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 sponsor – SitePoint. 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.
Starting a new blog, even if you already have a ‘primary,’ is a wonderful exercise. Not only will it give you a venue that can act as a ‘testing lab,’ but you’ll be amazed at how it will positively impact your main squeeze!
I’m big on starting a new project every few months just to keep the creative juices flowing.
I have had the same problem. I started a few new blogs without having a real interest in the topics. I removed them all, except for two, in about a few months time.
I have realized just what you just said. That by focusing on what you really have an interest in, it’s a lot easier to produce quality content.
Now, I will probably start a new blog sometime soon, but I’ll be sure that I have a real interest in the topic before I start it.
My main reason for starting another one, is to keep fresh. I want to explore new areas of interest, and when I am writing about them, I also have to do research, and by doing this, I am learning a lot as well.
One person can only juggle so many balls. I currently have three blogs that I author, but to be honest, two of them have been painfully ignored for the past couple of weeks. Interests and passions change — and our blogs are a reflection of that. Should I stay or should I go? Haven’t quite committed yet. But a decision needs to be made soon. Followers will only hang in there so long and your reputation suffers. Thanks for sharing your insights.
Ya i agree with you, i too started so many blogger blogs but i failed. The major problem are optimizing them blogs to search engine and PR. Finally i stick to one blog.
Ah, this could be just the series of posts I was looking for. :) I have a couple ideas for new blogs, and was hoping to get one off the ground soon, so I’ll definitely stay tuned. Thanks again, Darren, for a well-written and informative post.
It’s true, I was literally starting a new blog every few months and now that I have a solid three, my readership has grown like crazy. I am able to post everyday and concentrate on link building and other means of traffic like twitter, stumbleupon and facebook!
I personally feel that starting new blogs is ok but stretching too thin by starting a plethora of them isn’t right, especially if you are just regurgitating the same things that can be found elsewhere and thus aren’t creating any value proposition for the visitor.
I had the same problem, not with blogs, but wits starting all kinds of new websites. A new idea can get you very excited and it gives you a lot of energy to develop your site.
Then some other brilliant plan popped up in my head, when the site I was working on hadn’t been completely finished, and I started working on the new plan, with much excitement. The old sites where put on the low burner and never got to reach their full potential, while they where brilliant ideas.
I have recently focused my energy on a few of my existing sites, gave up a few dozen of my old domains, and really try to not start any new ones. So far this new strategy is working out well. I can see my old ideas completing and starting to really take off!
This is all too common. If you are Blogging to get Net celebrity status you are misdirected. Don’t Blog to get known – Blog to become known as someone knowledgeable.
As The Cluetrain states – once we get tired of hearing ourselves talk – we will see what the Net is really about.
And truthfully – no one gives a shit if you are having coffee or having a pissy day.
While all of this sounds familiar I never got to a total of 25 blogs, nowhere near that many actually. I’m fairly new to writing a blog, have been reading them for years, but am still working on finding my own groove and focusing the output. Find the time to write frequently is my biggest challenge.
Here’s my brief blogging experience:
I started a blog years ago on an OS X server running blojsom which was terrible due to Apple’s updates so it is essential to pick the right platform. Then I started a blog on a Microsoft SharePoint server which is still up, but haven’t updated in months – I do think that I will get back to it and keep it to only work related stuff as it is hosted on a work server anyway.
Now, I come to my domain which I currently use and feel the most comfortable using. Started this blog in June (basically did the WordPress install :) ), but really focused output as of November so it is still very new. I write about my life experiences with slight focus on technology (my professional choice).
All in all, thank you for sharing what you have learned along the way as some of us reading these posts are still in the infancy stages where you have been years ago.
I think focusing is the key, not only is it easier to manage 2-3 blogs, but it also ensures you are writing about those couple of topics you are most passionate about. I believe that the passion piece will keep you writing day in and day out, that just doesn’t happen with too many blogs going at once.
Matt
This article kind of describes a recent project I just completed. I launched my 2nd blog to try out something new. And setting up everything was a renewed journey for me.
Cheers,
A Dawn Journal
New Blog URL = http://www.canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com
I went through a huge phase where all I wanted to do was make a new blog every week. Although I have the process down now, I found that it became very daunting to juggle a life, a job, and updating a couple of quality blogs.
Darren,
Agreed – I just started 2 new blogs to see which one is growing well, and sell the slow performer one :P
I started my first website/blog in 2004 and just in the last 8 months, I started three more. I totally agree with feeling more energized, but I also feel quite overwhelmed at times! I’ve started to try and keep to a posting schedule, and/or focus my attention on more thoroughly on what I’m doing at the moment, but it’s not easy. The good thing is that my first website is full enough of information and resources that I don’t need to update it everyday, and it still brings me my most significant income. One of the newer ones brings me quite a bit of income and the other two, none…so far…
I love what I’ve learned from using wordpress, and I do agree that now’s a good time to start more blogs, but I’m also seeing more and more blogs pop up because they’ve “heard” you can make money blogging (you know them when you see them), and these, I think, “water” down the value the “good” blogs bring.
