Kovalam Beach, India
If you wanted to buy a steak would you visit the janitorial supply shop?
If you wanted to purchase pet food would you visit an arts and crafts store?
If you wanted to get someone to check out your persistent cough would you hire a lawyer?
The world trusts specialists most, generally-speaking.
Minus highly rare outlier cases, you and I deem specialists as being most credible since giving all professional time and energy to one end allows that service to grow exponentially over the long haul. Basically, you do only one thing for a long time to do it really well because where your attention and energy goes, grows.
Blogging Tips Niche
Minus the rare travel-themed post, I cover only the blogging tips niche at Blogging From Paradise.
Dissecting this niche inside-out spawned 100’s of blogging tips themed posts, an online course and eBook and 1000’s of videos.
I specialize in the mindset aspect of blogging. But I also cover a wide range of topics near and dear to bloggers. Sometimes I inject humor into blogging tips. Other times I take the more straight-laced approach to teaching blogging.
However I cover my singular niche, it is all blogging tips all the time here. Well, most, save the rare travel post that you readers explicitly told me to write. I only publish travel-related content because you told me to write about my travels.
Anyway, covering only one niche allows me to do it reasonably well since my attention, energy, study, observation and work goes toward guiding bloggers with blogging tips. Readers tend to sense my thoroughness which goads some to deem me as being a credible blogging tips blogger. I do one thing fairly well. Readers typically trust my blogging tips because I do the blogging tips niche thingee reasonably well as a trusted specialist.
Do one thing to do it well.
Cover one niche to cover it well.
Jack of All Trades Master None
One quick scan of Blogging From Paradise reveals at the very least that I possess some grasp of the blogging tips niche because that niche is what I do.
For a sense of contrast, check out a multi niche blogger who covers the following niches:
- affiliate marketing
- blogging tips
- internet marketing
- online business
Look closely at the blogging tips posts published to the blog. Do their blogging tips posts compare to the hundreds of blogging tips posts, my blogging course and my blogging eBook in terms of:
- depth?
- detail?
- thoroughness?
- completeness?
At the end of the day…..nope.
Why?
A jack of all trades masters none.
I spent thousands upon thousands of hours:
- learning
- studying
- practicing
- mastering
one blogging tips niche to cover it inside-out as a trusted specialist.
The multi-niche blogger divides those 1000’s of hours between:
- learning
- studying
- practicing
- mastering
4 niches to cover each as a ho-hum, less-trusted, jack of all trades type.
Do you see why I may inspire readers to trust me as a blogging tips specialist while the jack of all trades does not generally inspire readers to trust them as a blogging tips specialist?
The world trust specialists who master one discipline.
The world does not really trust generalists who cover many disciplines from an average if not flat out poor approach.
A jack of all trades masters none.
Light Analogy
The most powerful flashlights in the world beam light for 100’s to 1000’s of feet because concentrating the beam allows light to travel far.
But a dwindling fire sitting in the middle of a pitch black forest only spreads light for 10 to 20 feet in every direction.
Single niche specialists who patiently cover that niche thoroughly are like a hiker shining a powerful flashlight for 500 feet in any intended direction.
Multi-niche, jack of all trades bloggers are like campers stoking a dying camp fire which only illuminates 10-20 feet in all directions.
Who sees more clearly and who is seen more clearly?
The hiker with the powerful, concentrated flashlight, of course. He sees clearly but anyone else in the forest sees him coming from hundreds of feet away.
Either concentrate and specialize to see and succeed or dilute and generalize to not see and fail miserably, or, to bust your fail for muted success, at best.
The camp fire crowd can only see for 20 feet. This also means that almost no one will be able to find them unless stumbling within 20 feet of the fire/light which becomes highly unlikely in a pitch black forest.
Restaurant Analogy
Imagine walking in to a Chinese food restaurant.
You place an order.
The woman says that it’ll be ready in 45 minutes.
Huh?
All Chinese food restaurants you ordered from in the past filled your order in 10-15 minutes. What gives?
The lady says that the Chinese food restaurant also serves as a:
- mail business
- pet boarding business
- tutoring service
She and her fellow employees cannot fill your order in 15 minutes because each needs to:
- sort mail for 10 minutes
- feed and walk the dogs for 10 minutes
- tutor students for 10 minutes
before firing up the wok to prepare your dinner.
Frustrated, you cancel your order and drive to the Chinese food restaurant specializing only in preparing Chinese food. You place an order and pick it up in 15 minutes.
Multi-niche bloggers are the Chinese food restaurant attempting to also run a mail order, boarding and tutoring business simultaneously. Jack of all trades master none, lose trust and go out of business or barely scratch by while running themselves ragged.
Single niche bloggers are the Chinese food restaurants specializing only in preparing Chinese food; successful, prospering, trusted and focused on doing one thing patiently to do it incredibly well.
What About Covering Similar Niches?
Covering similar blogging niches is like opening a fusion restaurant; sure it’ll be fascinating, quaint and interesting but it will never be as clear, focused and trusted as a Brazilian steakhouse, an Italian restaurant or a Chinese food restaurant because where your attention and energy goes, grows.
One time, I spent $250 USD on dinner for 2 at Tao in New York City. Reputed to be one of the better restaurants in the city, my date and I (this was 20 years ago) enjoyed the quarter of a thousand dollar meal.
But I enjoyed an even higher quality meal for $1.10 USD from a street vendor in Bangkok because the lady who cooked the mixed vegetable with tofu and rice spent 30,000 to 40,000 hours mastering Thai food to the genius level while the fusion chefs at Tao spent far less time attempting to combine foods from multiple cultures.
This is one reason why a meal for 1 buck in Bangkok prepared by a single human being tastes as high quality as a $250 meal in NYC from a world-renowned restaurant with a staff of chefs; the quality and genius is in the specializing and practice, not the price tag, diluting and perception.
But when you do specialize and practice you can certainly name your price since the world deeply trusts specialists.
The USD is strong against the Thai Baht and the lady seems happy enough to be a street vendor in Bangkok. If she opened a restaurant in NYC with an entrepreneurial mindset and staff she could name her price.
The business potential for specialists is unlimited but it is your decision, posture and confidence which dictates what you charge for products and services.
I Know this Question May Be on Your Mind
Why does Tao get away with charging high prices?
Tao is an organization of dozens upon dozens of employees who handle various aspects of the trade and master their respective jobs.
You, as an individual blogger, cannot get away with being a jack of all trades generalist because you are just one human being. You do not have 10, 20 or 50 trained specialists; you have you.
This is why specializing is the sane choice for an individual blogger.
This is also why the street vendor lady offers something as impressive as a world renowned brand and business.
Specializing, practicing and significant time combine to leverage your success to dizzying levels as an individual blogger.
