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In Don’t Raise Money – Bootstrap A Niche Market Online , we talked about niche markets.  Now, let’s look at bootstrapping that niche by taking that big leap and developing your own blog.

First, you will need to decide: what is your niche? You should zero in on the niche you believe you could excel in.  If you are an expert or have special knowledge of some field or have a  passion for something, start your blog on that. If you keep current, write well and with passion, update often and are open with your readers, you will find an audience.

My inspiration for a website topic, which later also evolved into a blog topic, was a study I was asked to do for the University of Texas at San Antonio business department.  This was in 1994 and they had a lot of very rough, raw material ( like clippings from newspapers) which suggested men make more money than women, even when they own their own business. The term “glass ceiling” had only recently become part of America’s vocabulary and the phenomenon was just beginning to be explored.

It was at this time, in December of 1994, that Netscape introduced the graphical browser and opened up the rush to the Net.

I decided to combine my interest in writing about “leveling the playing field”, with my entrepreneurial drive to launch yet another business on the cutting edge of the newest frontier, which, in this instance was the Net.  I knew I had the interest and the passion to sustain it.

So the question is, “What turns you on?  What sets you on fire or gets your adrenalin pumped?”  That will be your niche.

Step One: Carve out your niche and pick a catchy title that captures the essence of your blog. . Do some brainstorming and toss it around with your friends. Take a look at Ajaxwhois.com, a domain name finding software, to jump start your naming process.

Select A Blog Type

There are many different choices of blog types  from journal blogs, to collaborative and topical blogs ( Chris Brogan‘s new group blog, OMGPittsburgh.com is both collaborative and topical ) and compilation of link blogs ( Alltop StartUp News is both a compilation of links and a topical blog although the startup business topic is very broad.) There are also photoblogs, which can be  successful if you are good and prolific photographer and are articulate about the process and results.  But whatever kind of blog you decide to develop, successful blogs find a niche and stick with it.

Marketability

The next consideration is to make sure the subject of your blog is marketable.  Is there a large enough audience out there who might want to buy something from your site to assure you a cash flow, and ultimately, one which will sustain you?

There are a number of ways to generate revenue from your site but the results of each them will depend on how much traffic you are able to generate so….

First Goal: Generating Traffic ie. Building An Audience

The Process

Keep up to date and listen in to what’s going on, particularly on the Net, in your niche.

How to Write a Famous Blog offers the following advice:

• “Look around the Internet for blogs you love. Read and post to them religiously. Leave a note that actually has something to do with their site so that they know you actually took the time for pay attention to the material posted; do not expect anything back in return. Just commenting will cause others to be more likely to visit your and do the same. Often when you make comments to sites a link to your own personal site will already be included with your comment, unless you are posting from one hosting site to the next. If you’re at ITW and you read a blog on Myspace then it would be appropriate to include such a link.
• Build a network with other people in the blogosphere – make friends online. This is the best way to get readers and a great way to meet people you would otherwise never know.”

Gather your audience or your targeted demographic the particular people who are likely to be most interested in what you are writing about

• “A good way to make a popular blog is to make other blogs popular. That is, visit, read, and thoughtfully comment on other people’s blogs. On most blogger sites, a link to your own blog will be automatically included in your comment. So the more blogs you post on, the more people will be driven to visit your blog. Of course, don’t just go on and post one-word spam, because that might keep people away.
• Linking to other established or authority websites is also a good way to network and make yourself known in your niche, and other bloggers to share the “link love” with people who link to their site.”

Ways To Monetize Your Site

Whatever product or service you choose to sell, it should be tightly tied in with your theme or niche.  That is how you are identified in search engines and links throughout the Net and why people are coming to visit your site.  AdvancingWomen.com, for example, which focuses on women in business and careers, could probably not sell a single Red Sox baseball cap from its site. Not that there may not be women out there who are afficionadas of AdvancingWomen.com and also would like a Red Sox baseball cap, but that is not where they go to look for it.  So stick to your niche when selling.

What AdvancingWomen.com can and does sell, however, and you can as well, is…

Advertising related to your demographic.

Google Adsense allows you to open an account and include their automated ad delivery which will be match your content. You also can find other ad delivery systems through Google.com, if you’re interested.

Product or Services related to your demographic. You can also Google for these.  Bear in mind, you can select almost any product under the sun and sell as an affiliate through Amazon.com. You can also open your own storefront on Amazon.com.

Identifying a Well Matched Product Or Service For Your Demographic

To take a photoblog as an example, iStockphoto.com, the internet’s original member-generated image and design community, has changed the economic landscape of buying and selling photos online, ( see Crowdsourcing for details of this phenomenon).  So you should take their pricing into consideration, when deciding what to sell from your site. You may want to sell camera equipment or other related items which have the advantage, for you, of being higher ticket items and therefore more profitable for you.

You can also identify various vendors like CafePress.com which allow you to sell personalized T-shirts, buttons, bags and other items.

As your audience grows, your ability to sell will grow and so will the number of vendors approaching you to sell their items.  Be patient. Write well. And write every day. Success will follow.