Posts with the label Blogging
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Monday, August 26, 2013
Uninspiring Blogger Jargon and Overused Phrases that You Should Avoid
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| Image via Flickr |
the blogger lingo,
that doesn’t match the fun of bingo,
i would rather run from a dingo,
or get pecked by a flamingo,
than use this boring lingo,
did you like my bloggy jingo?
that doesn’t match the fun of bingo,
i would rather run from a dingo,
or get pecked by a flamingo,
than use this boring lingo,
did you like my bloggy jingo?
Your language and your personal vocabulary have a major impact on how you view life. In fact language affects culture because it defines our emotions, social world and objects. Some phrases are not translatable. This results in one culture holding unique views about life that other cultures can’t comprehend. For example, Greece developed the origins for the term “democracy.” This single term, “dēmokratía” which means rule of the people, changed the course of history and spread freedom from dictatorship across the modern world.
The words that you use to describe your industry and profession also play a role in how your conduct business. If you use uninspiring, overused words and phrases to define your industry, your professional endeavors may share the same lackluster characteristics. I’ve noticed that there are several popular phrases in the blogosphere that may trap some new bloggers. However, by eliminating these terms from their vocabulary, they could save their blog.
Niche – Wikipedia defines niche as “the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing.” This is a popular term that bloggers and affiliate marketers love to tout around. A majority of the top blogs about blogs are proclaiming from the hill tops “Find your niche!!”
However I have a different take on this. First you need identify your audience. Then you need to contemplate your mission, be honest about your passion, develop the personality of your blog and create engaging topics. Many well-known blogger experts direct you to find your golden niche. However niches can be too suffocating. What you want do to instead is create the golden brand. I say, be innovative! Come up with your own niche. Google didn’t go around chasing niches; their mission was to organize the internet. Steve Jobs wasn’t sitting around thinking…”hummm which niche should I chase??” instead he followed his passion and became competition for IBM.
Content – Content is actually a pretty handy word. It’s great for referring to all forms of media. However whenever I am writing, I don’t think…"time update my blog with more content.” I believe it’s more effective to view your media in the same way that your audience does. When an audience is finished reading a prolific novel or watching an enchanting movie, they don’t say “whoa, that was great content!” Instead there are specific elements of the novel or movie that the audience has fallen in love with. Maybe it was the characters, the actors, or the songs or perhaps the story line. What can you make your audience fall in love with?
Also, the word, “content” is bland and seems to remove all differentiation between media. You don’t want your blog to be bland. You are a blogger, therefore you are writing blog posts not just content. You should be asking, what type of blog post am I writing? Will it be more journalistic, it is personable, it is satire or it is an interview?
If you are doing a video, once again it’s not just content. It’s about whether you posting this video on YouTube, Viddy, Vimeo or offline. It’s about the differences between those audiences. It’s about your personality shining on this platform and your audiences getting to know you. I would rather you refer to your writing and the media you produce as art, than content. Yes, it’s a bit lofty, but art reminds you to display culture, provide meaning and have powerful expression.
Call to Action – Have you seen those horribly design pages, with bright colors and a huge button that says “BUY NOW!!” or “CLICK NOW TO DOWNLOAD EBOOK!!”? I have and it’s never a pretty or inspiring sight. When you have a genuine connection with your readers and viewers, they automatically want to extend the connection. If you have a great blog, people will want to purchase your book for more exclusive thoughts from you. Of course, you may have an extra step that you want your audience to take. However, you aren’t entitled to anyone’s action. But you can inspire other to take the next step by offering value. You also can have a strategically designed page or blog that helps your audience take the next step.
Monetize- Overall I think that the word monetize is extremely lazy. The word monetize causes me to imagine bloggers attempting to "passively" earn money from poorly done articles. If you can’t think of a creative way to earn money from your articles perhaps you shouldn’t be freelancing. You really should be thinking “how can I expand the brand? How can I create an adventure?” For example, Disney was able to develop an entire empire from his studios. He wanted to provide a family experience for his audience. He wasn’t sitting around confused about monetization.
