It's okay to start a newsletter without a perfectly defined audience. Write about a range of your interests and pay close attention to which links get clicked and what topics resonate. Use this early feedback to meander your way toward a niche that both you and your audience enjoy.

Related Insights

Once you've established credibility in one area, you can leverage that personal brand to expand into other topics. Don't worry that diversifying your content will dilute your original brand; your audience follows your communication abilities, not just your initial expertise.

In an era of information saturation, general advice leads to inaction. By providing highly specific content for a narrow niche, you make your audience feel seen and understood. This drives them to act, allowing you to achieve greater impact with a smaller audience by focusing on depth over width.

Contrary to the 'niche down' mantra, discussing diverse personal interests (like sports or hobbies) creates more attachment points for your audience. This broad appeal can indirectly strengthen your core business by building a multi-faceted personal brand that people connect with on different levels.

Stop worrying that producing both high-level 'sizzle' content and deep, technical content will make you seem inconsistent. Your audience is not a monolith. This 'and' approach appeals to different segments and creates more connection points, rather than alienating anyone.

A consistent, high-quality newsletter in a specific niche acts as a living resume and portfolio. This strategy allows you to demonstrate expertise and attract inbound career opportunities from target companies. It's a proactive way to 'work backwards' from a desired role by proving your value publicly before you even apply.

Social media has shifted from 'social' to 'interest' media, where the algorithm targets users based on the content they consume. Making hyper-specific content for your target audience is the most effective form of targeting. Resist making broad content for vanity metrics, as it won't reach qualified buyers.

Instead of maintaining a constant high volume, use it strategically in bursts to quickly acquire data on audience preferences. This “accordion method” allows you to discover what resonates, then contract your efforts into fewer, more in-depth pieces. This balances rapid learning with high-quality production for greater impact.

Instead of guessing your content niche, find the overlap between topics your inner circle seeks your advice on and the content your ideal clients already consume. This data-driven approach combines perceived personal expertise with proven market demand, ensuring relevance and authority.

Instead of getting paralyzed by data, begin segmenting by simply listing anecdotal observations on paper. Note patterns from customer conversations, email replies, and surveys to generate initial hypotheses about your audience buckets. This practical first step makes segmentation far more approachable.

To overcome the fear of running out of things to write about, challenge yourself to list 30 potential article ideas before you start. If you can't, the topic may not have enough depth. This exercise validates your concept and provides an initial content backlog.

Find Your Niche by Launching Broadly and Following Engagement Signals | RiffOn