When I began my Internet Marketing website a few months ago, my plan was to write about things that I considered important and valuable. I didn’t want to write about the things everyone else was writing about because, well, everyone else was writing about them.
Thus far, as a Marketing Strategy, this may not have been the smartest move. I would be a lot more popular and have a lot more Traffic if I wrote about things people want to read. And what people in any niche, field, or demographic want to read is an affirmation of what they already believe, and a regurgitation of what they believe they already know.
If your goal is to be popular, you may not wish to expose people to new ideas or deeper concepts they are unfamiliar with.
Unless, of course, you want to attract people who thrive on the New, the Unconventional, and a level of Practicality that most people find unnerving. Maybe these are the very circles you want to be famous in.
In whatever niche you want to be well known, you must decide exactly what demographic you want to attract, then devise specific strategies for attracting them.
Who Does Your Blog Attract?
My niche is Marketing, and I am trying to attract people with very solid business backgrounds, having quickly discovered that smaller business people have no great interest in what I have to say.
The other day I was in my Twitter account and was looking at my new Followers. I always check each person who Follows me so I can determine if I will Follow Back. Most of them, I don’t. I don’t Follow those with no website, or those with a high-pressure mini-site, and I don’t Follow fashionistas who babble endlessly about their Prada shoe collection and who was just voted off Dancing with the Stars.
But one new Twitter Follower stood out, and was a vindication for me that my dedication to excellence is being rewarded. You see, my new Follower is a high-profile Marketing executive that is a regular Authority Contributor to the major TV, Newspaper, and Magazine outlets. Him, I did Follow Back.
This person is exactly the type I am attempting to attract.
Be Outrageously Outrageous
Your goal may be to be wildly popular in your niche. Or maybe your goal is to simply be wildly popular. If that’s the case, you may want to chose a wildly popular niche to begin with. Of course, you will have a LOT of competition.
To rise above the herd in a wildly popular niche, you may need to be wildly outrageous.
Many of you have heard of Perez Hilton. I’m assuming that’s not his real name 
Perez Hilton is nothing more than a blogger, just like you. But he has become famous in Hollywood, and the world, by writing outrageous things in his blog about the outrageous happenings in Hollywood.
By writing about Hollywood and Music industry celebrities in his outrageous fashion, Perez Hilton has become a celebrity himself. He is almost as famous as the famous people he writes about.
Be a Big Authority in a Little Niche
At the total opposite end of the spectrum is Patricia Perth, a fairly new blogger who writes about one type of flower. One would think that would be a pretty small niche. But Patricia’s LavenderUses.com is establishing itself as an Authority in all things Lavender, and has an active community of commenters at her blog. She is on her way to becoming famous in a niche that she loves.
How important is it to establish Authority? Well, for one thing—before your very eyes—Patricia just got a very valuable Content Backlink from a PR 6 website without even trying 
That’s what happens when your writing, your layout, your knowledge, and your ‘user experience’ all come together in a such a way as to attract people who can help you. They do help you. And oftentimes they help you without you knowing anything about it. (Psssst, don’t tell Patricia…)
Take Guest Blogging to a Higher Level
If you write for your blog, then you are a writer. By now you have learned that a great way to gain exposure and Backlinks is to take your writing skills on the road, as it were, and write for other blogs.
Why stop there? Why not find Magazines in your niche and submit articles to them as well? Getting published in print could bring you an exponential increase in exposure and Traffic. You can begin by doing a Search for [Your Niche Here] Magazine.
Make your way around their website until you find out their requirements for submitting articles. Be sure to adhere to their guidelines perfectly. If they will only consider your article if you submit a Summary, or Concept Idea, before they will actually want to see your finished article, then that’s the way you must do it. The process takes longer than it would for doing a guest post, but the rewards are much greater. Not only could you end up seeing your byline in print, but most likely their website as well, for an outstanding Backlink.
Meet the Press (Release)
If your blog is different enough, or has enough Authority, maybe it’s outstanding enough to be newsworthy.
Write a Press Release. Do a Search for Press Release and you will see the top PR firms. In many cases, they will publish your Release to a wide audience at no, or very little, cost to you. Read over the releases they have published and get a feel for how it’s done. There are many articles online, as well, that will teach you the guidelines for what to do. It’s important to remember that you must be interesting enough to be considered “News.”
