How to Find a Niche for Your Podcast
So you have your interests that you’re going to turn into a podcast. But now it’s time to narrow down even further into a specific niche. If you’ve never heard the term, a niche is really just a fancy word for your specialization. For example, you might be a writer, but your niche is in technical writing for California-based start ups. In most cases, the more specific the better. Why? Because the more specific your topic, the more specific you can get about your audience.
✴ Why can’t I keep it general?
You could keep your topic broad, but you risk getting lost in the sea of podcasts out there. Specificity breeds loyalty, and you want to find loyal listeners who turn specifically to you for content.
That might seem counterintuitive at first. You want to attract the largest audience, so your instinct might be to keep things broad and general in order to not rule anyone out. But people flock to specificity, even if it doesn’t seem like it applies directly to them. (Why do you think movies like Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians were blockbuster hits? They were specific, and that attracted the largest audience.)
If you’re talking in vague, broad terms, then you’re not using your uniqueness to draw people in. Broad content can come from anyone. You want to find a specific angle that makes you the go-to expert. There needs to be a reason for people to choose to listen to you over someone else.
✴ Is there too specific of a niche?
It’s really hard to get too niche. In most cases, specificity can be translated. What I mean by that is that when you talk about specifics, people generally take the lessons learned from that and transpose it into their own lives.
Let’s say you’re hosting a podcast about exercise. You don’t want it to be just about running--that’s too broad--but even if you were talking specifically about your weird workout routine in your bedroom, using household appliances, someone else could listen to that and be inspired to be more creative with their exercise routine, as well.
That said, you don’t want to narrow in on a topic so specific that you run out of ideas after 5 episodes. Remember the 50 episode brainstorm you did? Don’t forget about that once you narrow in on your niche. In fact, you should do it again, right now, and make sure that your niche still provides you with enough room to explore.
✴ Test your theories
Okay, so you’ve narrowed in on a specific niche, taking your interests and making them specific, and you’re pretty sure you have enough material to last you for the foreseeable future.
Now, it’s time to test out your ideas within your network. Pitch episodes to friends, co-workers, your accountability partners--whoever you have in your life, get their feedback on episode ideas. See what they respond to. Are they interested in all the bits you anticipated, or are they asking questions you never thought of before?
Take note of these feedback sessions, and then analyze the data. Maybe you were a bit off with what you thought the focus of your show would be. Instead of five-minute exercise routines, maybe people are more interested in creative routines--how do you workout in the office during lunch or at home before bed? Maybe they want to know more about the future of exercise rather than the history of it.
Whatever it is, listen. These are people who will hopefully one day soon be your actual listeners. Value their input and allow your idea the flexibility to be adaptable. You never know what you might find, and what niche you may land in.
What are you waiting for? Could it be a complete checklist of everything you need to launch a podcast in 30 days?! Lucky for you, we’ve got that very list available for you here.
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