This post is by Flimjo. Check out his blog for tips on obtaining passive income for yourself.
Want to learn how to make money as a blogger? Don’t start a “Make Money Online” blog.
There are hundreds of “make money online” blogs, and most of them aren’t any good. The pioneers of the “make money online” niche should blush at the number of people who attempt to copy their business models and attack the niche. However, simply copying what they do isn’t going to breed success.
If you want to blog, here are 5 reasons why your blog should be something other than a “make money online” blog. If you follow these guidelines, you should have no problem achieving success as a blogger.
1) It’s tough to overcome established stalwarts in a niche.
It’s very difficult to succeed in a niche that already has a handful of “big dogs” that control a hefty portion of the market share. Currently, John Chow Dot Com and Problogger are the main attractions in the “make money online” niche. If you intend to start a “make money online” blog, like it or not, you will be competing with those blogs.
Unless you approach the niche with a smart and aggressive plan for succeeding in it (there are, indeed, ways), it will be difficult to pry readers away from other, more established blogs. Those blogs are perceived as the authorities in this field and have valuable brand recognition. You certainly won’t play David to their Goliath, and you will have serious trouble even staying competitive.
If you’re not already a “make money online” expert and can’t offer something new and unique in that niche, it just doesn’t make business sense to start a blog in that niche. It would be like stepping into the ring with Coca-Cola and attempting to sell your own carbonated soft drink.
2) What would you write about that hasn’t already been covered?
The other significant challenge with starting a “make money online” blog is content. I can’t think of anything that the top “make money online” blogs don’t cover. These blogs are exhaustive Bibles on how to make money online (whether it’s through monetizing your blog, affiliate marketing, or other methods). If you’re the new fish in the pond, you will find it difficult not to rehash the same tips and strategies for making money online that those blogs have already covered.
Even if you re-purpose their information and take new angles in your posts, it’s still a tough hill to climb.
3) Be original.
The best reason for steering your blog away from the “make money online” niche is that focusing on that niche most likely doesn’t reflect who YOU are. The key to being successful in any business is finding something that reflects your passion. By doing that, your blog will exude energy, enthusiasm, and pride. That’s what people want to see (i.e., someone writing about a topic they are passionate about), not a passive recitation of information that other bloggers have already written about.
Blogs that are currently enjoying success (The University Kid, etc.) focus on niches and industries that might be related to the general “make money online” market, but are different in their own respect. Some of these areas include business, investing, personal development, and technology. I have even seen blogs about pets and cooking!
The catch is that you can blog about whatever topic you want and still make money as a blogger. There is no rule that says you have to blog about “making money online” in order to attract traffic and, thus, make money online.
Your best bet for success in blogging is to find a passion that you have and put it on display in the form of daily blog posts. If it’s politics, start a blog and write daily about the American presidential race. If it’s real estate, focus on that and write about the current state of the market. Ask yourself the question, “Would I do this for free?” If the answer is yes, then you have found your topic.
4) Originality helps you understand your market.
An indirect benefit of being original and writing passionately about a topic is that you understand the market for that topic. If, for example, you have a passion for search engine optimization, and you keep up with the industry, you understand what people need in that niche. You also understand what trends there are and what people want to read. This understanding helps you match your blog posts to your market. That picture-perfect match-up is like flipping on a light switch. It illuminates your blog and helps you develop a loyal reader base and attract more visitors.
5) It’s better to be the first in something than try to become the best at something.
It’s easier to be one of the first people to start a blog in a unique niche that you love and understand than to jump into a saturated niche (i.e., the “make money online” market) and try to be one of the best in that niche. I am not knocking the willingness and motivation of people who do, indeed, want to compete with the likes of the top blogs in the “make money online” niche. If you want your blog to equal their success, more power to you.
However, if that niche isn’t something in which you’re an expert, it’s easier to identify another niche that you do understand well (e.g., starting your own business, sports, movies) and are passionate about and be a pioneer blogger in that area. In your unique niche, more of the market is up for grabs, and there is a wealth of information that you have that readers will be starving for. The path to making money as a blogger is shorter if you’re the first blogger (or one of the first) in your niche.
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August 13th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Good post. And true that is. It indeed hard to come up with unique ideas. It’s still possible to make a mmo-blog succeed.
BlackhatWay’s last blog post..Flipping an image host
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August 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am
This is very true. If I had researched more, I wouldn’t have gotten into the MMO niche. But in it’s defense, it isn’t that time consuming (2 hours a day) and earns money I can can hide from my wife.
I am currently thinking about selling my blog and getting into something I really enjoy doing. Not sure though. It’s still free money coming in.
CreatingRevenueOnline.com’s last blog post..JohnCow’s New Contest
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August 13th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Thanks for this post, i have learn quite a bit from just reading this
Thanks again
Wayne Saliba’s last blog post..YouTube Channel’s
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August 13th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Yeah! I agree! Last time I used to write the post about making money online. It is very hard to attract reader since there are many pro online money maker and I am unable to compete with them. So, it is better to choose a less competitive niche(have the potential to attract). This was what the established blog(MMO) did few years ago.
Greentac’s last blog post..Mac Tablet Computer
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August 13th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The only thing I disagree with is that what if you LOVE everything to do with making moeny online (like I do). I am a struggling entrepreneur but this is how I want to make my living. So I find it easy to write about. I am not going to start a blog about something I am not passionate about.
I think its a great idea to start a make money online blog if you LOVE everything about making money online. If you start it just so you can make money, then you are going to fail
Ryan @ SmarterWealth’s last blog post..How To Avoid Procrastination: The Dream Killer
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August 13th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Thanks for getting this post up, Jason.
