Are You Writing About What You Know?
I see bloggers come and go everyday, some of you reading this post will not be blogging next year, or even next month. There are literally 1000’s of articles on how to make money blogging, or how to make money online. I make money online, but it is in different ways than what these articles are talking about. I don’t make money on adsense, affiliates, or text links. As a matter of fact, I will be removing most advertising on this site because I just think it clutters up my site and is taking away from the content. On top of that, this site doesn’t get enough search traffic yet, and lets face it, other bloggers do not click on ads! The money I make online is from services and products.
If you have never made money online, then you shouldn’t be writing about it. How can you be an authority on something while you are learning it? If you are new to blogging, how can you help others learn to blog? It appears that these type of sites are popping up all over the web, and they will disappear just as fast.
Write What You Know:
Write about things you have real world experience in. If you have been remodeling houses your whole life, don’t start writing about becoming a day trader because you want to become a day trader. Write about remodeling houses, produce some quality videos, review some products and tools. You will have a much better chance of actually making it.
That is just an example, but if you look at what your education and experience is, you will know what you should be writing about. I have read (and agree with) articles that talk about what you are passionate about, you should write about. But there is more to it than just being passionate about something. You need to have experience in it.
Let’s look at the example above (remodeling). There are numerous topics to write about:
- DIY (whatever your niche was)
- Hiring a Contractor
- Tool Reviews
- Business
- Employee Management
- Estimating Project Costs
- Insurance
- Profit Margins
Those are just a few off the top of my head, but as you can see, there are many topics that as a remodeling contractor you probably have real world experience in and are an authority on as soon as you start your blog.
Conclusion:
I am not knocking anyone for what they write about, I have respect for many bloggers. I just want you to think about what you are really trying to accomplish as a blogger. If it is to “get rich quick” you probably won’t last long. Have a plan, do your research, and determine what will actually benefit your readers and you will be successful (just not overnight).
I saw a statistic (sorry I can’t site the source for you) that said that the top 10% of bloggers make $19k a year or more. That means you have to work hard to make an actual living at writing a blog. That means it may take a couple of years to make any money at all. If you remember my interview with Todd Fratzel, it took him 18 months of blogging every day to make $100 a month! He makes enough now to be considered a full time income for most (he still works a full time job though), and he has been at this for 3+ years.
Tagged with: ads • make money online • niche blog
Filed under: Blogging
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Dude, great article!!!I wish I had stumbled upon this thing a year ago!!! I know it sounds nuts, but the entire year I battled between the desire to make money online and the ability to blog on a consistent basis based off those two ingredients: passion and experience.
So December came and some changes were due. I was so sick and tired of trying to do something that wasn’t what I do!! I was literally denying who I was as a person in my own blogs. I’m not a make money guru… I can’t blog about blogging. I tried blogging about web development, and though I am experienced in that and do enjoy it, I’m far from passionate about it.
I talked to The InfoPreneur about all this, since he and I had been talking for a while via twitter and he got me on the right track.
Great post bro, glad to see the epiphany hitting the blogosphere.
Glad to see you took your time to decide the best path, I am sure it will work out for you in the long run!
Now that was dope
Straight up digging the post and changes you have made 
Awesome No sh8t
I have a another site that is exactly what I know and have experienced. I agree with you completely, the more you right about what you know, the easier it is.
You really get the point across Keith and I really appreciate it, another great driving it home post, thanks.
Totally agree with your assessment. I actually just saw that top 10% making $19,000/yr figure you mentioned in a video by David Risley today.
And I just decided today (posted about it actually) that I am going to focus on what I like writing about and not about what I read about..
See you in a year, ha,ha..
Thanks Jenny, this post hit home for me too, I have some plans over the next month on a new project and these are some of the things that actually went though my head too…
I knew I saw it somewhere, and it shocked me to be honest!
That is a great idea Glen, I read about what I know and like too, it helps to further my knowledge….
Good advice Keith. I have a career blog that I am passionate about as I am a recruiter and work in HR as a living. As I was building up that blog several years ago, I discovered that I really enjoy blogging about blogging. I am lucky that I have two niche blogs that I love writing about.
I’ve been blogging for a while and I didn’t even bother adding advertisement to my blog until this year. I was having too much fun blogging that I never gave thought to making money from it.
Interesting article Keith!
Keith, I started off doing exactly the opposite of what you suggest. I guess that part of my problem is I know about WAY too much “stuff”. For example I did some research for about 3 years on the solar system. I’m not just talking planets, moons, asteroids and the Sun, but I mean magnetospheres, dark energy, quarks and plasma. I also have been working in publishing for a gazillion years, so I could have blogged about book printing too. My point here is that I had no idea what I was going to blog about (still not quite sure) so I’m trying things on for size. Heck I just started blogging and using Twitter about 6 months ago and now a days it seems that’s all I want to write about.
I feel that like it’s cool to write about what you know only if that’s what you want to do. Personally I don’t see myself making $100 a month in the next year but then again this time last year I had no idea I would have 5 blogs. Go figure.
Thanks for the conversation
I think the simple formula is, decide on a way to make money, test it, and if it makes you money then maybe start blogging about it (or make a product and sell the information
).
Until then, test blogging by creating a blog around your interests (as you state). You’ll be able to use your first blog as a testing ground for how to get traffic, how to syndicate content and so forth.
Great advice Keith.
Karl
Thanks John, I have really been taking a hard look at myself this week, my sites, and my plans for the future. I am working on something new that I am really excited about, and it will be strictly business.
Announcements about it will be coming out soon (but you will know about it before that…;-)
@Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO, You have a lot of experience in blogging and people can learn from your articles Rose, to be honest, if you have ads on your blog, I never noticed them
Ileane, I enjoy your video posts, sorry I don’t have as much time to get over to your site as would like. I will be making time as I plan on videos being a big part of my next project and will be researching how others are going about it.
