I don't know what my niche is

Hi Reader,

Lots of writers worry about niche selection.

Should they try to become the productivity guy?

Or the Notion template girl?

I tumbled down this rabbit hole for a few years.

At the time, I was a Forbes columnist.

So, I picked the topic of “productivity and time management.”

A classic business niche.

One smack bang in the middle of the Forbes wheelhouse.

(Or at least it was before they started publishing mattress reviews and cat info articles.)

I spent an hour researching hot articles and topics about getting things done at work each week.

I mapped dozens of hot topics from the world of productivity in a Google Sheet. Then, I’d pick one to write each day.

I published articles like:

• The Fastest Way To Accomplish More This Week
• How To Use The 4 Ds Of Effective Time Management
• 5 Characteristics Of Successful, Productive Entrepreneurs
• 5 Simple Ways Elon Musk Accomplishes The Impossible

I published some duds.

And a few viral hits.

I liken this approach to writing from the top down.

Mapping content to cover is great for businesses in need of a strategy.

They can only afford to invest time and resources in content that helps them sell their product or service.

I still use this approach when consulting.

But for my work?

I write from the bottom up.

I don’t care about covering every topic related to productivity, creativity, writing, freelancing, copywriting, getting paid to write, chasing vanity metrics, fancy Notion templates, why I loathe 99% of AI writing apps…

I enjoy reading about all of these topics, but I don’t have a list of articles I need to publish this month.

I’m not publishing content to appease some pseudo-CMO of my writing business who will fire me if I don’t hit a traffic or revenue goal.

Instead, I capture notes from interesting articles, podcasts, videos, and books.

I take note of things I’m working on.

I write about problems in my writing business.

I snag ideas from other people’s creative businesses.

I review my notes once a week to see if I can spot any odd connections. I also look for emerging themes.

Then, I pick a theme and write about it for my newsletter. Or I can turn it into a LinkedIn post.

If that content resonates, I’ll turn it into long-form content like an article or a video.

This way, I can experiment with different topics without worrying about deep voice niche selection. I can get feedback from individual pieces of content. And I can reach different readers.

I prefer this approach because I can become a niche simply by what I write and publish.

Any creative can.

Classic writing advice says: “Think of a friend… and write to them.”

The thing is…

When talking to a friend, you don’t announce, “I want to tell you about all things time management, getting sh*t done at work or Notion.”

Instead, you chat with your friend about what’s on your mind and what’s interesting about it.

Good writing isn’t any different.

So why am I telling you this?

Writing from the bottom up is one of the principles I teach in my course, The Zettelkästen Method for Writers. It’s open today.

Write on,
Bryan Collins