Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Is “Make Money Online” The Secret To Traffic?

View Comments | Posted In Blogging by David

A few days ago, I talked about the hidden x-factor and why some blogs seem to “make it” while so many others don’t get that much traffic. This inspired a reader to post a comment which I think is an awesome topic for a post. Essentially, should we just all start talking about making money online in order to get traffic? :)

The reader’s name is Kay Rennie and the comment was:

Great post, and I really appreciate the advice given here. I wonder though – do we all need to get on the bandwagon of marketing tips and tricks and how to make money etc. to get any real attention? I know other types of sites do well, such as photography etc, but most are very much related to the same group of marketing topics. Is it just me, or is this section of the web totally self-absorbed? Any suggestions for sites that do really well traffic-wise that are not about marketing? There must be thousands but I don’t seem to come across them.

Ah, the notorious echo chamber. It is funny, too, since my other blog (PCMech) is a technology blog and there is a huge echo chamber in that market as well.

There are certain very popular markets which, because they are popular, see a lot of entrants. And when you have a lot of people talking about the same thing, you get a lot of overlap. It just so happens that both of my blogs are in pretty big markets.

Technology and computers is a HUGE market online for blogs. It isn’t necessarily the best market to be in for making money, however. In my experience, this market is rabid, but cheap. And the hardware market leaves very little room for money as an affiliate marketer because the margins are so low and, hence, the commissions are very low. I manage to make a good living with a cheap market and it is a lot of work.

Blogging and “make money online” is another extremely popular topic. The reason I decided to get in on this market is simply because I had been making my money online for years before I ever started talking about it. I knew it was a good market to be in, and it seemed only natural for me to enter it because I was already quite successful at it and felt I had a unique style and perspective to offer.

Do most popular blogs, though, deal with tech or making money online? No, not at all. For example, Yaro interviewed Alborz Fallah, an Australian blogger who has gotten quite successful talking about cars at CarAdvice.com.au. Darren Rowse has a blog talking about photography. Icanhascheezburger.com is extremely popular and all they do is post funny pictures of cats!

Opportunities abound in blogging. It is a matter of your market selection and how you approach it. I don’t recommend getting into the blogging/marketing niche unless you have something unique to offer and can actually demonstrate that you practice what you preach. I actually DO make my entire living as a blogger and I even post income reports to prove it. But, if you’re not in that boat, I wouldn’t recommend it yet.

Tips For Selecting a Market

Obviously, selecting a market is a fairly involved topic, but I wanted to provide some useful information in this post. So, here are some tips:

  1. Select a market where you have something to offer. It doesn’t really matter if there are a lot of other people already doing it. What matters is that you can do it and make yourself unique in some way.
  2. Some huge markets online are in technology, dating & relationships, making money and health. Technology is a saturated market and not the easiest to make money in, but it is a biggie. Dating is a huge one. Making money is, too. And health is huge, but you have to be careful with legal implications.
  3. Often, you can enter a saturated market and be unique by simply making it more local. For example, the CarAdvice blog mentioned above targets Australia.
  4. Think outside the box for ideas. I mean, who would think a blog of cat pictures would be such a hit? I was also amused to see my friend Mark Jaquith (yes, the Wordpress developer) starting WordsPlosion which is a photo blog of signs with errors.
  5. Look inside. You need to be interested in your topic and you need to be able to constantly have things to write about. If your idea doesn’t pass that test, I wouldn’t recommend blogging in that market.

So, do you have any other advice? What do YOU blog about and why? And, feel free to share some other examples of popular blogs you read outside of the “make money online” and blogging arena.

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  • I see your point dkprosp but once you have a more general method of making money online you can then apply it to the different markets you metioned.
  • Good Post
  • There is a big audience for "make money online" information and insight.

    There's also a big market for sites about dogs. And cats. And home repair. And politics. And...

    If it seems like the only things you're seeing are about making money, it might just be time to take a step out of the echo chamber and to look around a little bit.

    There are millions upon millions of people looking for information online every day. Many of them are into moneymaking strategies, but more are pursuing their other interests.
  • Great discussion. As bloggers we are all writers. My blog is essentially about writing because that's how I have always earned my living. But it's notoriously difficult to get paid for writing unless you are in employment, contracting or consulting. As writers we want to feel that our words are valued, and we also want to keep blogging. It's not possible to keep writing blogs or novels etc full time unless someone is prepared to pay. So keep rolling out the marketing advice, David. It's really appreciated.
  • Jon
    A market may be saturated but if you produce something of quality, it will start to raise above the crowd in time.

    Jon
    http://2xStocks.com
    Doubling my money, one stock at a time
  • The thing that gets overlooked by many is that there is a huge world out there of people who don't know anything Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter or the like. However, they do know that when they want info on something or to buy something online to Google it.
  • John Szydlowski
    David, I have been following your blog for a month or so now but commenting for the first time. I want to thank you for the great content. It is very helpful. This post in particularly is relevant for me because I am gearing up to begin my own blog. The question of market is perplexing. My passion is health and wellness and I believe that is where I could generate the most content. However, I also plan to earn an income in a health-related Network Marketing business so a blog on entrepreneurship or something similar would arguably be more effective for recruiting. I am leaning heavily toward my passion.
  • Great point, Malaika, and very true. Many of you guys are interested in making money online and thus you read thwse kinds of sites. And you see how much money we make. But, tht doesn't mean everybody reads the same kinds of sites you do.

    There are a LOT of people out there in different markets who know nothing about marketing or blogging. And, not only that, those other markets can be particularly ripe for good marketing people those markets are much less tuned into the various marketing tactics used in the MMO niche.

    There is a LOT of money to be made out there, and the MMO niche is by far not the only one that works.
  • I'm glad you posted this because I was about to send this question to ask@davidrisley.com.

    I too rarely find many success stories or see income reports from those outside of the MMO niche. If you look at it positively, that means there's room for us to explode in a different niche.
  • Funny - I've just been through this process. I spent ages looking at search stats and trying to decided on a niche for my new blog, when all the time the answer was staring me in the face. I'm a passionate scuba diver, so that's what the blog is about. Once I knew I wanted to do it, the rest was almost secondary, but in the end the figures stacked up for a diving site anyway. Wish me luck!
  • I think that just because a niche/topic is a huge market and overly-saturated, like technology, doesn't mean you should second-guess your choice to enter it. If you're passionate about it, you will find a way to make it personal, or put your own unique twist on it. Without passion, that's when a blog becomes stale, cookie-cutter.
  • Totally agree with you David, have identified a few niches that I'll be launching soon, soccer, politics, business all to be localised. Am certain it won't be a mission to get them noticed and generating revenue.
  • Hello,

    I do believe that all topics are niches, but the key thing is that you have to know what to write and how and when! everyone of us has the knowledge that nobody on planet earth has, but it's how we can discover that knoweldge and present it!

    what do you think?

    personally i blog about all webs, new and old ones, i have been following "trial and error" till i reach the right way of delivering and presenting my knowledge and content!

    Regards
    Firas
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