Don’t Put All Your Eggs In The Same Basket? Wait A Sec…
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Maki, who runs DoshDosh, had this goal of starting 7 niche blogs in 7 days and wrote a bunch of articles on the topic of niche blogging. I think it’s a great idea, and one can really benefit from doing something similar, or take the idea as a starting point and at least experiment.
The experience you can acquire and the stuff you can learn doing something like that can definitely help your “main” blog, and take your “blogging career” to another level. I would personally suggest you don’t try this if you have little or no experience in blogging, since you might not have the basic knowledge that is required to successfully get the ball rolling with your niche blogs, gotta learn the ropes first. Unless you feel you can do it and you have a bulletproof plan.
Time-Management And Things To Consider
If you run only 1 blog and you’re struggling, trying to find time, and stuff to write about for that one blog, chances are you won’t be able to manage 8 or 10 blogs. I really do wonder how one can run 10 blogs, create great content for all 10, and find time to sleep.
Right now I’m working on a new blog, and I know I will have time for it. But it’s gonna be a multi-authored blog, so it makes things a little easier. Well I hope so. Here are some of the things you might want to consider before you even launch your new blog, so you don’t end up either broke, or totally depressed ;)
Choose The Right Niche
Do you know enough about a particular topic? Will you be able to write at least 4-5 posts a week on that new blog? You have to answer those questions first, it’s the first step. You will run out of ideas sooner or later, so you should write about things you love and are passionate about. Or else, you might as well not blog.
The Right Domain Name
Find something memorable and that is related to the topic of your blog, unless your domain name is actually your name, in that case, it’s fine. Do you know about Pen Island? That’s the kind of domain name you don’t want! Take a look at the URL and try to find what’s wrong!
Blogging Platform
I wouldn’t go for any platform other than wordpress. You can start with a free service like blogger or wordpress.com, but i’d suggest you move to a self-hosted wordpress platform as soon as you can. Hosting is cheap anyway.
Choosing A Theme/Template
Design is important! The first thing people will see when they visit your new blog is the design. People do not read, they scan. A nice design will make people wanna read your posts. Make your blog stand out from the crowd, customize a theme or hire someone to do that for you. The MistyLook theme looks nice, but it’s been downloaded more than 47,000 times. Chances are, if you use this theme, your new blog will look similar to 47,000 other blogs.
Time-Management
You need time to write, you need time to manage and tweak your blog, and optionally you need time to network with other bloggers in the same niche (highly recommended!). Start with a schedule, write it down, and then adjust it later on. Trust me, the word count for your to-do list will be higher than for your blog posts.
Delegating - Outsourcing
Do you want to run this new blog all by yourself? You can consider hiring ghost writers, or find contributing writers or even team up with other like-minded people and start a “multi-authored” blog. (yep!) Most successful people (bloggers included) have a team working with/for them, sometimes it’s the readers that will contribute and give ideas for future posts, but sometimes you need people you can rely on so you can delegate stuff.
Pillar Articles
Do not launch your new blog if you do not have 10 articles already written, and more is better. I’d suggest you write about 20 articles, start posting them on your new blog, 1 per day, and keep writing new ones. You will run into problems with your new blog eventually, and when that happens you’ll be happy you wrote those 10-20 articles already. If you start 10 blogs, that’s 100-200 articles. Pillar articles, not memes. That’s a lot of work!
Your Turn To Talk - What Do You Think?
Should you focus on, say 1-3 blogs, learn the ropes and perfect, tweak and monetize those blogs till you reach a comfortable level (time and income), and stick with that, and maybe start a new blog eventually when you feel you can do it? Or start off with 1 blog, and then launch several other niche blogs (5-7 more)?
Don’t put all your eggs in the same basket - It’s always a good idea to diversify and find different streams of income and all, but at some point I really wonder if it is possible to run so many blogs and still be able to bring all of them to a profitable income level. And not neglect any of them.
Let’s discuss that! I’d like to hear what you have to say, please share your thoughts and experiences.
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42 Responses to “Don’t Put All Your Eggs In The Same Basket? Wait A Sec…”
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Sometimes I wonder how I have time for one. I actually have two, but I’m only focusing on one right now. The other is just a blog for one of my hobbies.
I can’t imagine having the energy to come up with content for more than a couple.
Anthony, hey I almost forgot you had this other blog. The book blog?
I can’t wait to launch my new blog, and see how many hours of sleep I’ll be able to get in the first week hehe
I think the thing with the multiple blogs is that they might be self sustaining - maybe feed aggregator types. I’m struggling now with a full time job, having just started a 2nd blog a month ago and working on the 3rd - I am getting maybe 3 hours sleep a night.
But then I read ZenHabits - he wrote a post about his having 6 kids, 2 jobs (freelancing offline and a regular gig), plus maintaining his own blog and writing for others! Dude must be like superman or something.
Hi Tanya, welcome to SWR!
