Welcome back to Introductions over Coffee, where we meet new bloggers (and some more established ones). We also explore guidance and insights for novice bloggers, and maybe as a refresher for us all. Today, we’ll be exploring making decisions about whether or not our blogs should be niche or broad focused.

As I make efforts to get back to routines, I’m presenting another more established blogger today. However, I believe she will bring you some thought-provoking ideas to encourage you to think about living environmentally. Today we’re meeting Michelle from Boomer Eco Crusader.

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Introducing blogger : Michelle from Boomer Eco Crusader

On her website, Michelle explains that the focus of her blog is to explore how we can live a “greener, more environmentally friendly life”. I know I’m always looking for ways to improve what I do and with all the stories just now about micro and nano plastics appearing everywhere, I’m worried about my drinking water. Its good to have a source we can go to for information and discussion.

I started blogging 5 years ago with an initial message of green living, and simple changes anyone can make to reduce their environmental impact. While my blog still has a strong environmental focus, the scope has expanded to decluttering, simplifying, and living your best life.

Michelle, Boomer Eco Crusader

Looking at Michelle’s blog, she covers a diverse range of topics within the “environmental” category. I’m sharing links to a range of different subjects to give you a feel for the range of her writing. She covers environmental issues, such as concern about the impact of global warming on the Arctic, through to the way we rely on convenience too much and how that’s contributing to waste and global warming. My last shared post is about de-cluttering.

I hope you will have a look at Michelle’s blog. She really does have a lot to teach us.

How climate change in the Arctic affects all of us

Convenience culture: will it lead to our downfall?

De-cluttering challenge: Week 13: Living Area table surfaces

In addition to writing for her own blog, Michelle can also be found at Wise & Shine on Mondays.

Introductions over Coffee: Beginner’s Tips

In each edition I share thoughts, advice and tips that I hope my fellow bloggers will find useful.

Starting out as a blogger, it can be daunting deciding what you’re going to write about. What the focus of your blog will be. There is a lot of conflicting advice on whether we should focus on a niche category or take a more general approach.

Please note that some of the information presented in tables within this post may not appear in the Reader if you’re using the Jetpack App. For best effect, please read on the website.

To niche? Yes or No?

I’ve taken a broad approach with my blog but when I decided to run a series of academic study skills I wondered if I should create a second, niche blog. I sought advice of other bloggers. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches which we’re going to look at. However, ultimately, you need to decide what’s best for you, and what you’re comfortable with. Personally I like the freedom of being able to take a broad brush approach and people may be attracted by one post or topic, but stay for the range of writing. Although I do accept that some things will appeal more than others.

I love it when people enjoy what I write, but I try not to get disappointed if a particular post seems to receive less attention. People will surprise you, and sometimes will engage with posts you didn’t rate so highly.

My advice, when deciding whether to go for a niche or not, is to review the pros and cons below and see what you feel about your own blog. Its important that you are comfortable with whatever choice you make. Make the decision for you, not because its what others think you should do. Beyond making that decision, the key thing is to be authentic, be yourself.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Niche Blogs

Advantages	Disadvantages
Focused and targetted at audience	Narrow focus = limited audience
You build authority and are seen as an expert	Pressure to be an expert
Less competition in a niche market	Niche market may be highly competitive
Easier to generate ideas because of narrow focus	More likely to experience content burnout or writer’s block with limited topic range
Easier for SEO Rankings etc	May prove difficult to move out of niche in future

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Broad Focus Blog

Advantages	Disadvantages
Broader audience = increased traffic	High levels of competition
Can write about a wide range of topics; keeps the blog fresh and avoids boredom	Audience may be fragmented making it own difficult to understand them
Increased flexibility and creativity	Too broad may create content overload and lack of consistency
Less pressure to be seen as an expert	May rank more poorly in SEO as too broad a range of keywords
Broader monetisation opportunities	Lack of authority and credibility
Easier to transition into a niche market	May be difficult building a community

When thinking about the type of blog you want, you should look at the advantages and disadvantages above and decide which ones are important to you. However, I’ve got a broad focused blog and an active community. Communities take work, you need to put in the effort. A niche blog in itself won’t bring you a community if you don’t engage with people; you just need to decide what efforts you are willing to make to bring success. Introductions over Coffee #10 looks into communities and using comments in more detail.

Final thoughts

I hope you’ve found the above information helpful and I’d be delighted to discuss any of the advantages or disadvantages, or my own experiences further in the comments section. Some of the disadvantages above I hadn’t considered, but I guess even with a broader focus, you are still in control of how wide-ranging your blog is. By creating a series such as this, I am putting a niche focus within a broader blog.

Its your blog, do what you want. Experiment to find out what works for you – and good luck.

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Over to you – with Coffee?

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It’s important to me that Introductions over Coffee reflects the needs of the community, and new bloggers. Leave me a message in the comments or send me an email via the Contact Me page to suggest future topics, themes or questions you’d like to see covered.

How can I be featured in Introductions over Coffee

I try to feature new bloggers in most editions. Some bloggers have asked how I decide who to feature. As a result, I’m going to answer that question, outlining my criteria below:

• I’m looking for bloggers who interact with their readers, engaging with them through their comments.
• Are you posting regularly? Regularly can mean different things, but I’m looking to ensure that the new blogger is posting consistently rather than 2 or 3 posts, then stopping.
• Do you produce quality work – if its text, is it full of spelling/grammar mistakes; is it well structured, flowing well? Do you give credit for images you use?
• Is there sufficient information to encourage conversation through the comments section and are your comments meaningful?
• You should never spam, its never acceptable. Consequently if you spam I will delete any comments you leave on my posts and you will not feature in Introductions over Coffee. That said, people can make mistakes when learning, so they should improve and adapt their practice to avoid spamming.

I accept that this process is subjective, based on my opinion. However, if you have any questions about these criteria, please ask.

If you’re a new blogger and would like to appear in a future edition of Introductions over Coffee, please send me an email through the Contact Me page. Likewise, if you spot an interesting new blogger be sure and let me know.

Introductions over Coffee is only one series on my blog where I also write on a range of other topics and I’d love for you to check them out. Some of my posts are highlighted below, but to ensure you don’t miss any, why not sign up to my blog today. 

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