"Aren't you bored yet? The challenges of niche blogging" - including tips on growing your readership and creating original content. Presentation given at The Hive European Blog Conference, May 2013

2. What is Niche Blogging?
Before we talk about niche blogging, we should start by defining what niche
blogging is. We had a bit of a discussion about this on Facebook. Wikipedia
defines niche blogging as “the act of creating a blog with the intent of using it
to market to a particular niche market”. Going by that definition, we could
argue that every blog is, in some form, a niche blog aimed at a specific
audience, whether it's a design, food or travel blog. So we need another
criteria.
Some blog genres are unarguably more popular than others, both in terms of
people who write and people who like to read them. For our purposes, then,
we decided that a niche blog was aimed at a specific audience AND only had
few competitors, i.e. there weren't that many other people blogging about the
same topic. And then of course you can have a niche within a more popular
topic, e.g. a general travel blog may not be considered niche by our definition,
but a travel blog aimed just at women or just focused on Africa would be.
So then someone asked, where do we draw the line? Let's take the example
of museums. You might have a travel blog that covers all kinds of things you
can see and do worldwide on your travels, including visiting museums. But
we wouldn't really consider that a niche. Then you might have a blog that
covers things you can see and do worldwide, but it only focuses on
museums. That's a niche, right? But what about a blog that focuses on
museums, but only museums in London. Which one is the niche blog now?

3. http://www.justtravelous.com
http://museumdiary.com/

4. http://101londonmuseums.com/
I will leave to you draw your own conclusions, but if you feel like you are a
niche blogger, then you probably are!

5. The Challenges of Niche Blogging
I was asked to talk a bit about the challenges of niche blogging. Obviously I
can only speak from my own experience as a Museum Blogger, so these may
vary depending on what topic you specifically blog about.
Preconceptions
One of the biggest challenges are the preconceptions people have.
Would you ask a fashion blogger if they ever get bored of fashion and
clothes? How about a food blogger, would you ask them if they ever get
bored of food and recipes. Probably not. But if someone blogs about
museums it somehow seems okay to ask that question.
I guess it stems from the assumption that museums are boring to visit, and so
by extension they must be boring to blog about. Obviously, I disagree. I love
museums. I wouldn't waste my time visiting them and writing about them if I
didn't. One of the best pieces of advice you'll be given over and over again as
a blogger, is to write what you are passionate about. If you don't feel it, don't
blog it! Vice versa, don't let yourself be put off blogging about your passion by
people who think your topic is boring and feel the need to comment about it.

6. So no, I'm not bored of them yet – you can see why if you look at the
selection of topics I've blogged about:
And besides visiting lots of really cool museums, I also get to eat lots of cake
and watch lots of movies. But more on that in a moment.
Growing your readership
Of course, it's not people thinking your topic is boring to write about that's the
problem, it's people thinking your topic is boring to read about or just not
relevant to them. Because how are you then going to grow your readership?
Obviously, your main readership is going to be the niche market you share an
interest with, so for me that would be museum lovers. Someone who hates
museums is never going to read my blog. But what about all those people in
the middle? Those who may not classify themselves as museum lovers but
are generally interested in art or culture, or enjoy visiting museums on their
holidays.

7. You have to accept that your blog is never going to appeal to everyone, but
wouldn't it be nice if some of those semi-interested people could be swayed
to read your blog? Which takes us back to relevance and preconceptions.
One of my biggest problems initially was peopleʼs preconceptions that my
blog was aimed at peers, i.e. other museums professionals. Sure, they are
part of my main readership because they love museums, but it's not a blog
that deals with topical museums issues. Itʼs aimed at a more general
audience interested in culture and travel. Since Museum Diary started I've
blogged about museums in 16 different countries!
Created with http://www.ammap.com/visited_countries/

8. But how to get that message out there if people aren't even giving it a first
look? Here are some of the strategies that have worked for me:
* Blog Directories – list your blog in a popular directory like Bloglovin'. There
may not be a category that fits your niche topic, but try to avoid sticking it in
'other' and see which category comes closest, e.g. I've listed Museum Diary
in Bloglovin' under Travel.
* Social Media Profiles – find the social media channels that work for you.
My main channel is Twitter. Because it's an open platform I find it much
easier to connect with people interested in my niche, e.g. through hashtags
or if a museum I've blogged about is on Twitter I'll mention it in my tweet and
they'll often re-tweet it to their followers.
* Twitter Chats – on the subject of Twitter, I also regularly try to take part in
Twitter chats that relate to blogging (e.g. #blogst), museums (e.g.
#whyilovemuseums) or travel (e.g. the German travel talk #RN8).
* Special Interest Networks – if you blog about a niche subject, it's likely
there's a special interest network to go with it where you can put word out
about your blog. Some have their own websites, others are organised
through Facebook groups. Just do a little bit of research.
* Photography – Iʼd say over 90% of the images I use on my site are taken
by myself, so I like to make them work double time for me. I pin them to
Pinterest and post them to Flickr, and always include a link to the relevant
blog posts under each photograph.

