What the hell should I do with this blog?
Over the past 4 months or so I was considering dumping a grand or two into getting a kick ass new design, perhaps even hire an illustrator to give posts some life. So far, no actions have been taken.
Indecisiveness is typically not a good signal. Usually when I get an idea the ball is rolling before I go to sleep (and if not, it can do a better job than caffeine at keeping me awake.)
New blogs for this industry (lets just say making money online) are popping up daily. It wouldn’t be such a big deal except many of them are very good blogs.
So what could I do?
(I am now going to use the more option per Greywolf’s WordPress SEO video suggestion)
1) Post daily
2) Do a little “digging” work
3) Focus on sensational posts and end those obnoxiously longer ones
4) Lasso all the sleazy copy writers (who have been buzzing like flies over a pile of crap on my “The Secret Scam” post) with an e-mail capture offer.
5) Get images published on nearly every blog post.
6) A weekly satirical cartoon related to internet marketing/publishing/Adsense/affiliate marketing.
7) Publically disclose my earnings to bring in more attention (The Markus Frind makes $10k a day post pretty much single-handedly took this blog from nothing to something in under 24 hours.)
Make more pop culture and news related posts. Unique names brings in nearly all of my Google SE traffic.
I used to feel this evangelistic drive to point people in the right direction with their web sites and businesses. That drive is gone. So many other people are doing the right thing and doing it far better than me.
The web is changing fast. I know the nature of the web, the top sites aren’t king for a century, they are doing a good job with they last a decade. Massive market opportunities are wide open right now. They just can not be missed. Sad to say, this blog is not one of them!
[...] What the Hell Should I Do with This Blog? Andrew thinks out loud with what to do with his site. I find this one interesting because I am one of those people who now run a blog that directly competes with him. Well, I shouldn’t say “compete” because, honestly, its all about the networking. He does a great job with his site, and what he says is true – there are a lot of people out there writing about what he and I write about – making money online. It’s true, viewed totally as a market, this one is a bit saturated. Opinions are like assholes, and this field of how to make money online is no different. Food for thought there, Andrew. [...]
Pingback by WebbyOnline - Internet Business, Web Publishing » Lazy Linkage - Issue One — March 30, 2007 @ 9:15 am
Andrew,
I recently came to a similar crossroads. Not having anywhere near the readers or awareness, I decided to close my blog and focus on things that would offer an actual ROI.
Writing a quality blog is a huge time sink (and I would argue my blog was not that great of quality compared to many) and I found in the weeks where I was not busy writing up blog posts or brainstorming ideas for posts that my actual revenue producing projects flourished. Those weeks where I had lots and lots of readers and was encouraged to write more, I found were black holes of delayed projects and little new revenue.
I also constantly found myself editing away the really good parts because I felt they were too proprietary to share. Once I decided that I could not/should not offer full disclosure, I decided to step away.
Best of luck in the new direction. I will be anxious to read how it goes.
Diorex
Comment by Diorex — March 30, 2007 @ 9:47 am
Just keep doing what you’re going don’t bother with the website design or images etcetera. Well at least it doesn’t matter to me since I read through an RSS reader.
Comment by Steve — March 30, 2007 @ 10:24 am
I am new to web publishing… I read your blog and I also read websitepublisher.net. Its all good inspiration for me.
I say ask yourself what you want from this blog. Begin with the end in mind and go from there.
Maybe just offering good value in the blog is enough to bring more traffic instead of all the jazz. Just a thought.
Comment by Xed — March 30, 2007 @ 3:58 pm
“Keep it real”
Make sure to keep the blog about yourself/life I think that’s what makes people coming back. You can find info all over online but the personality in a blog is why we read
Comment by ToddW — March 30, 2007 @ 4:48 pm
Updae:
I’ve been toying with my blog as well, and even the “Tyler Cruz” blogging way I call it… basically blog about everything in your life from partying to your job.
I originally started the blog like this but it kinda went in tons of directions and now i’m thinking about redoing it.
I find myself needing to write when I feel like it because if I force it I write shitty(ER) than normal, and the topic sucks…
Anyway enough of my own rant here maybe I’ll blog about it too
Comment by ToddW — March 30, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
Andrew, just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s not a contest. You get the satisfaction of of voicing your ideas, perspective and opinion. We get the satisfaction of reading just that and expanding our own views. I think your blog fits the ideal of what a blog should be very well. It seems like you are feeling competative pressure to do more with it. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Comment by Marc — March 30, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
[...] I read several of the comments left on my post, “What the Hell Should I Do With This Blog?” [...]
Pingback by » Is blogging a waste of time? - Web Publishing Blog — April 4, 2007 @ 1:26 am
Andrew,
You could also leave a suggestion box or something like that for topics people are interested in hearing about.
Xed
Comment by Xed — April 4, 2007 @ 1:52 am