Whether you're a freelance writer or blogger, you've probably had to choose niches to write about at one time or another--perhaps a niche for your new blog or e-book, or choosing what topics to specialize in for client work.
There are millions of niches out there that you can write about or blog about, so it always baffled me that people have a hard time choosing one. I've shared some resources and examples previously about how to choose a niche.
Today I'm going to do some of the work for you, and break down several popular topic areas into more specific niches to write about on a blog, in an e-book, or as a freelance writing specialty.
101 Niches to Write About
Let's look at several topical categories and some narrowed-down niches you can pursue:
Business / Money
1. Legitimate ways stay-at-home parents can earn extra money from home
2. Living on a budget in college
3. Starting and running a restaurant (or insert any other type of business)
4. Managing credit card debt
5. Social media marketing
6. Accounting for small business owners
7. Securing business financing
Arts & Entertainment
8. Insert name of your favorite television show here
9. How to get acting gigs
10. How to play the guitar (or any other instrument)
11. Insert name of your favorite celebrity here
12. Broadway shows
13. Tourist attractions or "things to do" in your city or state
14. Video game strategies or reviews
Green Living
15. Raising "green" children (or focus solely on green baby products)
16. Document your own efforts to go green
17. Green business tips
18. Green travel
19. Reviews of environmentally friendly products
Sports
20. Soccer news (or insert any other sport name)
21. How to play (insert your favorite sport here)
22. Write about your favorite athlete (history, stats, news, etc.)
23. The history of (insert any sport here)
Pets
24. How to train a dog
25. How to choose a dog (or other type of pet)
26. Pet health (general or for specific types of pets)
27. Exotic pets
28. Create a pet photo blog
Home & Family
29. Recipe blog for 30-minute or less dinners
30. Parenting (insert age range here--teens, preschoolers, etc.)
31. Family-friendly day trips and destinations
32. Romantic vacation spots for couples
33. Review kitchen appliances and gadgets
34. Home decorating ideas for small spaces
33. Organizing parties and family get-togethers
34. Home organization (tips, product reviews, etc.)
35. Recipes using chocolate (or any other favorite ingredient)
36. Growing an indoor herb garden
Technology
37. Insert your favorite gadget here (iPhone, netbooks, etc.)
38. Social media news and tools
39. Automotive news and reviews
40. Mobile technology for travelers
41. Computer software reviews for small businesses (or another target group)
42. Open source computing
43. Google tools, tips, and tricks
44. Blogging
45. Designing websites
46. Simple computer fixes (like dealing with Windows error messages)
47. Careers in technology fields
48. Camcorder tips (shooting better videos)
49. Home theater equipment or setting up a home theater
50. Podcasting
51. Online videos (creating, uploading, finding, etc.)
Health & Wellness
52. Insert any disease or disorder name here (symptoms, treatments, coping, etc.)
53. Getting better healthcare on a budget
54. Pregnancy
55. Stress relief tips, product reviews, etc.
56. Insert your favorite exercise here (walking, running, yoga, etc.)
57. Alternative medicine / natural healing
58. Diet plan reviews
59. Tips, products, and programs to help people quit smoking
60. Better health at work (ergonomics, healthier lunch options, etc.)
Fashion & Style
61. Celebrity fashion watch
62. Everyday fashion tips for the busy working woman
63. Designing or creating your own clothes or accessories
64. Getting style on a budget
65. Makeup tips (get specific with certain skin types, colors, etc.)
66. Wedding and formal fashion
Education & Learning
67. Learn how to speak French (or any other language)
68. How to choose a college or university
69. How to secure more scholarships
70. Online degree programs / distance education
71. Going back to school / adult education
72. Math tips for teens (or insert any other subject)
73. Study tips for better test taking
74. How to write papers and reports
Crafts & Hobbies
75. How to become a better chess player
76. Knitting / crocheting / insert other sewing technique
77. Painting better portraits
78. Taking better digital photographs
79. Jewelry making
80. Collecting (stamps, trading cards, etc.)
81. Card games
82. Simple magic tricks for kids
83. Researching your family history / genealogy (or Irish genealogy, etc.)
85. Making candles or other homemade gifts
Travel
86. Backpacking through Europe
87. Cheap international travel destinations
88. Historical travel (traveling to see historical sites)
89. Adventure travel destinations and tips
90. Preparing for travel (booking trips to getting through airport security)
Writing
91. How to write a novel
92. How to write nonfiction books
93. How to market yourself as a writer (or your work)
95. Freelance writing
96. Writing for the Web
97. Writing screenplays / teleplays / stage plays
98. Developing characters
99. Writing e-books
100. Self-publishing
101. Writing book proposals
That's just a very small sampling of the available niches you can specialize in or blog about. Use it as a starting point to help you brainstorm other ideas, and remember--niches should neither be so broad that you can't compete or so narrow that there's no audience. Best of luck finding your own happy mediums!