Modern bloggers forget the term starving artist and expect to earn too much too soon. When I think of a starving artist, I think of a person that has sacrificed so much and now they are desperate to earn a living. I don’t think of them casually asking, “I’ve sacrificed my life for my art…I wonder how I will monetize this.” Instead there was this huge conflict between maintaining their sense of self, pursuing their passion and having enough money to eat the next day. There is a depth in Edgar Allan Poe’s literature that captures the hearts of people worldwide yet he struggled financially. Do you really deserve to “monetize” your work? Then get creative.
Traffic- The word “traffic” gives me the image of numbers without feelings, emotions or a personal story checking out your blog. However people are not just numbers, they are complex beings that are scrutinizing your work. They are people looking for entertainment, inspiration, information and an experience to share with their loved ones.
The word can also be intimidating for new bloggers. They think “wait I need how much traffic to make money??!!!?” Instead, new bloggers should be thinking about how many individuals they can make fall in love with their blog posts. It’s all about how you are making individuals feel. It’s not just about getting “traffic.” If you can make hundreds, thousands and even millions of individuals happy then you’ve achieved your goal.
The word can also be intimidating for new bloggers. They think “wait I need how much traffic to make money??!!!?” Instead, new bloggers should be thinking about how many individuals they can make fall in love with their blog posts. It’s all about how you are making individuals feel. It’s not just about getting “traffic.” If you can make hundreds, thousands and even millions of individuals happy then you’ve achieved your goal.
Now.. Are you ready to change to the course of your history?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
How New and Low Traffic Blogs can Compete with the Quality Content of News Outlets, Popular Blogs and Other Well Branded Web Publications
Even though you are a new blogger that feels small in comparison to established and well branded web publications, you can create quality & competitive content that earns premium readership. The research article, “What Makes Consumers Willing to Pay a Price Premium for National Brands over Private Labels” answers the question…. What Causes News Outlets and Popular Blogs to Gain Premium Readership?
What is Premium Readership?
Price premiums for national brands can be defined as the consumers’ willingness to pay a higher price for a product because of their trust in the brand’s quality. In a similar manner premium readership is an audience that pays you with their time by specifically allocating time to visit your site or blog. While other sites or blogs are just casually read or browsed, these news outlets and popular blogs gain premium trust and extra attention -- giving these web publications the advantage in their field. Premium readership is the equivalent of getting the undivided attention and priority of an audience that has developed a bond with your site or blog. Since many news outlets and popular blogs are considered quality content, they attract “premium” or targeted readers that will go to their site first -- or nearly first-- for information, entertainment or purchases. For example, Amazon is perceived as a quality and trustworthy online store to purchase books, therefore they’ve attracted premium traffic that go to the site specifically to make a purchase as opposed to discovering the site on a search engine without any intentions to make a purchase.
Premium readership is the crowning glory to become a destination site just as Techcrunch or Mashable has branded themselves as destination sites for tech news. These news outlets, popular blogs and other established web publications have significant leverage due their premium readership. Large premium readership gives them more access to advertising dollars, earning gigs and connections. The featured research article comparing national brands to private labels provides insight into why national brands can charge a high price. Just like people are pressed on money, people are pressed for time. So it’s important to do whatever is necessary to prove that you are worthy of an audiences’ time.
How to Effectively Face the Advantages Branded Web Publications Have over Small Bloggers
“Product Innovation. Introducing new and improved products underpins the quality gap between NBS and PLS. Retailers must manage many product categories and consequently lack the technical and financial resource to be innovation leaders.”
The research article goes on to explain that private labels attempt to mimic the national brands’ innovation but they are often too late. The customers have already become loyalty to the national brand and the innovation has further boosted the national brand’s image. Private labels are not able to invest as much money, time and skills needed to develop new products or use technology to upgrade their current products, since many have their plates full and budgets limited with the responsibilities of a retailer or grocer. However if a national brand fails to innovate then this gives the private label a chance to capture a major portion of the market.
Small bloggers with limited funds, skill sets and knowledge struggle with this dilemma. While news outlets, popular blogs and other well established web publications are able to divide up tasks and create departments that assign responsibilities to the appropriate expert, small bloggers must be the jack of all trades. Wearing so many hats can dilute the blog’s brand if it contains poor content, an unprofessional design, weak editing and/or scarce or untargeted marketing that results in low visibility. Since it is nearly impossible to attain the highest level of expertise in every area related to blogging, focus on aspects of blogging that you are highly proficient in. Then for the other areas just do the basics and/or outsource the rest.
