Image Source: never to be seen again – This image has been cropped, and fixed.
Just few days ago, I post “Who is reading your blog? Why do you care“? It’s a great finding who exactly was reading your blog. The post was inspired by one of my blogging friend at BloggingMix. It’s about why you need to network with non-Probloggers.
I took it further. I want to communicate non-blogger.
In the past few weeks, I have closely watched my visitors and track down where they came from. My finding was not a surprise. I can pretty much claim that 80% of my readers are from search engine and almost 100% of them are no bloggers. They find the page, read it and left. In my early blogging days, I post a lot of stuff related to GPS, IE bugs, and many other non-entrepreneur related posts on the blog. This blog was a mixed blog on everything I see, I heard, I like and I think. It’s not much about blogging and being an Internet Entrepreneur.
What’s wrong with that?
Ever since I started making some small amount of money off my blog, I was one of the bloggers going after (chasing) the money. I tried many ways to make money off my blog. It was not a great success like most of the bloggers. There are two reasons that I don’t make a great income on my blog.
- I think too much like a regular bloggers.
- I wrote everything for everyone.
- It’s too personal
I have been asked more than twice about “What is your niche of your blog?” I truly don’t know the answers. That’s the problem that my blog don’t make a lot of money. I need a niche. I always thought that I will be writing a personal blog. However, my reader’s comments and requests got me into a dilemma situation. I was asked to help many others bloggers to do better in their life, while I was inspired by many bloggers listed under my links page. So I lost! I post everything I know on one blog. Everything from personal stuff, the foods I ate and the complaints I made.
Can a personal blog success in the blogging world and make good profit off it? JohnChow.com answered my questions. He posts a great post, which I call the best post of John Chow. You should read it at “The Biggest Reasons People Fail At Making Money Online”
So what are my solutions to take my blog to the next level?
I have to think simple now. After reading the great post on ProBlogger.net about “From 0 to 2000+ Subscribers in 90 Days” .I believe that most of the blogger think too much. Also look at the newly released experiment by Bryan at OneMansGoal.com about “Paid Traffic Deathmatch – There Can Only Be One.” It’s a blog about personal goals, but it did not really talk about too much about personal stuff. It talks about many tips and tricks about how to achieve the personal goals.
I need to do the same. Blogging is my worst business that I need to take care. So the question is back to the starting point. Regardless how good your content is, it’s not good enough if you just write it for yourself.
Who are you writing blog for? The answer is simply not to take it personally.
Terence, think this post has come out of our discussion about finding niche? All great points, especially not to think too much about making money, at least not in the start. I dn’t want to be a blogger who wrote rubbish in the beginning. But agai as you said once some pennies start coming in one can easily loose focus and try to do more of what brings in the money. Dn’t you think?
I have tried different foci with my blog, but I find that when I try so hard I no longer feel motivated to blog. In fact when I recently tried to be more niche-based, my traffic went down 75%. So I’ve shaken off the niche and am now just writing what feels right, as I did before.
I do think it can be a problem when all your readers are other bloggers. It obligates you to visit their blogs too, which may not interest you at all, and you may end up with hundreds of blogs to check every day. I would like to figure out how to get more non-bloggers reading my blog.
Twitter: TerenceChang
says:
@Hersh:
To be honest, you are right to the points. I was so lost when I see my ads revenue goes up. I thought about making good money like JohnChow.com does. So I was moving away from my own blog style and started posting something about make money online. I did see my revenue goes up just penny by penny, but the viewer number dropped. I used to post some IT related topic, which solved many viewers problem. That makes me happy as a blogger by helping others. I also lost some valuable time, which makes me more money on my own stores.
I also tried to become a motivation blogger, which was not good success. I have not prove that I am one already. 80% of my viewers came from searching engine looking for some IT solutions. By reading John Chow’s post, I will have to re-think about my blog strategy. I think talking about making money online with blog is too personal. I have seem so many blogs that shows people how to make money online, but actually wants to fill their pocket first.
@Marie:
I read your blog every time you have new post on Google Reader. I like the way you post about your life. It’s a great feeling to know a person from inside. You are so right. I have over 300 blogs to read on my Google Readers. I am still using my old FireFox tab tricks to visit all my favorite blogs. You can find that at Fun and dangerous tab browsing tricks – Use on your own risks
To answer your question, I found interesting facts. I believe that most of my readers from Google search engine are non-bloger. They were looking for some answers about IE bug, Programming issues and etc. They found my posts and got the answers. In my post, I said “Simply don’t take it personally“. The funny thing was that I post those solutions for myself at beginning. So I can come back to review it. I did not want to share it when I wrote it. It just got indexed by search engine and happened to be on the number spot when people search it. It suddenly gives my readers a helping hand. That was not my original intention. Shame on myself.
Maybe under my deep deep thick skin, I want people to see those posts. Did I write those posts for readers or for personal? I guess it’s both.
I think the point is this. If you just want to write something, go for it. Don’t follow the crowd. I believe Maki at DoshDosh.com said in one of his posts. As long as you are writing in your own unique way, you are an unique niche.
So be yourself.
Hi Terence, Interesting refections. I think the key is that it’s impossible to be successful if you’re only motivated by money.
As well as blogging about what people want to read, you need to choose a topic that you’re interested in too; or you’ll run out of steam and won’t enjoy what you’re doing.
I think the way you use pictures in your blog makes it unique. You’re creative in the way you chop them up. If I’d used the picture you used today it would have wound up looking like a row of decapitated people.
Twitter: TerenceChang
says:
@Catherine L:
You are right. I think I am still thinking too much about making money off my blog, which drive me away from my original goals of this blog. I was also too personal about my blog.
Thank you for your kind words. I use image, because I believe it can distract people from seeing my weakest writing point.
Regardless what my blog turns out, I really enjoy interact with my readers. It’s like talking to a long lost friend. They are strangers, but they are also so close.
Hi Terence – I believe you will work out what you need to do to make your blog a success because you are smart.
You are asking for feedback from your readers which is good, as they are potential customers. And the fact that you’re interacting with your readers is good.
I think that blogs are going to become far more interactive in the future. And those ones who don’t interact with their readers are going to lose out.
Terence, I don’t know if this will help you, but sometimes when I’m stuck for ideas, I go and read about a subject that has nothing to do with what I’m writing about. I just pick something I would be interested in learning about and google it. You could give it a try.
Twitter: TerenceChang
says:
@Catherine L:
You are perfect right. Get out what you are doing for so long and think about something else. When you come back, you got a fresh idea and solve your problem faster.
Thank you for reminding me.
Very nice post. It was good fun to read the article and the comments on the same.
Twitter: TerenceChang
says:
@Dandruff Cure:
That’s right. I spent a lot of time doing so everyday.
Great stuff Terence! Thanks for the mention. I’m almost embarrassed to say, since we’ve known each other for a bit now… but what other business’s do you run?
Twitter: TerenceChang
says:
@Bryan:
Not to worry. Your story encourage me not to stop what I am doing. Besides my few e-commerce stores and few blogs, I do have some other non-disclosure online business to run. At this points, none of them can fulfill my dream and make my name on entrepreneur or Forbes magazine.
I am seeking few more creative business idea without the inventory and 14 working hour a day. I would love to see your success story published! Keep it up!
I am guilty of not writing posts of mediocrity. True enough Terence, I too think similarly with regular bloggers. Sometimes, I forget as to whom I am writing for. I have been so consumed with keywords. The tendency is that I lose my target niche.