This is not what I usually write about and as you will notice through out this post, I am struggling to put words and sentences together. While writing this post, I went back many times to start over, at times I stared at the blank page for a while, not knowing what to do. But, this “thing” in me was so strong that it kept pushing me through.
We have all heard and know how passion is an important part of being successful in whatever you do, and as bloggers, we have been told over and over that you should blog about something that you have passion for. Passion drives success, passion… blah blah blah.
How about a blog about Lavender?
Now, if I had told you, Lavender, a single flower, would be a great niche to base your blog on, wouldn’t you laugh at me? Lavender, as a niche? A whole blog about a single flower? How the heck are you going to maintain a blog writing about a single flower and how the heck are you going to get traffic for it!?…
After all there aren’t much you can write about lavender. Maybe a few posts on how to decorate a room using it, or how to make a candle using lavender scent or what have you. But, even if you manage to come up with post topics day after day, who is going to read it? People aren’t gonna come to your blog and read what you can or can not do with a single flower. You can not make a successful blog and build an audience based on a single flower. Right?…
Right! I mean, I always believed in having passion for what you do, but even I wouldn’t think that would be a good niche to blog about, no matter how passionate you are about lavender, or so I thought!
That was until tonight! Tonight, I saw it with my own eyes how passion can drive success and how passion can take something utterly small and unknown and turn it into success, something wonderful! I experienced how passion can turn a virtually non existent niche into a popular and enjoyable little blog.
Passion is much more powerful than you think!
I am sure most of you know her, Patricia! She is all over the place, she comments on ComLUV often, in fact she has left comments on almost every single post published here and whenever I go to comment on other blogs, her face and her engaging comments pop up. I, like most anyone else here, had seen Patricia all over as well and had noticed her blog title “all things lavender” in front of her name, but had never visited her blog. To be honest, I always thought why would she start a whole blog on lavender? Is she nuts or what?…
Fast forward to tonight (at the time I wrote this post- nov/20); I was reading a post on ComLuv and came across Patrica’s comment (surprise!). Something enticed me to click on her link and visit her blog for the first time. I did and I was blown away. I was utterly amazed at the number of comments she had received on each and every post on her blog.
It was amazing. And you know how sometimes you visit an unknown blog and there are like hunderds of comments on each post, but most of them are from people promoting their own blog and their comments have nothing to do with the post? But, these comments weren’t those kinds of comments. These comments were all long and genuine. They were from bloggers from many different niches.
I was amazed how this lady had attracted this much attention blogging about a frigging lavender. Then I started reading her posts, and it became clear to me; although her niche was small, very very small and almost none of us would even think about going into it, and almost all blogging gurus would certainly advise against it, she had taken this small niche and turned it upside down into something unbelievable. A blog where even people who don’t even know how lavender smells and looks, visit and read and leave comments. And I think, no scratch that, I BELIEVE, it is because Patricia has something very special. Something so special that despite being in an extremely small niche (almost non existent) has made her blog a success. And I think, we could all learn something from Patricia and her special thing to not only better our blogs, but also to better our lives.
That something special that Patrica has, is PASSION! Well done Patricia and thank you for showing us the real power of passion.
Twitter: barbaraling
says:
Hey! I just added Patricia’s site into my writing too (I’m writing Big Huge Holiday Profits, and made sure to include her niche and Allan’s furniture niche and John’s extreme tanning niche and ….)
I *totally* agree with you about her site – it’s wonderful! She deserves the best of big huge bunches of success.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s recent blog post ..Preparing Big Huge Holiday Profits – Day 1 of Day 25
Hi Barbara, She truly does deserve success and I think she is already there. There is something about her blog and the way she interact with other people that makes you want to read what she has to say and genuinely wish for her success.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
I think the next step for bloggers looking to make a name for themselves is to start out in a niche that isn’t being widely covered, as you say, in order to grow a readership. Then you can direct that community to your second project which might be the topic you originally wanted t o blog about. As Blogussion has always said, patience is everything.
topstocktips´s recent blog post ..Best free commodity tips on mobile by sms
Twitter: healthvotes
says:
yes, i have seen that name on every blog post i have read in the last month or so, and like you, i too have not visited her blog until a few days back. Firstly lavender is off topic for me, secondly i don’t even have a lavender here in my garden. Actually the last comment i made on her blog, i mentioned that we don’t find lavender usually in my place.
I was avoiding/ignoring her for the past month/weeks
but i knew i had to check her blog eventually as it was starring at my face where ever i went in the blogosphere. finally a few days back when she made a comment on one of the guest post that i wrote, i could not avoid it anymore and finally checked it out.
