Cordenia Paige  is a young woman who has really figured out how to use YouTube and other social networking tools to market her writings.

Like many young writers before her, Ms. Paige a.k.a CAP moved to New York City in 2001 to pursue her dream of being the next great American novelist.  A teacher by trade, she taught humanities, social studies, and computer skills at prestigious schools in her hometown of Washington, DC and New York City for sixteen years.  She’s taught all grade levels from (preschool to 12^th grade) and in doing so CAP always challenged her students to pursue their dreams. Finally CAP decided to take her own advice and began writing professionally. CAP currently lives in the Bronx, where she writes novels, short stories, and educational material.

One of things CAP has learned how to do as a struggling writer is to use new media to market herself.  For example, she has effectively used YouTube to record her weight-loss journey, through a series of videos she calls, “The Melting Point.”  In this “reality show,” she shares with others how she was able to finally get healthy and stay fit.  As a result of her proven methods, she was able to go from a size 14 to a size 10.  CAP has been able to maintain her weight loss, through a successful program of fitness and nutrition.  By watching her videos on YouTube, you can literally see her melt in size.  As CAP says, “This is not your average weight-loss show.”  Here’s her channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/4capcity.

Name any social networking site out there, and you’ll find CAP there.  She has a blog on Blogger (http://4cap.blogspot.com/,
http://capcity4privateyes.blogspot.com/), where she sells her poetry, fiction, and artwork.  She’s on FaceBook, Twitter (http://twitter.com/4cap), Shelfari (http://www.shelfari.com/capcity), and has a show on Blog Talk radio show you can find it here (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CAP).  She’s pretty much everywhere!

Like many writers who use these social networking tools, CAP’s a part of multiple communities with great traffic.  Like Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube And she spends her time on these sits wisely engaging her audience and helping them. You can see the transparency in what this young lady does.

CAP has one publication on a self-publishing site called Love Redemption Thank U (http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/love-redemption-thank-u/2070486).  It’s a collection of poetry, artwork, and fiction.  It shows her great promise as a writer, and her insight into the world around her.

It would be worth your time to take a look at how CAP has effectively used non-traditional and non-conventional ways to share what she has to offer.  I say it all the time the internet has evened the playing field in many ways, when it comes to going after your passion and CAP sure seems to be proving me right. Take a listen to the audio interview with CAP and myself, when your done please leave a comment I’d love to hear your thoughts on what this young lady boldly did with YouTube , and don’t forget to leave a few comments on CAP’s  YouTube page I’m she she’ll appreciate it too.

How do I find my Niche? I get that question all the time. I usually respond by saying you do a little research but keep it simple. Let me share a story with you before I explain to you how you begin the research.

One day I got to thinking the internet is a really big place and it has a ton of info that can be used to search out any Niche business. As the morning progressed along I wondered how much content I could gather about Niche ideas.

So I sat down that afternoon with a cup of coffee to do the math on it in terms of measuring the amount of content on the internet. I know what you’re thinking, where did I begin my research and how did I come up with a formula to compartmentalize it so that it would make sense. Well believe it or not that was the easy part because I do what I always do when I want the answer to a difficult problem. I Kendyl it, not Google it.  Kendyl is my 9year old daughter and quite the problem solver.

So here’s what happened, Kendyl saw me at my computer working hard as usual (because that’s what I do) and she asked me, “Dad are you on Twitter again?” as she’s walking over to me. I said, “Nooooo honey (I love firefox’s multiple tab browser thats lets you change screens in a nano second ) I’m working on a complex problem trying to measure the amount of content of Niche ideas on the internet.” And before I could ask her what her thoughts are on the subject Kendyl immediately put a blank look on her face and said so nonchalantly, “Why would anyone ever need to know that?”

Now there’s a lesson there that even a 9yr old could figured out. Folks keep it simple when it comes to choosing your Niche. You shouldn’t spend a whole lot of time trying to figure it out.  If you’re like most people you probably have a number of things you like to do whether its on your job or in your spare time. Here’s how to decide what’s your Niche.

Start by asking:
1. What am I good at?
2. Can I teach others how to do what I’m good at?
3. Would I do it for free?
4. What do I like doing with my time?

That’s it, 4 simple questions to get you started. Ok so what to do next ? Well Kendyl it… just kidding search your Niche with Google and look to see if there’s anyone doing what you’re passionate about and while you’re at it look to see if anyone’s paying for advertisements on the right side column. I entered the Niche “baking cookies” in Google search field and found a ton of ideas on baking cookies.  For you oatmeal raisin cookie lovers
I found a receipt that looks pretty tasty check it out when you have a minute they’re called spicy oatmeal raisin
and you can thank me later :~).

Ok so you did your research and found your Niche has some potential. The next thing to do is choose a domain name that’s highly searchable and related to your Niche. The best free tool for that is Google’s keyword tool and it’s fairly simple to use  click here to bookmark the URL.

Using this tool can help you select a word that many people have searched for. Choosing the right words for your domain name could make the difference in how much traffic to your site has over any competitors. Here’s a video to explain.

So there you have it, a few simple steps to take to determine your Niche, I hope that helps.
As always your comments are greatly appreciated even if you just want to say hey-lo.
Ralph

Firstly,  I want to say thanks to all the folks that stopped by this blog to give me a few words of encouragement on writing my first post, thanks big time (even though I some how deleted them). Ok, so before I plunge into this post to let you know why this blog exists, let me first say that writing isn’t one of my strong points. So for all you Ed-Ju-Muh-Kate-Ed  folks take it easy on me, I write like I talk and  if that bothers you- hang in there, I’ll get you up to my level in no time at all :~}.

Here’s the dictionary’s explanation for the word Niche…
- Niche
a. a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person is best fitted for (she finally found her niche).
b. a specialized market.

Now let me give you my understanding of the word Niche…
- Niche something you do well enough that you could teach others how to do, as well as earn an income from, if you choose.

I chose this particular topic idea because my plan is to write about (interview) different Niche businesses and with the help of some of you blog readers I should have plenty of content to cover.

The way I see it,  the Internet has truly leveled the playing field when it comes to commerce (making money). I say that because the foot prints of success are all over the Internet. You can go from a person working a nine-to-five to a person making six figures every few months just like Dave Guindon, Alex Jeffery, or Rich Schefren.

If you stay with me over the next few months I’ll show you unlimited resources and ideas about Niches, and if you choose you can follow the foot prints these fellas left behind.

Ralph

P.S.
don’t you dare leave without leaving a comment… I truly value your thoughts.