This post was guest blogged by Alan Johnson, who has just started to accept private ads over at The Rating Blog.
I’m sure you’ve heard your share of opinions from people who say that a competitive niche shouldn’t be approached, since your chances at being successful are slim to none. I’ll spare you the boring introduction and will get right to the point: if you are passionate about something and capable of providing value, go for it!
Just Work Your Magic
Whenever you hear someone saying that you should stay away from a certain niche, as it is way out of your league, you have to ask yourself: why such an attitude? In most cases, people end up believing something like that as a result of some sort of disappointment they have experienced at a certain point.
They may have tried their luck, only to fail miserably and, as such, have ended up believing that competitive niches are a no-go. Or, on the other hand, they may simply be afraid to approach such a niche and are using their attitude as an excuse. While taking what others have to say into consideration never hurts, the final decision is yours and only yours to make.
If you know that you have it in you, never let yourself get discouraged by what others have to say. If I were to have listened to people with such an attitude, then I would have never launched TheRatingBlog.com, thinking that the niche I plan on approaching is way too competitive and that I shouldn’t even try.
Guess What: I Didn’t Listen
I had confidence in the potential of my project and was not about to let myself get discouraged. Let’s just say that I am congratulating myself each day for my decision. I knew I was able to provide value, I knew that I was passionate about what I was about to do and, as such, giving up was not an option.
On the other hand, I knew that my niche is an extremely competitive one and, as such, I was well aware of the fact that I had to give it 110% if I was serious about making it in the long run. In other words, I knew that hard work was the only way to go.
Do It In Style And Stand Out
Just three months later, I have over 50k unique monthly visits, over 200k monthly impressions and over 1.5k RSS subscribers, and the most important phrase I would like to share with you has to be: “when doing something, do it in style and stand out”.
When it comes to being an online entrepreneur, simply doing exactly what everyone else is and doing it in the same way will not get you anywhere. As far as my blog is concerned, I always did everything in a way which made me stand out.
For example: initially, I didn’t just comment on a few blogs, I commented on over 40. Not only that, but I was the most active member of those communities as well and yes, as hard to believe as it may sound, I was the “top commentator” on over 40 blogs.
Had I just commented here and there, I would have simply gone by unnoticed, but, since I provided value to each and every one of those over 40 communities through both quantity and quality, I did it in style, and I did it in a way which made me stand out.
I then gradually moved on to being a guest blogger and, you’ve guessed it: I’m doing it in style and I’m doing it in a way which makes me stand out as well. Am I just being a guest blogger here and there? Sorry, not my style!
I am contributing with guest posts on over 10 great blogs, I’m doing it on a regular basis, and this is only the beginning. Obviously, there is a lot of work involved, but I am enjoying every minute of it, and results speak for themselves.
What Are Results Telling Us?
I always prefer to let results speak for themselves and, in as little as three months, I have managed to:
- cross the 50k unique monthly visits mark
- cross the 200k monthly impressions mark
- cross the 1.5k RSS subscriptions mark
- cross the 1.5k newsletter subscriptions mark
- cross the 1.5k comments mark with my blog
- cross the 300 comments mark for a single post (my contest)
All in all, I am the living proof that, no matter how competitive your niche may be, if you are passionate, do everything in a way which makes you stand out and add hard work to the equation, success is just around the corner.
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