Written on December 2nd, 2005 at 02:12 am by Darren Rowse
Ten Rules for Profitable Blog Startups
Evan Williams from Pyra Labs had an interesting post a few days back titled Ten Rules for Web Startups which has some interesting points - some of which might well by relevant to bloggers in start up mode. The bold points are Evan’s - the rest is my attempt to adapt it to blogging.
1: Be Narrow - Evan suggests focusing upon the smallest possible problem to solve - good advice for a start up blog as well as a company. I was asked in an interview today what my advice is to bloggers and one of the first things I said was to think carefully about the niche that you choose. While there are some successful blogs going around that don’t have tight niches, there are many more that choose a narrow niche and work hard at dominating it. It’s old advice that I rabbit on about a fair bit - but the adage of being a large fish in a small pond is probably one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever been given in this business.
2: Be Different - In this point Evan talks a little about competition (something there is plenty of in blogging these days!). There is loads of useful advice here that’s totally relevant for blog start ups. Yes there is competition - deal with it. Don’t let it get you down because competition can actually be good for your blog. There is always a way to differentiate yourself from the ‘competition’. Find the gaps around the niche that others are missing, be creative, be outrageous, be extravagant - do whatever it takes to stick out of the crowd.
3: Be Casual - Key sentence in this point - ‘If you want to hit the really big home runs, create services that fit in with—and, indeed, help—people’s everyday lives without requiring lots of commitment or identity change.’ I think this is pretty true with blog start ups also - although not always. There are opportunities with blogging to become a natural part of people’s lives - to meet their needs in very simple ways. People naturally surf the web looking for information on all kinds of topics - bloggers have the opportunity to be on the other ends of these searches. Having said that there is also the opportunity with blogging to be outrageous, entertaining, shocking and out of the ordinary in ways that are not a part of natural everyday life.
4: Be Picky - It’s so tempting to try to make your blog all things to all people. I constantly get emails from people telling me that my blog should be this way or that. The fact is, I’ve chosen to make enternetusers a blog about helping people to make money from blogging and it’s never going to stray too far from that. I know I could easily become distracted by all kinds of tangents and opportunities that come my way from this blog - but I’m slowly learning to pick my direction carefully.
5: Be User-Centric - I think this is pretty clearly an important part of blogging start ups. A blogger needs to put themselves in the shoes of their potential reader and build their blog from that position. Listen to your readers, respond to them and involve them wherever possible.
6: Be Self-Centered - “Great products almost always come from someone scratching their own itch. Create something you want to exist in the world. Be a user of your own product.” - Once again a good lesson for bloggers. While it is sometimes tempting to start a blog on a ‘money topic’ that you have little interest in - the blogs that I love to read are blogs where the blogger is totally obsessed and in love with what they are writing about. Pick a topic you’d write about for free if no one was ever going to read it and you’re probably going to attract others with a similar obsession to you.
7: Be Greedy - Interesting title for this one. I’m not sure I’d word it quite that way - but there is truth here. If you’re wanting to build a profitable blog, company, shop, lemonade stall…. you’ve got to start making some money from it at some point. I know of some bloggers whose model is to start up with completely free, ad free, give it all away strategies with the hope that they can add revenue streams later on and I always wonder if it’s a wise strategy. Business is business and there comes a point where you need to start adding some income streams to your blogs if you want turn a profit.
8: Be Tiny - Not sure if this is exactly where Evan was coming from but my advice to new bloggers has always been to start small and from the place they find themselves in. I quite often get IM’s from bloggers with massive plans to hire hundreds of bloggers and start thousands of blogs (I’m not exaggerating - it’s a monthly conversation I seem to have) - but when I dig a little into their plans I find they have little blogging experience, little understanding of the issues and no actual starting place. One of the keys to the business I’ve built is that it’s been a gradual and slow evolution over time. I started with one blog and built it up over a year. Then I added another and worked my butt off at it and overtime gradually was able to free up my time from other work to dedicate more time to blogging. It started tiny ( a guy in the spare bedroom with a 5 year old PC) and to this day it remains at most ’small’ (a guy in a home office (I kicked out the bed) with a Mac….and a very nice screen :-) ).
9: Be Agile - This is probably Evan’s best point. Flexibility and the ability to jump onto the right opportunities as they come by is an absolute key. Keep in mind point 4 about not taking every opportunity - but know that your ability to change course/shape/direction very quickly can be key to the success of a blog. This happens on a daily basis with the posts you write - but also on a bigger picture level. I know there have been two or three crucial decisions that I’ve made (in each case very quickly) that have totally changed the way I earn an income.
10: Be Balanced - I read this part of Evan’s post and wondered if he’d been talking to my wife. Balance between work and life is key. Life’s too short to spend it all staring at your computer (as lovely as your screen might be)!
11 (bonus!): Be Wary - Every list of rules needs a disclaimer like this. I agree. There are NO rules. I know this from personal experience. Sometimes the things that shouldn’t work do work and the things that should don’t. The key is to experiment and track the results. Adapt as you go.
