SEO Tip #3: Be the Niche. Do that Voodoo that you do.
How to do this. "Being the Niche" simply means finding and playing to my strengths. I can differentiate myself, my business or practice, and/or online presence by first identifying what it is that sets me apart from thousands or millions or billions of similar websites, practices, or businesses.
Let me offer a story about ants, because it's relevant, and I really dig ants, and I like stories.
Ants are ants. There are millions and billions of them, everywhere, it seems. Single ants. Army ants. Colonies of the things.
People suffer all sorts of things to see them, buy fancy cameras to take pictures of them, make movies about them, etc, etc. People also try like heck to kill them when they invade the home.
Ants get tons of free press. Fire Ants, Carpenter Ants, and Black Ants seem to be super popular. Leaf Cutter Ants, one of my personal favorites, are less popular, but still get a ton of great press.
The tie in: Ants are just ants. They only do ant stuff. They only know how to do ant stuff, and that is what makes people seek them out - for admiration or assassination, people look for ants because of the what they are, "who" they are, where they are, what they do, etc, etc.
Ants, as far as I know, don't even have a website of their own; yet, they are all over the internet.
Ants don't do study groups to figure out what markets, or picnic baskets, people want them in.
Ants do what they do, where they do it, because they are made to do it that way, and that makes them wonderful examples.
Stuff you can do today:
1) Have a brainstorming session.
2) Identify what your niche is. What comes naturally to you. This may be defined, in part, by answers to the following questions:
a) Who am I (what is my personal or business identity)?
b) What do I do?
c) Where am I located?
d) What do I do better than anyone else in a 30 mile radius?
e) Who/What am I passionate about?
f) What knowledge/expertise do I have that others, the general public, do not have?
g) What are my hobbies and interests?
h) In what ways do I improve/impact the people and environment around me?
i) When friends and loved ones come to me for help, what sorts of things do they come to me with? What do they want help with? (They come to you, because they believe you are a natural at whatever it is they ask you about. Hint. Hint. Wink. Wink.)
j) Who do I know and what do they know (and, just in case you can't sleep for a week, go back and answer all these questions for everyone you know)?
3) Pat yourself on the back and buy yourself a pizza. You have identified your own, individual niche.
4) Publish. Publish. Publish. Now that you have found your own space in the universe, it is time to let others know about it. Sure, you can easily hire someone to do this for you, but, in the end, nobody will do it with the same passion as you will. IMPORTANT NOTE: It is a trait of human character (ask your sociologist and psychologist friends) to tend to IGNORE one's strengths and the things that come naturally to us, and, instead, focus on things, tasks, and goals that are difficult for us. This is why I play rugby. We all love a challenge. This is a time to focus on the things that come naturally to you and tell the world about it.
a) Write an article about your personal or business identity. Try super hard NOT to throw in all the canned stuff that you see everywhere. Are you a dentist specializing in pediatric dentistry? Guess what, everybody loves kids and treats them extra super nice and is way cool and fun and has an office full of bright colors and toys and junk. Why do parents bring their children to you, specifically? Have you treated generations of families? Do you have cool, hang gliding pictures in your office?
b) What questions do your patients routinely ask you? Write articles about the questions and answers. Start a meaningful blog of forum that will give patients and care givers a place to interact and share knowledge and experience.
c) Write articles about what gets you fired up; what you are excited about.
d) Explain where you are, physically, why you are there, and your connection with the community. Professionals, this is a time to avoid just rattling off a list of your professional organizations and offices held and all that - such things quickly get filed in the IDKIDC department. Wait, you mean you have no idea what IDKIDC is? Exactly my point.
e) Write articles about your relationships and why they are important to you.
**** If you are really struggling with this, just take the pressure off, relax, goof around, have fun. Take turns going around with a cell phone video camera and narrating your own little national geographic style documentaries..in a hushed voice, with a slight British accent....."this is the Expanded Duties Dental Assistant in her natural habitat.. see how she... whatever". You will find that this simple and fun exercise will help to identify the things that make you human and set you apart, individually - just, if you are the boss, make sure you make it crystal clear that people should speak freely and not hold back. You might even come up with something really cool that you can post on your website.
