Why do you blog? Is it because you enjoy expressing yourself through writing? Maybe its to promote a business or service? Are you just trying to make a quick buck? Whatever the reason, it is important to have realistic expectations for what you plan to get out of your blog. In this post I will break down a number of different types of blogs and give my honest opinion about what you can expect from each type.
Different Types of Blogs
There are a million different types of blogs and it would be impossible to classify them all. So in the post, I am not going to try and group them by niche or by topic. Instead, I will list them by purpose. Keep in mind that this will be an extreme generalization. Certainly there are plenty of blogs that fall into more than one of these categories, or none of these categories at all. However, my hope is that this post will help you take a good look at your blog, see what its purpose is, and check if your expectations are realistic.
Personal Diary
This is the type of blog that 90% of the people who first start blogging begin with. Usually it is some type of free blogging platform, like Blogger (see this post for why you should move to WordPress). Sometimes these blogs have specific point, whether it is political opinion, a blog about an up and coming band, etc., etc. Most of the time, however, it is nothing more that Jack's Daily Musings or Jill's Random Thoughts. Usually there is nothing extraordinary about these blogs that make them stand out.
Expectation: If you are blogging for pure enjoyment, this is right up your alley. Link to your friends, write about stuff that that interests you. Over time, you may make friends with people with similar interest. Eventually, you might get a pretty decent following. You might even make a little coin. For the most part, however, this blog is supposed to be fun.
Reality: If you are blogging just as a hobby and enjoy what you are doing, then good for you! Keep doing it as long as you continue to get joy from it. It's your hobby, so you can do what you want. It can be extremely exhilarating when you publish something that strikes a cord with people and generates some buzz in the blogosphere. You might get momentary spikes, but for the most part, these blogs don't generate tons of traffic. These blogs usually display AdSense or some form of advertising, but don't have the traffic to make more than a few cents a day (if that). Of course, there are exceptions. The rare birds that have a huge following or make a lot of money usually are very gifted writers, offer truly original (and interesting) content, or promote the heck out of their blog. If you are getting frustrated that you are not making money or can't think of anything to write about, you may need to rethink your game plan (keep reading).
Making Money Online
If you've never run into one of these blogs, you obviously haven't been blogging very long. They are blogs that talk primarily of one thing - making money online. Thanks to a few successful pioneers in this area (John Chow, Shoemoney, ProBlogger, etc.), a million other blogs have popped up trying to copy the original blueprint, sometimes almost word for word. They talk about things like advertising on your blog, internet marketing, link-baiting, and SEO. Their purpose is to make money by talking about ways to make money. Yeah, I suppose my blog can be grouped in this category to some degree. However, I am making a concerted effort to shift my blog away from the MMO niche and focus more on "blog improvement" in general (so please take note!).
Expectation: For some reason, a lot of people think that in order to make money, they need to have a blog about making money. They run out, find a catchy domain name, copy a famous blogger's template, start a blog, and talk about the same stuff everyone else has already written about (which is the same stuff people before them wrote about). It doesn't matter, people are making millions of dollars doing this, so new people jump on board everyday. All they need to do is spend $97 on the latest and greatest eBook and they will have all they need to make a $50,000 in one month.
Reality: Wake up. No matter what people tell you it is not this easy to make money online. The reality of the Make Money Online niche is that they are, for the most part, a bunch of really good salesmen (and women). You know...the kind that can sell an Eskimo ice. Or in this case, a PDF that promises you fame and fortune. Am I saying that every single MMO blog is a con artist? Of course not. But the MMO niche is thriving because people keep believing the hype and paying for information that can be found online for free pretty easily. You don't need to buy an eBook or a training course to make money online.
What you do need is a solid business plan. It is DEFINITELY possible to make money online, but it is no different than any other business. With the proper planning and execution, you can have a successful online business. However, an overwhelming majority of online businesses DON'T make money directly from their blog. Their blog is merely a platform for their business. Their real money comes from hours and hours of digging through keywords, searching for affiliate program "gems" that pay well, and lots and lots of trial and error. What you don't see behind the successful MMO bloggers' blog, are the hundreds of domain names they own, the thousands of landing pages they have created, and millions of hours they have spent trying to find the right keywords to match them. If you want to make money online, you can certainly do so. Just be prepared, it takes a lot of work. Most importantly, your blog doesn't have to be about making money to make the most money online! I honestly believe it is much easier to make money in other niches.
Traditional Business
Blogging is becoming a critical marketing tool for traditional businesses. As I mentioned above, the blog itself is not usually what makes the most money for MMO bloggers. The same is true of normal everyday companies. Blogs are becoming a medium through which companies can connect with their customers and offer a more personal level of interaction.
Expectation: The days of a static web page are gone. Companies today what flash and glamor. A blog is a very simple way to provide regular updates to customers and can be an inexpensive form of marketing. Business Week has an excellent article on why you should use blogging for your business. It was originally written in 2005 and has proven so true that they have updated the article for 2008 to include other forms of Social Media.
Reality: In this case, the expectation is not far at all from the reality. Businesses really are starting to not only want blogs, but need blogs. If you are a business owner and don't have a blog, you might be overlooking an easy and extremely effective way to connect with your customers.
Journalism
The last group of blogs that I am going talk about I lump together in the Journalism category. This includes all blogs that update regularly and frequently. Obviously, it includes things like news and sports. But these types of blogs can really be about anything. For example, Gizmodo.com is one of my favorite tech/gadget blogs. The important characteristic is that they report on the latest information about whatever their niche is about. It is not uncommon for these blogs to have 5, 10, or even 20 posts a day.
Expectation: These are the types of blogs that expect to attract hundreds of thousands of readers a month. The biggest goal for this blog is to increase subscribers. More readers means more advertising revenue and eventually a higher valuation if the blog is ever sold.
Reality: These types of blogs that can really make good money from AdSense an other types of advertising. In many cases, popular blogs make quite a bit of money in private advertising as well. Be prepared though, this type of blog takes a lot of work. Usually it is more than a single person can handle. The more successful blogs have a team of writers that are able to produce regular content like clockwork. It is basically a full time job, but it can really pay off. These types of blogs can attract huge numbers and can be sold for a lot of money.
Conclusion
So what about my blogs - where do they fall? This blog, BuzzMyBlog, is my personal blog. As I mentioned earlier, it has a touch of MMO content to it, but that is not my primary focus. I don't ever try to scam anyone into buying anything and I don't really care if it makes money. I like writing about topics that help people with their blogs and this is my personal platform to so. Eventually, I plan to use it to promote myself and my software development expertise. Until then, it is really just a form of networking for me. My other blog, however, is more of a Journalism blog (although it can hardly be considered serious journalism - it just makes fun of stuff). Buzz Pirates has passed over 50,000 visitors for the month of July and is off to a great start. I'll be sharing more lessons from that experience in the coming weeks and months.
What about your blog? Is it turning out they way you expect? I encourage you to take a look at your blog and make sure its becoming the type of platform you want it to be.
Best of luck,
Jeff