Read Evan’s original list of Ten Rules for Web Startups.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 11:12 pm by Darren Rowse
Are Blogs Worth Anything Without the Bloggers?
BL Ochman points to an interesting couple of posts by Peter Brady and Stephen Baker and asks the question - Are Blogs Worth Anything Without the Bloggers?
I think it’s a fascinating question and one that I’ve often pondered as I’ve watched colleagues buy and sell blogs over the past year.
My opinion is that the answer is yes… and no.
Depending upon the blog I think they can be worth quite a lot without the blogger - but in most cases they are not.
Do I sound vague and wishy washy enough? Let me ponder this a bit more (bare with me while I think out loud for a bit here)….
Blogger-Centric Blogs - Some blogs, like B.L’s blog and probably enternetusers are blogs where the bloggers themselves are very central to the blog. They are places where one person explores a niche (wide or small) and people come to read what they have to say. Blogs that probably fit into this category even better than BL’s and mine include Steve Rubel’s Micro Persuasion and BuzzMachine by Jeff Jarvis (two blogs I log into daily to read the thoughts and opinions of Jeff and Steve). These blogs might struggle if their bloggers were to leave and someone else took over (without some clever transitioning).
Topic/Content-Centric Blog - Other blogs could have a change of authorship and few of their readers would bat an eyelid. These are blogs where the subject and content itself is more central to the blog. The blogger acts more as a supplier of content (perhaps more like an editor than an author?) than a personality that draws people in. The blogs that come to mind as I think about this include more technology based blogs like Gizmodo (who recently changed editors without too much change in traffic - in fact it’s gone up), Engadget and Slashdot. Now I know these sites have their hardcore fans who would notice if certain writers were to leave - but I’d hazard a guess that the majority of their readers have no idea who is writing them and would continue to read as normal with a change of blogger.
So which is best for building a profitable blog? - I guess the answer to this question probably depends a little upon what your goals for the blog are.
1. If you’re wanting to build a blog up for a later sale (at which point you leave) you’ll probably want to build blogs that are less reliant upon yourself as a blogger. This is what I’ve seen a number of the bigger blog networks do. What they build their blog’s brand around is the blog’s name rather than the blogger themselves (there are of course exceptions to this in most networks).
2. If you’re wanting to sell your blog but are willing to continue working on it or if you’re not in it for an eventual sale but rather are looking to build an ongoing revenue stream for yourself then either model can work quite nicely for you.
3. If your blog is not about earning a direct income through advertising but rather is a blog that will enable you to build your own profile (we make the distinction in six figure blogging between makeing money because of your blog rather than directly from your blog) then you’ll definitely want a Blogger-Centric blog model.
These are half finished thoughts (my head hurts) and I’m interested in what others think on the topic. Am I anywhere near being on the money here?
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 09:12 pm by Darren Rowse
Blog Hui surf Active Apparel website 1cecilia397 zone.- New Zealand Blog Conference
Just across the Tasman from the east coast of Australia is New Zealand who will be holding their first international blog conference in 2006. It’s called Blog Hui 2006. It’s being held in Wellington between 16-17 March and they’re lining up some interesting speakers including Torill Mortensen, Trevor Romain and Mark Bernstein. Looks like an interesting get together.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 05:12 pm by Darren Rowse
I’ll Show you Mine if You Show me Yours (WP Plugins)
Here’s a little survey/question for WordPress users out there. What are your favorite plugins? I’m regularly asked how I do certian aspects of this site and the answers are usually pointing at a plugin of one kind or another - so I thought I’d let you know what I’m using - but only on the condition that you show me yours (I feel a little dirty saying that). Here are my Active plugins:
- Spam Karma 2 - Reloaded - picks up 99% of comment spam
- Page Navigation 1.5 - puts the page numbers at the bottom of the main and category pages to help with navigation
- Related Posts 1.3.3 - at the bottom of each individual post page are 5 related article to encourage readers to stick around
- Subscribe To Comments 2.0.2 - a recent feature to help readers keep track of older conversations (not sure if anyone’s using it?)
- WP-ContactForm 1.1 - Contact form plugin
- WordPress Email Notification Plugin v2.1 - the plugin behind my weekly newsletter - basic but good
Now I’ve shown you mine - time to show me yours.
Update - I’ve collated the list so far here.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 04:12 pm by Darren Rowse
Threadwatch Sold
There’s a lot of sadness over at Threadwatch today with Nick Wilson announcing it’s sale and him leaving the site. He’s doing so to give more time to the new company that he’s a part of starting, Performancing. The new owner of Threadwatch is Aaron Wall from SEOBook.
There was no mention of what the sale went for in terms of dollar value - but I suspect this is less about the money and more about freeing up time for the Performancing start up.
