hired me to in an effort to promote their brand and product.

• Monetization
  Should a business blog choose to monetize their blog outside of their own product and niche, it would be obvious that they would want to create buzz for products that promote their own. For example, on the BatteriesInAFlash Blog, it’s beneficial for the company to promote products that require batteries the company has for sale. This creates a dual purpose for blog in both affiliate earnings and selling of their own batteries.
• Promotion
  It may seem as though promotion could be easy for a lot of business blogs, especially with the two companies that I have mentioned. Tell me, who doesn’t need shoes? And take a look around you, start to name everything around you that needs a battery. Truthfully, it wasn’t until after I took the job with BatteriesInAFlash that I realized how many batteries I need just to keep my business afloat! Though this concept won’t be the same for every business, their goal is to reach those who have a need or want for the product or service that they offer.
• Networking
  From my personal experience, some individual bloggers may not be so hot on networking with a business for fear of being constantly sold. But this is not the case for every company and I’m constantly amazed at how many more companies I’ll buy from when they didn’t tell me but truly created a networking experience with me. Suddenly, they’re more memorable.

The Challenge

For all bloggers, in whatever area of blogging, the challenge is to create an experience that allows you to expand your reach. To do this, consider the following:

• Tie in new ideas from a different niche and create posts for your blog that deal specific with your niche but use another niche as example. Crossing the lines (in an appropriate manner) will get you attention.
• Provide value for those interested in your niche — just ask yourself before you publish your next post “why will my reader’s care?”
• Networking with a like-niche to again cross borders and create a new interested.
• Make the old interesting with personal commentary and opinions that create conversation.
• Be in depth and don’t provide half-assed information.
• Recognize your niche’s industry leaders and trend-setters and become part of their communities.
• Watch your niche for trends and ideas that will enable you to grow.

Expanding Your Ideas

When you started your blog, did you have a focus in mind? Have you laid out goals to become more well known in your niche and reach the level of success that you’re looking for? And more importantly, what defines your niche and how do you expand your reach?

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