The idea of writing something is easy in most people’s minds. The idea of expressing in words what someone wants to read in a way or style they want is the hard part. There are all types of tastes and things people do and do not want to read about. You bring up some very good points and as a long time internet writer in blogs, boards, and other areas I find just being yourself is the best approach. Everyone is different and you may be surprised how just being yourself when doing any writing will attract the best amount of readers to what you are writing. If is something you are passionate about it will come through in your writing. If you are only doing it to make a buck and do not have professional skills then you are more than likely wasting your time. Talent is like anything in life and some people have the talent and some people do not. Write what you know about, do not embellish and just have fun and I think if you look at the topics posted here you can write anything you want.
Remember putting the words down is the start. Getting it out there is the next part. Having it all tie together and make sense is the whole reason for doing it to being with.
Thanks for the ideas – it gives me more to think about as I am developing my blogs. I’ve also scooted over to check out your eBook ideas.
What a great post! Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is just thinking of something to write about.
Jillian – I think we all hit the occasional rough spot where we just don’t have any ideas, or where we feel like we’ve already covered everything. While it’s good to stick to a narrow niche if there’s a decent-sized audience there, I think we sometimes forget that there’s nothing wrong with exploring complementary niches in order to grow–I hope this post at the very least serves as a reminder that there’s always something new we can tie to our existing work.
The hard part for me isn’t necessarily coming up with something to write about. I have more difficulty finding a topic that I can keep fresh and interesting over the long run. It can be a challenge to find a new twist on a subject that you have written about for a while, and you feel like you’ve already covered the bases fairly well.
Jim – I actually have a post that might help with that too. 😉
Coming up with Blog Post Ideas
What a wonderful read this post was. Is it okay if I Stumble this post?
This article really caught my attention today because I’m trying hard to narrow down a niche to showcase on my site. But after reading through this, I realize that I actually have several niches that I’ll specialize in.
I’m glad it helped Bridget. 🙂
This was a great list of niches. I added a few to our list for syndicated content after reading your post. Thanks 🙂
Writing about a celebrity and show sounds good to me but does it works in the long run ?
Thank you for posting this blog, I need to work on not procrastinating so much.
You’re welcome Imani. And good luck! Procrastination is something a lot of us struggle with. I hope you figure out a system or schedule that helps you get past it. 🙂
What are types of niches?
Got motivated by this post. I have a website about losing weight does not good. Since I am an engineer by profession but love to write occasionally. I am writing since my school going age. Due to my professional life, I have a little time to write but now wanna have writing and blogging as a full timer.
I had issues picking my blog niche, finally picked a technology, believe me, I feel like I made a mistake because I have had challenges growing the blog, this is my 9 months on the blog and is yet to start generating up to 500 visits a day. Picking a right niche is very important, am thinking very hard about a new niche cause am dumping that blog…
Thanks for such valuable information on choosing the perfect Niche for the blog. Somehow it’s clear to me that without a popular niche none of the blogs can get traffic. I have a problem that I can’t decide what I am good in, I feel I am good in many things, I love Singing, I love cricket, I love traveling and much more. I am a professional tourist guide and I am traveling a lot in North India. So my main interest and knowledge area are traveling. So please suggest me how successful I would be if I start a Travel Blog. And what will be difficulties in it to get it with right audience and traffic.
Blog Niches is something where I always get confusion and would like to ask the members.
Which is more beneficial : Creating niche category in existing website or creating a complete new niche website and running it ?
I have my blog which is all about Digital Marketing blog https://www.manojblogszone.com/ where I do share real time issue with solution.
I wants to start writing for digital media analytical tools so which is better to create a category in my site or get a new domain on this and write about it.
That depends largely on what the niches are. Generic blogs with no real focus aren’t likely to amount to much because you’re not honing in on a certain reader base and what they need. In other words, you’re throwing a lot of irrelevant content at people at pretty much all times. So leave that for personal blogging; not niche blogging where you’re probably trying to build a significant audience or make money.
If the niches, or audiences, are similar then you can combine them. This site used to focus on indie publishing in addition to freelancing for example — both types of writing careers for solo pros, and where there’s a lot of overlap between the reader bases (many freelance writers are also indie publishers). That can work. In your situation, it sounds like they might be similar enough to put them together, but you know more about what you want to cover, so that’s a decision for you to make.
Interesting list, but I don’t find my niche in it, am I going on a desert road?
I am running an art blog. Mostly I publish my work on it (paintings, video painting, tutorials, art mostly), but I don’t know if my domain is a good niche, if people find it relevant.
Do you have any suggestions on what I could write about?