I’m sitting typing this by a windmill in Tuxford a small village just of the A1, the small cafe here serves some of the best scones and coffee for miles. I have just been to a town called Newark again just off the A1, it has two train stations, Newark Northgate which is on the outskirts of the town and is where the Intercity trains stop the other Newark Castle right in the town centre opposite the ruins of Newark Castle.

Why am I telling you all this?

When you look for a niche to start a site you sit down and struggle to come up with a subject most people start with big ideas and narrow down but you will find it easier to develop a site based on what you know. For example I have a very good practical knowledge of British railways not because I’m a closet train spotter but simply that I was and still am a heavy train user, I know for example which Inter city trains have wireless internet connections on them, though I can’t tell you if its working. This is pretty mundane boring stuff, but it might be useful to some one indeed a simple use of this knowledge would be to create a mini site dedicated to giving users information on which services have wireless internet and the associated costs.

Some more examples…
I drive a smart car, I know a fair bit about smart cars, I know for example that you need to keep the tire pressure correct and recommend doing so once a month this is particularly important as most smart cars do not carry a spare wheel, so if your tire bursts or something similar you will have to call a break down cover. A good use of this knowledge would be a site dedicated to smart car breakdowns the location of jack points as well as best places to buy breakdown kits (most smart cars don’t come with them) it could also include some myth busting sections of common myths surrounding the car.

Book keeping, before Venture Skills I did a lot of consultancy work, and spent many years doing my own accounts I learnt the hard way how to correctly do VAT and tax returns. While many accountants have sites they focus on larger business so perhaps a blog that focuses on sole traders who are discovering the joy of the Inland revenue for the first time and providing the been there got the t-shirt tips.

So do you still think you can’t find a niche, just sit down and think about all those small things you know, be it the location of the best burgers in your town, to how to build a model boat we all have niches what’s yours?