I was totally blown by the amount and quality of comments she was getting, and that is in every post she was making, a total WOW. And the posts are great as well, it inspired me so much that i went into looking for a lavender plant for my own garden, though so far unsuccessful, but i will still try harder and get a lavender plant surely.
thanks Satrap, that was an excellent case study, and Patrica, keep the lavender going!
cheers,
Uttoran Sen,
uttoransen´s recent blog post ..How To Lose Weight Using Diet and Exercise
That is exactly what I am talking about, the fact that reading her blog made you get up and go look for lavender plant. I mean what else could do that beside someones passion coming through and touching your your heart?
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
Twitter: zoopdotco
says:
I strongly believe that passion drives success. When someone is passionate about what they write about then they have already achieved succeess. I also agree with you, lavendaer is not something that most people would blog about, nor do they think it would be a great way to make money – which is EXACTLY why it truly is a great idea and concept. Everyone writes about making money, seo optimization, gain traffic, etc etc which makes finding someones blog impossible to find since there are so many. If someone write about something unique with not much competition, then they can easily climb to the top and achieve success
That’s true, though I think not anyone who blogs about a not very popular topic is going to succeed, usually in this kinds of cases, its the passion that drives the bloggers to blog about the subject which ultimately leads to its success. Thanks for commenting.
satrap´s recent blog post ..53 Ways to Make Money Online
Twitter: lavenderuses
says:
Hi Satrap
Thankyou so much for your kind words about my blog. When I saw the photo of the lavender fields I thought maybe someone else was blogging about the lovely lavender too.
Being a small niche blog can have its advantages in that there isn’t too much competition. But then there also isn’t the vast amounts of traffic either.
However, being part of an amazing blogging community like this one has introduced me to so many other bloggers. Just cos someone is an SEO expert, keyword guy or whatever, doesn’t mean they don’t love gardening, natural health or cooking. And I cover all those on my blog
The encouraging thing for me is the interaction on each post. Even now some of my regular readers will comment on each other’s comments if they have an answer. It doesn’t have to just be me answering their questions.
Thanks again for your generosity in sharing about my blog. Much appreciated and I hope you have lots of success with your chosen niche too.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia´s recent blog post ..So Little Time- So Much To Do
You are welcome Patricia. You really did change the way I see blogs and blogging. I now see things a bit differently specially when ti comes to niche blogging.
Yes, it is wonderful when visitors reply to each others comment, that’s when you knwo your post has spark something.
satrap´s recent blog post ..53 Ways to Make Money Online
Great post, and you’re absolutely right. I often caution people against being in such a finite niche because they quickly run out of things to say, but Pat’s been doing it the right way, and that includes working the blogging community. I’m glad to have met her, and I like this nice tribute to her as well.
Mitch´s recent blog post ..Don’t “Stink” Not Quite A Rebuttal
Thanks for taking time leave your comment Mitch. Yes, she is doing it right and we could all learn from her excellent interaction (with other bloggers) skills.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
Hey satrap,
They say that when you don’t know what to write, then write what everyone wants to read.
Sometimes writers block forces you to knock one out of the park
You probably did that here!
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..Create and Market Your Own Product
Hey Rick,
I don’t knwo if I should take that as a compliment or what, lol!
Anyway, I actually had a few other posts ready, but that night when I visited Patricia’s blog, it really left an impression on me and I just wanted to write about it because I knwo we always hear about passion in blogging from big bloggers who are making six figure income with their blogs, so its not easy to relate. But seeing it form a blogger in our level, makes it all the more appealing.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
That didn’t sound like a compliment?
Wow, I really suck as a writer :-O
I was really tired when I wrote that late last night, and was just about to retire into a nice long lavender bubble bath…
Oooops! Waaaaay too much info there…
It was a nice article. THAT was a compliment, for sure
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..The Only Business Model that Works
You are a wonderful writer Rick. I was just joking, lol. Thank you for your kind words.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
Twitter: grantlylynch
says:
I left a comment on Patricia’s blog yesterday and she knows her niche-I had worked for a lavender farm and passed on the website- she also left a well thought out comment on my site. Grant
Corporate Photographer´s recent blog post ..Commercial photography Hampshire
Thanks for mentioning that: that sounds like having good content and being properly sociable with one’s audience. The latter is something I could work on; I’ve been deluged with spammers and trolls, and it is hard for me to be as welcoming as I should to new visitors.
ashok´s recent blog post ..Emily Dickinson- “A Thought went up my mind today” 701
Twitter: wordpresswb
says:
I have over twenty websites and I am only passionate about three, maybe four. The others are not going anywhere because I love the main ones too much.
