Review of Niching Up

[Ayten Yesim Semchenko]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Niching Up" by Chris Dreyer.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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This book is written by a successful SEO agency founder, Chris Dreyer. He niched up and greatly benefited from that. Throughout the book, he lays out the pros and cons of niching up. He does that by exemplifying every idea that he presents. As he also wrote himself, the book is not about how to niche, but it is more about why it is better to niche up. He also warns that niching up is not for everyone. And, timing might matter too. Niching up may not bring out the best outcome if one has not explored the area yet and tests her/himself to see which subarea s/he is the most talented and/or the happiest. I will not go into further details, but he recognizes that different variables can affect everyone’s situation differently, and whether niching up is advantageous or not at a given time highly depends on those variables. The book was a page-turner for me because I felt like I was learning something new. I did not necessarily hear a new or ground-breaking idea, but the way he presents his opinions makes you think about how you might apply what you read to your life (i.e., thought-stimulating).
The language of the book is clear and flowing. That said, there were a few parts where he used jargon, which, in the spirit of being more reader-friendly, could have been explained. For example, blue ocean means a market without a competitor, whereas red ocean refers to a market with many competitors. One may just google what blue and red ocean means or maybe understand it from the context, but it makes reading a bit frustrating if you are outside that area. This part made me question who his target readers are. Maybe he targets the people already in business, familiar with the jargon, and unsure about niching up and need some sort of guidance. The book includes the author’s own experiences and observations, and that, may be the reason why the book feels U.S.-centric. For example, he suggests that most people learn to drive when they are 15 or 16. Do they really? Maybe this is how it is in the U.S.A., but I do not think that it applies to every country. This is a minor detail, but such things made me feel a bit alienated when I read those parts.
Overall, this book is thought-stimulating, engaging, and written with a clear, flowing language and I would recommend it.

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Niching Up
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