The last comment should have said:
Thanks man… and yeah, bouncing things this ‘way’ is fine. If I don’t have the answer I normally know how to get it.
My small commenting mistakes are an argument for using ‘wp ajax edit comments’.
Gosh! Blog everyday for 18 months to earn $100 per month eventually.. that’s painful. Some blogger really have that x-factor to become popular within short period, and it’s not easy.
Nice write.
I don’t think it is even possible to keep blogging if you don’t know your blogging subject. or you can educate yourself about the subject while blogging as a style.
Hi Keith,
Funnily enough, I’m struggling to narrow down to an area to write about. I blog for the sole purpose of making people smile, warming their hearts so they’ll feel like being generous and donate £1 to a good cause. So how do I write about what I know? Smiling I can do but us that enough?
And another thought, I sometimes include hints and tips about things I’m learning along the way. If smiling is enough, am I diluting my smile by adding hints and tips too?
Any thought folks have would be much appreciated.
Eleanor
Great post. I’m a firm believer if you write about what you love the money will follow. Of course the amount of money will vary depending on what you write about, but it will still come.
Keith, in real life I am a jack of all trades type, I can do a bit of everything, and I think I take the same approach with my blog. If I come up with an interesting way of making money I will post about it. If it’s something to make WP work better that I’ve come across I will post about that.
I suppose it’s one of the reasons I’ve never started a niche blog, apart from my sex blog, and believe me, has that ever opened my eyes.
But if I knew a whole heap about a certain topic I would certainly be taking your advice.
@Everyone, The thing is with your blog (and why I think people read it) is that you do write about what you know, or what you discover. My main concern here is that new bloggers try to write about being a blogger, or new business people try to write about how to be in business. I think it one thing to write about your experiences as you experience them, but it is another to write about being an expert in something as you learn it…
@Rob Sykes, Thanks Rob, I bookmarked it for later, have too many projects going right now and am re-thinking my plans…
@Dan Hesse, I really think the niche you are in has an effect on how long it takes, my point was more that it takes hard work, time, and lots of research.
Keith you are one wise man! I appreciate how you write and I certainly needed this information!
@Tiger Woods, you have several very good blogs, and I really don’t think this post was something you didn’t already know as I respect you as a blogger and your material is always “spot on”.
I do appreciate the compliment, especially coming from you.
Great now I have to start a new blog about the many ways of avoiding housework while still getting money from the spouse…That could have an audience. LOL
That’s what I know.
Post 1 – Naming the dustbunnies and convincing your husband that they’re cheaper than a dog.
Thanks for the post it could keep me entertained for the rest of the evening. My imagination can be a little quirky but it IS entertaining.
Cool, that means I’m doing something right for a change.
You are absolutely right when talking about only very few blogs remain sustaining. Blogging is not Get Rich Soon techniques.
But, I am afraid you are missing the beginner’s stage. You really don’t have sufficient money to host and run a blog for 18 months without any earning till you get your first earning from blog. Everybody starts with easy, catchy topic and grow gradually.
I started with a free hosting and subdomain blog to earn a few dollars to cover my hosting expenses. When I found it sufficient then I bought my own domain name. Now I start earning quite OK money to cover my hosting and domain name expenses. So I’m thinking about buying hosting and start wordpress blog on bit more profitable niche.
You can remove all the ads and affiliates from your site when you are confident that the earning from other sources are strong enough. But in the starting days every penny counts.
Knowledge and experiences are of great importance as we are constantly looking for easier ways, solutions or suitable methods to solve daily problems. Even one doesn’t have the knowledge, if he/she is passionate about the topic, the knowledge can still be obtained but requires time. Thanks to interest, people can pursue what they believe in and achieve their dreams, that’s the beauty of it even in blogging.
Enlightening post, thanks Keith.
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
Yeah Karl, I have been wanting to look into that, so will be adding hopefully this week. I deleted your other comment with the typos….:-)
Matt@Atlanta Area Homes Really that depends Matt, what if what you love isn’t ever searched or very popular, you may have to broaden your niche topic if that is the case.
I disagree with a few of your comments:
I think if you can’t afford domain and hosting these days, you should probably think about another line of work. The hosting rates are so cheap and domains are $10 (US) so I don’t see any reason to use self hosted blog if you are serious. If you need time to see if you like to blog or can sustain the hard work for free, the free hosting is fine.
If the ads and affiliates are not providing an income, then they are taking away from the content. I think you should build up a readership before trying ads, but that is my opinion.
Keith Bloemendaal I agree with you. That’s way I said “the amount of money will vary depending on what you write about” and by vary I mean very little to a whole lot.
Writing about what you’re passionate about can lighten the load. Sometimes, seasoned bloggers run out of ideas. Motivation spells the difference between success and failure.
Very sound advice Keith. It is quite laughable when you run across those MMO blogs and it is so obvious that the person is not making any money online, but all the noobs jump on that niche, thinking they will make a killing.
I think that making money online, whichever venue you choose is very difficult and takes a ton of hard work, those who are dedicated and truly love it and apply the correct tools will succeed, but you gotta believe in it and stick with it.
Good post. It’s always better to write about something you have experience in rather than just writing to try and get rich. You’re going to be discovered eventually and if you can’t backup what you’re talking about then you’re not going to make it very far.
Besides, you’d think that blogging you would want to share something you’re extremely interested in which means something you know a lot about. Once you start making money, then join the crowd of bloggers who talk about how to make money. You’ve done it at that point.
In other to be success in blogging you have to write about your area of specialization or field of study, that is why I quite agree with your conclusion. If you are not writting about what you know you find it difficult to write unique content and reply to readers comment.