Good point there, the thing with blogs like this (feed aggregator blogs) is they’re often associated with “made for adsense” sites.
I read that on ZenHabits, couldn’t believe it! It’s crazy! He’s got creative juice flowing in his veins! :)
[…] sure you have all heard about the dangers of putting your eggs all in one basket. Jonathan at SmartWealthRich speaks on this subject and makes some good points. Perhaps this is not great for Blogs. It may be […]
Penis Land!
hey Tyler, yeah, that’s a great domain name isn’t it? lol
Wendy Piersall wrote a cool post about that: http://www.emomsathome.com/blog/2007/06/08/does-your-domain-name-suck/
Gotta think before you buy a domain name hehe
Great advice on every point Jonathan. A focused approach is always better than a shotgun approach.
I do believe that you have been reading and listening to Yaro as I have!
Hey Daniel,
A shotgun approach can definitely work, but you have to have a bulletproof plan and know exactly what you’re doing. I prefer the focused approach, not cause I “can’t” do the shotgun thing, but I just like to take my time and make sure everything is perfect.
Of course I’ve been reading and listening to Yaro. Everyday :)
Great post! I have 1 active blog right now but I’m working on a 2nd one too. When I first started out, I was online all the time…nothing got done around the house and no one ate! lol! Now that I have a schedule in place…with a daily goal sheet…it has been so much better. I have another idea for a blog but that will wait until after the 2nd one is up and I know I can handle two! lol!
Hi Jenny, lemme know how it goes with your new blog, how you manaage your time between the 2 blogs, and what you find easy and what’s hard, I’d like to know that stuff :)
hehe I know what you mean, nothings getting done around the house, everybody starving lol
I think that unless you have a endless supply of articles that 1-2 blogs are plenty. Its a lot easier to concentrate on monetizing 1-2 blogs than 6-12 blogs.
p.s. I have a new viral link device at my blog, it can get you some extra traffic, feel free to check it out at
http://learnabouthealth.blogspot.com/
Hi Lynn, totally, I’m working on a new blog, and just that alone takes so much time. This will be my 3rd blog, and the last thing I want is SWR to suffer from this, I wouldn’t be able to run 10 blogs that’s for sure.
Thanx for the invitation for the viral link thing, but to be totally honest I don’t really see the benefits in participating in those. I wanna stay away from google’s supplemental results, and I don’t think it would be appreciated by my readers if i joined either viralink, viraltag or viralicons. But thanx for the invite :)
I’m part of three blog communities. Maybe I can take one or two more, but with limited time and brain bandwith, maybe not.
It amazes me how long and well thought out your posts are. Very insightful.
Hi Jonathan! Thank you so much for the kind words, appreciate it a lot! I’m happy you like my posts.
What blog communities are you a part of?
If someone like to blog so much, there is nothing wrong with having multiple blogs :) They just have to be properly managed.
Hi Andy, exactly, and another thing is you have to let the readers know what’s up with the blog, if you start off with 5 pot a day, and then drop to 5 posts a week drastically, the blog will suffer. Better do that gradually :)
Wow, I have 4 blogs, but only 2 blogs are active. My other 2 blogs are for experiment and testing.
Interestingly, 1 of 2 of my experimental blogs has PR3 although I never update it nor promote it :)
It gives me question, how does Google PR really works?
Now I’m working on my 5th blog. It’ll be non-IM niche blog.
Aldian, good point there, “experimental blogs”, I like that idea, it’s a little like my personal music blog, where it doesn’t really matter (not as much as SWR) if I post random stuff and experiment, change designs and all. And it’s PR2, which is ok for a blog i update 2-3 times a month hehe
How do you find time to manage 5 blogs? I could definitely use tips and tricks, I run SWR, and that personal blog, and I’m working on my 3rd blog, and cannot think of possibly opening another one, yet.
We have several. From experience - it’s so important to be particular with planning - with no plan, it’s tricky and so time consuming - not to mentioned stressful.
Very nice article. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Sus, welcome to SWR! any blog, just like any business, in my opinion, needs to have at least “some sort” of plan. Like you said, it can be really stressful, and of course, the more you’re stressed the less stuff you can get done.
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I’m mostly on marketing type blogs. Mine is down right now. www.digitalstreetjournal.com
But I just joined www.marketingconversation.com
Hi Jonathan, I’m checking out marketing conversation now, great posts I read so far!
Jonathan: I enjoyed this post and I mentioned
it in our Friday “Who Said That?”
Hi David, thanx a lot for the mention on your blog, greatly appreciated!
I agree–I’ve tried to start several different blogs at once…
Didn’t make it…too much maintenance and upkeep for just one man…
A team maybe?
