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5 Reasons to Start a New Blog

Posted By Darren Rowse 10th of December 2008 Miscellaneous Blog Tips, Start a Blog 0 Comments

Over my first 4 years of blogging I started in excess of 25 blogs. Most failed and no longer exist – but in those first 4 years I started a new blog every few months.

In hindsight I now look back on that period and realize that my strategy was flawed.

I did learn a lot – but I was writing too many blogs, I was writing about some topics I had little interest in, I was not writing enough original and helpful content (I was too stretched) and as a result of all this – the vast majority of the blogs I started in that time failed.

As a result of this realization I changed my blogging strategy and decided to focus my energy upon two blogs – ProBlogger and Digital Photography School.

I decided to resist the urge to start new blogs and to focus my energies on producing a higher quality destination for readers. The strategy worked. The extra attention I gave my blogs led to better post, better design and a better reader experience – the blogs have grown strategy.

In the last two and a half years I focused upon two blogs and didn’t start any others. In a sense the pendulum swung from a place where I was starting new projects every second month – to one where I started none.

Last month I decided that it was time to start a new blog – TwiTip. In doing so I realized that perhaps in not starting a blog for a couple of years I’d been missing out – perhaps the pendulum had swung too far.

5 Reasons Why Starting a New Blog Can Be Good for You

Here’s some of the reasons that I have enjoyed launching TwiTip (and why I think occasionally starting a new blog is a good idea):

1. To Keep Fresh – perhaps the thing that I’ve enjoyed the most about the process of starting TwiTip is that it’s given me energy. While I love ProBlogger and DPS and they do give me energy – there’s something special about new blogs. The excitement of launching, the gathering of a new readership, exploring new topics, seeing how readers respond to your posts, connecting with other blogs in a niche. Starting a new blog can give you energy and keep you fresh.

2. To Explore New Tools – I’ve found it harder and harder to keep up with the latest plugins and tools available to bloggers in the last year or so – simply because my main two blogs have gotten to a point where they are quite stable and don’t really need too many tweaks. TwiTip has allowed me to play with some new tools/plugins, techniques, features that I might not have tested otherwise. In a sense TwiTip has become a live testing ground for new techniques – some of which will probably be incorporated in my other blogs.

3. To Explore New Design – In a similar way – TwiTip has been fun for me to explore a new way of presenting content with a new theme. I’ve enjoyed the Thesis theme a lot and have played a little with some of its features. In coming weeks I hope to unveil a new design too which again will be fun to present.

4. To Experiment with New Voices – Sometimes when you have been writing a blog for a few years it is easy to fall into patterns in the way that you write. The patterns might not be bad (they could work well for your audience) but it is easy to become a little dry as a result. A new blog gives you space to explore new styles of communication.

5. Extra Income Stream – I didn’t expect it to happen quite so quickly but in December TwiTip welcomed its first ever sponsorSitePoint. I’ll write about the process of this at some point soon – but it essentially happened as a result of building a decent daily readership and while it’s not big dollars – it certainly is a nice extra income stream.

A Word of Warning

What I’ve found in the pendulum swings that I’ve been through – from having a single blog, to starting 25 or so of the things, to not starting anything new…. is that new blogs are good – but in moderation.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew – if you do the quality of your blogs will suffer.

I’m sure different people have the ability to juggle multiple projects differently – but at least for me I’ve found that I work best when I’m able to focus my energies on a small number of projects (for me that is 2-3 blogs plus a few social media accounts) – but that I also get a lot of energy from new projects also.

In short – it’s a balancing act!

Tomorrow I want to extend this post with some tips on ‘how’ to add a second blog to your stable of blogs. Stay tuned.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Thanks mate. All your posts are very useful. I really like your blog and will follow it for my future progress. Thanks

  2. i agree. Balance is needed. If not, we work for useless method.

  3. Tanya Harding says: 12/12/2008 at 2:45 am

    I have a question of my own. I’m fourty something and have never blogged. I’m really interested but don’t have any idea how to start. would this be a good format for me to start?

  4. Great insight, Darren. I can see how starting a new blog can help give you motivation because it’s new and fresh. But you are right…don’t bite off more than you can chew!!

  5. Hey Tcm007,

    First trick to promoting your blog is don’t throw in your business link in places like this. In your name is good. You just turn folks off with that kind of think.

    FYI: all links in these comments are “external nofollow” so it really won’t do much for you except annoy possible future friends.

    Don’t get me wrong, I admire your efforts, and I wish all the best with your “bone business” – trying to give you a friendly tip here.

    I don’t contribute to this blog and I’m not even a registered member last I looked. Darren and his team are pretty cool about this kind of thing so don’t think this coming at you from them. Just yours truly – all the best and KEEP blogging for bucks!

  6. Absolutely. I just started a new blog (http://www.itscodingtime.com) to focus on software and technology from an engineer’s perspective (mine) and it’s given me a “do over” on the whole blogging experience. While I kept the underlying engine (BlogEngine.NET), I went with a new design which, of course, required new tweaks. It’s different content, too, from my first blog, so it allows me to go with a new voice as well.

    Also, while going through the process of setting up the new blog, I found a couple of problems with my current one! The biggest one: my sitemap was messed up, or rather google was pointing to the wrong one, so a lot of my content has been off the radar. Sucks, but oh well. It’s fixed now.

  7. Curtis says: 12/13/2008 at 3:16 am

    Six months ago I closed my blog down(garden blog of two years). I have tried two other ones and then closing them down later as well.

    I have moved on and am done with blogging. I would think strongly on starting a new blog today. If you have a full time job and a family, Its hard to keep blogging.

  8. I have that issue too, when i first time blogging i really don know which post should i make, and which blog should i made, but then again after i saw a few blog, i started to get inspired what do i have to do with my blog. Same with you, my 1st blog was totally failed and i did left that blog and create a new one, Now this is the best one i have stickied around so far

  9. Great post!

    staying focused is key for me!

    I have found that If I have too many things on my plate the projects won’t be completed or the value and quality content suffers.

    For me I am staying focused on one blog and that isn’t a “full time Job” so I build other websites to create additional affiliate income streams.

    Keeping your plate full is good.

    But going to a buffett and eating too much and getting sick only hurts your health.

    Balance is moderation!

  10. one or 25 – you should decide what your goals are, beyond just having fun. Thats also important in choosing the platform. Could be:

    1. Revenue
    2. Promoting other sites
    3. Promoting yourself as a writer / expert / personality
    4. Calling attention to a cause

    My blog is http://thevacationer.wordpress.com/
    and the reason is #3. I have zero revenue.

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