FBO: “Content Is King!” What Does that Mean?

Tuesday, August 19th 2008 by Shanel Yang         Email this article to a friend

This series is called “FBO” or “For Bloggers Only.” If you’re not a blogger and never want to be, skip this and all other posts that start with “FBO.”

I have a lot of readers asking me questions about how to get started blogging. Even though I refer them to Problogger.net and JohnChow.com, they still seem to prefer my advice because it’s less technical and hence more accessible to most wannabe bloggers. So, instead of continuing to write individual emails about this topic, I decided to write posts about the most frequently asked questions so that, in the future, I can simply refer new interested readers to the specific posts that have already answered the same questions. I am not trying to discourage anyone from emailing me with their questions. I love all your emails! Please keep them coming! Rather, I saw the need for providing answers to the most frequently asked questions in one convenient place for all who might need it! : )

BLOGGING FOR CASH REQUIRES “TRAFFIC”

If you want to blog for a living, how much cash you can make from it all boils down to one thing: traffic (the total number of people who visit your blog each day). Naturally, the more the better. How does traffic translate into cash? The most common method is from the ads you place on your blog. The greater the number of daily visitors to your blog, the more the advertisers are willing pay you for the privilege of having their ads on your blog. That’s it in a nutshell. More about all of that and other sources of blog income in future posts. This post is about content.

GOOD TRAFFIC REQUIRES GOOD CONTENT

Every expert on the subject agrees that no matter what tricks you might employ to bring a ton of traffic at any given point in time (and, believe me, there are literally dozens of such tricks of the trade, with all of them involving a lot of time, effort, and/or money), you really can’t keep any of that new traffic unless you have one thing: good to great content. Ergo, the No. 1 rule of blogging: “CONTENT IS KING.”

You can catapult yourself into the elite class of the most successful bloggers, like ZenHabits.net did in one year, if you employ with full-force the unbeatable combination of traffic-enhancing strategies and good content. Or, you can get there eventually (in 3 to 5 years) with mostly good to great content even if you use much less traffic-enhancing tactics at the outset. What you can’t do, however, is expect to ever get there at all if you don’t have consistently good content—even if you spend a million dollars to make your site look stunning, pay for thousands of readers to come visit your site for a quick look, and give away all kinds of expensive prizes in enticing contests. Just like some of the most hyped, outrageously expensive Hollywood blockbusters that still manage to flop, if the story sucks, the best special effects—and even A-list actors—just can’t save it!

KING KONG CONTENT

Okay, so what is good content? Forget about good—let’s go for great! What is great content? Not just king-sized content, but King Kong-Sized Content! Well, the way I see it, the answer is a two-part answer. Both parts are equally important. And, if either part is missing, your blog can never be a huge money-maker. The first part is: Great content is anything that millions of people on the internet want to view or read. The second part is: Great content is anything you love enough to publish your finished pieces at least 3 to 5 times a week. The more, the better.

Ever heard of a ven diagram? Imagine one circle that represents the universe of things that people on the internet want to view or read about. Then, next to that first circle, imagine a second one that represents the universe of things that you could happily blog about for at least five years. Now, imagine those circles moving closer together until their lines intersect each other. Continue moving the circles together in your mind till you think you’ve reached the maximum point where the topics you would love to blog about are still in common with the topics that millions of internet users want to view or read about. That intersection is the answer! That’s the “X” that marks the spot on the treasure map of your blogging future!

If you stray too far from that sweet spot to blog about only what you love, you’ll lose your viewers. And, if you go too far in the other direction, trying to chase your viewers’ fancies, you’ll eventually hate blogging as much as you hate your day job.

PART A: STUFF THAT PEOPLE ON THE NET WANT

If you’re blogging for a living, you can’t afford to waste your time blogging about anything that doesn’t interest enough people on the net to make it worth your while. Let’s break this down by listing what we we’re not talking about going for:

1. We’re not talking about people in general. We’re talking about people on the world wide web only. They’re still a small percentage of the total world population. They still mostly communicate in English. And, the majority of them have completed at least the equivalent of a high school education. Many of them are college educated, too, but still prefer to read at the high school level. (And, can you blame them? Who wants to read a blog that reminds them of college-level course work?)

