Finding your blog niche is not as hard as you think.

I haven’t blogged about blog topics in a while but niche blogging has been burning in my head for the last few weeks.

There’s a common thought that new bloggers should do some Google research to find the best niches. Basically, do some keyword searches to see what categories are “light” and then go develop content on that subject matter. There’s no doubt in my mind that this strategy works to a degree. That said, I don’t believe that it’s the BEST strategy, not by a long shot. In the short-term, you can probably get away with blogging about something you know little about and make a few dollars along the way. In the long run, however, unless you fall in love with the topic, you simply can’t last.

Although this particular blog is somewhat new, I’ve had other successful blogs in the past. The most important part of blogging is consistency. That means posting useful content on a regular basis. For this blog in particular, free blog help dot com, almost always, I can simply sit down and just start typing. And once I’m done, I have a hundred other topics sitting in the queue ready to go. You simply won’t be able to do that if you know nothing about your niche.

Look at it this way. When I post about project management, I have an arsenal in my brain that will never run dry. In fact, on one of my blogs, I still post a free daily project management test question for PMP®, CAPM®, and Project+ exams. Simply producing a new question every single day would be an extremely time-consuming process if I don’t already have inherent knowledge of the subject matter. This is how I earned a good living in the past and I still teach a project management certification course at a major university. This is what I know about and not only is it quick and easy for me, it also keeps me fresh as an expert. I am genuinely excited to write about one of my passions and it shows through the writing. It is safe to say that I am very motivated by providing the service to my readers.

Now imagine if I found a niche with a void that I know nothing about. For instance, after performing some due diligence, I learn that there aren’t any major opera blogs and I can easily own that niche (I have no idea whether or not that’s true!). Even though I’ve never been to an opera and I have little interest in learning more about it, I am motivated by the income potential of being the leader in this space. I buy the domain, get my hands on anything opera, talk to people who I know are opera fans, and spend countless hours reading about opera online. I will come to the realization that after the first few weeks, it gets really hard to continue to post about opera. So let’s say I get 10, 20, even 50 quality posts up, since I am not really interested in opera, my articles are getting shorter and the time between posts are getting longer. I start to see the pattern: I dread thinking about my next post and do not look forward to doing the proper research in order to produce a useful post.

In the latter example, how long do you think I can keep it up? Blogging is a long-term game and if you write about something you don’t care about, how long can you stay in it? I don’t care how money-motivated you are, your posts will suffer. You can only fake it for so long.

Do yourself and all your potential readers a huge favor and blog about one of your loves. Go ahead, do that Google keyword research but do it to select your blog topic from your personal short list of favorite niches. In the beginning, when your audience is one (you!), you have to find something that will keep you going because the money won’t be there yet. There’s no better way to keep you blogging along than choosing the topic that will allow you to blog regularly due to the knowledge and fun factors for you.

What’s your niche?

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Believe it or not, passion fruit is real and not just a made up flavor like "mixed berry".

Novice bloggers and blogger wannabes, have you found your topic yet? Remember, you must choose something that interest you in one or another. Today, I’m going to give you an example of someone who stumbled upon a niche: Heather B. Armstrong AKA dooce (www.dooce.com)

Some people love her, some people hate her. Basically, she started blogging in 2001 about motherhood (and often, not so good things about it). In 2005, she and her husband were able to both quit their jobs and just run her blog site. According to her statement on Oprah, she makes $40,000 US a month just blogging about being a mom!

I don’t know Heather personally and I’m not condoning everything she writes about. In fact, I’ve only been to her site a few times. However, I am very impressed that she was able to grow her home biz into something lucrative. So in short, she pulls in nearly half a million year by updating her blog regularly. Heather also does a lot of other things right but the important thing is…surprise…she writes about something that she is passionate about.

Passion can take you a long way. In fact, it might be the only thing that will keep you going after a few months of writing to an audience of one. I’m hopeful that you can see the passion oozing from every word that I write.

When I see articles asking new bloggers to use keyword searches to help them “discover” a blog topic, it drives me insane. You can’t pretend to be passionate about something you found on a keyword list! Your readers will see right through the phoniness and worse, you’ll be bored out of your mind and quit!

How many blog quitters do you know because they chose a “lucrative” topic but never made any traction?

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With so many blog “experts” out there, how can you tell the difference between really useful information and dated, irrelevant hype?

There are some of us who have been blogging or running our own sites for years and the best endorsement is what other bloggers have to say about our sites, our content, and our products.

That said, I’ve been a fan of Daniel Scocco from dailyblogtips.com for a while now. I’ve frequented his site regularly and have also participated in his most recent group writing project with my 10 free killer WordPress themes article last year. He successfully runs one of the top blogging/MMO blogs out there (under 5k Alexa ranking!) and there’s a lot we can learn from his experience.

