There are thousands upon thousands of people wishing they could find a way to earn more money. Only a few act on these wishes, yet it’s pretty easy these days to find a profitable niche for a blog.
Are any of these situations true for you:
- Do you need to earn more money to support your family?
- How about helping your kids afford college?
- Do you worry about having enough money for retirement?
- Do you dream about living outside of the U.S.?
- Is your car ready to give up the ghost?
- Would you like enough financial freedom to travel more often?
So many people dream about starting a side hustle or finding a way to leave what has become their soul-sucking 8 to 5 job with a dreaded commute.
The steps needed to find a profitable blogging niche and develop the content needed are very easy these days, yet so many folks hesitate.
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Blogs are better and easier than ever in 2020
Many people who started their careers well before the internet era hesitate to start online projects or businesses.
It’s true that technology during the first half of the internet revolution was hard to handle and some coding was usually needed.
Today is a brand-new day. You’ll find robust tools that are as easy to use as “drag and drop.”
Blogging and affiliate marketing has made a huge difference in our lives. A six short years ago we left the corporate world and embarked on what has since been called the “digital nomad” life. We prefer to say we are “location independent.”
This life – or any life good for you – is yours for the taking when you find a profitable niche for a blog.
While we have made money from other sources, it has been the combination of blogging and affiliate marketing that has given us a life free of bosses, drab offices, long commutes and work that isn’t enjoyable.
Find a profitable niche for a blog then use affiliate marketing to make money
A combination blog and affiliate marketing business model is an ideal first step for you to make money. There are many reasons why this is true and you can learn more by visiting our post on how to use affiliate marketing with your blog.
There is no need to use some of those offline “opportunities” people say are available to people in middle age or older.
Let’s forget all about dog walking, taking surveys and working as a retail greeter. Okay by you?
The evolution of online tools has brought internet income possibilities within the reach of most adults – even those who started working before the internet existed.
No matter what you tell yourself as you simply dream of a different life, the odds are excellent you have the skills needed to really make your life better as a blogger.
What is a niche for a blog?
A blog “niche” is essentially the specific market you are targeting with the content on your blog. This niche can be as broad or specific as you want it to be.
Here is an example:
Main category: How to play tennis
Second-level category: How to play tennis through pain
Third-level category: How to play tennis with arthritic knees
You’ll usually find your audience will be more interested and passionate as you get more specific with your niche.
That’s because not only do they love tennis, but they still want to play through pain if they can. It makes your content even more relateable than broad content to millions of tennis players.
It is also important to note the number of followers will drop as you get more specific. Think about it though, do you want to just push content out to a lot of people?
Trust us when we say it is so much better to connect, build trust and sell products or services to a smaller group of highly interested people.
What topics can make a profitable niche for a blog?
The truth is that almost every type of blog can make money.
Just look around the internet a bit and you’ll find quite a few strange and “well off the beaten path” blogs making over six figures per year.
READ MORE: Make Money with your Blog with Affiliate Marketing
Your creativity and problem-solving abilities as a blogger are just as important as the niche you select.
Here’s the thing, though… If you want your blog to be an ongoing business with affiliate income, these points are critical:
A profitable niche for a blog requires items you can sell
You’ll need to really think about how you can make money from a niche. This means it will need to have products you can sell as an affiliate marketer.
A website around your personal travel adventures will be slow going. However, showing people how they can still play tennis with arthritis offers tons of things you can promote and sell.
Your blog needs online buyers
You’ll be well on your way to success once you jump over the first hurdle.
- Do people actually want to buy these products?
- How many people?
- Will people want to continue to buy them from you?
You’ll need to really understand your niche to know whether there is long-term potential.
You’ll also want to consider whether you want to target a narrow audience or a wide one. For example, do you create a blog about dogs or focus on Golden Retrievers?
While both can work well, each comes with their pros and cons. It’s easier to rank higher on Google and Pinterest search when you use longer keywords and not compete directly with larger retail or online businesses.
You need competition to help find a profitable niche for a blog
Whoa… What?!?
I can guess this is your reaction to the headline above. Look, competition exists everywhere. If a niche doesn’t have ANY competition, there’s probably a good reason no one has made sales with it yet.
The important thing is whether you can comfortably compete with others in your niche. There are plenty of opportunities and picking the right one is key to your success.
There are also online tools available to help you identify competitors, topics and keywords that aren’t hard to beat.
3 categories to help you search and find a competitive niche for a blog
With all this information in mind, there are three large categories that fit the criteria for helping to find a profitable niche for a blog. A few examples follow below.
This is a very broad look and you should use these as a starting place for research rather than picking one and moving forward with it.
You’ll see we are not including niches about how to make money online. Yes, a lot of people do make a great deal of money in this very competitive area.
Here’s the thing… it is very hard to succeed in the “make money online” niche and you REALLY need to know what you are talking about. It is usually best to start elsewhere and prove yourself before diving into this niche.
High Interest/Passion
Paintball
Horseback riding
Fishing
Gardening
BBQ Cooking
Ice Hockey
Photography
Drones
Cycling
Rock Climbing
CrossFit
Home Brewing
Veganism
Pet Ownership
Fashion
Home ownership
DIY
Outdoor lifestyle
Single dad lifestyle
Problems
Wrinkles
Smoking
Diabetes
Weight loss
Financial issues
Build trust to build a truly profitable niche for a blog
It’s important to focus on unique content and product offers and know how to market it specifically to your audience.
Create your own articles and products based on YOUR personal experience and how YOU can personally help other people.
Most people know there is a sales pitch coming along the way and don’t mind being sold to if it’s done the right way.
So now that you know what not to do, let’s move on how to actually find the perfect niche for a blog!
3 simple steps to search and find a profitable niche for a blog
If you’re still not sure which blog niche is right for you, following these three steps should give you some great ideas:
1) What topic do you find yourself talking about with friends?
A blog is essentially an ongoing conversation between you and your readers. You are heading in the right direction if people continue reading, commenting, and taking action because of what you write.
We all have something in our lives that we are passionate about or very interested in. Parenting, dogs, politics, or maybe something much different… What’s your thing?
Don’t over-complicate this and lose momentum by soul-searching too long. What do you like to spend time on? It should be a natural process.
2) Start broad then dive into 3-5 subtopics you’re interested in.
Begin by thinking about a broad topic you would enjoy writing about. For example, use parenting as the broad topic.
(Note: Once you have 2 or 3 broad topics in mind, there are some time-tested keyword search steps and tools you can use to make certain you have a niche you can compete in. You’ll find more about this on our website.)
Then narrow it down to a couple of sub-topics like planning for your baby’s arrival, handling the terrible twos, and the right birthday gifts for a soon-to-be teenager.
Look to develop content you would enjoy sharing with your audience.
3) Let your audience help you decide on content for your niche blog
You may find you enjoy writing about some topics more than others. But you also have to be open to the fact that your audience may need different information.
You should be open to evolving and changing your content over time if your audience is eager to learn about something different.
You’ll find that helping others provides a lot of satisfaction and the more people you reach, the more you can help.
Tips to keep in mind as you search to find a profitable niche for a blog
- Overthinking about your options without a deadline for action will keep you back at the starting line.
- No one will read your blog if you focus too much on yourself and ignore the things that matter to your audience.
- Your main job is to write interesting and informative blog posts that connect with your audience.
- Build trust by sharing content valuable to them and offer them products and services that help them with their problems and pain points.
