The Copywriter Underground

You hear it everywhere on the blogosphere. “Find a niche, and then dominate it.”

It’s great advice – especially when your livelihood is tied to your blog.

I’ve long wanted to write a post on this topic, and when Michael Stelzner published his White Paper Industry Report, I knew I had my hook.

You see, Michael’s Writing White Papers blog feeds at the top of the white paper food chain, and his blog is a case study in niche domination (though he’d tell you a white paper is a better vehicle for conveying that domination).

How does he stay on top?

• His blog has a laser focus

• He produces useful content (much of it customer facing)

• He’s created an expansive, blog-centric Web presence

• He creates thought leadership publications like his Writing White Papers book

• He outright defines his niche with a just-released “White Paper Writer Industry Report”

The last two are the steps that most of us don’t take, and his book and report can’t help but pay off professionally.

Certainly, a blog can dominate its niche without a niche-defining report or book, but both expand the boundaries of a niche (and offer benefits to a writer beyond the blogosphere).

What have you done to dominate your niche lately? For that matter, what have I done? (Answer: not enough.)

[tags]blogging, blog[/tags]