Broad vs. Narrow View
I recently retired and have begun to write to build a supplemental retirement income stream.
When I first contemplated writing with this goal in mind, I began looking at Copywriting.
Based on the number of chat discussions I’ve followed on this subject, feeling that we must choose a niche is the # one thing that has paralyzed new writers.
Myself included.
One of the more vocal points of various writing gurus, especially in the copywriting crowd is "You must have a niche". Otherwise, you will come across as a "jack of all trades and master of none."
Initially, I bought into that line. I, like many other new writers, interpreted this as a very narrow niche.
It became incredibly frustrating. Because of this advice, I couldn’t seem to leave the starting gate.
It is difficult to pick just ONE thing.
In my lifetime, I have done a lot of stuff (work and otherwise), enjoyed a lot of things, traveled a lot, read widely, and love a good adventure.
Each time I’d try to nail down a niche (according to the "experts"), I couldn’t seem to forget all the other stuff I enjoy.
What is a Niche exactly?
This is where, in my opinion, many get bogged down. I know I did.
To a new writer, whether the focus in on copywriting, content writing, or otherwise, the term “niche” is not clearly defined by the more experienced veteran writers.
The implication is to just pick a topic or focus, do incredibly deep research, and then present yourself as an expert in that field. Period.
And if that one doesn’t work out, pick another one and repeat the process.
Many new writers are being made to feel abnormal because they cannot seem to “niche it down”.
Back to the question, “What exactly is a niche?” The varying opinions range from
A specific topic
A sub-category
A particular demographic (ethnic group, age, engineer, teacher, etc.)
A broad category (education, aviation, personal development, etc.)
As I’ve grown in my writing knowledge, I’ve discovered that the correct answer is
5. All of the above
Yes, niches can and should have the flexibility of being as broad or narrow as necessary.
Battle Lines
Two opposing articles of very successful writers on this subject drew my attention because they both make infinite sense.
, arguably the most prolific (and profitable) online writer out there today, in a recent article, Yes, You Can Become a 6-Figure Creator Without Having a Niche, had this to say . . .Do you just do one thing for your entire life, like eat grass? Or are you a multi-faceted human with a life and loads of interests and experiences?
You’re in the second category unless you really are a sheep.
Jokes aside, all of us are different. We come from diverse backgrounds. We have a lot to say. We have varied interests. Look at your TikTok app if you have it. Do you only watch one type of TikTok video? No.
Some days cooking. Other days cat videos. And on a gorgeous day like today you’re reading about writing. Nice.
Stop listening to the sheep. Niches aren’t required.
He goes on about some of the absurdity of the niche mandate:
Niches have killed more writing dreams than I can count. When there are too many restrictions on your creativity it starts to feel like a prison. Writing prison sucks out all the joy from creating content.
When the joy is gone, the love is lost. That’s when people sadly quit. There are so many writers who the niche plague has murdered.
Don’t let it be you.
The whole point of Denning’s article is that the niche pulpits preach that the narrow way is better (which may be true in the spiritual sense - ask Jesus about that one).
His experience, however, has been that, “Every niche is connected to every niche”.
Any one topic in a broader category may be fair game to an individual writer on one day. Then another topic may be the focus of the next day, and so on.
In this view, the “niche” if you want to call it that, is the broader category, not the specific topic.
So, when Tim says that it’s possible to be a successful writer without a niche, my take is that he’s actually referring to more narrow topical niches that many in the commercial writing world promote as the only correct way.
And this point is made in the second article, by
who writes the Entrepreneur Office Hours newsletter at Substack and also writes on Medium.In his article, Tim Denning Is Wrong — You Can’t Become a 6-Figure Creator Without Having a Niche, he takes Mr. Denning head-on about the whole niche controversy.
While acknowledging that Tim Denning is one of, if not the most successful writers today, Dinin uses Denning’s own words to prove that while claiming there’s no need for a niche, Denning actually has a niche - Personal Development.
This is brought out right in his (Denning’s) Bio:
“Inspiring the world through Personal Development and Entrepreneurship.”
“That’s his niche”, Denin says. Even in the article in question, Denning writes,
“My name is Tim Denning and I’m a 7-figure creator with no niche. This week I wrote about crypto, money, life lessons, careers, business, tech, parenting, relationships, and social media.”
Denin says, “… unless I’m missing something, all his articles about ‘crypto, money, life lessons, careers, business, tech, parenting, relationships, and social media’ are related to personal development and entrepreneurship, which is an example of a niche. It’s a topic or subset of topics that appeal to a specific segment within a broader market.”
I found both articles fascinating and liberating.
On one hand, Denning is right that an extremely narrow niche spells a frustratingly slow death for many writers.
On the other hand, Dinin is right (my humble opinion is that
would agree for the most part) that a broader category of related or supportive topics is still a niche.I stand in agreement with both Tim Denning and Aaron Dinin.
Best Advice Ever
When I first began my retirement writing journey on Substack (literally a few weeks ago), the most practical advice I got on the subject of niches was from my long-time friend
who writes at Richard Moore In-Depth on Substack. Richard is a successful author and investigative reporter.“The niche thing will work itself out. Substack has good analytics, and soon enough you’ll see what is attracting readers and what they like, as well as what isn’t working. These things evolve over time.”
And, in this short month, since I started this venture, that’s exactly what I have noticed.
Even though I love to write in all different genres and literary styles, the one thing that continually stands out is the subject of Personal Transformation.
From Spiritual transformation to emotional, mental, physical, and even financial, the fiction, non-fiction, and deep dives, I seem to work some aspect of this area into my writing.
I do not plan to intentionally focus on just that. When things peak my interest or get my attention I will write about it and let the flow take its course.
My guess is that all of it will be along the same line. Time will tell, that’s for sure.
Until next time, friends . . .
Thanks for including my argument in this article. And, for the record, I 100% agree with your conclusion. It’s not so much about having a niche or not having a niche. It’s about recognizing that a niche can be bigger/broader/different than what people usually think.
Good luck with the writing. I love writing articles every week because it forces me to sit down and think carefully about the things I truly believe and care about. That’s the real value of this work, and it comes whether you have 50 readers or 50,000.