News outlets and popular blogs also have the edge on quality and innovative content. Generally these types of sites have access to the most recent information or breaking news. The established web publications can directly speak to the news makers and choose the best writers for the story. In addition, well informed sources are pitching them topics, important players in the event have taken the initiative to contact them first or/and staff members are already investigating issues that are on the verge of being the next big story. The result is that these news sites, blogs and web publications can use these assets to control the dialogue on the topic, enjoy the benefits of the readers’ first reactions as they comment on, share or social bookmark the new information and they gain prime spot on search engines on the topic. You have to remember that many readers depend on the latest quality news to remain competitive in their own fields. Consequently the premium readership will begin turning to these sites first to remain updated.
However do not be discouraged because you can effectively compete in your sphere. Center your blog on deep and thoughtful analysis. Prove you are an expert on the subject by adding a spin or further researching topics introduced by the well branded & established publications. For example, established web publications can break the story about Panda but you can provide an insightful analysis about how to successfully navigate SEO and content creation post Panda. Also cast a smaller net by narrowing in on topics that popular blogs and news outlets neglect. Gain inspiration from your environment. This will help your blog appeal to niche audiences. Niche audiences will be more receptive to becoming premium readership to smaller blogs. As the article suggested, sometimes national brands can have periods of innovation lapses. You can use those times to a post a response article offering a more expert opinion and clarifying any holes from the lesser quality article. If you are not able to get top sources, do a well-researched article and/or speak to other small bloggers. Once you can prove yourself, then you’ll have the clout and reputation to begin divulging in breaking news on a specific topic until you have the resources and man power to expand.
Overcoming the “Perceived Quality Gap”
Readers often assume that smaller blogs have content that is of lesser quality. Obviously there will be a quality gap between a less experienced blogger and a New York Times journalist, however as you gain more experience you don’t want the perceived quality gap to be overstated. In fact even now as a new blogger you have valuable knowledge to impart that could be helpful to readers.
“Difficulty of Producing the Product. If consumers perceived that the product is difficult to make, this calls PL quality into question because consumers will not know whether the purveyor of the PL as mastered these difficulties.”
Essentially, the more complex the product, the more doubt customers have over private labels to deliver quality. In the same manner, readers often doubt the small bloggers’ ability to skillfully write about intricate subjects or subjects requiring extensive knowledge, experience or mastery. For example, a reader would most likely trust Mashable’s Guide to the Google + Social Network, a relatively unfamiliar therefore difficult topic, than a smaller blogger with less authority. However dispel these perceptions by first writing about simple concepts and approaching them in a complex manner. For example you can write a comprehensive and well researched article about a topic as simple as choosing a domain name. Once you have enough practice, you can move on to addressing difficult subject matters to demonstrate your expertise and authority. Also showcase your experience and skill on the About Me/Blog page.
“PL Production of NB Manufacturers. In the United States alone, it has been estimated that more than half of the NB manufacturers also engage in PL production. Consumer magazines and anecdotal wisdom regularly suggest that ‘all products come from the same factory.’ To the extent that consumers believe that NB manufacturers produce PLs, the perceived quality gap between NBs and PLs is reduced.”
The premise is that national brands try to hide that they manufacturer product private labels so that they can continue selling their branded products at a premium price and to disassociate themselves from the private labels they produce. Small bloggers want to achieve the opposite effect but use a similar approach. Instead of being the national brand secretly manufacturing private labels, trying being the private label openly manufacturing national brand by personally associating yourself with news outlets, popular blogs and other well established web publication. This will help dispel perceptions of a significant quality gap. If you are qualified enough to write for popular blog “A”, this sends the message that the content in your blog is also credible and worthy of premium readership. Other methods endorsements include getting backlinks from, guest posting on or becoming a regular contributor to established web publications with premium readership. Press features and acknowledgement from the media -- for example Blogging Away Debt being cited and mentioned by Wells Fargo, US News, Mint and SeattlePi -- also adds to your credibility. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of offline networking and writing opportunities. Offline writing opportunities give you the chance to promote your blog by producing quality content and then listing the experience on your About Me/Blog page.
