“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”. — John Lydgate, Abraham Lincoln and, I’m sure at some point, your mom
Great minds have uttered the above words on endless occasions throughout the ages and it is good advice — especially when it comes to blogging. Trying to blog all things for all people is an exhausting endeavor. More often than not, when blogs bite off more than they can chew and start covering too many topics, the blog begins to sound scattered and the content suffers (look at the post-AOL version of Huffington Post for evidence of this). Therefore, we are always delighted to see niche blogs take flight and find big audiences despite not having a big parent company.
For niche blogging done right, look no further than the worlds of fashion, food and sports. These three topics, along with film, inspire big conversations and huge readerships. Chictopia.com is one such site. In 2008, three fashion lovers launched Chictopia.com and it has become a one-stop-resource for all kinds of great fashion blogs. In fact, Chictopia, with its 100,000-some members, has transcended blog territory by becoming a blogging community. Again, there isn’t a Conde Nast or New York Times running this operation, just some bloggers who wanted the right people to read their fashion blog. Chictopia isn’t terribly concerned with appealing to non-fashion types. And it shouldn’t be. Clearly the folks they want to read and participate in their online fashion tete a tete are responding — and so is the traditional media. The site has been featured in all the big magazines while establishing itself as a creative and independent voice in the crowded fashion world.
Chictopia is a fabulous example of how staying true to your audience while avoiding chronic people pleasing can truly pay off.
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