You Don’t Need a Niche to Create Content
I’ve never been the type to go with the crowd. In fact, some would say I have quite the rebellious streak in me that some call “bravery”.
I never fit in with most cliques at all, to be honest. I just didn’t want to. For a very long time, I thought it was because I didn’t want to fit in, but now I’m realizing it’s because my interests are too varied to stay in a single groove. I am quite eclectic and if you could see my music collection, you’d definitely agree. Does anyone else have ABBA next to Danzig? Hi…
When I started exploring the world of social media more, I was lost with all of it. I knew I was very drawn to it and very interested in it, but I wasn’t sure what my “thing” was going to be. I just knew what I didn’t want to promote – vaping.
It’s not that I have any bad blood against vaping in any way. It was the only thing that successfully got me off a 25 year habit of combustible tobacco of smoking cigarettes. Now, before you jump up and want to comment back that “It’s still smoking” or “It has nicotine in it”, I really implore you to do two things:
1. Understand and respect that I’m an adult who is very capable of making her own adult choices in her life. That’s right. My life, not yours. Your opinion is not going to change what I know to be my truth.
2. Do your own research and ask for guidance on where ours is coming from. Really, ask a vaper. We are the millions of people who’ve successfully quit when other methods failed for us. If you truly want to learn more about how we all kicked our cigarette habit, we will be happy to share our story with you.
Alas, back to the topic or the non-topical lane I didn’t want to stay in.
I had been the Social Media Manager for a vaping publication for a while. This was right when all the gigantic nicotine warnings had to be plastered on 1/3 of the page using certain fonts and sizing, per the FDA regulations. That is not anything I miss doing, honestly. It’s way too restrictive for my liking.
I wasn’t sure which niche I wanted to be in or the space I wanted to be a part of. It was then that my own answer for myself came to fruition. Why did I need to be in just one niche?
I mean, who likes only one thing? Most of us have many hobbies, interests and variations to our daily lives. That, dear reader, is my niche – to be without one.
So I just started telling people about the brands that I personally love. One of my first was Snarky Tea. I have been a customer since probably 2016 or so (or it feels like it and I am way off in my years) after seeing an ad for profanti-teas with names like “Get Your Shit Together” and “Fierce Bitch”, I knew I had to try it. And, here I am, years later still a Snarky Tea customer, but also a brand ambassador with others who are just as gaga about them as I am.
But that wasn’t and isn’t my only love in life. I love animals like crazy, so I wanted to forge relationships with animal loving brands who help homeless pets. I discovered Beast & Buckle when my dogs were quite young and will always want to continue to promote a brand who just surpassed $100,000 in gear that has been given to dogs in need.
If you were to ask me what my secret sauce is, this would be my answer. Love what you truly love and promote it honestly. Be real. Be yourself with the products. Tell others why they would love it, too.
You don’t have to stay in just one lane unless you truly live and die by analytics. Sorry, not sorry, but I don’t. I’ve never gotten hung up on numbers, likes, followers, engagements, social blade or any sort of metrics like that. If something goes viral – awesome. However, I am not hanging my life up on that. I refuse to let that happen to me.
This is just Marketing and there aren’t many rules here. This creative space is yours and yours alone to create in it as you see fit. Go make something of it!