5) Repeat step 4.
Good Luck.
Let me offer a story about ants, because it's relevant, and I really dig ants, and I like stories.
Ants are ants. There are millions and billions of them, everywhere, it seems. Single ants. Army ants. Colonies of the things.
People suffer all sorts of things to see them, buy fancy cameras to take pictures of them, make movies about them, etc, etc. People also try like heck to kill them when they invade the home.
Ants get tons of free press. Fire Ants, Carpenter Ants, and Black Ants seem to be super popular. Leaf Cutter Ants, one of my personal favorites, are less popular, but still get a ton of great press.
The tie in: Ants are just ants. They only do ant stuff. They only know how to do ant stuff, and that is what makes people seek them out - for admiration or assassination, people look for ants because of the what they are, "who" they are, where they are, what they do, etc, etc.
Ants, as far as I know, don't even have a website of their own; yet, they are all over the internet.
Ants don't do study groups to figure out what markets, or picnic baskets, people want them in.
Ants do what they do, where they do it, because they are made to do it that way, and that makes them wonderful examples.
Stuff you can do today:
1) Have a brainstorming session.
2) Identify what your niche is. What comes naturally to you. This may be defined, in part, by answers to the following questions:
a) Who am I (what is my personal or business identity)?
b) What do I do?
c) Where am I located?
d) What do I do better than anyone else in a 30 mile radius?
e) Who/What am I passionate about?
f) What knowledge/expertise do I have that others, the general public, do not have?
g) What are my hobbies and interests?
h) In what ways do I improve/impact the people and environment around me?
i) When friends and loved ones come to me for help, what sorts of things do they come to me with? What do they want help with? (They come to you, because they believe you are a natural at whatever it is they ask you about. Hint. Hint. Wink. Wink.)
j) Who do I know and what do they know (and, just in case you can't sleep for a week, go back and answer all these questions for everyone you know)?
3) Pat yourself on the back and buy yourself a pizza. You have identified your own, individual niche.
4) Publish. Publish. Publish. Now that you have found your own space in the universe, it is time to let others know about it. Sure, you can easily hire someone to do this for you, but, in the end, nobody will do it with the same passion as you will. IMPORTANT NOTE: It is a trait of human character (ask your sociologist and psychologist friends) to tend to IGNORE one's strengths and the things that come naturally to us, and, instead, focus on things, tasks, and goals that are difficult for us. This is why I play rugby. We all love a challenge. This is a time to focus on the things that come naturally to you and tell the world about it.
a) Write an article about your personal or business identity. Try super hard NOT to throw in all the canned stuff that you see everywhere. Are you a dentist specializing in pediatric dentistry? Guess what, everybody loves kids and treats them extra super nice and is way cool and fun and has an office full of bright colors and toys and junk. Why do parents bring their children to you, specifically? Have you treated generations of families? Do you have cool, hang gliding pictures in your office?
b) What questions do your patients routinely ask you? Write articles about the questions and answers. Start a meaningful blog of forum that will give patients and care givers a place to interact and share knowledge and experience.
c) Write articles about what gets you fired up; what you are excited about.
d) Explain where you are, physically, why you are there, and your connection with the community. Professionals, this is a time to avoid just rattling off a list of your professional organizations and offices held and all that - such things quickly get filed in the IDKIDC department. Wait, you mean you have no idea what IDKIDC is? Exactly my point.
e) Write articles about your relationships and why they are important to you.
**** If you are really struggling with this, just take the pressure off, relax, goof around, have fun. Take turns going around with a cell phone video camera and narrating your own little national geographic style documentaries..in a hushed voice, with a slight British accent....."this is the Expanded Duties Dental Assistant in her natural habitat.. see how she... whatever". You will find that this simple and fun exercise will help to identify the things that make you human and set you apart, individually - just, if you are the boss, make sure you make it crystal clear that people should speak freely and not hold back. You might even come up with something really cool that you can post on your website.
5) Repeat step 4.
Good Luck.
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