Ryan: I agree with you. If you do, indeed, love everything about making money online, then go with it. Your passion will come through in your writing, and that’s all the difference.
Flimjo’s last blog post..What You Need To Get Out Of The Rat Race
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August 13th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I accept that at times I too get collapsed,thinking about the content of my post
Harish’s last blog post..An Useful Blog for Blogger Users
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August 13th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I agree that it is a crowded market, but John Chow posts about what he ate, and ways he can make money off of you… he can be taken down, but people need to have that enlightenment experience that there are better blogs out there (like this one and mine).
Great point about selecting a niche you enjoy. Just make sure you can make some money from it too.
Sell Porn Make Money’s last blog post..The Easiest Way For Newbies To Start Selling Porn
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August 13th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I say, while I agree for the most part with you, that you won’t know until you try, but you should be ready for discouraging results at first.
But if at first you don’t succeed try, try again.
Big Ben Patton’s last blog post..Site Updates Complete
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August 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I agree that one should not start with a make money online blog. I made that mistake when I started blogging. However, look at TUK, he has a “Young Entrepreneur Blog”. That way you can dominate the “Young Entrepreneur” niche.
Ganesh’s last blog post..How to Increase your Backlinks
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August 13th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
You guys all know that I think make money online blogs fail.
Decent post, cheers for contributing
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August 13th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
You have to overcome all the top dogs in every niche. Overcome that by being unique such as vlogging (video blogging).
Ultimate Blogging Experiment’s last blog post..Why Being the First Commenter Matters
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August 13th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Not a bad posts, but it doesn’t present any decent alternatives apart from niches that are even more saturated than MMO.
Politics and Real Estate blogs are massively popular and the chance of success is much lower than with a mmo blog…
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August 13th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Great post Flimjo! These are great reasons, there is one you might have missed.
You will be looked at as spam, I guess it does depend on the blog’s look, but webmasters look down on MMO blogs.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Part Review: The University Kid
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August 13th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
You are a hypocrite.
Isn’t your blog in that same niche?
Also your blog offers nothing different from all the other MMO blogs. Just because you say the niche of your site is something else does not mean that it is.
Your blog sucks, I don’t know why you would even talk about MMO blogs and “how to be successful” when you are not, leave the tips to john chow and the actual succesful bloggers, making 20 bucks per week is not success.
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August 13th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Mike: You didn’t take a good look at my blog. It’s not in the MMO niche. My posts focus on entrepreneurship and getting out of the rat race via making money in any way possible (both on- AND off-line). Furthermore, I stay away from talking about ad networks, making money blogging, affiliate marketing, etc. I’m not an expert in those areas, so I stay out of them. I’m sorry you’re an angry little fella.
Flimjo’s last blog post..Don’t Worry About Creating The Perfect Product
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August 14th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Hmm, I agree. Sometimes I stumble across MMO blogs that say they are not even making that much. Ironic.
kidfingers’s last blog post..Burger King Employee Bathes In Sink
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August 14th, 2008 at 2:44 am
This applies to any saturated niche really. Unless you have an amazing plan to break into the scene with your blog, good luck making it.
Faint’s last blog post..How To Make Your Own Beer
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August 14th, 2008 at 7:10 am
You’re right. There are way too many MMO blogs out there. It’s important to pick a sub-niche if you’re going to get in to the MMO space and offer something unique that nobody else is covering (maybe tips tricks or market-specific secrets ;] )
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August 14th, 2008 at 7:14 am
I wish everyone thinking about starting an MMO blog would read this post. I think the majority of MMO blogs out there aren’t started because the blogger is passionate about the topic, they just think they can make money from it.
The way I see it is that the only way a new MMO blogger can be successful in such a competitive niche is if they add some unique twist to it. Or they ACTUALLY SHOW YOU how to make money, like Jason does here!
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August 14th, 2008 at 7:53 am
To Jason and everyone.
Firstly I hope I win the competition which is announced tomorrow. Secondly I am offering free advertising on my site to anyone who links to my site in one of their posts (just a link the post doesnt have to be about me) limited to first four. Leave a comment on my blog to let me know.
(ps. Not trying to spam you Jason, just trying to get the word out….I have promoted your blog heaps, please let me promote mine this one time)
Ryan @ SmarterWealth’s last blog post..Smarter Wealth – New Look, New Focus
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August 14th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
@Ryan – I am heading over, sounds good. I think it is fair you can spam him now, you have promoted his blog in heaps, so have I.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Part Review: The University Kid
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August 14th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
your post is quite true there are hoards of blogs on this topic and on tech.pl. stop opening new blogs in these niches as it will neither help you nor the readers of that niche.
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August 15th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
MMO Blogs are kind of full of it. They never really say “go here, do this, and you will make money.” John Chow never helped me figure out what was going on with the whole how to make money thing. Honestly TUK helped me a lot more than any other blogs, but a lot of it is figuring out how to do things on your own and piecing it all together.
Faint’s last blog post..How To Make Your Own Beer
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August 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
the make money online niche is i guess saturated already.
ASIAN “How To Make Money” Forum’s last blog post..Linkbucks.com – Earn money when people leave your website
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August 21st, 2008 at 8:33 pm
The blog seems to be the best MMO blog that I’ve found. Like I’ve said before though, I would love to know step by step how it happened…and what I can do, and at what stage of the game.
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June 16th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I agree with everything you say. Originality is definitely th way to go if you want to get recognition.
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