Maybe you and your niche aren’t really going to excite the ABC Network News, but you may be interesting enough for a smaller venue. Send your Press Release to your local News Stations and Newspapers. Plus, you already have a list of Magazines for your niche, so even if you don’t write an article for them, send them a Press Release.
Be Famous for Being Famous
Fame, as a rule, doesn’t just happen. Becoming famous usually requires strategy, operational planning, hard work, and guts. Take the time to promote your blog on a higher level than your competitors. Have the courage to step outside the box and promote yourself in ways the others would never have the courage to do.
Yes, you may fail. The truth is, you will fail more often than you will succeed. But if put enough care into it, your few successes will far overshadow your many failed attempts.
If you do things right, there will come a time when you will be famous because, having begun with nothing, you became famous!
Image: Cameron Crowe’s, Almost Famous
Twitter: houseofheps
says:
I thoroughly enjoyed your article! Most people won’t admit that their main goal is to be famous. That would be too bold, so they say they are just blogging because they love it, and the fame is just a bonus.
But just getting myself published in a craft magazine or being interviewed on The Nate Berkus show would be worth more to me than a huge paycheck.
Not me, man! I tell everyone I know that I LOVE the fame I get from blogging. I love the fan mail. I love that there are people out there who want to meet me and take a picture with me. LOL. That just cracks me up that someone would actually want their picture with me.
I love blogging. I love my blog. This is my passion. But another passion I’ve always had is to be liked by everyone and be famous and popular. If I sound arrogant admitting it, then so be it. In addition to just being famous, my goal is to have this little ol’ blog of mine end up being a full time career that makes lots of money.
Anyway, thanks for the tips. I’m going to see what I can do to implement them!
~Allison @ House of Hepworths
Hi Allison,
May I have your autograph???
Maybe you should try to get yourself on the Home Shopping Network, or one of the others.
Get your ducks in a row and start contacting. People don’t realize that many times places that seem very difficult to get into are actually constantly looking for fresh content.
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Twitter: lavenderuses
says:
Hi Rick
I came to check out the latest guest post and was surprised to see I got a mention. Thank you. Hoping to become the authority in my chosen niche and commentluv community has been very supportive.
Neat idea to write for magazines. I hadn’t thought of trying that avenue. Will look into that one further as I really enjoy writing.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia´s recent blog post ..Lavender Recipes-Flower Power in the Kitchen
Hi Patricia,
I didn’t think you would stumble upon that so quickly
One reason you got the mention is because you are always around. One of the secrets of Opportunity is to be there when it happens. By constantly exposing yourself [blush] you may be ignored for a while, but sooner or later you just “happen” to be in the right place at the right time.
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Twitter: MrsMoodyGermany
says:
Hey Rick,
I guess i have already applied most of your tips above LOL..
Except the press release stuff, this i have not done it yet.
Will look into it by doing some researches.
Thanks for those awesome ideas!
Kimi´s recent blog post ..WordPress Related Posts Without Plugin
Hi Kimi,
I visited your site. You have nice traffic for being less than a year old. You must be doing something right!
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Twitter: MrsMoodyGermany
says:
Hey Rick,
Thank you for the visit.
Yes, i guess i get decent traffic, but if i don’t build links in a few weeks (I have tested it) the traffic dropped.
Sigh..even blogging needs some routinity LOL
Thanks for coming by earlier
Kimi´s recent blog post ..WordPress Related Posts Without Plugin
Twitter: grantlylynch
says:
Very good point about who you choose to follow and who you choose not to follow. It takes a bit of time to do, but well worth it. I cant understand the twitter pages that auto follow- Grant
Corporate Photographer´s recent blog post ..City Photographer The London Stock Exchange
Hi Grantly,
The better followers take a peak at who you follow. I do. If you follow anybody just to get the follow-back “numbers” so you can brag on your website, you may repel those whom you could truly benefit from connecting with.
As a strategy, one could intentionally follow specific people for no other reason than it looks good on your social networking ‘resume.’ lol, how Machiavellian.
As far as marketing, you may have thousands of followers, but how many actually care about what you do, or would buy from you? Most wouldn’t even be your demographic.
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Twitter: wwginger
says:
Some really good ideas here, thanks for being a guest poster… I guess you can check that one off your “to-do” list huh? lol
As an alternative for some to consider, there is something to be said for not being “famous”. As a one person operation, being a service provider – being your client’s “secret weapon” can also be lucrative. Operating on the DL with limited availability can add to your bottom line. Word of mouth referrals to a lucky few is one way to build a service business (not that I’d recommend it as your sole marketing effort, but sometimes it just works out that way).
