Scratch That Niche Itch
June 23, 2008
I remember, two years ago, while working through the Thirty Day Challenge, trying to get my head around how to brainstorm niches. My mind would immediately rate whatever I thought up as “a goer” or “not a goer” or “stupid”. I wasn’t very successful.
In the years in between I have developed an exercise to get my mind thinking in niche search terms.
Disclaimer: This is my personal way of working up niche ideas and may not work for you (if you think in different ways to me). Also, if you use any of the search terms I use here you will probably be fighting with a gazillion others who read the blog as well.
My Niche Brain Exercise Method
I set a day a “Niche Day” (as in Have A Niche Day!)
Tools: pen, paper
Time: 24 hours
From the minute I wake up I do a sense inventory. What do I see, hear, smell, touch + taste? I then continue that during the day.
To “see” niches you need to be hyper-aware of your surroundings. On Niche Day you are going to be a giant sponge absorbing everything that is around you, from the mundane to the out-of-the-ordinary. Let’s look at a few entries from my Niche Day yesterday
Hour 1
Mmmm warm doona
Shower - need hot water
Need breakfast, hungry
Get ready for Work
And so it goes on…very basic yeah?
Now break down the activities into items that you are using
doona, duvet, sheets, pillows, wardrobe, carpet, dressing gown, slippers, pyjamas, nightie, chest of drawers
hot water heater, towels, soap, shampoo, conditioner, exfoliate, shower head, tiles, steam, soap scum
breakfast foods, diet, carbohydrates, balanced diet, fruit, coffee, tea, milk
hairstyle, hair dryer, makeup, jewellry, corporate clothing, work shoes, dry cleaning, laptop bag, cell phone…..
And it goes on. A whole lot of things that your eyes normally travel over, but don’t really notice .
I went on to do the next part of the chunking down process and came up with some viable ideas, but at this stage I will not race ahead of the thirty day challenge teachings for 2008.
So get out there and start noticing things!
Road Maps
April 2, 2008
Although my wish is to leave corporate life, I have learned a great deal from the processes that I have encountered during my years in the cubicle. One of my favourite things to do is to convert my ideas into visual records of what needs to be done.
Mind maps are my road maps for action. Let’s look at what i have put down in writing for the next couple of weeks. 
Creating a visual reference is becoming more and more widely recognised as an integral tool in your business tool box. Ramping up to be a major best seller is Back of the Napkin Problem Solving
Back to mind mapping though. The above is a very very simple version. The large tasks have not been chunked down to the individual parts of the work that will need to be addressed. The chunking down part is VERY important. A great game to get into the habit of chunking is to work with a friend (though can be solo) and pick a random word and your partner tell you UP or DOWN and you think of the next word in the sequence of the bigger/smaller subset that your subject belongs to.
Chunking Exercise
Let’s start with the word Jupiter and chunk up
Jupiter -> Solar System -> Milky Way -> Universe
Chunk Down
Jupiter -> rings -> gas -> atoms
So working on an example from the above mind map let’s try chunking down Blogging
Niche Blog -> Topics -> Key Words -> …
Chunking Up
Niche Blog -> Communication Strategy -> Public Persona ->…
The point of chunking is that you do not lose sight of, or miss planning for the bigger picture or the minutiae. It would be a bugger if I posted 50 blog entries and did not include any of the key words or phrases I want to target. It would also be a shame if I went off the track altogether and tarnished my public persona by being someone I am not.
The goal is to remain as close as possible to the road map and measure progress and results as I go forward. So I better get cracking on getting the Vision and Mission statement up!
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