Yesterday I wrote about my experience of launching a new blog and talked about some of the benefits of starting new blogs once you already have one going.
Today I want to continue to reflect upon the launch of TwiTip and share four thoughts on adding new blogs to your existing portfolio of blogs – based upon my own experience with TwiTip.
1. Leverage Previous Audiences
Perhaps the most useful tip that I can give you is to think about how you can use what you’ve already built online (and offline) in the building of your next blog.
You might not feel like your current blog has a massive amount of readers – but even if it has just a few it can be a springboard into your next project.
2. Extend Topics
The key with leveraging a previous audience is to launch a second blog with a topic or focus that extends what you’re doing on your first blog.
Let me give you two examples of my own:
1. ProBlogger to TwiTip – ProBlogger is read by a lot of readers who are also experimenting with other social media tools – one of which is Twitter. I’ve known this for a long time and have always wanted to tap into this. TwiTip was the logical way to do so and many of my readers from ProBlogger have now also subscribed to and become regulars on TwiTip.
2. Digital Photography School – DPS was launched off the back of a smaller blog that was a digital camera review aggregation blog (a blog that pointed readers to reviews that other sites were doing – and that organized those reviews for readers). I was getting a lot of readers of my camera review blog asking me how to use their cameras – so a tips related site a seemed logical extension – DPS was born.
The key with this is to not make your second blog too close in topic to the first (you don’t want to duplicate them or your readers could chose between them).
One way to chose a topic like this is to look at the archives of your current blog and to identify topics that you’ve written about that:
- Did well with readers – ie that got comments, that readers appreciated
- Are a little ‘off topic’ – ie posts that are related to your blog but which you wouldn’t want to cover in every post.
For me here at ProBlogger posts like 9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers and How to Use Twitter were indications that there was sufficient interest in the topic of Twitter within my readership here for a blog on the topic of Twitter. While I didn’t write those posts with a new blog in mind – they certainly revealed that it could be possible.
Another tip for identifying these sorts of topics is to look at the categories (or even tags) that you use on your blog. Is there a category there that could be a blog of its own?
3. Leverage Other Online Presence
I’ve written about this a few times lately (for example 10 Ways to find readers for your blog by leveraging other online presence) so won’t go into it in great depth in this post – but when launching and promoting new projects you should always be looking for opportunities within your existing places of online presence to leverage. For me with TwiTip the most logical place to do this was Twitter and to use my Twitter profile to promote TwiTip.
Of course it’s not always this easy (I’ve chosen a topic that obviously relates to Twitter so it’s a no brainer) but most of us have at least some involvement in social networks, social bookmarking sites, forums etc. Opportunities exist in many of these networks to help your next project.
4. Get Help
One of the things that I’ve enjoyed about TwiTip has been the willingness of readers to help produce content. When I started the blog I said I’d only write on it 2-3 times a week. What I didn’t realize at the time was that there would be enough offers for guest posts to enable me to stick to writing this amount of content yet keeping the blog fresh with 1-2 posts every day.
Many of the people who have guest posted on TwiTip have been previous guest posters on ProBlogger. Again, it’s about leveraging your existing networks (although I’ve not really approached any of them to do it – people have volunteered).
Of course I have been lucky to have a strong existing network to enable this to happen – but the principle applies to networks of all sizes with opportunities existing to work together.
For example – I was talking with a blogger recently who told me that they didn’t have a big enough blog to find guest posters. I encouraged her to write a quick post on her blog asking if anyone was interested in contributing – to test and see if this was true. She was surprised to find that she had two people offer to write guest posts as a result.
I’m actually thinking of doing the opposite. I have a blog that could move into my main blog as a category. I’m finding I don’t have the resources to keep the niche blog up – but I have a good domain for it. Ugh. Advice?
How much easier has it gotten to launch a new blog for you compared to say your second blog ever? I would imagine that with twitip by leveraging your twitter profile and problogger you had to do very little other promotion. (Like commenting on popular blogs, you know, since you own the popular blogs).
The real question is,how much easier was the second blog you did for you than the first one? Before you had something like problogger to jump start it.
That makes perfect sense, thanks. I’ve had a couple ideas for a second blog but hadn’t considered the concepts you outlined here. Great stuff.
So it seems that if you start off with a “loose” niche and then slowing tighten up in your niche topic. I don’t think I can get more specific than blogging with Adsense.
Damn I have punched myself right in the niche
From Blog to Blog. Excellent post on cross promotion. I love when bloggers share their own personal experiences in success
Very timely and helpful, Darren. I am looking at developing a new blog in a related niche in the next several weeks, so this series couldn’t have come at a better time.