Like you said, it depends on what your goals are. “Being famous” is not something that would ever have occurred to me as a goal outside of show business – guess my head was in the sand, thanks for the wake up call
GingerWench´s recent blog post ..New Customized Backgrounds for the New Twitter
Hi Ginger,
Note to Self: Add to my “to-do” list – write article, “How to be the Power Behind the Thrown.”
You make some good points. Maybe your business is to make other people famous. Or simply make them look good enough to be
There is a lot to be said in favour of being a king maker, as it were.
From another perspective, Word of Mouth is a form of fame. It may not be as broad, but even if kept closely guarded, word gets around to those, as you say, ‘lucky few.’
Thanks for your input.
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Awesome advices! I especially liked the one saying: Be a Big Authority in a Small Niche! One should really be interested in a certain topic and read a lot (I mean, really lot) before starting to write about anything. As a personal motivator, this one really got me – thumbs up!
Get Happy Life´s recent blog post ..5 Reasons to Stay With Your Parents
Your nick makes me want to dance like a penguin
Motivation is the lifeblood of creativity!
I appreciate the positive reinforcement. Like many people, I work well under praise.
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Thanks Rick for the nice words!
I really write because I feel happy finally and I believe that I could help others be happy and have different lifestyle than the mindless 9-5 work backed up with consumerism habits. I enjoy mentoring and motivating others, telling what does make me happy and how I got that way, or simply discuss, health, money and social relationships.
Happy life for everyone, we all got only one.
Get Happy Life´s recent blog post ..Simple Way to Promote Your Blog
Twitter: janesaracino
says:
Thanks so much for the tips. Your way of writing is so easy and fun to read! I find a lot of blogs and info sites interesting but boring to get through. The whole famous, rock star thing works! I am just starting a blog, so thanks again.
Jane
Hi Jane,
Making your writing look easy takes work, and as a blogger, one of the most important skills to practice.
I took a look at your website. You have many opportunities for interesting and creative product descriptions. You could easily build a really fun ‘personality’ to your site that makes it much more than a simple store, livening up each page even more than the great pictures alone.
Good luck!
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent undefined post ..Response cached until Fri 22 @ 19:09 GMT (Refreshes in 45 Minutes)
Twitter: kendallmatthews
says:
Excellent information. What I like about the whole piece is your point about being famous.
I have come to the realization that it doesn’t matter how hard you work your websites, marketing pieces, or telephone scripts.
What matters is how hard you work your Relationships.
Become Famous in the eyes of 12 Influential People… they will lead you to the next 1,200+
Kendall Matthews´s recent blog post ..How Can A Lexus Cost More Than a House
Hi Kendall,
You know the familiar old saying that’s an old saying for a reason, “It’s now what you know, but who you know.”
Even so, having friends is good, but having friends and being good is better. I find that the relationships I cultivate inspire me to be better and work harder.
And of course, we have all seen really good people that went nowhere because they didn’t bother with those important relationships.
I try to work the room and work the keyboard with equal determination
Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come around to my website and say, “Hello.”
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Twitter: samui_art
says:
Hi Rick,
Thank you for great tips to make a famous blog including tips for choosing whom to follow on Twitter, will apply all tips for my blog. By the way, I am following you on Twitter. I am not a high-profile marketing but I see you as a high-profile marketing whom I should follow.
Rose´s recent blog post ..What Oil Painting Material & Equipment Are Needed for Oil Painting
Hi Rose,
Thank you for your kind words. I followed you back. You fit my criteria perfectly
You have a great website and you are very serious about what you do.
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..3 Ways to Effectively Diversify Your Internet Business within Your Niche Market
Guest bloggers are something I’ve struggled with. It’s been hard to find quality people to contribute to Tampa Real Estate issues on a consistant basis. I will make more of an effort to get people motivated!
Rae Catanese´s recent blog post ..Downtown Tampa News- Proposed Hi-Rise Condo Developments
Twitter: websiteweekend
says:
You are quite correct about what people want to read, and mostly, it’s what they are already familiar with.
For me, it’s boring to keep writing about what everyone else is writing about.