As a small blogger, I have a long way to go therefore I’m still in the process of implementing my own tips. I hope that you enjoyed my article! Do you have any tips for new or low traffic bloggers?
Source: Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, Harald J. Van Heerde, and Inge Geyskens. What Makes Consumers Willing to Pay a Price Premium for National Brands Over Private Labels? (Dec. 2010). Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. XLVII, 1011-1024
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Choosing the Best Domain Name, Niche and Social Networks for Your Blog
Valuing Your Content and Blog Just Like You Would Value Real Estate Series: Part 3 -- Location
The goal is to become a destination site without depending on finicky search engines. In order to achieve this goal, you must be parked at quality location within a supportive and involved neighborhood.
How to Skillfully Choose Your Domain Name
A major component of choosing a lucrative location is your address, better known as your domain name. The question you should ask yourself is would your potential visitors need to drive far away from civilization, use 10 maps and a GPS system just to find you. In the same way people get lost looking for an address at a difficult location, people may overlook your domain in the search results if your domain name isn’t relevant to the subject matter, is generally unappealing or clashes with the culture of the visitors that gravitate towards the content you are writing. Google is also boosting up niche sites with strong branding; therefore it’s important for your domain to represent your niche. For people that are interesting in flipping their domain, just like a developer must choose a location that is desirable to potential homeowners, you must also have insight and choose a domain name that will be desired in the future. It’s also wise to avoid domain names that are too long or hard to pronounce since it will be easier to forget.
It’s also important to move at a location where there is minimal to no “crime”. Do research on your domain name first to make sure it’s not associated with “criminal activity”. I recommend The Way Back Machine sponsored by Archive.org, a tool that enables you to thoroughly browse archived webpages as a starting point. You don’t want a site that was formerly a spammer or scraper site because it will be difficult trying to get back into Google’s graces and get promptly indexed. On the same note, you also must decide if you want to take time to build a new house or purchase a house that was already skillfully constructed and has a reputation for quality. For example you can purchase a more expensive domain that has page rank, high traffic, backlinks and/or strong branding. These decisions depend on your goals and if your brand is established. A corporate blogger would need a specific domain name for branding purposes. Thus the need to wrangle with domain flippers and the rush by many corporations to acquire specialized gTLDs (generic top-level domain) recently released by ICANN. For personal bloggers, small business owners and professional bloggers that are low on funds, it can be discouraging to discover that most “premium locations” are expensive. However you can get creative, do your research to gain inspiration and purchase a professional sounding domain at competitive price. Then you can build your own home… or brand.
What to Consider Before Choosing a Niche
Your location is one of the defining qualities that determine how lucrative your blog will be. For example, if a business doesn’t study the demographics of an area to find out unfilled needs, entertainment desires and local interests, they risk being ignored, ridiculed, unable to sell their product or service, incapable of hiring qualified employees or connecting with other businesses. You need to match your expectations, strategy and goals with your location. If you want to become an empire, it would difficult to follow through on this lofty goal by blogging solely about belts…however being quality fashion blogger featuring current trends could help you reach that goal. In this instance you could still attempt to become an authority on belts and capture a niche audience by consistently showcasing belts.
Even domain flippers understand this approach. Ken Carey, 50, a longtime autoworker in Grand Rapids, Mich., and part-time inventor who owns 200 domain names explains in USA Today "All you gotta do is hit the right niche, and you're well on your way to being a millionaire." Similarity if you want to become a professional blogger, you need to choose your niche carefully. Think about the demographics of the internet and the type of content they would enjoy, talk about and share with friends.
Even domain flippers understand this approach. Ken Carey, 50, a longtime autoworker in Grand Rapids, Mich., and part-time inventor who owns 200 domain names explains in USA Today "All you gotta do is hit the right niche, and you're well on your way to being a millionaire." Similarity if you want to become a professional blogger, you need to choose your niche carefully. Think about the demographics of the internet and the type of content they would enjoy, talk about and share with friends.