What you may not know is that Daniel wrote a making money with blogs ebook and it’s one of the most useful blogging tools out there. It’s like someone took the vast making money and blogging content from all over cyberspace and created a concise package that can be used by anyone. The best part is that it’s FREE!

Honestly, when I say it can benefit anyone, I mean anyone. Blog beginners will have a field day, saving hundreds of hours by not having to scour the internet for information, much of which isn’t even good. More advanced bloggers will be able to either pick up a few tips and tricks or simply reinforce what they’re currently doing. And if you’re a MMO blogger, you’ll also pick up lots of great ideas for your own content.

So if you haven’t downloaded Daniel’s ebook, what are you waiting for? I did it a many moons ago and I still open it up for a quick read every now and then. I’m sure that you, too, will find it’s a valuable resource in your blogging reference library.

If you’ve already read it, I’d love to see a brief review of what you think.

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No matter what some critics say, list posts will always do well. I think one of the biggest strengths is that it inherently manages the readers’ expectations. The title of the list post tells them exactly what the post is about and how many bullet points there will be. Another reason is people are so curious that seeing a list post just naturally draws them in. It’s like they just HAVE to know what’s on the list!

Case and point, two of my lists posts have are among my most read articles: Top 5 myths of blogging for money and Top 5 things to do for your SEO. In fact, I may even republish them one day. Readers know exactly what they’re getting from those posts; they get five points. For new bloggers, the lists offer a wealth of info; for others, they may want to see the posts just to argue that I’m missing one or two points that should’ve made the lists.

With over 100 million blogs (though many are defunct now), list posts are more popular than ever and everyone will eventually get to writing one if they haven’t already. Here’s my 7 secrets for creating list posts.

• Use a compelling headline – Sure I could’ve used “7 tips…” or “7 things to know…” but instead, I decided to use “7 secrets…”. Use scare tactics if you want. If your headline would fit in on a tabloid magazine then you probably did it right.
• Keep each point short – If your list is short, using a quick sentence or short paragraph to elaborate is fine. For long lists, often times, all you need are just the points. No one will want to read your expanded version of top 100 things to do before you turn 30.
• Stick with your perceived expertise – Imagine if I wrote a post on “10 warning signs of H1N1 virus”. Even if I knew, the post just wouldn’t be believable. I sell myself as a blog expert so I’m going to write about blogging or other related topics.
• Deliver real content – A list post with a good title with no substance will make readers hate you. Ensure you actually have valuable info! If you’re writing “10 must-do’s before breakfast” and your list is full of things like “brush teeth” and “put on clothes”, you’re just asking for someone to send you a trojan.
• Make it easy to scan by bolding points – Some people don’t care for all the commentary. Let them off the hook by allowing them get the gist of the article by simply glancing at all the bold text.
• Use humor – Depending on your topic, sprinkling a bit of humor can be refreshing. Obviously this wouldn’t be appropriate if your article is “10 things you must know before placing your loved one in a nursing home”.
• Leave the door open for more points – A great way to end a list post is to ask readers to add to your list. After all, your list can’t be totally comprehensive anyway.

Now don’t overdo it; you don’t need a list everyday like Letterman. But when timed right, a list post is not only great for attracting readers, but it also gives you a nice break from your other posts.

What are some of your “secrets” for creating your list posts?

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I don’t consider the topics I write “advanced” but as it turns out, I need to reach back to the fundamentals once in a while. Apparently, there is so much info on the web on SEO and making money, a lot of basics get lost — like actually creating a blog!

Look, I get it, the money isn’t there for bloggers to write about how to start a blog site. People starting a blog typically aren’t the ones who would be clicking on ads or spending any money really. I’m guilty as well; one of my first posts here described how you would start a blog site but it was so high level. I wasn’t being lazy, I just didn’t realize it was necessary.

Regardless of whether or not it will actually make me any money, I do feel I owe it to my audience to post a step-by-step process on creating a blog from scratch. Most of the active Free Blog Help dot Com c0mmunity already have sites but there are a number of new visitors every day, many of whom do not have established blog sites yet. So here goes, a little more depth on my take on how to start a blog with WordPress.

How to start a WordPress blog

Step 1: Decide on a topic

This is your most important decision. If you are planning on creating a blog just to post your random thoughts, then you will always be your only audience.

“Experts” will tell you to find a niche that’s not saturated but my suggestion is to find a niche that you are passionate about, regardless of how popular it is. Your knowledge on the subject matter is secondary because you can actually post while you gain the knowledge or document the learning experience.