Since I persist in writing out at the leading edge, I’m finding I have to persist in that. It’s not enough to write about something once, especially if it’s new. It has to be written about over and over again! Persistently.
doolin´s recent blog post ..The Horrible Terrible Sales Page Blog Post Engineering v 074 “William”
Hi Doolin
Frankie Valli has been singing, “Sherry” at every concert since 1962. It butters the bread
But take solace in the fact that the Leading Edge will be Golden Oldie one day, and you will be forced to move on!
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..The Only Business Model that Works
Being outrageous like Paris Hilton sounds like a valuable idea. But you have to love blogging to do it every day as well. These two thoughts collide in my mind.
Also, If I tried to emulate Paris I would have to kill myself. This would probably lead to a short term spike in views but not much after that.
David´s recent blog post ..Guide To The Mirror Halls Of Lumul-Nar- The Hall Of Mirrors- Lord Of The Rings Online
Hi David,
Don’t kill yourself. Get yourself kidnapped, then PRETEND to be killed, only to “escape” in time to show up for the media frenzy at your funeral.
You have much to learn, grasshopper…
Rick
Hi Rick,
I hear what you are saying loud and clear. I chose to do some different things, but still falling back on what I know puts me smack dab in the middle of tons of people doing what I do. So I do videos off the cuff and try a little bit of a twist on the same old same old.
I’d love to be famous, but more importantly, I’d love to get traffic to get in front of people about my true passion, so by branding myself…who knows!
Thanks for post – I enjoyed it tremendously.
With a smile,
Gail
Hi Gail,
The whole idea about being famous is for the purpose of getting the eyeballs of qualified buyers, so you are correct about the correlation there. There is always the danger of attracting lots of looky-loos who just came for the show.
You must tailor your methodology to your ultimate goal. Being outrageous wouldn’t work for a mortgage lender, but being at the forefront and sponsor of local community events would.
As the Smile Ambassador, you may want to see about getting a very distinctive smiley face logo, or hold a contest for people to send in their biggest, funniest, cutest smiles. Or smiley faced pets.
It may be a little bit off your business path, but it adds human interest and could possibly open some interesting doors. You can think outside the box just a little, and still keep your dignity
Rick
Twitter: BackyardMystic
says:
Well, I really appreciate your candor in this article. I am 3 months into starting my niche at http://www.backyardmystic.com/ I am not looking at being seen as an authority or becoming famous. My intent is to appeal to a niche audience (while blogging and writing a book) and expand from a non established writer to an established writer with presence. Then at some point this year approach publishers and agents.
Finding legit blogs,sites and magazines in my niche that pay for quality content in a practical spirituality or boomer generation site is daunting. Suggestions would be welcomed.
backyardmystic´s recent blog post ..Send Your Message in a Bottle
You may not want to be famous, but fame is a great bargaining tool because you bargain from a position of strength.
Any new author will tell you that they had to do all (or most) their own promotion, so you may as well resign yourself to your fate and start the process early.
I’m guessing you won’t be getting paid much from writing until your fame is such that you are refusing offers.
The shameless art of self-promotion is no less an art than writing well. Embrace it
Rick
Twitter: CoachNotesBlog
says:
Hi Rick – Beautifully written! Several things resonated with me in your article and I plan to add all your points to my marketing to do list.
Thank you for the question, “Who does your blog attract?” because it makes me recognize that I am receiving traffic from a market quite different than what I was expecting. My blog is aimed at local business owners who have a web presence and the tutorials answer the same questions they pose to me day after day. The really interesting thing I’ve noticed over the past several months is that I seem to be getting “known” for the technical-type tutorials much more than what I was initially aiming for .. kinda like the chocolate and the peanut butter accident that supposedly created those yummy peanut butter cups!
Can’t say I’ve got any Rock Star status, but I’m enjoying becoming known for something I really enjoy! (Stumbled! Tweeted!)
Vernessa Taylor´s recent blog post ..Video Broadcasting Equalizer: WebcamMax With UStream.tv and Skype
Hey Coach!
When I first began my marketing site, I had a basic idea in mind but was willing to go where the flow took me. As any character actor will tell you, “You go where the work is.”
I think many blogs split into two audiences. Those who come to you from word-of-mouth, or exposure–like this guest post. And then those who stumble upon you from search engines due to SEO.
Search people tend to be looking for concrete solutions to immediate problems, and have no idea if you are famous or not.