@LivingOnAdSense, rather than tightening a niche, you can also look for a parallel niche. What other topics would your current readers find interesting and useful? Good luck!
Great post, I’m about to start my first second blog. I have found that some of my content really calls to be displayed in a different manner and setting and it’s about to get that. Though blogging as a hobby I’m concerned about keeping up with two separate blogs.
Besides time management skills any suggestions about how to stay on top of your blog, second blog and second second blog?
I learned this the hard way that it doesn’t work another way around. I used to put a lot of stuff on my plate. Am I to blame if a new blog project sounds too exciting? :)
Thanks for this inspiring post Darren. This is exactly what I expect I should have read a few years ago.
It is so true that everything is interconnected. carrying the weight of multiple blogs, websites, business streams, etc. can be suicidal if each is in a silo on its own. However, if there are ways to leverage the same resources, they support each other.
@Cathy Stucker, Parallel Iike that. So I could continue with Living on ClickBank, or Living on Commission Junction, or even better…
Living on Dog Walking!
Getting help seems to be a key too…for me the ideas are there, but I can only produce so much content at one time.
Mayy
Darren
Yeah, that’s especially easy to do when you already have a major audience- like you said. In your case, you are able to free yourself up because of guest posting and so on. Getting help is the key, for me, from bloggers I trust. Not self proclaimed gurus or expects. Your advice makes sense, but it doesn’t work that way for everyone, at least until they have enough readers and exposure. :)
-Miguel
I’m running two blogs right now so was interested in your take on this. I would love to see a post on how you go about promoting 2 blogs at the same time…
Thanks for the suggestions. How do you compensate guest posters?
You have definitely used leverage to go to the top with your new blog. There’s not a lot of competition out there either so that definitely makes it easier.
While I see the opportunities in starting a second blog, the two constraints I run up against is time and putting the effort which would go into my first blog into the second blog.
I’ve been debating these two points for a couple of weeks now in regards to starting another blog. But I think about the time I have now which I’m dividing between my main blog and other business matters, and the time I would need to devote to the potential second blog.
So till I either make my mind up or someone invents an affordable cloning machine, I’ll just focus on my main blog.
Wesley
The Geek Entrepreneur
Wow…I really love your tips to start the second blog. I have bookmarked this post for my future use because I do want to start my second blog on – Make Money Online
For sharing thank you very much good very beautiful work
Thanks for the post. I would like to start a political blog but I don’t want to keep my business (wedding photography) and the political blog separate.
What it seems your are really talking about is brand extension.
This should be easy for a blogger who already tasted some bit of success with an already existing blog. The experience and procedures come in handy.
How good is this advice to a new blogger(to start a new blog).
This should be good for those who already tasted some amount of success with their existing blog.
Thanks for the great post. Good points. Must…get…one…up…and…successful…first:)
Thanks again!
Thanks for sharing your personal experience w/ the blogs, Darren!
Useful.
I find it hard to manage even just one blog (I’m not a full time blogger although I post at least once a day). I ended up loving 1 blog (my main one) than the other :D
Guess this is why “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other” lol
This is really great information and something I intend to use quite actively next year :)
I’m actually concerned about launching a second blog in a related niche.
Around the blogosphere I’ve been hearing a lot of news about how content really monetizes on powerful domains and that in some cases, its best to create a ‘supersite’ where all the related information is in one place.
This makes sense. In the IM niche, its probably not as important as us bloggers are reasonably tech savvy and know about the site owners other outposts.
I was wondering if any Problogger readers have any personal experience with creating a related blog.
My opinion is leaning towards expanding the scope, and power, of the original blog.
Rob – interesting. I think it could work. One of the problems of a blog with a very niche focus is that it can be hard to find content to keep it going. Two options come to mind:
1. merge your blogs as you suggest
or
2. transition your blog to a less frequently updated blog. There’s no rules that content has to go up every day. There are some great blogs around that only post once a week (or less).
Derek – TwiTip has grown faster than any other blog I’ve launched mainly because it relates strongly to the audience of ProBlogger and because I have a pretty decent Twitter following.
It is definitely easier to start a 2nd blog when you have something successful going already – although even a small existing blog will give you a leapfrog (I’ll write more about this below).
Living on AdSense Blog – yes you can go that way – OR (like Cathy says) you can choose a topic that relates to your niche. So you could quite easily roll out other blogs on other ways of making money online that would appeal to your existing audience.
