What I Wish I’d Known When I Started This Blog
The other day when I posted about breaking the 2,000 subscriber mark, Breaking Free reader Caleb, of http://www.thesoldiermillionaire.com/, asked a very good question that I thought deserved some more attention:
Brian,
You say it took you about a year before your blog picked up momentum.
If you were to start a new blog all over again now, from scratch, but knowing what you now know, how long do you think it would take to reach the same number of subscribers/revenue? (No cheating by using your old blog to direct traffic to your new blog.)
I am curious about how much of it is “skill and knowledge” vs. how much is “17-month gestation”.
Here is my response:
Hi Caleb,
That’s a good question. I think it could go a bit faster the 2nd time around. Here are the three things I wish I had known before I got started - most of them dealing with choosing the right blog topic:
- Pick a topic that has mass appeal - great way to do this is to browse magazines in Barnes & Noble. If there is a magazine dedicated to it, it probably has enough people interested to make a good blog topic. Spend some time in Barnes & Noble’s magazine rack if you are trying to brainstorm ideas.
- Pick something that you’re passionate about so that it will be easy to continue writing. It should be a topic you’d write about whether anyone was reading it or not (like a journal) because it will feel like this for at least the first 6 months.
- Pick something that you have the potential to be the best in the world at someday. The #1 blog in a particular niche doesn’t receive 3 times more traffic than the #3 blog. It’s probably more like 100 times the traffic for being #1. Even if you aren’t an expert now, that’s ok. Writing about your journey to learn a topic is great. But you should at least have the potential to be the best some day. If someone else already has a blog out there on a topic that you like, that’s ok. Your niche can be local, or be a different take on the same subject within reason, as long as you have the potential to become the best.
One final bonus tip on how to grow a blog faster: Be opinionated. Take a stance in your posts and say what everyone else was thinking but didn’t have the balls to say. I think I was too afraid of offending anyone when I first started so I took the middle road and played it safe in my posts. This is a good way to have a boring blog that is not worth reading. When you’re opinionated you will piss off some people but you will also win loyal followers. This is far better than being boring which will get you no readers. Plus some of the people you piss off will still continue reading your material anyway.
Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. People admire true honesty and authenticity because it’s rare on the internet.
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Denzil A said,
Wrote on November 30, 2008 @ 8:33 pm
Hi Brian:
Good response to Caleb, but I have to differ on the issue of being “opinionated” in a public blog. Perhaps it depends on the interpretation of “opinionated.” I know of one example where it did not work for me. The example was a blog related to real estate investing, and some readers of the blog contribute in amounts of about $20 because the blog provides valuable information. But the blog occasionally goes off on an opinionated attack on a particular religion, which does nothing but detract from the theme of the blog and irritate some readers. The “take home” lesson is to keep “opinions” to the theme of the blog, because most readers don’t care about the other opinions.
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Brian Armstrong reply on December 1st, 2008 7:03 pm:
Oh I totally agree - opinionated but on topic!
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Caroline said,
Wrote on December 1, 2008 @ 5:14 am
I’d agree about not picking a niche that is too narrow. Whilst it may be easier to rank your traffic and future growth will be limited.
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Brian Armstrong reply on December 1st, 2008 7:04 pm:
Very true Caroline, thanks!
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Tom Volkar/ Delightful Work said,
Wrote on December 1, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Congrats on your outstanding growth! I agree that we need not fear pissing people off. It’s sometimes necessary just to wake others up. I don’t do it just to do it - but I will rankle some feathers by boldly stating an minority opinion.
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Brian Armstrong reply on December 1st, 2008 7:04 pm:
Well said Tom :)
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Frank Denbow said,
Wrote on December 2, 2008 @ 8:41 am
Hey Brian,
Thanks again for the help on my event last year. Your advice was golden even if I wasnt able to pull it off.
I am starting a blog network of my own so I will definitely continue reading your blog, as it is one of the best. Definitely start using more social media stuff (video, twitter, facebook, etc) to increase readership.
Anyway, I think I still have your number, so I will give you a call sometime. Peace
Frank
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Brian Armstrong reply on December 10th, 2008 12:21 am:
Frank, are you the one who put that dance conference together? That thing had potential, I remember it.
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Matt Thomas said,
Wrote on December 3, 2008 @ 12:49 am
Brian,
I think these tips are great. Your advice about looking through magazines is a great idea and makes a lot of sense.
I also liked your point about choosing a topic that you can write about, even if it were just a journal.
I do have a question, though. In terms of publicizing your blog, what would you do differently? Where would you direct more of your time if you had to start over?
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Brian Armstrong reply on December 8th, 2008 7:28 pm:
Guest posts! Those worked the best for my by far.
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Frank Denbow reply on December 8th, 2008 7:39 pm:
YUP!!!! You are the man, dude. Hit me up anytime.
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Frank Denbow said,
Wrote on December 10, 2008 @ 12:45 am
Yes that is me. I am doing things over again. Doing live streaming of dance battles to start off and build anticipation for the bigger milestones. thanks for the keyword advice. i will use that in my videos that i post.
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