The Dilemma of Niche Widening

I have a confession to make. When I started this blog, I didn't have a clear idea of where it was going or who my target audience was. I thought I did, but the more I wrote, the clearer it became that I was wrong. I found myself writing about my daily marketing activities, reviewing others' marketing advice, and writing about health and wellness topics. I was struggling with just what to do about this problem for several weeks when Kim Castleberry (@Ask_Kim) posted a link on twitter to a post on "niche widening." ("Beware the Slippery Slope of Niche Widening")  http://bit.ly/aiZKKZ

In it, Kim discusses the importance of having a focused niche to keep a blog alive. I exchanged a few comments with her, and she confirmed what I had already realized: 1) I was writing to two audiences (those interested in network marketing, and those interested in health/wellness/vitamins) 2) I needed to pick one to focus on, because 3) trying to develop 2 blogs at once, both from scratch, is not efficient.


Be Prepared for a Change

So, I made a decision to focus on health and wellness. My primary reasons for this decision were that I know more about health and wellness than network marketing at this point, which means I can provide more useful information to readers on that topic, and it's more interesting to me (and presumably to people who would buy my products). I'll still write about anything interesting I read or learn about network marketing on this blog, but it will not be my primary focus. If you're interested in health and wellness, check out my new blog at http://www.healthyinhouston.wordpress.com/

I've also decided to change the title and introductory paragraph of this blog (again) to more accurately reflect where I plan for it to go. It started as "The Truth Behind AmeriSciences," it is currently "A Skeptic's Adventures in Network Marketing with a Health and Wellness MLM" (way too long!), and by the time anyone reads this, it will have it's new title.

One to Watch!

In the meantime, I highly recommend checking out Kim's Tweets and her blog (follow the link above to the blog) if you're interested in blogging or using social networking sites. She has a style that is engaging and easy to read, her posts are clear and informative even for newbies, she provides reviews and directions for using helpful social networking tools, and is always very responsive to comments. Thanks, Kim!

Please share your experiences with niche widening or choosing your niche in the comments section.