Back in 2019, I wrote an article on Medium called Why I Suck At Search Engine Optimization.
I’m no SEO expert, but I’ve managed to get some of my pages to the front page of Google just by writing stuff people want to read.
So I wrote about it.
It got the attention of someone at the former version of The Startup and got a few eyeballs.
I love SEO, web development, and writing, and even though those are moneymakers and get lots of hits, those things aren’t my niche. They are just tools to get things done.
I write about these tools all the time, they are great topics for affiliate marketing.
But SEO is just one thing in my bag. I wish I was really good at it because I would make it THE thing and start an SEO agency.
But it’s just a thing.
I read so many articles on Medium, writers writing about the same topic all the time.
But I don’t really know enough about SEO to write a bunch of stuff about it, so I didn’t write anything for a long time.
Bummer.
I don’t have a thing.
My Twitter account is starting to clear it up for me
I started spending a lot of time on Twitter last November. Slowly growing my account from 0 to over 2,100 followers since.
I started by writing about writing and the tools: Serpstat, Medium, Trello, Gumroad, writer’s block, peer support, editing, systems, etc.
But I’m a software developer by trade and would occasionally go into details about building tools for writers.
Then the software development crowd started responding and I thought “How odd? this is a tweet about writing.”
I write about the creative process and tools.
Designing things, creating things, and the tools we as creative people use to make our ideas come to life.
I like to help people like us find things that can make our jobs and lives easier.
I like to inspire people to do more.
Show them that they can earn a side income by doing something they love and if they work hard enough and the planets line up on the right night they might be able to make a living doing it.
Hearing from people that have used, or been inspired by, something I’ve written to do amazing things is what makes this so amazing for me.
Is teaching a niche? Yeah, but a huge one.
Teaching creatives?
Showing writers, software developers & designers something that will allow them to work more efficiently, make more money, etc.
I’m getting there, but still not sure.
It’s a process of constant refinement based on user feedback — and the feedback on Twitter is immediate.
And user feedback is what we all need to make our next thing better.
Just like building a product or writing my next story.
What is your niche?
One of my articles on Medium or something I posted on Twitter brought you to this email list.
Are you a writer? In the software field? Both?
Think about it.
I’d love to hear from you and talk it over.
I bet I could give you a few ideas.
Talk soon,
Travis
Hmm. Yes, I guess I'm a writer and in the software field but who has time to write when software needs doing? Practically speaking, I think quietly and out loud in the car and shower about my favorite topics.
OK, I'm actually in security and operations but those areas are moving into software.
My niche is seemingly having niches which could be in demand but I don't sit down and write about them. I think I'd prefer to do drawings! Is that a thing? Can I inform people via pictures?
I'll have to think about it... and find some method/platform/?? that will make it relatively painless to do so.