Entrepreneurs also tend to start businesses in field they are knowledgeable about and actively participate in. Similarly you should write about a topic that you’ve experienced, enjoy researching, can make more interesting and innovatively monetize. It is also beneficial to have connections in your area of interest(s). For example, if you want to start a poetry blog it helps to already be affiliated with other poets online and offline so that your blog can circulate in the poetry community ensuring a loyal readership, you could possibility gain contributors which could help your blog stay updated, increase your exposure to a targeted audience and stay motivated.
Blog and Content: Settling Successfully in the Blogosphere
Make an effort to build your web estate on solid foundation by choosing a reputable platform and secure hosting. Even if you have a limited budget there are low cost and free options that can prevent you from being blown down by the lightest wind (or in our case cyber-attacks) and offer attractive features. Your content also should be surrounded by other quality content. Why have an extravagant couch next to a moldy table? Mixed quality sites give the same aurora. All of your content should be written at a high quality level, even if you have to post less frequently.
In addition to having a well-constructed house, business office, etc your social environment should be healthy as well.
Your blog and content will flourish if situated in a hospitable neighborhood full of resources. You need them be located within city surrounded by opportunities to introduce yourself, gain inspiration and support, stay on top of current events that are important to the public, make new friends and be exposed to innovative money making strategies. It’s dangerous to stay in your bubble or else your visitors won’t be able to relate with you, pay attention to what you are saying or find use for what you are presenting. Find relevant forums, blog networks, blog challenges, and social media. The variety of social avenues will help diversify your audience.
Your blog and content will flourish if situated in a hospitable neighborhood full of resources. You need them be located within city surrounded by opportunities to introduce yourself, gain inspiration and support, stay on top of current events that are important to the public, make new friends and be exposed to innovative money making strategies. It’s dangerous to stay in your bubble or else your visitors won’t be able to relate with you, pay attention to what you are saying or find use for what you are presenting. Find relevant forums, blog networks, blog challenges, and social media. The variety of social avenues will help diversify your audience.
Warning:
Becoming too dependent on your social and support networks and forgetting about your SEO or content matter can be dangerous. You may be posting content that is not helpful your audience. When using social media make sure that focus on connecting to a relevant audience. Also try to network with blogs with a similar subjects and/or writing styles. It’s like a meat market trying to join forces with a vegetarian restaurant. The may be polite at first but the support may wane. In special cases don’t avoid niche that you are passionate about just because you feel like there isn’t any demand. You may be able to create demand or the demand for your niche may be unexpressed.
Thank you so much for reading my 3 series guide for beginning blogs! I hope that I was able to help your blogging venture become a success.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Choosing the Best Domain Name, Niche and Social Networks for Your Blog
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Upgrade and Remodel Your Content and Blog on a Regular Basis
Valuing Your Content and Blog Just Like You Would Value Real Estate Series: Part 2 Renovations and Maintenance are Essential!
Beautiful homes, renowned apartment complexes, upscale condos and professional business offices renovate when necessary to attract quality clientele and prevent the deterioration of their real estate. Those who invest in real estate and truly care about the sustainability of their property make a persistent effort to upkeep their properties. This helps them remain competitive, build their reputation, increase their real estate’s marketability and stay in the public eye by generating buzz about themselves. However abandoned real estate is never a pretty sight and it can cause customers to feel devalued. It also lowers the value of the real estate and becomes unmarketable. Once real estate is abandoned or no longer renovated, those with ill intent can take advantage, your competition wins, your community disbands or becomes dysfunctional and you are branded with a negative image. Customers avoid abandoned real estate and search engines also avoid crawling abandoned blogs that are hardly updated or maintained. Therefore do a bit of maintenance on your blog every once in a while. For example, check your links to make sure that they are not broken, add or change images and scan for any grammatical, structural or spelling issues. Every once in a while do minor edits on your posts, especially on your popular posts, to make them more appealing and worthy to be shared. If you wrote a blog post about an issue in 2008 consider including updated information so that the post remains relevant. In some instances, I’ve had to remove a couple of articles to change the title for the sake of SEO.
