Big Fish, Little Fish

Something that I have pondered a lot over the last couple of years is when it comes to making money is it better to be a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond.

At the moment, I am neither. I am a little fish in a little pond, and a plankton when it comes to the big ponds. So for me, the question becomes a matter of what do I want to become.

Left to my own devices, I am, at heart, a niche writer. I am drawn to niches that no one else is doing; you know the ones that the majority of writers avoid because they feel that the pie is not big enourgh to invest work in.

Other writers, and entrepreneurs, tell me that in order to make the big bucks that you need to write to the subjects where the payoff is BIG. Yet these areas, when I work them, end up requiring more effort, time and energy than my normal niche writing. There is a reason that I fell into my niche; I know it really well.

For me, attempting the big pond work requires more effort and produces less income. Why? It is not my homefield. Plus, everyone else is doing it, so the pie is actually getting sliced thinner than the slices in my normal niche where there are only a handful of us working.

But that does not answer the question, except in the short run. Given the long run, is it better to try to be a big fish in a small pond or a little fish in a big pond?

I guess that I am just going to have to continue thinking about it.