Understanding what you want to achieve in business can be a daunting task sometimes. Even harder still, is finding a niche that is best suited to your skill-set. Some copywriters are lucky to figure out who they want to write for very early on.
Others (like me) will first try to diversify across various industries, in order to maximise range before finding out what suits them best. But regardless of what you choose, the general rule of thumb is to find your small niche and become its master. That is how you become an authority in your niche, and guarantee success for your copywriting business.
So, to begin with, I’ll first try to explain what a niche. A niche can be referred to as a smaller, target-able marketing segment within a broader class. For example, a niche in the Hotel industry could include ‘apartments for families of 5 people or less’. Or ‘houses for OAPs on vacation’.
You can see clearly that specific types of customers are targeted in both niches described above. The specific nature of a niche allows an individual to have a clear focus on his market, and thus allows you to create a much better strategy to ensure success.
And now, the 6 simple niche success steps include:
1. Search Engine Techniques.
Google, the most efficient free search engine out there, is a very useful tool in helping you in your everyday research. But the most relevant function in this case is the Google Auto-Complete function. Google Auto Complete is a very effective way of finding out what people are searching for on the Internet, and this can give you an idea of what to narrow down your niches into or areas and keywords to target when you decide to start creating content.
In the example above, by simply typing in ‘how to become a…’ you can see here that a lot of people in Ireland are searching how to become teachers and solicitors. The auto-complete function helps to show you the most commonly asked questions and should they be within your area of interest, you could then structure your niche around these needs that need satisfying.
Also pay attention to the number of search results, as this will give you a very good idea as to the level of competition you might be facing within your selected niche. The rule of thumb is that the lower the results, the greater your chances of becoming a leading authority in your niche become.
2. Ranking and Websites.
Anyone who is serious about success online knows that websites are extremely important. Would you build a house without a door? I highly doubt that. Websites are a good way to generate leads for your niche online.
Also, they are a proof of credibility to potential clients. There are lots of website domains to choose from; .org, .com, .net, .ie, .co.uk, and so on. Bear in mind that websites ending in .com and .org get ranked higher on search engines and reach a much wider audience.
3. See Yourself as the Competition.
When starting a niche business online, you might be intimidated by the amount of competition that already exists in your relevant niche. That knowledge may prevent you from devoting time and effort into your success.
But if you see yourself as a newcomer looking to take on and learn from the already established competition, then your mindset is automatically geared towards success.
4. Get Influence, not Plagiarism.
In order to create copy or content, it is not unusual to look at other articles/websites in your niche in order to get some form of inspiration. Do NOT copy content from already ranked websites in your online niche and paste into your websites or blog posts. Google constantly works on ways to detect duplicate content. And if duplicate content is found on your website, your rankings will be hurt severely as a result.
5. Keywords.
If you intend to create quality content around your online niche very often, you will rely on keyword searches from time to time in order to improve your ranking online. The main advantages of using keywords are that they generate traffic for your website, and traffic is always a good thing as it leads to conversion in sales. There are several keyword tools such as Google Adwords that help you learn how to use keywords to generate relevant traffic to your websites.
6. Treat Your Niche as A Long Term Business.
Success in any online business is reliant on several factors. The most relevant to me are commitment, planning and dedication. Visualise yourself as the ‘Go-To’ expert in your online niche over the long term. Short term goals are very realistic, yes. But these goals should be set in order to achieve greater, long-term objectives. Have faith, be consistent and work smart. Be flexible, be adaptable. And try not to make excuses in your journey.
And that’s it for this post, people :). If you have any more steps to add, or if you have any critique to the above, please feel free to comment. Thank you!