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| Even the White House gets renovated! |
In other cases you have to do renovations and remodeling. Bloggers from the late 1990 and early 2000s didn’t have to consider social media; however bloggers that can adapt and are willing to learn how to do renovations such as adding Twitter and Facebook buttons to their posts have a greater chance of staying relevant and thriving. Think about your competition. You must always remember that any “housing development” could arise. Therefore you want to gain a solid standing and following by presenting a quality blog. Your blog, content and community should always to be improving and growing just like an upscale community is always attempting to outdo surrounding communities and expand to other areas. Major renovations to consider include: redesigning your blog, changing your host and/or blogging platform. If necessary you may need to redesign your blog to stay modern and align appearance of your blog to the content. A mommy blog should look like a mommy blog while a financial blog’s design should complement the posts about finances. In extreme cases some new bloggers have to change their writing style, content focus or even domain name. Whenever your blogging platform offers a new feature, test it out to see it boosts the user experience and/or is an upgrade for the appearance of your blog. If you are unsure of what or when to renovate or upgrade just observe other blogs or websites. A couple of websites that I gain design inspiration from include CNN and the Economist.
Home Improvement Woes
Focusing too much on design and remodeling and not enough on content can be a deceptively easy yet disastrous mistake. Even though a professional, exquisite and clean looking site is generally desired, some blogs look very plain yet their content results in return visitors. You don’t want to waste too much time renovating. Perfectionism and excessive anxiety about making grammatical or spelling mistakes and/or writing about the wrong topics can hinder your creativity and prevent you from making regular posts. Just face that we are all human and it takes practice to fine-tune the art of writing. Degrading your brand should also be avoided. Changing your blog’s logo, name, layout or structure too many times can leave your audience confused. However new bloggers can take this risk if needed. Either way, it’s helpful to warn your audience beforehand and even ask for their suggestions. If not it can lead to resistance. TechCrunch has personal experience with disgruntled readers that were inflamed their controversial redesign in July 2011. Designinformer highlighted a couple of “colorful” comments “AOL obviously has some bad marketing execs if they switched from the old TC look to this crayola crayon design. This is about as bad as TC adopting FB Commenting over Disqus” and, “This has to be the worst “redesign” of all time.” TechCrunch did acknowledge the dissent by unveiling a standard hate letter with specific complaints that readers choose from and they wrote a satirical yet informative post, We Picked This Logo Just to Piss You Off, explaining the changes.
Another danger to watch out for, especially new bloggers, are pseudo “professionals” who claim they have experience to gain your trust but intentionally lead you down the wrong path to make a sale or stifle you, the competition. Others may blatantly scam you and not even do the renovations or maintenance that you paid for. One blogger was scammed out of $115 from paying a web designer who took the money but did not redesign her site. Unfortunately she had no retribution since PayPal considered the purchase “virtual”. Other issues include trying to do everything on your own. Some people have lost their content trying to install a new template on blogger. If you can’t figure out the various coding or if editing becomes taxing, you may have to hire a reputable professional. Get recommendations from other bloggers to avoid getting scammed. Probably one of the most frustrating incidents is mistakenly downgrading which wastes money and time. For example you may switch from good hosting to "supposedly better" hosting to just find out that hard way by getting hacked that your new hosting was actually more vulnerable than your original hosting This experience is comparable to renovating your kitchen and then realizing that your new appliances are of worse quality than your older appliances. The overall goal is to not rush into implementing new renovations and maintenance for your blog but avoid going to the other extreme and succumbing to inactivity.
Monday, September 19, 2011
How and Why You Should Treat Your Content and Blog Like Real Estate
Your domain and content has the potential to be parked on the World Wide Web for years, just like a house generally settles at a location for decades. There are articles that have been written years ago that still capture the first ranking on Google. Currently you can set up a free blog and purchase a cheap domain name. However, the internet is evolving at a rapid pace therefore you want to get your prime spot while the barriers to entry are still low. Setting up your blog, getting a host, purchasing a cheap domain that hasn’t been discovered yet and capturing the first page on Google or other search engines for competitive keywords may not be this easy in the future. Future homeowners, landlords, brokers and developers view real estate as a long term investment. Professional bloggers and even domainers should view their blog, content or domains in the same manner. Lawrence Fishcher, vice president of business development at SmartName.com, a company that owns and manages thousands of domain names, explains in USA Today, "It's a long-term investment, like owning a home."