9. * Workshops & Courses – taking part in blogging workshops and courses is
a great way to tap in to the wider blogging community, perhaps you'll even
meet some other people blogging about the same niche topic. I've actually
taught social media and blogging workshops myself, as part of my day job,
but I've still found it worthwhile taking part in others because it's a valuable
networking opportunity for me and I've gained new and loyal readers
through it.
* Guest Contributor – as someone who blogs about a special interest topic
you can stand out from the crowd, which is often what people are looking for
in a guest contributor, so seek out opportunities to collaborate and draw
attention to your niche. I'm not recommending you work for free, which I
know is a controversial topic, but as a niche blogger the exposure I've
received e.g. for taking part in The Hive has been more valuable to me than
any speaker's fee could have been. I've also contributed to sisterMag
several times.
The Double Edged Sword
At the end of the day, despite your best efforts in trying to grow your
readership, if you're blogging about a niche subject for a niche audience, your
potential number of readers may always be quite limited. But don't be

10. disheartened by comparing yourself to others, because it cuts both ways. As
a niche blogger you may have fewer readers, but because the content of your
blog is so much more specific – you may even be the only person blogging
about it – your readers may be more loyal and it's easier to build a long
lasting relationship with your audience than if you are one of many other
blogs writing about the same subject.
In our discussion on Facebook, Juliane, who blogs about her work as a doll
maker, made an interesting observation: “...as a blogger with a special topic
you do not only fill a niche, you can also create a niche...the majority of my
followers usually is not into dolls...but there seems to be something that
appeals to them. Sometimes I think that the fact that we blog about a special
topic in itself might be the reason for people to read what we write because a
niche blog requires qualities such as a good portion of staying power and
endurance.”
The Onus is on YOU
Another challenge of being a niche blogger, is continuously finding new
content. Of course, all bloggers are faced with that challenge, but the smaller
your niche, the more likely that there is no other content out there to draw on
or inspire you, or fellow bloggers to bounce ideas off or create link parties
with. Often YOU are the 'go to' blog for your subject. So there is much more
onus on producing original content. And what do you do if, for example, you
blog about museums and there just aren't any near you? (though thatʼs
unlikely to happen as long as I am in Berlin). You have to start thinking
outside the box.

11. Creating Original Content
So, I wanted to finish by sharing how I go about creating my original content.
Most of it isn't new, a lot of it is fairly common sense, but we all like a good
check list, right? And whatever topic it is you blog about, I hope it will inspire
you to go away and create lots of good, original content of your own.
First, some practical tips:
Always carry a notebook! Whether it's a notebook app on your smartphone,
or the old fashioned paper and pen variety, as a creator of original content the
notebook is your constant companion! Sometimes I'm not specifically on a
content hunting mission, but I might see or hear or think of something that
relates to museums and I'll write it down. Perhaps it will become a blog post
at a later point. I always have a notebook in my bag. Or next to me when I'm
reading a book or watching television, just in case museums get a mention.
Always carry a camera! Again, this can be a swanky DSRL, a good old
point-and-shoot, or simply your smartphone. But as a creator of original
content, original photographs are key. For me, I have the issue that many
museums don't allow photography, so I'll photograph exhibition posters, or the

12. architecture of the buildings, or get creative in other ways. But I always have
some kind of camera with me and I'll take photos of anything that seems
relevant, whether I have a specific blog post in mind or not.
Remember there's audio too. Last year I was in Armenia and a choir gave a
surprise short concert for us in the ruins of an historic cathedral I was visiting.
So I recorded a clip of them singing with my smartphone, and added that to
the blog post I later wrote (Note: check with whoever youʼre recording that itʼs
okay to do so, so that youʼre not breaking any copyright!)
Use an editorial calendar. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. I just use a
paper based diary and some post-it notes so I can move things around. As a
niche blogger, I find I have to be a lot more organised in thinking ahead. I also
have another personal blog, where I post whatever comes to mind as it's not
got such a specific subject, but for Museum Diary I find that planning is key.
Keep to your schedule. For example, if I've just been on holiday and visited
lots of museums in a short space of time, there's the temptation to get all the
new content out there quickly. But instead I'll stick to my schedule, post
anything time sensitive first (e.g. I wouldn't want to be posting about
something Easter related in July), and keep the rest for later. Then if my kid
gets sick, or work takes over, or I just can't get to another museum any time
soon, I'm glad to have some reserves to fall back on.
And finally, tune in to your niche. Once you stop actively going out to look
for your topic but instead let it become second nature, you'll automatically
start viewing everything through the lens of your particular 'obsession'. You'll
start seeing everything as it relates to your niche.

