Nailing niche - 10 blogs that 'get it'; The Weekend Workshop
Today's my last day in Liverpool. All together now: boo hoo.I'm an emotional train wreck, evidently. I can barely hold it together. Oh hang on, I have dirt under my thumbnail.You see, I've had my hands buried in crap today. Getting the place looking ship shape for the next tenant. And I have to say, it looks about a million times cleaner than the day we moved in, six months ago. And it's been precisely six months since I asked my landlord to sort a catalogue of problems out, and six months later he hasn't. Yup, I'm pretty pissed by it. But life moves on. As am I. To the coast! To the flotsam and jetsam, the ebb and flow.First things first, though, let's recap what we've learned this weekend. On that note, I say we but judging by the mass of comments I've received, I suspect it's been a pretty lonely classroom. I still love you.This weekend we've talked about why it's so important to find a niche to blog about. Yesterday we took this to the bridge and looked at how you work on your niche.Today we look at 10 blogs and bloggers that do it. There's no question that they've bought the t-shirt, read the book, eaten the watermelon and realised how important it is to know and cherish your audience. Let's wrap it up in a foxy award ceremony. Squeeze into the LBD, grab your charabanc and a dirty Martini and may the good and the great, celebrate...Knowing your audience
IttyBiz
I can't stay away. I'll admit - I'm a sucker for elaborate advice simplified so that even someone like me can understand. And when that advice could just about turn my life around as a small business owner, I'm suckered. After going off on one in my last post about why eBooks suck, I discovered one or two at IttyBiz that could really hit the spot for me. And I imagine they would for you, too. But there's one problem - they're eBooks. Until the IttyBiz crew can see to render them in print, and accompany them with a helpline to make it real and relevant to me as an individual, it's no dice. Having said all that IttyBiz' tagline - Marketing for Businesses Without Marketing Departments - really resonates with me since it's a niche they've clearly been born to serve. Each page oozes 'I need that!' which is the raison d'etre of being in any market segment. If you can sell without trying, you're incredible. You're incredible. Initiative
Cromwells of Irby
A fabulous restaurant, social experience, or museum of odd salt and pepper pots? The site combines everything you could want from an eaterie with much more besides. Find out what goes into the machinations of a restaurant, discover the brand (revolving around those cute little his n hers condiment containers) and learn how to cook some great dishes. The resto hosts Tweetups, has a great, fresh and funky site and wins fans on all levels using smarts and initiative. Traditional top-flight food (#1 on tripadvisor among area restaurants) and 21st century marketing and social attraction. Selling the dream
David Risley
Six-figure blogger, video jock and downright nice gent. He's into sharing - last week's webinar brought in nearly 1,000 people eager to emulate Dave's success. One caveat: Dave, ditch the in-car cam if you're heading out to pick up a few cheques from the post office. It just looks, well, a bit ego...
Passion
Erica Friedman, Social Media Without Delusion
Much has been said by the sceptical camp about social media experts. Erica started blogging about social media eight years ago. She knows more about social media than you know about your mum. And it shows. SMWD is the only blog I read if I want to find out what's pushing buttons in the world of social media. I agree there are a lot of pretenders - and that's because Erica is miles ahead of the competition. All the competition. Selflessness
Dave Thackeray - Ruminations on Life 2.0
I'm sat here on bed at 00:40 and all I can think about is deep love for you. I had an Angus Burger for dinner, Pete Price is playing Mr Angry on Radio City because a bunch of slags are waxing excitedly about going to the shop in PJs. But despite these exciting events, I can't shift my adulation towards you. I really think we'll mate for life, like those birds you see. Stunted genius
David Thorne
Get over the idea of a schoolgirl giving you the bird (it's an initiation test, you see, to make sure you're 'ard enough to cope with Dave's incredible wit) and you'll find a maligned blog that's packed with hilarious stories from yesteryear. A couple really stand out - one circling an incessant email interchange between him and his landlord involving five dogs and an iguana; and another where he offers to pay off a debt with a drawing of a kettle, or something. What's ridiculous is this blog hasn't been updated in ever. Get to it, Thorne, or you'll have no roses to cling on to. Relevance
NorthxEast - Building a SuperBlog series.