If you must, find a micro-niche. For example, there are many blogs on being a father already so instead, your blog will be about being a single dad, being a stay-at-home dad, or being a dad who homeschools his kids. You get the idea, right?

Remember, fresh content is the lifeline for any blog. If you’re not passionate about the topic, then you’ll lose interest fast — especially since readers and money from your blog won’t be coming for a while.

Step 2: Choose a domain name

If you are planning on using blogger or any other free full service blogging platforms, then you can just stop reading here. On the other hand, if you want your blog to grow and make some money in the process, you will need your own domain name. This way, your blog will be stayathomedaddy.com instead of stayathomedaddy.blogspot.com. Your blog will be easier to remember but more importantly, you have shown to the world that you are committed to this blog. Your own domain name will cost you less than $10 a year so there’s no reason not to do this.

Need help on picking a domain name? I have a brief article on what makes a good domain name that you should read. Come up with a short list since it’s likely that your first choice is already gone.

I personally use GoDaddy but you can use a number of sites to register it. I’ve had nothing but great things to say about GoDaddy for domain registration so if you’re going to head over there anyway, please use this link to register your domain with GoDaddy so I get a little something something.

Step 3: Secure a host

After you purchased your domain name, it’s time to find a home for it. This “home” is called hosting and this will cost you about $80 a year. Since you are using WordPress, you will want a hosting provider that supports it.

Before you ask, I also use GoDaddy to host all of my blogs. There are many other good companies out there but I haven’t had a bad day with GoDaddy yet so there’s no reason for me not to stick with them. The cost is comparable to everyone else and I know what I’m getting from a customer service standpoint, which is one of the best in the industry.

Again, if you’re going to use GoDaddy, please use this link to sign up for GoDaddy hosting. As an alternative, although I have not used Blue Host, some of my peers have raved about how happy they are there. You can head over the Blue Host here.

Whether you choose GoDaddy, Blue Host, or another WordPress supported hosting provider, you’ll be all ready to go for the next step.

Step 4: Install WordPress

Actual GoDaddy screen cap for installing WordPress

The big reason why I recommend WordPress supported companies is because of how easy it is to install WordPress. If you are not technical like most bloggers today, you probably don’t want to mess around reading requirements, setting up a database, downloading WordPress files and unzipping them into your folders, and running the install file.

Alternatively, if you signed up for GoDaddy, for instance, you can go to your Hosting Control Center and literally click a button to do all of the aforementioned things for you. Really, you click one button. It can’t get much easier.

If you need help navigating through the site or have questions along the way, you could simply call GoDaddy 24/7 and a customer service rep will walk you through step-by-step. By the way, installing WordPress is free.

Step 5: Add a theme

Even though you don’t have to have a new theme to start posting, I wouldn’t want anyone to see my new site with a default theme. A theme is basically the overall look and feel for your site. It may also provide you with additional administrative tools. Although many themes are free, usually the better looking and more fully-featured themes will cost you a few dollars (usually $40-$80 for a single theme).

There are so many choices out there that it can be overwhelming. Just look at the blogs that you like and scroll down to the footer to see what they are using. In the beginning, experiment with free themes so you get the hang of using WordPress. You may find that a free theme is perfect for your needs.

If you decide you’d like to pay for a theme, one that is clean, looks great, easy to use, has good support and optimized for search engines, one option is the one that I currently use. Frugal theme is a great choice in my opinion. You could use this link to learn about and purchase a Frugal theme. While you’re there, check out examples of what others have done with Frugal. Pretty amazing stuff!

Step 6: Start posting

Now that you have your building blocks laid out, it’s time to populate your blog with real meat. It will seem pretty easy to fill your new blog site with content at first. Don’t let that fool you! Most bloggers fall of the face of the earth pretty fast.

If you followed all the steps so far, you’ve put yourself into a pretty good position. Look at some of these tips on how to be in the top 10% of bloggers who can survive six months. You’ll find that the first tip is to set a goal on posting frequency and stick to it no matter what. That’s easier said than done.

What to do next

There you have it. You have your own WordPress blog for less than $100! I know you’re proud of yourself but don’t relax too much though. Your work isn’t done, in fact, it’s just beginning!

If you need more depth on what you can do in WordPress, check out the video from Getting started with WordPress – the newbie guide.

Although there is a lot to do, below are the first few areas you should start learning about.

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And if you get a moment, go check out how to make money blogging with YouSayToo.

One last thing — sign up for my email and RSS!

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Let’s start with a quiz. What do the following phrases have in common?

• zombieland cameo
• tim pawlenty
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Today's Zombieland trend results as of 10:00 AM EST, Oct. 1, 2009.