13. The Content
So finally, what do I post about? Well, of course there are reviews of the
museums I visit, which form the majority of my content. But I like to mix it up a
bit by blogging about other things that are relevant to the topic of museums. I
generally tend to keep these additional posts to no more than one per week
and the individual features themselves to no more than once a month,
because I don't want to loose sight of my main content. Obviously it's up to
you how you want to schedule it, if you want to go down that route at all. I
hope these ideas will inspire you to think up posts for your own blogs.
Seasonal Dates
Let's start with something easy: Valentines Day, Easter, Halloween,
Christmas...most niche blogs will find at least some seasonal dates they can
relate to their topic. For example, a gardening blog I read posts about
seasonal flower arrangements, and one of my favourite niche blogs about
names had some special posts about Christmas inspired names. Here are
some seasonal examples from Museum Diary:
Annual Events
Another good source are events that take place over the year, whether they
are recurring events such as the Olympic Games, Fashion Week or

14. Movember, or one off events such as a Royal Wedding. Seek out what's
happening locally, nationally and internationally and see if you can in any way
relate it to your niche topic. (Though obviously, you don't want it to seem like
you've shoe horned it in.)
Popular Culture
If you blog about a niche subject, then popular culture is your friend. People
love special interest lists relating to music, film, literature, whether it's songs
about historical events, famous dogs from TV and cinema, or a list of fictional
automobiles. This has actually led to two regular features on Museum Diary
relating to music and film.
The first started when I blogged about songs featuring museums, with an
“Ultimate Museum Playlist” to listen to on Spotify. A spin off from this has
been “Music To Visit Museums By”, which are shorter playlists inspired by
museums. I use the site http://8tracks.com to create them, which also lets you
embed them in to your blog. If you want to give it a try yourself, the music
blog of the British Guardian newspaper has a great resource called “Readers
Recommend”, with lists of songs about almost any topic. http://
www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog+series/readersrecommend

15. My other recurring popular culture feature is called “Museums and the
Movies”, where I introduce movies that feature museums, both as a
prominent part of the storyline – such as Audrey Hepburn's “How to Steal a
Million”, the Sesame Street classic “Please Don't Eat the Pictures”, and of
course “Night at the Museum”, as well as movies that feature a museum in
just one or two key scenes, such as Alfred Hitchcock's “Blackmail” or the
Hollywood classic “Bringing Up Baby”. If you're thinking of doing something
like this for your special topic, then the Internet Movie Database is a good
starting point, or searching on Amazon e.g. for “films about dogs”.

16. Interviews
Interviews are another thing that work really well for niche blogs, because
special subjects usually mean there's some kind of specialist you can
interview, whether it's the author of a book about your topic, or someone who
is somehow related to your topic either through their work or through their
hobby. So, I've just started a new feature where I interview people about
things they collect, because I find private collections fascinating and it's
related to my topic of museums. By the way, if anyone here collects
something interesting or unusual or unique, please come and see me ;)
Gift Guides
Gift Guides are really fun to do. I just do them at Christmas, because it's not a
main part of my blog, but once in a while it's fun to sit down and basically
create a great big wish list of gifts for museum lovers. You could do the same
for doll or car or cat lovers, depending what you blog about.

17. How-Tos
'How to' guides are also really fun to do, though they don't work with every
topic. If you have a niche blog about knitting or gardening, you're more likely
to have a chance to include them than if you e.g. blog about history or
names. But I've included 'How Tos' once or twice:
Recipes & Craft Ideas
Recipes and craft ideas are really tempting to do because they are so
popular, and I think you have to be careful not to include them in your blog
just for the sake of it. Again, it won't work with all topics, but if you can make it
fit naturally, why not make it an occasional feature.

18. Last year there was a day-long Twitter chat dedicated to Museum Cafes, and
as a spin off from that I started a feature on my blog called “My Museum
Cafe” where I introduce cake recipes that you might find at a museum cafe.
My regular “Museum Craft Corner” feature evolved from introducing craft
ideas I had come across in museums I had visited and reviewed. After that it
seemed like a natural progression to actively seek them out. Last year there
was a travelling national exhibition about DIY in Germany and they did a DIY
Advent Calendar at Christmas and asked me to contribute a post from my
blog, which was a great opportunity to get word about my blog out there and
attract new readers.

19. App Reviews
Depending on what you blog about, there may be some apps out there
relating to your topic that you could review, e.g. lots of museums have apps
and I've written about a couple. Or if you produce most of your own
photographs, you could blog about your favourite photography apps.

20. Videos
And finally, consider including videos in your blog. I recently took part in Kat
Conte's video portrait workshop, and made a video about my favourite
museum which I've now integrated in to my blog. It was a really great way to
get my passion for my niche topic across. I'd like to finish by sharing the video
with you: http://youtu.be/HKCr1unrY78
Jenni Fuchs
museumdiary.com
May 2013
Further Reading: My Top 3 Favourite Museum Blogs
If you enjoy Museum Diary, you may also enjoy these other museum blogs:
This Belongs in a Museum - http://thisbelongsinamuseum.com/ - “dedicated
to the small, random museums and weird attractions of the world”
Jack's Adventures in Museumland - http://
jacksadventuresinmuseumland.wordpress.com/ - Jack chronicles his visits to
museums, galleries and other cultural places and, like me, has a “particular
soft spot for the odder kinds of museums”
The Exhibition List - http://www.theexhibitionlist.com/ - a collaborative blog
where anyone can “share [their] experiences of museums, galleries and
historic places with the world”