Choosing a unique and profitable blog niche

In this last lesson of our Blogging with Purpose e-course, we’re going to talk about how to choose a profitable blog niche and how to make it uniquely yours. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’re going to discuss:

Choosing your blog niche

1. List down your creative passions.
2. Consider the ones that you can confidently talk about and teach others.
3. Identify your target blog readers.
4. Have a profit-mindset in choosing a blog niche.
5. Spin it off with your own uniqueness and awesomeness.

So here’s a funny story. Years ago I used to follow a blog about.. (wait for it) ..nail polish.

This blogger’s crazy obsession with nail polish was insane, and to be honest I was so there, not really for the nail polish but, for her stories. Every single post in her blog was literally dedicated to bottles of nail polish, nail polish colors, and nail polish accessories she’s currently into, interspersed with silly stories of her life as a nail polish lover.

And although her writing was awesome (she was hilarious!), her passion for nail polish could only bring her blog so far. To my dismay, the blog abruptly disappeared off the face of the internet without a word.

As an avid reader of that blog, I knew I’d support her all the way if she started offering products I actually needed or wanted, and I probably only need about 2 bottles of nail polish, max, in my life.

But if she offered a paid subscription so I could continue reading her commentary on life and nail polish, I would have signed up and paid her a subscription fee for the entertainment value her content added to my life.

This is why it’s important to consider a profitable blog niche when starting a blog.

This ex-nail polish blogger had everything in the Purpose Formula for Blogging checked.

1. Passion, check

She was obviously very passionate about nail polish (yes, we’re still talking about nail polish), at least we know she’s passionate about it for a year when her nail polish blog ran.

2. Profession, check

It’s safe to assume that she’s good at nail polish and confident about teaching others everything they need to know about nail polish. In fact, she could very well be a subject matter expert at nail polish.

3. People, check

She’s able to answer her readers’ nail polish questions, or at the very least provide entertainment.

What’s the problem then? Why was this nail polish blog unable to survive the blogging world?

Her niche just wasn’t a profitable niche, that’s why.

And that is also what happens when you narrow down your niche way below necessary. You will eventually run out of ideas for content and the market is likely not big enough to attract actual buyers.

So let’s add profit to that list, shall we?

4. Profit

💡 Pro-tip: When choosing a niche, you want to pick one that you’re particularly passionate about (PASSION), you’re actually good at (PROFESSION), serves a particular audience (PEOPLE), and is broad enough to capture a buying market (PROFIT).

And this is where we begin the discussion of blog income and profit strategy.

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Having a profit-driven mindset

I used to have a different stand on blog monetization. I started blogging without any intention of monetizing my personal blog. I handpicked brands I worked with, unwilling to place intrusive banners and random contextual ads on my blog’s pages.

I die a little whenever I see a blog that I follow succumb to display ads. Their blog pages become half-covered with ads it’s hard to tell when the ads end and the writing begins.

But putting together a blog project takes time. And if you want this project to sustain you (or at least pay for the time you pour into it), it needs to generate some sort of profit. And this is when my view on blog monetization started to change.

I realized that if I wanted my blog to replace or complement my corporate salary, then I have to be more intentional in making it profitable.

This mindset shift also has something to do with stewardship.

As I begin to acknowledge that my blog is a God-given platform, I realized that I also need to be a good steward of this gift. Unlike that guy in the parable of the talents, I don’t want to dig up a hole in the ground and hide my “talent”.

Instead, I want it to grow and profit so that it can do more of what I believe in my heart it can do—to reach more people, to be a catalyst of change, and to be a channel of blessing to others.

Once you start generating income from your blog, it makes sense to keep going. In contrast, if it’s not paying the bills, it’s easy to set it aside and abandon it in favor of gigs that actually pay the bills.

If your goal is to blog for a living, then you want to have a profit-driven mindset. Sometimes this means expanding your niche, other times it means niching down. It really depends on how you process your Purpose Formula.

With that said, here are some of the blog niches with proven potential to make money.

