"Take full advantage of the long tail strategy and strive to become an expert
in a very narrow field. The days of generalists are over, and there's little
profit in trying to be everything to everybody."
From the book - Mastering Online
Marketing by Mitch Meyerson
Do you believe that statement? Is that how you are running your online blog?
Are you a generalist or an expert? Have you become a niche expert, but you are
running multiple niche blogs? Have you limited your potential by spreading
yourself so thin?
An Example of a Generalist
If you are wandering around this web site you can see that I have built a great
example of a generalist. I have articles on
landscaping,
flowers,
weight lifting,
web business success,
a blog about numerous topics,
search engine optimization,
travel and even
C# programming.
Many people have told me to break the site apart and turn it into multiple
niches. But, I hesitate to do that because the reality is I only write on one
topic a month. I rarely take the time or effort to write on each niche market.
I should. But, I don't. I haven't written an article on the C# section for over
a year and yet it is still my second highest performing niche.
I spend a lot of time writing articles for the blog which turn out to be mostly
self-improvement, web business strategy and marketing articles. But, that is
one of my most poorly performing niches.
Time to Sit and Analyze
Sometimes it is important to actually sit down and analyze these types of
questions for your own site. When was the last time you evaluated your web site
or blog? Which articles consistently perform well for you? Which articles get
the most hits? Are some article contents rated higher, commented on more
frequently or getting Stumbled or Dugg?
Looking at just the subject matter for the better performing articles; could
they all be considered a specific niche or do the subjects change pretty
widely? Should you spin off even more from your current niche?
Will the Niche be Profitable?
Imagine if someone were running a blog about the old TV show, Happy Days. I
could imagine they have articles on specific shows and more in depth articles
on each of the characters from the show, Richie, the Fonz, and Mr. and Mrs.
Cunningham. Now is that enough of a niche to be profitable or should they spin
the niche even more to each of the characters or just one of the characters?
Breaking your site stats down to this level can tell you worlds about your
market and your long tail strategy. Are you selling a lot of merchandise for
just the Fonz but nothing on Richie? Is your big market item, old tv show DVDs,
and you fear that market would dry up if you went deeper into the niche?
I think you also need to look at your own interest. Seriously, I would be bored
to death if I could only write about the Fonz. Can you sustain a blog for a
number of years on a certain subject?
Goals or Objectives for Your Niche Blog
And you really need to think of your objectives or goals for your blog before
you begin. Are you thinking of being in business for 1 year or 15 years? If you
are just trying to create a market then planning on selling it in 6 months to 2
years; you will have a different perspective than if you are in it for the long
haul.
How big of a market is there for spinning niches in the short term for a quick
buck? Is this speculation model going to be around in 2 years or will it go
bust? If it goes bust should you be thinking about something different now and
be prepared for the next wave of opportunity?
Search Engines Help Us Drive Customers to Our Niche
It is interesting these days when I do a search using Google. Let's say I want
to find something on bluegrass bands. I might start with a certain phrase like,
"bluegrass bands." Well, I get back all kinds of information including a
definition by Wikipedia and the Bluegrass bands of Texas. But, wait, I am
really looking for some bands in South Carolina so I add "bluegrass bands of
South Carolina" to the search.
That brings back bands in Charleston. But, I was really looking for a band near
Clemson or the Piedmont region. So I add more to my query. Ah, now I have found
what I was looking for, bands near Greenville, South Carolina and the northwest
section of South Carolina.
The point I was trying to highlight is that as I pinpointed my search, Google
rarely showed the same information twice. At least not on the first pages of
the SERPs. So, the search engines are our friends as we dig deeper into a
specific niche. If you want to take "full advantage of the long tail strategy"
the search engines have made it possible for you to succeed.
Life of the Long Tail Strategy is Beginning
It's time to evaluate your blog and market and see in what area you can be an
expert. The life of the long tail strategy is just beginning. My daughter and
her husband are rebuilding an old Bradley GT kit car from the seventies. Did
you know there are web sites devoted to just that car? There is a club for the
car. There are still people searching for windshields, brakes, authentic lights
and a host of other things for a very small niche.
What niche can you be an expert in? Are you a person of many talents but master
of none? Or can you delve into the darkest recesses of a subject and make it
interesting to your readers? There is money to be made in niche markets and you
can get world wide traffic from the search engines. So, take time out of your
busy schedule today and evaluate your current niche. Should you go deeper? Can
you go deeper?
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