I know, it looks like a crazy, random list! Give up? Those are the top 10 hot trends of today (literally, today, as in October 1, 2009). That means those phrases along with their like terms have been Google searched by people more than any other phrase. In fact, zombieland cameo, along with zombieland, zombieland cast, zombieland review, emma stone, and zombieland wiki, peaked 2 hours ago (approximately 8:30 AM EST). If you haven’t heard, Zombieland is a new movie that is out in theaters tomorrow, October 2, 2009. There’s a lot of media buzz around it and as a result, people are scrambling to learn more about the move and the cameos that are supposedly epic.

Anyway, I got that top 10 list from Google trends, a little known secret. There’s actually so much you can do there but if you want just a glimpse, with a click of a button, you can see the top 40 hottest trends searched on Google today or any previous day. There’s really no quicker way to see what people are looking for information on. This is almost in real time!

What does this have to do with blogging? Well, for one, I’m pretty sure one of those top 40 topics have some tie-in with your niche. If your blog is sports-related, there’s michael vick nike contract. For music, there’s madonna on letterman. How about investing, bbby stock, or hot kids toys, zhu zhu pets, or travel,waldorf astoria orlando? No matter what your niche is, there are probably more hot topics than you have time to write about!

As a result, using Google trends can give you several advantages:

1. It gives you an endless stream of topics for your blog.
2. There may be news related to your niche that you were unaware of.
3. If you choose a trendy topic to write about, you may end up with drawing a spike in traffic for your site.
4. Writing about trendy, related topics keeps you current and makes you more knowledgeable in your niche.
5. Fresh, trendy posts keep your reader base interested.

I simply wanted to introduce you to Google trends so you have another resource to tap. As I stated earlier, there’s so much more that you can do but I’ll leave that for your own discovery. Happy trend posting!

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Here’s a common dilemma: should you focus on just a single blog or spread your time across multiple blogs? As with many decisions, the answer rests inside you. However, I’ll do my best to help you weigh your options quickly.

First, let’s reflect a little:

• Are you an experienced internet user?
• Are you a good writer?
• Are you able to multitask well?

If you answered YES to all of the questions, then you can consider running more than one blog site. On the flip side, if you even answered NO to any of the questions, I would start with just one and revisit this decision on a future date. Here’s why:

If you are not an experienced internet user, you will struggle with basic concepts. I have met many wannabe bloggers who need help creating a facebook account. That’s not a lie! My assumption is if you can’t figure out a way to do something  that is intuitive to a twelve-year old, then you should probably take baby steps when starting a new venture like this. Otherwise, it will be incredibly overwhelming and you will eventually look for “opportunities” to give up.

If you are not a good writer, then you’re going to be spending too much time creating content. Sure, you can buy content or aggregate it from another site but that’s not really the best way to run your first blog site. The best method is still creating your own original content and doing it regularly. Ideally, for someone with a full-time job, a realistic number is 4-7 posts per week (once a day is perfect if your schedule allows). How are you going to do that for two, three, or more sites if you can’t quickly decide on your topic, write an interesting blurb, and get your point across in a very efficient manner?

If you are not a good multitasker, then you will find running multiple blog sites very difficult to manage. Even though I am only actively focused on two right now, I have several blog sites on auto-pilot that I mildly pay attention to. Every day, I know how my sites are doing, look at variances in their performance, and evaluate options. I can tell you firsthand that it is not hard to confuse what you do on one site vs. another.

For me, as I stated earlier, I run multiple blogs. I started several blogs years ago but my main focus right now are on two blogs, Free Blog Help dot Com being one of them. This is a niche I know well since I have created strategies and tactics for websites for some of the largest companies in the world. I am computer and internet savvy and I feel that anything I don’t know, I can learn quickly. I am also very efficient at getting my ideas across and even in high school I recall writing fifty-page papers in less than a day while my peers were spending weeks at a time creating much shorter works. Finally, I am wired to multitask. For example, as I’m writing this post, I have several screens up monitoring other things, I’m watching TV, and am on the phone with one of my partners.

Could I handle ten blog sites? Probably. However, there’s only so much time in a day and my goal is to be smart about my businesses. That includes getting the biggest bang for the buck. I choose to stick with my niches and focus on harvesting what I have. That doesn’t mean I won’t start another blog site tomorrow but the point I’m trying to make is just because you can, doesn’t mean you always should. If you look around, I’m sure you could find very successful bloggers with many sites and struggling bloggers with just one site. My suggestion is to start with one and use that as your playground. Remember, although writing fresh content is a key ingredient, there are a lot of other things you must think about such as: designing and evaluating features, increasing traffic, earning income, creating partners, leveraging affiliates, just to name a few!

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