Why people with even the most unusual interests can start business

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Lately I got a message from someone who read my blog Why you already have a personal brand. She wrote me a message in which she basically questioned: can i start a business? Although she was very sure about her business idea and own vision to make that idea work, she also didn’t quite know if there was an audience for that. There are certain rules when it comes to telling stories, doing marketing or building a business on which depend success. But what I know for sure, is that there really is place for everyone.

Girls and Corpses, Pigs & Mobile Shitting

For work, I once visited a global market research company in the media industry. I remember the big post office room where all the magazines came in for the company to process. Not only was the amount of those magazines big, we also got a laugh at the many niche related sorts of magazines.

Just like in that post office room, many magazines with quirky topics can be found. If you have a good look around you, you can find magazines on for example pig production, mobile shitting and girls and corpses. The publishing industry is such a big and diverse business! Let’s have a look…

Pig Topics

International Pig Topics is the leading global technical pig magazine and it is distributed to pig producers around the world. It focuses on the technical aspects of pig production that impacts the profitability of an operation such as breeding, nutrition and disease control.

The magazine is published 8 times a year, and also offers reviews on the latest research and products.

According to their website, the pig producers around the world are most often based in Europe. Their most interested type of reader is the breeder farmer.

Mobile Shitting

Yes folks… This magazine is about people who deal in mobile shitting equipment. Can it get any crazier?!

The magazine is literally about how you can collect shit in a more efficient way. Industry executives use them to observe business trends and to share ideas.

If you go to their website you can read the latest version online.

Girls and Corpses

Okay, this is by far the most creepy one. It’s called: Girls and Corpses. The magazines collects comical news about dead people and scary things alongside beautiful girls. The magazine follows the idea that if you put nice girls next to anything, – even dead bodies – it will sell.

So all in all, those magazines are read by certain people. People from all kinds of industries, with a certain kind of humor, from all around the world, wanting all kind of things. And although the quirkiness of it, they are not alone in that.

More than size

I sometimes compare magazines with having a blog or even a business. As bloggers and marketers we tell stories that relate to people, wherever they are in their lives. We bring worlds to life and give people the words, products and services they need to feel understanded.

I can not say that the niche of the pigs is the biggest one – the magazine is printed 17,000 times per issue. Selling only 5508 of those magazines in Europe may not sound much – and it isn’t. But it’s big enough to serve this specific, but small group of people.

That’s because there is more than only size. What’s even more important is engagement. People who are interested in the Pig Magazine will only continue with buying the issues if they are engaged. They will only continue with buying the magazine if they think that the content relate to them and answers their real needs and desires as pig producers.

That’s the real art of doing business. How do we tell stories that are engaging for a specific audience, and is big enough – not necessarily big – to sell your product to?

Conclusion

So can I start a business? The real art of doing business is not about finding the biggest audience. It’s about solving a problem and delivering a solution that makes a sizeable number of people’s lives easier.

Therefore, if the founders of the mentioned magazines were able to find a sizeable audience for their product, then I know for sure that there really is place for everyone. I mean, if there’s a place for a magazine about girls and corpses, I’m sure you will find your niche as well.

So embrace yourself and your odd and quirky preferences and go for it. The sky is the limit. Share your thoughts down below. Do you also ask yourself that one question: can I start business, and what is your answer to that?

I’ve written more about Personal Branding. Head over to these blogs:

• 3 personal brand examples to inspire you

Let’s Do More Together

 

Yes!