We all need extra help. It doesn't matter if you have 5 or 500 subscribers, there's another level to aspire to. NxE is staggeringly insightful in everything it does. The Building a SuperBlog series hits the nail on the head and shows how niche should work. Creating a market around your genius
Hugh Macleod's Gaping Void
Hugh is a cartoonist. He's an incredibly perceptive cartoonist who manages to magick a fusion of fine art (on the back of business cards, we're told, although I once believed the myth that there was a guy who wrote the bible on the back of grain of rice. And when someone told me they'd taken the word 'gullible' out of the dictionary, well, I was hook, line and sinker) and marketing. His latest post about Gift Economics is a killer on its own, and I don't even think there's a cartoon on it. Although there must be, I suppose, since there's one on every post. The mind plays tricks... Inspiration
Whitney Hess
I've been a fan of Whitney for ages. Things started to go downhill after The Bodyguard, though, and her performance on The X Factor was a complete mess. It was around that time that I picked up on a UX goddess called Whitney Hess. She's amazing - and incredibly open. Such a rare treat to have someone with such focus and aptitude for a complex subject be completely candid without there being an inference towards selling something. Lovely woman, lovely blog, and her latest post about Domino's made me go NYOM. NYOM NYOM
Joint winner
Grace Meng's One Fork, One Spoon
Kristain's Londonelicious A travelling gourmet. A divine writing talent, an uncanny knack to shoot food photography in every setting that makes the heart race and the tastebuds tingle in anticipation. Wherever she takes me - to Mexico, China, Korea, New York City - it's always heaven for the mind of my palate. Kristain, meanwhile, has chowed her way round the fair metropolis Jack The Ripper once tore through. Kristain isn't content to settle for dining experiences - she's an innovator, and has introduced lots of exciting challenges and opportunities for the gourmets among us to widen our repertoire of a la carte indulgences, including discovering the capital's secret eating houses. Beautiful design and captivating content
Vandelay Design Blog
That's a bonus one if you like looking at stuff. This and Hugh are lovely treats for your seeing spheres. Vandelay does it so sweet. One last thing: have a sensational week. Go YOU! xxx
IttyBiz
I can't stay away. I'll admit - I'm a sucker for elaborate advice simplified so that even someone like me can understand. And when that advice could just about turn my life around as a small business owner, I'm suckered. After going off on one in my last post about why eBooks suck, I discovered one or two at IttyBiz that could really hit the spot for me. And I imagine they would for you, too. But there's one problem - they're eBooks. Until the IttyBiz crew can see to render them in print, and accompany them with a helpline to make it real and relevant to me as an individual, it's no dice. Having said all that IttyBiz' tagline - Marketing for Businesses Without Marketing Departments - really resonates with me since it's a niche they've clearly been born to serve. Each page oozes 'I need that!' which is the raison d'etre of being in any market segment. If you can sell without trying, you're incredible. You're incredible. Initiative
Cromwells of Irby
A fabulous restaurant, social experience, or museum of odd salt and pepper pots? The site combines everything you could want from an eaterie with much more besides. Find out what goes into the machinations of a restaurant, discover the brand (revolving around those cute little his n hers condiment containers) and learn how to cook some great dishes. The resto hosts Tweetups, has a great, fresh and funky site and wins fans on all levels using smarts and initiative. Traditional top-flight food (#1 on tripadvisor among area restaurants) and 21st century marketing and social attraction. Selling the dream
David Risley
Six-figure blogger, video jock and downright nice gent. He's into sharing - last week's webinar brought in nearly 1,000 people eager to emulate Dave's success. One caveat: Dave, ditch the in-car cam if you're heading out to pick up a few cheques from the post office. It just looks, well, a bit ego...
Passion
Erica Friedman, Social Media Without Delusion
Much has been said by the sceptical camp about social media experts. Erica started blogging about social media eight years ago. She knows more about social media than you know about your mum. And it shows. SMWD is the only blog I read if I want to find out what's pushing buttons in the world of social media. I agree there are a lot of pretenders - and that's because Erica is miles ahead of the competition. All the competition. Selflessness
Dave Thackeray - Ruminations on Life 2.0
I'm sat here on bed at 00:40 and all I can think about is deep love for you. I had an Angus Burger for dinner, Pete Price is playing Mr Angry on Radio City because a bunch of slags are waxing excitedly about going to the shop in PJs. But despite these exciting events, I can't shift my adulation towards you. I really think we'll mate for life, like those birds you see. Stunted genius
David Thorne
Get over the idea of a schoolgirl giving you the bird (it's an initiation test, you see, to make sure you're 'ard enough to cope with Dave's incredible wit) and you'll find a maligned blog that's packed with hilarious stories from yesteryear. A couple really stand out - one circling an incessant email interchange between him and his landlord involving five dogs and an iguana; and another where he offers to pay off a debt with a drawing of a kettle, or something. What's ridiculous is this blog hasn't been updated in ever. Get to it, Thorne, or you'll have no roses to cling on to. Relevance
NorthxEast - Building a SuperBlog series.
We all need extra help. It doesn't matter if you have 5 or 500 subscribers, there's another level to aspire to. NxE is staggeringly insightful in everything it does. The Building a SuperBlog series hits the nail on the head and shows how niche should work. Creating a market around your genius
Hugh Macleod's Gaping Void
Hugh is a cartoonist. He's an incredibly perceptive cartoonist who manages to magick a fusion of fine art (on the back of business cards, we're told, although I once believed the myth that there was a guy who wrote the bible on the back of grain of rice. And when someone told me they'd taken the word 'gullible' out of the dictionary, well, I was hook, line and sinker) and marketing. His latest post about Gift Economics is a killer on its own, and I don't even think there's a cartoon on it. Although there must be, I suppose, since there's one on every post. The mind plays tricks... Inspiration
Whitney Hess
I've been a fan of Whitney for ages. Things started to go downhill after The Bodyguard, though, and her performance on The X Factor was a complete mess. It was around that time that I picked up on a UX goddess called Whitney Hess. She's amazing - and incredibly open. Such a rare treat to have someone with such focus and aptitude for a complex subject be completely candid without there being an inference towards selling something. Lovely woman, lovely blog, and her latest post about Domino's made me go NYOM. NYOM NYOM
Joint winner
Grace Meng's One Fork, One Spoon
Kristain's Londonelicious A travelling gourmet. A divine writing talent, an uncanny knack to shoot food photography in every setting that makes the heart race and the tastebuds tingle in anticipation. Wherever she takes me - to Mexico, China, Korea, New York City - it's always heaven for the mind of my palate. Kristain, meanwhile, has chowed her way round the fair metropolis Jack The Ripper once tore through. Kristain isn't content to settle for dining experiences - she's an innovator, and has introduced lots of exciting challenges and opportunities for the gourmets among us to widen our repertoire of a la carte indulgences, including discovering the capital's secret eating houses. Beautiful design and captivating content
Vandelay Design Blog
That's a bonus one if you like looking at stuff. This and Hugh are lovely treats for your seeing spheres. Vandelay does it so sweet. One last thing: have a sensational week. Go YOU! xxx
