Reasons to Find Your Voice Before Your Niche

The received wisdom is you concentrate on refining your niche and your voice will look after itself. In fact, it’s perhaps the other way around.

I know what you’re thinking:

Not another boring blog post about niches.

Deep down, though, you’re probably thinking:

Help…! I can’t figure out my niches.

Or you might be thinking:

Help…! I have too many niches.

Finally, you’re thinking:

What’s a picture of a tube of toothpaste got to do with finding your voice and niches…?

Well, in each case, read on and all will be revealed.

The received wisdom

There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom can be worse than knowing nothing at all. (Ben Horowitz)

The received wisdom from the branding experts is that if your product offering is very broad then what you offer becomes too diluted to be readily identifiable.

So, they say, figure out your niche, and then grow your voice around that.

But I’ve got news for you.

Writing blog posts is not the same as designing and manufacturing a brand of toothpaste.

In the latter case, the manufacturer just needs to design one line of toothpaste and then replicate, market and ship that to consumers.

In the case of writing, the author has to “design” a new product every time he or she sits down to write.

That’s quite a tall order.

Especially if you’re writing a new blog every day of every week.

As a result, it’s best to think broadly rather than narrowly when defining niches.

The problem with narrow niches

I don’t really need to stand out, there’s room for everyone. Although I haven’t built a niche yet, I just write love songs. (Adele)

Why’s it better to think broadly about niches?

Well, imagine if your niche was toothpaste (or more sensibly, mental health) and you plan to blog for a decade. Are you really going to be able to blog creatively every day for a decade about toothpaste (or mental health)?

You need to think more broadly and have at least four or five niches even if that runs the risk of slightly diluting your brand.

Imagine something even more radical: you forget about defining your niches and decide you just want to blog about things that interest you (albeit with an eye to consistency).

Imagine you remember that you are a unique person and that your experiences, career, hobbies, past times, and interests have forged you into the person you are today.

Find your voice

If you have the voice, there’s always a chance you’ll find the way. (Seamus Heaney)

Now here’s the joy of it.

If you blog about what interests you, then very soon you will find your voice.

And it may be that part of your voice is having a broad set of niches.

Or perhaps you will naturally find your niches within the constraints of your voice.

For myself, I have broadly blogged about things that interested me, including writing, mental health, conservation, bagpipes, cats, and tropical fish.

That’s a pretty disparate palate of subjects.

But they all have one thing in common:

Me.

I have a passion for all of them, and I hope that shines through in what I write.

Let’s face it, if you blog remorselessly each day, every day for a decade on one subject, you’re bound to become stale.

So, concentrate on your voice first, and within reason, your niches will look after themselves.

And how do you find your voice?

Write passionately about what interests you, and nine times out of ten your voice will soon find you.

If you “force” yourself to write about subjects that don’t, or no longer, interest you, your writing will come across as false and strained.

So write from your heart, and your voice will resonate like the finest singer.

Takeaways

In THE KARATE KID by Robert Mark Kamen, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi:

“But how do I know if my picture’s the right one?”

Mr. Miyagi replies:

“It comes from inside, always right one.”

Write about what interests you with passion from your heart, and your voice will find you.

Unless you’re very unlucky, your niches will follow along.