If you take the right steps your blog and content can grow in value as you settle comfortably with a nice page rank, quality backlinks, profit from monetizing your content and a positive reputation in the neighbor (blogosphere). Some people like to grow old in their homes while others view their property as real estate to be sold as a profit. For example most domainers buy and own names without any intention of producing in-depth content for the site. USA Today describes the process, “They "park" on sites, where they develop content in the form of Web links and ads, to generate income and increase the value of their virtual real estate.” Either way you plan to use your blog and content, to sell your domain or become a long term blogger, your goal should to be implementing a keen strategy initially for a solid foundation and then building up as much value on your web estate as possible. I will be posting a series, Valuing Your Content Just Like You Would Value Real Estate Series, about this topic over the next week. I hope your enjoy!
Valuing Your Content and Blog Just Like You Would Value Real Estate Series: Part 1
Be the First!
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| Panning for Gold! |
Think of the web and the blogosphere as the Wild West. Everyone is rushing and competing with each other to acquire gold and land. The reserves are drying up fast! The first settlers that were curious enough to discover the gold and the first pioneers that were willing to lay aside their routine to travel out West were generously rewarded. In the same way the first people to recognize the available “real estate” on the web and step outside of their 9-5 comfortable zone in the late 1990s and early 2000s were rewarded. They came in before the gold rush and secured the “gold” keywords before anyone noticed.
It is always helpful to recognize a “location” such as a profitable niche, stellar blogging platform, marketable domain name and etc. before other buyers. Shrewd realtors seek to purchase undiscovered land and quality homes while it is at a reduced price because they know how to make it appealing to future customers. When people purchase overlooked yet prized real estate they are able to secure an optimal location before the prices and the time needed to invest skyrocket. This goal applies whether you are a developer seeking out land that the next best kept secret, a potential homeowner investing in house a lesser known but high quality neighborhood or simply rushing to get “gold” such as a domain, that hasn’t been discovered yet. Less time is spending figuring out SEO, you get higher ranking on search engines, more exposure from other media sources, there are not as many restrictions since gaming the system hasn’t gain momentum and you get the privilege of appearing as an authority since you would have been around longer. All these factors result in more savings and larger profits. Have foresight to understand what customers want now and can’t find or will want in the future. Originality is always awarded. Be there for be there for new forms of social media and new forms of content. For example, those who strategically secured their plot on YouTube are also generously rewarded. Rush to get the first story or put a spin or new insight into an old topic to reopen discussion.
Warning: Be aware of fool’s gold. Investing funds and time into real estate that was inaccurately perceived to have potential can be costly and discouraging. You may rush to a new form of social media or content, just for it to not work out or you may run into unforeseen issues. In other instances, chasing after a new niche could be difficult to monetize or sustain since there is no prior knowledge on how to and once again you could face other general issues. It can be dangerous meddling in activities with no personal guidance or even other having other successful blogs to observe or bloggers to learn from their mistakes. For example, Benoit Deschenes was threatened with a lawsuit after approaching a health care conglomerate about selling them a domain that contained their name. Since he was an earlier domainer, he probably didn’t understand that he was overstepping his boundaries. Deschenes recounted to USA Today, in 2006, "I never imagined it could be like this. It's a crazy time." Past bloggers probably didn’t know the potential of blogs, so they didn’t put in the required effort. They were quickly usurped by new yet ambitious bloggers since they didn’t take blogging as far as possible and they weren't evolved enough to compete. Many who started blogging gave up because there were no precedents to guide them. The tools were probably limited and the amounts of resources or people who could answer questions were scarce. When you are going on uncharted territory make sure to take it slow. You may have to sacrifice being first. Once equipped with the right knowledge, you can always rise up and takeover like Facebook did with MySpace and Google with Yahoo. Even if you can’t get the gold niche you can still be like Levi and profit by targeting other bloggers in the current gold rush. On the flip side don’t let your fear of failure or anxiety about being the first stop you indefinitely. Perhaps failure can propel you to success and the benefits of being the first typically outrank minor obstacles. Don’t let opportunities pass by if you feel that you are ready to take advantage of them.
Read More of the Series: How and Why You Should Treat Your Content
and Blog Like Real Estate
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Photo Credit: WikiCommons
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