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Before you can build an online business you first have to set it up!

In the setup process, you may look for software to grow your business, create a brand colour palette, and decide the main title of what you do as an entrepreneur (such as a blogger, podcaster, or YouTuber)

But there is one HUGE factor that can make or break your success.

The business niche you choose.

In your online business, a niche is the specific needs, preferences, or demographics that set your business apart from the broader market.

That was a bit too techy for me, so let's break it down into simpler terms.

A niche is the main topic of your content, the type of audience you are making content for, and the boundaries around the content of your business.

For example, here is my business's niche:

• My topic is "Online Business", specifically helping entrepreneurs achieve the laptop lifestyle and be able to not only support themselves financially but travel and live anywhere in the world.

• My ideal audience is women aged 18-30 who are looking to create, build, and grow their online businesses. Even better if they want to travel from the income they generate with their business.

• My business's boundaries are within creating, building, and growing a business online, living the laptop lifestyle, and travelling as a subcategory. I won't talk about things like fashion, personal finance, or interior design because they are out of my niche's boundaries.

Oh man, I can go on and on about my own business's niche and how it works, I really did enjoy making it so much.

But let's jump into how you can make a niche you absolutely love and that aligns with both you and your business.

How to Choose a Niche for Your Business

A niche is something that sets you apart from everyone else.

Sure, you and your brand can do that too, but since a niche is more about the content you make it can be a massive help to your audience figuring out who you are, what you're about, and how you can help them.

So let me ask you: how does the content of your business help your audience? What problem does it solve for them? What answer does it give?

When I asked myself this, I ended up with multiple answers that didn't make sense with each other.

Keep those in mind, because, for this next part, we're going to break this down even further and get to the parts that work best for you and your business's success.

Your Passions Should be a Priority

You should love your work, right?

If you're thinking of this as a long-term project (which I suggest you do), then you need to enjoy working on it every day.

I didn't consider this when I first tried my hand at building an online business.

After 6 months, I ended it because I didn't have any passion for what I did, instead, I based it off of a trend.

Now, I did learn a lot of skills that I have brought over into Umbrella Virtual Solutions so I don't regret it one bit.

And because of it, I was able to lay solid foundations for UVS using what I've learned: be passionate about your business.

You get to choose what your business is about.

You get to choose who your message is for.

You get to choose every little detail of your business, so choose things you LOVE!

Your passion will bring people to you.

That should also be seen in the niche you choose. It should be about something you like!

What can you see yourself not only doing, but feeling enthusiastic about for the rest of your life?

Are you passionate about drawing? Writing stories? Sports?

Whatever your greatest passions are and have been for years, that is what you should base your niche's topic and boundaries around.

Who is Your Target Audience

When you create content, who are you making it for?

The type of content doesn't matter, figuring out who you are speaking to does.

Narrowing down who you want your business to be can help focus your message and grow your audience with the people you want.

Because you know who you want to be attracted to your content, you can make it specifically for them.

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your target audience:

• How old are they?

• What are their interests?

• What do they struggle with?

• What is the solution to their struggles?

• What is their gender?

• Where do they see themself in 1 year? Where do they see themself in 10 years?

• Where are they on their journey in your niche?

• How much do they know about your niche?

I mentioned a bit about who my target audience is up above, but that doesn't mean my entire audience checks off all of the criteria.

Your audience isn't going to be the cookie-cutter target audience we're thinking about right now.

Knowing that, you should still make content for your target audience but welcome anyone who doesn't fit perfectly.

When creating all of your content, keep your target audience in mind.

You are making this for them.

This not only helps your message to be more concise, but it also helps all of your content have a similar feeling to them.

How to Use Trending Niches to Your Advantage

I've read a few times that you should choose a niche that's currently trending in order to be successful.

In my experience, it isn't so simple.

Yes, using trending niches can be a great asset to your business, but it can also destroy your business just as easily.

Instead of your main topic, I would suggest choosing your subtopics based on trending niches.

This is because you can more easily change subtopics in the future than main topics.

When researching trending niches, write down all the ones that connect with you or feel passionately about.

Next, go through the list you've made and cross out the ones that don't align with your current main topic.

You can decide from the niches that are left which you like the most.

From there choose one or two that work best for you.

As an example, let's take a closer look at my business:

I did this exact thing with the "travel" part of my niche!

It's a popular topic and I am currently living in a foreign country and have a dream of travelling the world, so this aligns with my brand.

I tied it all together with another trendy niche, the "laptop lifestyle", because it means you can build a successful and profitable business that you can take with you while you travel through your laptop.

My niche's main topic is "How to Create, Build, and Grow Your Online Business" or "Online Business" for short.

My niche's secondary topics are "Traveling/Living Abroad" and "Laptop Lifestyle".

I tie these topics together like this: "How to create, build, and grow your online business so you can travel the world and live the laptop lifestyle".

Is Your Niche Future-Proof?

If you've made it down here, then you have a fully fleshed-out niche for your online business!

One last thing, can your niche stand the test of time?

This is why I advise against the main topic of your niche being a trend.

Trends usually don't last as long, making them unreliable in the long run.

Instead, look at what has been popular for years and seems to still be going or better yet, look into what topics are meant to grow for the next 10 or 20 years.

Changing up some of the topics of your niche can also keep it fresh, just like in the paragraph above.

If the main topic of your niche doesn't seem like it will hold up or will fade away in a few years, choosing something else could work better.

That being said, if you are truly passionate about the main topic of your niche then changing it, even if it might not be as popular in the future, can be destructive instead of helpful.

Are you Ready to Choose a Niche You Love?

Thanks for reading this far!

I get what you're going through. Building an online business is a huge task that is going to take a lot of love and care.

But once you have it set up with a niche that aligns with you and what you love, everything seems a lot easier.

If you want to chat about anything I mentioned in this blog post, I'd love it if you DM me on Instagram!

See you soon!

Isabella