I hope the first part of my series was beneficial to the people who read it. I can’t emphasize enough how important, actual physical research is; even though we are living in the digital age: pick up a book, people! There is valuable information to be had and you might just stumble onto something that others might not be fully aware of.

Becoming an expert in your niche is not going to be an overnight thing, in fact; I believe becoming an expert is never fully achieved because you should always be on the quest for new knowledge, new ways of explaining your niche interest.

So, that brings us to step two.

2. Research other blog experts in your field and read their comments section.

Now this is when it’s okay to go virtual, I see nothing wrong with researching others who are on similar ground that you are because it gives you the insight of where you want –or don’t want—to go. Now, as I stated before; I believe that reading books is the biggest boost you can give yourself because not everyone has as much patience to sit and read when it’s much easier to scroll through a post but I digress.

Make a list of 10 influential bloggers in your niche (if there is no one out there in your niche that is popular, pick bloggers you learn from).  Start posting on their page –add them to your newsfeeder – if you have one. One of the biggest tools that helped me get started was searching on the popular personal blogs (Dooce, et. Al) that helped me get used to what blogging could possibly entail. Still, what helped me the most were the comments left by other readers like myself because that helped me to gain insight on the types of things people were interested in reading about in that particular niche. Trust me, there are gold mines in the comments sections in blogs but most fail to realize it –including the blogger themselves.

Yes, one of the biggest draws (one, that is unfortunately) over looked are your fellow blog commentators. Read their comments – yes, it can be boring, at times but research is the key – pick the ones that you find interesting, and write them down (if they have blogs, click on them).

It’s not about trying to trump your competition because you don’t have to be a blog steamroller in order to make yourself heard but you DO need to know what type of audience you are catering too. Why? So you know the best way to present your material. If you are dealing with scientists, they’ll probably be more fact based; a blog on the mothering style of kangaroos might want a friendly touch with personal anecdotes.

How do you figure out what works for you? Read those comment entries! Being an expert in your field not only entails knowing the topic inside and out but also knowing the BEST way to present (or MARKET) the material. If you can’t present it right, how are people going to be able to relate and come to you for the information?

I hope this blog has been informative. Let me know if you have any questions, I will gladly answer them! If you would like me to highlight your question in a blog post, let me know that as well.