I can see Patricia has a passion for Lavender and it will be obvious to anyone when they visit. Stick with your passion as it will take you somewhere.
Mitz Pantic´s recent blog post ..How Did I Increase Adsense Earnings By 500
Hi Mitz,
Thanks for stopping by. Wow, over 20 websites, its got to be hard to manage all of those sites. I can see how even if you loved all of those subjects, it would be hard for you to attend to all of them. Best of luck to you.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
I’m curious to hear how passion makes itself manifest in blogging generally. Is it something that emerges through writing, can it be said to characterize certain relationships with an audience, or do you mean it is what marks a blogger for picking a niche and just sticking with it?
I imagine someone looking over my blog would consider me scatter-brained, and not terribly focused. But does that indicate a lack of passion?
Patricia’s blog seems very focused: her categories are very direct and certainly relevant to her overall topic. Her posts seem to build one from the other; it isn’t hard for her to refer to older entries that have bearing on what she’s saying now.
ashok´s recent blog post ..William Carlos Williams- “The Red Wheelbarrow”
Twitter: lavenderuses
says:
Hi Ashok
I believe passion shows through in the way we write. I just happen to write in a small niche and so keep my posts relevant to my chosen lavender niche. Although on saying that; I am about to divert just a little with my next post that I will publish this week.
As I have built up a regular readership (new readers & visitors always welcome) I want to put some quesitons to them about issues in blogging that I have been pondering. Will still have topics directly related to my niche; but also want to add to it. Will be interesting to see the response.
Your passion will come through if you are truly passionate about your niche. Just being yourself is what I suggest. All the best to your success.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia´s recent blog post ..So Little Time- So Much To Do
I’m sure the response will go well (and fingers crossed it does). I’ll definitely peek in for the “issues in blogging” posts.
And thanks for your answer. I sometimes feel the discussion about what makes a successful blog can get a bit vague. I like having a concrete list of things to do.
ashok´s recent blog post ..Xenophon- “Spartan Constitution”
I don’t think just because you blog about a few subject instead of one, you are not passionate about them. I mean, we all have have different things in our lives that we like and have passion for.
I would agree with Patricia that its the way we write, its the way we interact with others who respond to these writings, its the way we work on making it a success and so on. And I also agree that it should come from within you, I don’t think any one can fake passion.
By the way Ashok, Great blog you have going. I can see your quite passionate about politics.
satrap´s recent blog post ..53 Ways to Make Money Online
Twitter: DeeBishop
says:
I think my problem is that I enjoy SO many things… my mind is caught by little flickers of light all over the Internet and it’s hard to focus on ONE niche. Life and words are so interesting – and the Internet is full of both! How do you choose one thing that will matter?
) I admire anyone who can do so and absolutely agree that passion is important. My problem is narrowing my passionS down to one passion.
Hi Darlene,
I am sure most of us do like so many different things. I myself can never get enough of history (be it religious, cultural or natural history) politics, astronomy and more. I don’t think you have to choose one over another. There are so many bloggers who write about anything under the sky. I guess it depends on your personality and how much time you have to try to focus on many different subjects or what have you.
Thank you or stopping by and commenting.
satrap´s recent blog post ..How to Make Money on YouTube- Step by Step Guide
Twitter: DeeBishop
says:
Thank you for the encouragement, Satrap! I guess I’m not as far off base as I had thought. ;o)
Twitter: spreadsheettuts
says:
Nice post, but has anyone done the keyword work on her niche? Lavender is quite a well known plant and has many uses, but many bloggers/tech people probably don’t know that. I at first would think she ranks on Google #1 for “lavender uses” but she is definitely on page one… maybe some nice bloggers she met could help her reach number one! But, while it may be a small niche, it isn’t non-existent.
I like lavender, all the best Patricia!
Twitter: lavenderuses
says:
Thanks Rick for your kind words about my blog. I have techie friends who do all that for me. Must have too much time on their hands lol They will come across to my blog and in the comments tell me where I am ranking with keywords, etc. At first I didn’t pay much attention but I now appreciate what they are on about.
I have the advantage of a very supportive blogging community who read my posts, comment and RT them for me. I in turn do lots of blog hopping and commenting on other blogs. A small niche blog may not have as much competition, but cos it is a small niche, have to keep it out there for people to know it is around.
I did extensive research before starting blogging seriously and made sure there was enough searches per month and traffic that would come if I wrote informative posts and did it regularly. There were some who doubted cos it is a small niche, but it is going okay so far and I’m enjoying the journey. It’s certainly got people talking and that’s always good
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia´s recent blog post ..So Little Time- So Much To Do