Now I realize that I have made the same mistakes: too much stuff at the same time. Now I am dropping some of my blogs and will concentrate the efforts on 2 that seems to be most promising.
I couldn’t agree more with this post. Great tips for anyone starting a blog, or considering it :-) Real money comes when you focus your efforts.
My main mistake with my first blog I’ve created was it wasn’t about something that interested me. Now I write about what I love and it’s going great. I’ve started a forum as well and wouldn’t want a new blog yet because I just wouldn’t have enough time for it.
But if people out there do have time for it then cheers to that open as many as you can as long as, like Darren outlined, you can balance it.
I set up and have been running my company’s blog for a little while and am just about to start a personal one. I am eager to read your thoughts on starting a new blog – just the series of posts I need!
Thanks Darren
Hey guys,how do you handle more than a couple of blogs?
How do you get the time to manage them or do you outsource it?
But it must be interesting.
I agree about staying focused on quality! The quality cannot suffer or your readers will quit coming!
Darren, 25 or so of your blogs are not online anymore, how did you proceed for their shutdown ? Just let as is, deleted entirely, any other solution ?
I see people who are trying to make money online through blogging and they are trying to run 10 or more blogs at once.
There is absolutely no way someone can spend the amount of time needed to run that many blogs at once and have them be successful.
I’ll stick to my one blog for now. If down the road I get inspired to start another (after mine hits success), then I might think about it.
But that is years away for now.
I agree with this article, but except of exploring new things, one good thing about starting a new blog is, that you can learn from the mistakes you made with the old ones and make things right from the beginning.
I agree with the comments about focusing on one blog, or maybe just a few.
I also had the problem of starting too many blogs at the same time, and not following through.
Thanks for the article!
I really, really disagree with this advice if you’re someone who has a blog that you feel hasn’t “made it” yet. A lot of people try multiple blogs, esp. early on in their blogging career. I wasted a lot of time trying that, and even though I still haven’t made it, I know one reason I didn’t make it is that I wasted a lot of time trying different things.
I think the lessons one learns after being successful and working with that success are very different from the ones that have to be engaged early on. Notice that I don’t say that what you go through early on is a teacher – it isn’t clear to me, given how adverse some circumstances are, that there are credible lessons to learn all the time. Maybe when you have an established blog, creating a new one to learn something is a great idea. After all, the only major objection would be with regards to “branding,” and that is easily taken care of if one demonstrates one’s expertise amply.
But everyone else who’s struggling doesn’t have the luxury of getting success from multiple blogs, but rather has to work with one’s own blog. And while whether any given blog will “take off” is a gamble, it’s a gamble which you can increase the odds of winning given 1) time and 2) quality.
You mentioned in an earlier post that you wanted influence. I can safely tell you that the number one concern I have with the blogosphere is that I’m hearing the same voices over and over about the same things, and that niche, interesting, creative content is literally getting drowned out in favor of top 5 lists. To me, the challenge isn’t starting new blogs, it’s getting the voices we have already heard.
I have 25 blogs. I don’t update them all but most I do when I can. It took me about 18 months to write all the content. Ialways get exited when I start a new blog. Im slowing down though latley and just focus on the ones I have.
I started a new blog last month. I was really fired up, energized like you say, and really poured myself into it. It was fun. Then, at the end of a week or so, I realized I couldn’t maintain it. With my older established blog, another newer blog, a full-time job, wife, all needing my attention, this brand new blog would have to go.
I did learn a lot though. I learned that I now know how to “power launch” a blog. I know what plugins to install, how to immediately brand it, how to get it indexed in G quickly, and gather a decent audience too.
So, while on paper the extra blog was a FAIL, there were plenty if side benefits. And now I have the confidence to maybe start a blog startup consulting biz.
Wow man u’d 25 blogs. Well I currently have 3 blogs and maintenance is quite hard. I mean 3 different blogs and to find time to update them and to find relevant and quality content is not an easy job. But I am also positive that I’m going to start a new blog or two soon.
Btw, twitip is quite cool. I’m sure it’s gonna b in ur list of successful blogs.
Cheers.
I can’t believe you started 25 different blogs!
I’m on my first “real” blog launch right now: Serve The Song.
It’s all about Songwriting, Music Production, and Online Promotion…
Things I’m very passionate about, so it’s easy to put lots of great content into it. I really hope the community grows and this thing takes off…
http://www.servethesong.net
Darren,
I agree with you. Right now I’m in that very phase where ideas are running through my mind and it seems that with every idea I should start a new blog. Of course, while it seems like a good idea, I should focus on the two blogs that I have started and develop them more. This is hard right now because I am also currently going to school online to get a degree in Web Development. I’m finding it hard to juggle school, blogging and finding a new job. How’d you do it? Hopefully, things will fall into place. I just keep reminding myself that all the hard work will somehow pay off.