Best of luck Nick and Aaron.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 02:12 pm by Darren Rowse
Side Stepping your Bloggers Block
Blog Tip 21. Side step Blogging Blockages
Sometimes bloggers block can get completely on top of you and start to get you down - I often get to this point midway through posts. You might known the scenario too - you start off so well and then you get to this midway point where you begin to lose your way. Clarity goes out the window and you start to meander around that succinct and profound point you had so clear in your mind when you started.
While persisting and pushing through can be an option at this point - sometimes I find it best to simply save the post as a draft to come back to at a later point in time.
I quite often sit on posts like this for a few days (and sometimes quite a bit more) before coming back to them. Of course this all depends how time dependent the topic at hand is. If you’re breaking a story you might want to try the ‘pushing through it’ option!
Putting posts aside enables me to clear my mind and work on something else (or have a sleep) before coming back to it with a fresh approach.
The metaphor that comes to mind as I write this is that a good post can be like a good wine that gets put away in a cool dark place for a while once the elements of the post are mixed together to ferment. Some of my best posts went through a very similar process and I suspect are much the better for it.
Take home lessons - don’t rush your posts, give them time to develop and consider taking a break mid post.
Read more of the Bloggers Block Series.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 12:12 pm by Darren Rowse
Chitika adds ‘Alternate URL’ feature
Chitika just added an ‘alternate URL’ feature to their eMiniMalls which allow you to run other ads in their space when they don’t have any product to serve. This will be very useful for any publishers with a lot of traffic from countries not accepted by the program. Here’s how they describe it in their eSupport area.
What is “Alternate URL”?
The alternate URL feature allows you to make use of your ad space in the event that Chitika is not able to show a paying eMiniMall ad (for example: traffic from non-accepted countries). In such an event, the Chitika system will redirect to the url you specify.How to specify an “alternate URL”?
There are two ways of specifying an “alternate URL”:
1) Code Panel: You can login to your account, click on “eMiniMalls Code” and then specify an “Alternate URL” (in the “Set Options” section)
2) Code Hacking: For existing users who have already deployed code, you can add this line to the code (anywhere after the line with ch_client but before the line with /script). You need to replace the XXXX below with a valid URL like “http://yourdomain.com/chitika.html”.
ch_alternate_ad_url = “XXXX”;
I know a few bloggers who will be jumping up and down with excitement at this news.
Also in Chitika News - the’ve just posted the audited figures for October - which means their next payment must be close to being made! This will be my biggest ever payment from any one source! Just in time for Christmas.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 09:12 am by Darren Rowse
Blog Business
Vaughan has just let me know of a new blog he’s running called Blog Business which is on the topic of ‘Building Business Models from Blogs. Or Not.’ Sounds like one to watch if you’re into the ProBlogging thing.
Vaughan is doing his MBA dissertation on the topic of Blog Business Models.
Written on December 1st, 2005 at 12:12 am by Darren Rowse
Short Posts - Battling Bloggers Block
Blog Tip 20. Short Posts
If you don’t have much to say, don’t say much.
Resist the pressure to have to fully unpack every aspect of every topic - instead let your readers unpack a topic for you with an invitation at the end of your post.
Web readers are notorious for having short attention spans and staying on websites for very short periods of time - so a short post can be just as effective (if not more so) than a longer one.
They can also give bloggers block a good hiding also as they take the pressure of having to have massive depth in every post you write off a little.
Written on November 30th, 2005 at 10:11 pm by Darren Rowse
enternetusers Labs Gets an Upgrade
After a five week wait I got the call last night from my friendly Apple Mac sales guy to tell me that my new PowerMac had hit the shores of Australia and that it would be ready for me to pick it up this morning.
So this morning I trotted into the Apple store and took delivery of my new blogging toy tool.
I’ve spent a good part of the day today in set up and transferring mode. My Powerbook was operating at capacity and it’s been quite the task getting everything over, reinstalled and configured the way I need it. It’s amazing how I’ve taken for granted the workflow that I’ve established for my blogging. I’m also keenly aware of just how many sites I have to enter passwords to that I’d had set to automatically login for me.
Even to get this post up and running has been quite the task - getting the photo edited to a managable size meant installing Photoshop again, getting it online I had to re-install ecto (when meant finding the password - thanks Adrian from ecto for rescuing me).
But I’m getting there. I’ve still got 30 gig of files to transfer across but I think I’ll be back up and running with my normal blogging activities tomorrow now that email, web browsers, IM clients etc are all installed and working.
Now I just need to get used to using a full sized keyboard and mouse again (I quite liked my trackpad) and find a way to get my headset mike working so I can Skype chat and I’ll be cooking with gas.
As for the new system - I got a Power Mac G5 Dual 2 Hz with a 250 GB hard drive, 2.5 GB of memory, AirPort and Bluetooth with a 23 inch Cinema Display.
To say it’s zinging along at a rate of knots that leaves the Powerbook for dead is an understatement. The screen is a work of beauty. After working with 15 inches previously (and 12 before that) I’m in heaven. It’s quite amazing to see my blogs with more than just the header and first few lines of text showing and to also have IM and email windows open on the one screen. I’m already planning how to get myself another screen :-)
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