How to find your niche: Blogger tips

It’s one of those things you get asked a lot as a blogger. And it can be a hard question to answer. I really hate the term “lifestyle blogger” but it’s the only term that goes some way to describe all of the various topics I cover.  So this post will hopefully go some way to explain how to find your niche! 

I don’t fit into a fitness box, a fashion box, a food box, a travel box or a sustainable box. Because guess what, I like ALL of those things. Plus I’m 5’7, you’d struggle to find a box big enough to put me in. 

How to find your niche: starting out 

When I started out writing a blog when I was at uni – I wrote sporadically, literally once in a blue moon and whenever I could be bothered.  I kept this up the entire way through my early career and only started writing properly when I went travelling. I finally had time to organise my thoughts and I just had time in general, which was a nice luxury to have. 

I’ve always wanted to write but found myself tripping up on the subject areas – one minute I’d be talking about face cream, then smoothies, then a bad date. I was just a bit all over the shop. But writing on a whole host of different topics helped me find my own tone of voice (how wanky do I sound btw). Finding my style of writing and bedding into it was really important in getting started and stuck in. 

Top tip:

Write about a few different topics and find out what you enjoy most – if you’re passionate about what you’re writing it won’t be a chore when it comes to putting nails to keyboard. 

Building brand you 

I’m a massive advocate of saying no when a collaboration isn’t a good fit for me. I’ve lost count of the amount of Juice Plus/ Skinny Tea/ Diarrhoea inducing weight loss pills and clothes brands I’ve said nada too. That being said, I said yes to a lot at the beginning simply because I was happy to be asked.

When you’re collaborating with a brand or product and you post about using it or reviewing it – people will automatically associate you with that brand or product. If it’s a bit of a crap service and people have a bad experience with it, it won’t look good for you. 

For example, if you’re a vegan and accept a collaboration with Nandos and whack a whole chicken all over your blog, it looks inauthentic and like you’re just posting to get paid. Be picky and choose brands that best represent you and your values. . 

Top tip:

Be fussy, research brands and services before you promote them and make sure they’re right for you! 

How to find your niche: Be who you “post” to be

I can’t stress this one enough. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – don’t endorse things you don’t believe in. It’s shady, it’s shit and people can see it a mile off.  If you hate Game of Thrones don’t put up a post just because everyone else is and you feel you should. It’s always super obvious when people post for the sake of it and it will dilute your brand. 

If you’re a food blogger don’t post a bunch of fashion content simply because everyone else is, you won’t love it, you’re foodie followers won’t love it and it won’t achieve what you want it to. 

Top tip:

Have an opinion and stick to it! Honesty is always the best policy. 

How to find your niche: Value your time

It’s important to manage your time and put the most effort into the things you feel most passionate about. Another obvious one right? Again I used to be guilty of poring over reviews of random products, spending hours on photos and then being too tired to promote the post – all in all, it was a bit of a wasted effort and a huge waste of time.

It’s good to think about the value of a piece before you write it, what do you want to achieve, who are you writing the piece for and how useful will it be.  Is a gifted item worth 2 hours writing a blog post an hour taking photos and an Instagram post? Probably in most cases, not. 

Top tip:

Focus on the subject or topic you feel most passionate about and put your focus here. Don’t go above and beyond for a gifted nail varnish that doesn’t provide much value to brand you! 

How to find your niche: Focus

I had a really good piece of advice from Kelsey – a blogger I met earlier this year and that’s “if you want to get into something, then focus on it and post about it”. So if you want to work with fashion brands, focus on your fashion content, if you want to focus on foodie content – blog about the restaurants and food you enjoy. Sounds really bloody obvious right? Well it is, but I’d totally hadn’t thought of it like that. 

I had wanted to get into travel content for a long old while but was only ever really posting outfits and beauty shots. So if a potential brand looked at my insta or blog – they’d be like cool, she likes shoes, so what?

So what is my niche? 

If anything, my niche is me. Which sounds like a bit of a dick statement, but I write about the things that are happening in my life at that moment which could be a mix of travel and fitness, a bar I’ve found and loved, a pair of shoes, a sustainable box of treats, some lashes, what my dog has been up to of late. All written in my sarcastic tone, 

I’ve always said that if I review a product or event that I’ll be totally honest in my thoughts about it. I’ve read soooo many blogs where the reviewer is like “the packaging is really pretty, and I just love the face cream it’s the best one I’ve ever used”. Pass me a pillow, I need a nap. Your blog is your space, your little corner of the internet to show your personality. Everyone knows the face cream costs a fiver, the value in a review is your personal experience of it. 

So in terms of my niche – I’d say my niche was a no bull-sh*t guide to luxury travel, food and fashion with the help of my dog Bear. Now I just need a word to describe all that… any ideas? 

I’d love to know how you guys found your niche – let me know in the comments XO

Up next: Why accepting gifted campaigns is stopping you getting paid