Profitable niches for bloggers

• Beauty & Fashion
• Books & Literature
• Blogging & Writing
• Family & Relationships
• Health & Wellness
• Food & Recipes
• Home & Interior Design
• Lifestyle & Travel

Creative bloggers usually choose a combination of the above categories, spinning it off according to their unique experiences, strengths, and passions.

💡Pro-tip: Don’t hesitate to choose a seemingly saturated niche. When you see many blogs already existing in a particular niche, it means that it has an existing readership / market that you can leverage.

There’s a lot about blog monetization that you’ll learn along the way, but it’s strategic to have a grasp of the types of blog income streams right from the start. This way, you can clearly identify your niche with profit in mind, and have clarity on the type of content you want to create.

Carving out your unique niche

Carving out a unique niche is both the easiest and the hardest part of the pre-blogging process.

Easiest because, well, this is simply about figuring out your Purpose Formula, right? Passion + Profession + People, and then choosing from a list of already proven profitable niches.

Hardest because, out of the millions of blogs that exist, your challenge is to think of something unique.

The good news is, YOU already are what’s unique to your chosen niche. There may be ten million lifestyle blogs out there but there’s only one YOU, and your “spin” is what’s going to be unique about your blog.

Therefore the single most important advice I can give you today is this:

To blog with purpose, be unapologetically yourself. You have your own unique experiences, life lessons, and stories, and these are the things that will make your blog stand out.

To blog with purpose, be unapologetically YOURSELF. Allow your unique experiences, stories, and personality to shine through. These are the main things that will make your blog stand out. Click To Tweet

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So what now?

Well, now you start blogging!

As you begin this new chapter in your blogging journey, it’s important that you find your own rhythm and what’s realistic for you. Some blogs publish content daily, while others do 3 posts per week, or once a week. I can say, however, that consistency is key to maintaining a purposeful blog.

But now that you have a refined purpose for blogging, a redefined blog niche, and hopefully a renewed passion, take advantage of the excitement! Get to work.

In fact, I challenge you to blog every day for a month, if you can. You will not only quickly populate purposeful pieces of content for your blog, you’ll also get into a consistent blogging habit which is essential if you want to turn your blog into a career.

Now, some of you who have been blogging for a while will find that there’s no need for any drastic changes in your blog strategy after doing this e-course. And that is good!

Consider this an affirmation that you already have a clear grasp of why you blog and what purpose your blog serves you. You just have to keep going, keep blogging, and keep finding inspiration.

Something’s still missing?

Some of you might find yourselves needing a significant change or a radical shift in direction after choosing or redefining your blog’s niche. Consider the following:

• Do you need to change your brand name or a domain name? Or maybe you should buy your own domain name already if you haven’t yet! Don’t be afraid to make changes like this one if it helps you move forward. Check out to see if your desired domain name is available.
• Maybe you need to change your content management platform? Are you using free platforms like blogspot or Tumblr? Consider shifting to a self-hosted WordPress blog if you want to make your blog ready to go pro!
• How about starting fresh with a new web host provider? Forget the old blog. Start fresh. One of the major reasons why I almost quit blogging is because my old web host provider was slowing me and my website down. After a while, I realize that there’s no way to move forward but to move my blog to a new web host that meets my needs. Of all the web host I’ve used in my lifetime, Dreamhost has been the one that stood the test of time.
• Maybe you need a complete overhaul or rebrand. Maybe it’s time you invest in a blog/brand redesign. I personally do a redesign of my blog every now and then because as a creative, I find that this affects my creative process in huge ways. I do have an unfair advantage of being a website designer so I get to do this for myself. But even as a website designer, I use ready-made WordPress themes and I always get them from 17th Avenue.
• You need to launch that blog already. Okay, this whole time I assumed that you already have a blog. But if, for some reason, you took this e-course but don’t have a blog yet, here’s how to launch a WordPress blog, fast and easy.

One last final word as we end this 7-days to Blogging with Purpose E-course,

Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.

John Jakes

Yes, yes, yes.

Here’s to blogging with purpose!