Miguel – yes as I said above it is easier the more successful your previous blog is – however it’s not impossible with a small blog. The first photography blog that I leveraged to launch DPS was by no means a big blog – it had a few loyal readers but it was nothing like ProBlogger is.
I guess what I’m trying to convey is that you need to look at what you’ve already got to leverage (big or small) and use it as a springboard. The jumps you can take between projects tend to get bigger as you become more and more established and build more and more things to leverage.
Rob Horne – generally guest posters don’t do it for compensation. They get a link back to their own blog as credit and often pick up traffic. Most guest posters do it for profile building reasons.
Geek Entrepreneur – it is certainly something to only do if you feel you have time and energy to do it because starting a new blog takes up both of those things :-) One thing that I can recommend is trying to start small. ie start a blog with a posting cycle of 2 times a week instead of daily. Thats how I first launched DPS.
Atlanta Wedding Photography – I would highly recommend keeping your photography and political blog separate – those audiences wouldn’t really cross over that much (in fact with a topic like politics you could alienate readers from your photography blog). Yes this strategy works best when there is relevance in topics between the two blogs.
Rohit – this isn’t what I’d recommend for starting a new blog. The principle of looking at your existing networks to leverage still applies – but that’s about it.
Michael – yes I dont think that multiple blogs is for everyone – you’ve got to take a good look at your time and energy levels before doing it.
Darren, thanks for the write up about leveraging on your existing blog and launch a second blog with success…
I always believe in the power of leverage….For instance, recently i launched a blog about love and relationship tips…i identified the niche and with a help of my friend, we start up the blog with success of getting lots of traffic from social networking site and search engine too…next phase, we are planning to launch a another niche blog about love too once the website is well established and getting consistent traffic…
Would appreciate if you guys check out my love blog…cheers…
Great timing,
I just started my second blog. Actually I’ve done many but this is my second serious effort. I’ve run The Bookshop Blog for about a year and a half and it’s not that I’ve gotten bored but since it’s inception my bookstore has closed (moved to online only) and I know work for a software company. i wanted to continue writing but not always about books. I just started The Big Desk with a much broader topic. Most say that to do well $$ you need a good niche. I plan on writing about things that hold my attention; the environment, architecture, personal growth, travel and cooking. I may not get a massive following but I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I also get to employ the more serious blogging tips I’ve picked up over the past few years.
Bruce
great tips …linking blog and good networking beetwen our blog….thanks for step by step explanation
Darren I have found that 2 blogs is about all can keep up with on a daily basis
I have had success with multiple blogs in the financial world. Where I run into problems is there just is not enough time to promote each blog. I have had to decide which ones offer the most promise and interest and focus. Really focus. I believe that you need to spend minimum 2-3 hours a day on forums, social networking, etc. There is just not the time for one person.
Thanks for keeping us pointed in the right direction Darren
i agree with that. I also do that at my others blog. Put others category at different blog.
Oh man, its so hard to maintain even with 2 blog, you just have to focus on one blog then the other one later, thats the best strategy and frankly thats not easy, you need to think hard how to make your blog growing
I would love to find guest writers for my blog Divorce Saloon – specifically divorce professionals like forensics specialists, parenting coaches, etc. Any idea how to do that?
by Marion TD Lewis, Blogger
http://www.divorcesaloon.com
I also recently started a second blog from my main blog, which is about Japanese animation. The second blog is a progression blog on an online game I play regularly. I used to post updates of my progression on my main blog, but decided to set up another one just for the game after finding that my visitors didn’t care much about those topics (it also brought in many unwelcome guests).
On my main blog, I tend to write posts that’s more than 350 words, but my progression blog could be 50 words–or just a screenshot and nothing else.
I already have a fairly successful blog. But as much as I want to create a new blog, I find it a little boring that I’m going to start from scratch again.
It’s like back to zero… Any thoughts on how to get me interested?
It’s like back to zero… Any thoughts on how to get me interested?
On my main blog, I tend to write posts that’s more than 350 words, but my progression blog could be 50 words–or just a screenshot and nothing else.
the great tips …linking blog and good networking beetwen our blog….thanks for step by step explanation…..
The o till I either make my mind up or someone invents an affordable cloning machine, I’ll just focus on my main blog.oky.
for sharing thank you very much good very beautifull work
but my progression blog could be 50 words–or just a screenshot and nothing else.
debating these two points for a couple of weeks now in regards to starting another blog. But I think about the time I have now which I’m dividing between my main blog