But fame gets you more links, which lifts your page rank in google, which brings you more solution searching traffic.
Thanks for the RT, btw
Rick
Great points you make Rick. I think one of the most important factors is having the courage to promote your blog above and beyond what your competitors are doing. And also acknowledging that there will be failures, but if you wanna succeed, you have to brush it off and keep going.
satrap´s recent blog post ..8 Revenue Sharing Social Networks
Hi Satrap,
Courage to promote yourself is the key, and most won’t do it. It’s beneath them, or they don’t know how, or whatever reason, but the “unsung hero” is legendary.
It doesn’t matter how good you are if nobody knows *who* you are.
The willingness to fail, and fail repeatedly, and fail very badly, is another key element that separates the big names from the little people. As the saying goes, “No guts, no glory.” Or as Napoleon stated, “Fortune favours the bold.”
Thanks for stopping by.
Rick
Twitter: grantlylynch
says:
The point about being a ‘Big Authority in a Little Niche’ is a very good tip. You cannot be all things to all people. Know your field and stick to it. Dont be tempted to start dabbling in other areas because you feel it is the trend or that it is what people want to be reading. Stand your ground and create articles of real interest to your niche followers. Grant
Corporate Photographer´s recent blog post ..Corporate Event Photographer
Hi Grant,
What you said
btw, I’ve been to your site, you really do keep a sharp focus!
Sorry, couldn’t resist…
Rick
Rick LaPoint´s recent blog post ..The Only Business Model that Works
Twitter: vingill2
says:
Hi Rick! – good post
In my experience – a prepaired person is more likely to spot an opportunity and get lucky in their endeavours to be famous – the key is having crucial information that a lot of people need – just like the weather forcast…
vincent´s recent blog post ..Healing With Laughter updated Sun Oct 31 2010 12-23 pm CDT
Hi Vincent,
You know the old saying, “It’s better to be Lucky than to be Good.”
The other one is, “The more prepared you are, the more Lucky you are.”
Thanks for stopping by.
Rick
Hi Rick: I appreciate your interesting article.
annamarie´s recent blog post ..The Most Important Exercise! Read It!
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hey Rick, great article. The part about hand picking Twitter followers grabbed my attention. So many people have automated their Twitter following it’s nice to see that someone else does it the hard way like me.
To follow up with your example, once I find that new follower that fits all of my criteria, I check their stream to see if they are chatting with others that I might find interesting and then I look to see who is following them (only if they have a reasonably low number of followers) because my theory is that they will find my Tweets interesting too and follow back.
Others might feel like this is a waste of time but since I actually enjoy Tweeting and interacting on Twitter, I feel that spending time to go through these steps gives me more control over my social network and eliminates most of the “noise”.
Ok you can call me a Twitter addict if you want.
Thanks for the post Rick and I’m really glad we’re building a stronger connection now thanks to Patricia @lavenderuses and @commentluv
Ileane´s recent blog post ..Help Readers Find Your Guest Posts
Hi Ileane,
The world continues getting smaller, I see
I get some interesting Followers on Twitter. One of them is a dog, talking about all kinds of dog things, like chasing poodles and chewing slippers. I never followed him back, but I did ask Mom if I could keep him.
Once I set up my Twitter Paper, as so many other have, I now choose who I Follow even more carefully, trying to keep the list to only those who would make interesting reading if they are posted in the paper.
Thanks for stopping by, unm, pretty much everywhere
Rick
Great stuff! Will surely share this with our readers. Thanks and more power!
Hi Rick!
Is this post considered to be only for blog owners??Or for me as well??
I am learning internet marketing and use to read posts for learning more by professionals like you and searching for some backlinks as well.
Finding Blogs that entertain and approve comment is not much difficult but…
exponentially increasing rate of spamming has made it difficult for people like me working hard marketing efforts and utilizing proper ways of getting backlinks.Now blogger gets suspicious with the keywords in post and the comment is deleted assuming it to be spam.
I request please don’t spam.At least add some useful information that makes blogger happy.And i also request through your channel to all blog owners not to treat spammer and reader in the same way..
thanks.
Twitter: BackyardMystic
says:
I took pretty much everything you said above to heart four months into my blog http://www.backyardmystic.com and my audience has certainly grown. I do think you hit the nail on the head with finding your niche. Do not copy style, content or cut and paste content, having original, fluent and timely easy to read articles is key.
Thanks again!