Hi Celllie,
makes me think of something, starting multiple blogs at once, or starting 1, then another one, and keep opening new ones regularly. Maybe that would work, that’s actually what I plan on doing (and I hope it works hehe) A team definitely helps!
welcome to SWR :)
Hi Jon,
I don’t manage those 2 experimental blogs. I make the Askimet very strict and black list almost everything :)
I haven’t posted there for months, yet of 1 of them has PR3. Interesting because I only upload photos there only.
So, I have to conclude if photo blog is more interesting for readers than ordinary blog?
Aldian,
hum, that’s interesting. My personal blog has a PR2, and it’s updated like 2-3 times a month. It’s not a strong PR2 though, I should work on this blog a little more I think :)
When I see someone with 9 blogs, I’m thinking how do they possibly think this will work? You have to spend most of your time cultivating friendships. I have spent most of my time reading and commenting on others blogs until they get to know who I am. Often, they’ll start reading my blogs. Once that happens, I try never to forget that they are the most important single factor in my success. Some people write 5 posts per day and when I visit, I fell frustrated because I don’t have two hours to read it all. My WGM blog currently is only getting one post per week, and it is starting to grow. Solid growth with dedicated readers is what I’m looking for. I moved to wordpress on my main blog and though my technorati authority went from 21,000 to 160,000 in one day (ouch) I know that in a few months, because of my readers, it’ll be right up there again. Wordpress is my new format, and regardless of what some people think, Google blogspot is no comparison at all. Wordpress is fantastic:)
I agree 1,000% with you Bobby. Wordpress is simply amazing!
Bobby, first congrats on the move from blogspot to wordpress! :D
“they are the most important single factor in my success” - Totally!
I feel the same way with blogs that post 4-5 new articles per day, I usually can’t keep up, and end up not reading. 1-2 post per day or every 2 days is fine I think.
I started with a personal blog first Under The Sun, but then I felt that was not I wanted to do and after a month I started with my second blog Flowergirl and then a month later with the third and fourth blog.
If you have had a look into my blogs the contents are interrelated and what I come across in my daily life. My second blog needs a lot of work . It needs lots of photographs. In the process of collecting those photographs, I came across some commendable photos that need some appreciation and thus came my third photo blog; and my fourth one is all “Recipes”.. i love cooking it. So all the domains that I have chosen are ones that I need not go in search of for contents. All I have to look at is time management and content presentation. I am posting 2 posts per blog a week. so far so good ( btw, I am a part time blogger)
BTW .. your postings are really crispy and crunchy, not though daily but I visit once in a week at least !!
yo
Hi Sindhu,
You’re working on those 4 blogs part-time? That’s quite impressive. I have enough of 3, and 1 is updated 2-3 times a month (my personal blog), and I’m starting that new blog soon, and I wouldn’t do it without contributing writers, I just couldn’t.
I’m thinking of something regarding your blogs, why not have it all under the same domain name, and categorize your posts? This way you would have only 1 blog to manage, and it’s easier to make 1 blog grow than 4, since they’re all interrelated. You’re already posting 8 posts a week on your 4 blogs, so having all that under the same domain, you could post once a day. my thoughts! :)
Thanx for the comments, and for visiting! Appreciate it!
Hi Jonathan,
It’s me Aris Yulianta, first of all thank you for your comment on my discussion on blogcatalog. I have 5 blogs. 3 blogs are active /progressive blog and 2 blogs are static. I don’t have to update the static blog’s content everyday or twice a week. Blog about recipe, medicine, guidance, furniture are the most manageable. I heard that many people hire a writer for their blogs.
Let me say my last comment about your blog:
Clean, clear, useful content, original, quick opening time.
I will be happy if you have a time to write your tips for my blog. (on my blog :))
Hi Aris, welcome to SWR! :)
Thanx for your comments, appreciate it! Im wondering something regarding your static blogs, how do they do on the traffic, Page Rank and all? Since they’re not updated often. I’m off to check out your blog now. Take care.
I’m new in blogging. I started to create my first blog on april 2007! Traffic on my static blog sofar so good. Its about 2000 PV/day. It’s about photo gallery. 60% of the visitor came from search engine. I update the keyword to the most wanted photo at the time. Of course I keep the keyword relevant with the content. Maybe better to put some traffic graph on the bottom of the page.
Good morning Jonathan, (it’s 10:24 am in my country)
Is it allowed to write my static blog address here on this comment space? This design is very very simple. but the traffic increased 100%/month! I got 2000pv/day within 3 month. I have created the blog on april 2007. It makes >$5/day with almost free maintenance cost.
Hi Aris, hey that’s cool, $5 a day may not seem much, but that’s still $150/month which is actually pretty good, combined with other streams of income it can get you a nice monthly income. :)
You’re getting most of your traffic from search engines? like Google Image search?
Along the way we will learn something from what we have done. I was reading Darren’s problogger blog on how he had many blogs when he first started. For sure, he has learned something and because of that experience, he has become who he is now.
Hi Bismut, I read that about Darren. We learn from our mistakes, Darren surely learned and he’s now the authority in blogging :)