2. Don’t chase crowds that don’t exist yet. I learned this one the hard way. I started this blog with the vision of reaching out to all disadvantaged teens, immigrants, and minorities in the U.S. who could really use my advice about how to succeed and achieve their dreams in this great country. However, since most disadvantaged folks are not yet on the net (largely due to the fact that they are disadvantaged), my focus on that audience, at least on this blog, was premature.

3. Don’t chase crowds you don’t understand. Have you heard the following maxims of advertising, news broadcasting, and marketing? “Sex sells.” “If it bleeds, it leads.” “There are three things that can sell anything: babies, puppies, and beautiful women.” My personal observation is that people in general, including people on the net, never tire of learning about these three fascinating topics:

(a) how to get rich
(b) how to lose weight
(c) how to have great relationships

But, just because the people on the net love these topics doesn’t mean you ought to write about them in your blog. Or write stories about a lot of shocking news (referring to the “if it bleeds, it leads” maxim), or post a lot of images of sexy women, puppies, or babies. If you do any of these things, or chase whatever you think is the latest hot topic of the hour, you’ll just end up running in circles.

4. Don’t be too hard or too soft—be just right. The Goldilocks’ style of writing. Don’t write for shock value. And, don’t tone it down too much either. Aim for the middle ground to lose less of your audience on either side. Your medium is also your message. Shout it too loudly and people will cover their ears. Whisper it too softly and people get annoyed at having to strain to hear you. Make it as easy as possible for your listeners to both hear and understand you. When the medium is pleasant enough, they will gladly focus on your message as long as it’s interesting.

5. Don’t dwell on the negative or depressing. Edgar Allan Poe was a master of American literature, but I wouldn’t want to read his stuff every day. Not even close! There’s a time and place for dark topics, and a blog just isn’t it. Unless you’re going to offer a lot of great stories, artwork, or other indulgences to go with your daily lamentations, no one wants that much melancholy in their day to day lives!

Enough about what not to do. Here’s what to do: Be the best side of yourself that you can be and ever wanted to be. Be funny, smart, charming, passionate, honest, lively, enthusiastic, or, at least, friendly. Be encouraging, supportive, contemplative, and analytical, without being critical, judgmental, condemning, or full gloom and doom. Instead, be optimistic and positive. Find your own writing voice. We all have one; and, it evolves, matures, and mellows the more we use it.

PART B: STUFF THAT NEVER BORES YOU EITHER

The other half of the “content is king” formula I’m teaching here is the intersection between Part A, which we just discussed, and the stuff you love so much that you can’t even imagine ever getting bored of working on it—at least not for the next five years. Once you figure out what that unique intersection is for you—your own “sweet spot”—ask yourself this: Are you willing to learn whatever you need, and work at least as hard as you are currently doing for your day job, to get your blog out to everyone on the net whom you know will enjoy it and benefit from it?

If you can honestly answer “yes” to that question, you really owe it to yourself to give blogging a chance. If you look at the stuff I write and think to yourself, “I could do that!,” then maybe you could! And, if that idea excites you, then maybe you should! But, I’m certainly not the only voice you can compare yours to on the world wide web. Maybe your voice is more like a few of my favorite bloggers:

1. The Positivity Blog by Henrik Edberg, 28 yrs. old, graduate student in Sweden

2. Life Optimizer by Donald Latumahina, from Indonesia and currently a full time student at the National University of Signapore

3. Scott H Young, 20 yrs. old (today!), University student in Manitoba, Canada

4. Millionaire Mommy Next Door, wife, mother, and inspirational self-made millionaire

5. Schaefer’s Blog by Cameron Schaefer, pilot at McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA

I picked these five bloggers not only because each of their voices are distinctly different, but because they all blog only part time—yet each get terrific traffic!

CONCLUSION

It’s an exciting time for new bloggers because it’s easier and cheaper than ever to get started. I recommend Internet Riches: The Simple Money-Making Secrets of Online Millionaires (2006) by Scott Fox as a great place to start your research if you’re interested in blogging or any other internet business. It’s explains why the internet is the perfect place for a new sole proprietorship (e.g., extremely low start-up and operating expenses; plenty of cheap outsourcing options; and the ability to reach a world market even for the most niche products or services) plus ideas on how to do all of that based on successful million-dollar internet business that were started by very non-business types—people just like you and me.

The internet is the new money-making frontier; and, there’s tons of it to be made for anyone with a big dream, the heart to follow it, and the body to work it!

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