Great post, I enjoy reading your blog on a daily basis, thanks for being a guiding light on something that I’m just learning about.
I will consider it!
I think that if you see blogs as a way to express yourself and to talk about your interests you should launch as many as you can write on.
But if you want to monetize a blog I think launching is a question of how well are the other blogs doing. If you have enough traffic to another blog of yours then it’s not that hard to launch another one.
So it depends on what you want.
I agree, it’s all about energy focusing. I am in the process of re-building my 2 blogs, including new domain names and so on.. and just finished to build my wife’s blog / website – she is a painter.
Now I feel that I have to wait a lil’ bit before finishing my main blog re-development and moving it on the new server..
This balancing act is brutal especially when you LOVE design and tweaking. Of the fun of a fresh new domain name and all the possibilities that can come with it! Big fun for sure.
I’m certainly guilty of creating too many blogs, and stretching myself out really thin, I don’t regret most of these blogs because they are all gaining SE seniority. I start them, throw up some decent posts, and let them go into my own blog sandbox – waiting for a day when I might need them to pay a bill or two.
I finally settled on one niche this year that has been the most lucrative, and I keep up my original blog for fun. Still like to talk about the business sometimes and maybe visit a blog like this.
I think a quick writer can handle 3-4 four blogs, and let them all grow together. A new blog needs lots of lead in time for the searchies to sniff anyway, so why not a few on the back burner that you put a 1500 word post once a month?
I guess it’s the old adage – less is more!
I use new blogs to test new strategies. Traffic and monetization strategies that could hurt my main blogs so I start a new one for tests.
I’ve got way too many blogs already, but recently started a “for my eyes only” one a month ago – simply to chart the journey of dumping my regular salaried job to starting a new business with zero budget in a time when the economy is crumbling.
The other blogs are my public voice, carry money-making ads, express my outward opinion – this one is for me only, a place to be honest about where I’m at, the frustrations and personal triumphs I face as I figure this business stuff out, and a couple of road-markers to look back on and (hopefully) go “wow”.
I’ve considered paring down my blogs to only one or two – but each is a different facet of who I am, used for a different purpose.
And of all of them, at the moment I’m really enjoying the me-only one best.
Hi I am a new blogger and I find your posts very helpful.
Thank you!
http://chicagoacupuncture.blogspot.com/
Thank you SO much for this post :D
The general consensus among a lot of the top bloggers is to start one website and turn that into a really, really powerful domain. Use your stronger web presence to launch your next one.
My long term goal is to have four, including gardening and travel. I plan to work really hard for 6 months on one, then taking a step back so I can work towards the next project. I also intend to create more than just a blog; create a full website that provides specific solutions.
Its posts like these that really inspire me and keep me on track. Genuinely excited about tomorrows post :)
Just restarted one of my old blogs. I agree with taking on to many. I test one and see how it goes, if it doe not meet up to my criteria, I sell and start another.
I’ve got one blog going, one that I’m getting ready to launch, one that I have domain name and hosting for but I can’t figure out what to do with it, and one that despite not updating for months still gets a decent amount of traffic to it everyday.
Once I launch the new one I might try to bring the one that just sits there up to speed a little, but I can’t imagine having 25 going. How are there enough hours in the day?!
Another great article Darren. You seem to have perfect timing with your posts as I was thinking about starting a few new blogs. I might wait a few more weeks and work on what I’m going to write and start them around the new year.
I’m patiently waiting for your post tomorrow.
Great post! I just started my second blog and I can agree with every one of those reasons. For me though, I learned a lot with my first blog and I can really start off well on the second.
-Alex
http://www.thestocktalk.net
http://www.mysarcasticmind.com
I too have two primary blogs I’ve been working on, and agree that it’s good to spend developing quality over quantity. It also really helps to have blog topics that compliment each other.
I just launched a third blog myself called “The Everyday Blogger” http://www.theeverydayblogger.com which is about making a living as a lifestyle blogger made simpler. Here we speak Oprah vs Geek. I wanted to do something to help others while leveraging something I already love. Another good way to learn is to teach. So far, so good :)
looks like you done well and know about your mistake. Thats why you know how to handle it now.
how about expansien our business…..increasing income and target market ? so we need add new blog
I have a few week old blogger blog, and I’m planning to launch a wordpress.org blog soon.
But I couldn’t imagine managing 25 blogs. That would be too much.
I loved this post Darren. Too many people are starting blogs and websites with great expectations and not thinking about how long it will take to build up good content. As a result, the web is full of abandoned websites and content that will never be updated. Things need to get cleaned up!
Cheers,
Chris Blackwell
I agree with your words ‘I decided to resist the urge to start new blogs and to focus my energies on producing a higher quality destination for readers‘. These are golden words for the blogger and web designers. Thanks lot