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Saturday, May 26, 2007

The Elements of Blogging: Three Pillars of Success

Blogging is becoming (has become) the new entrepreneurial dream. With the success of people like ProBlogger's Darren Rowse and John Chow, it seems like an eminently doable thing to become an A-List blogger.

The barriers to entry are low since there are plenty of free blogging solutions out there like Blogger and WordPress. Time is really the only currency you need to commit to spending. In that sense, students, teens, and other unemployed or dependent individuals have a distinct advantage.

So, what does it take to become the next Mike Arrington? There are really three elements, or pillars, to blogging success: content, traffic, and, naturally, monetary reward.

Find your niche

Technology and gadget blogs are probably on the top of the list for many would-be bloggers because they tend to be familiar topics, but you should really think about what you would be comfortable and eager to write about for the next 12 months because these things take time. You don't want to get blogger's block or become burned out by blogging.

Find your audience

As a blogger, you choose the kind of audience you attract based on how and what you post. This kind of self-selection means you should experiment with various posting styles to figure out what works for you. Do you want to write 5 short posts every day or the occasional essay-length post every week?

Find the money

Advertising is probably a bad idea when you start out blogging. Unless you have a built-in audience eager to read your writing (like a celebrity), you simply won't make any money for a long time. That said, diversification is key to a steady blogging income.

The final equation

The equation boils down to something like this: content + traffic = money. In future installments, I'll tackle each element in the equation more fully. For now, let me know your thoughts and questions. This post has been as much about "enlightening" potential bloggers as putting this whole blogging business in perspective for myself so please give me your feedback.

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Yeah, content and traffic is the main point. Probably have to buy our own domain too..
p/s (I don't have my own domain yet.hehe)


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