I was reading through an old notebook last week and came across a quote that leapt out from the page at me. It was partly because it was written in CAPITALS and had arrows pointing at it – but partly because of what it said.
“Probably the best place to start thinking about what your blog should be about is to consider what YOU are about.”
I’m not sure where I picked this one up. I actually think that it was a friend who doesn’t even blog who said it to me.
The reason it stands out to me is that it rings true from my own personal experience of blogging.
I’ve had more blogs than I can remember but it is only those on topics that reflected something of my own passions, loves and interests that I continue to blog. It’s also those blogs that remain profitable.
The temptation is to pick topics based upon profitability first and foremost – however this has a couple of main problems associated with it:
1. passion shines through – you might be an incredibly skillful writer but blog readers are a pretty clued in bunch and if you don’t have energy for your topic it’s likely to be picked up. You might fool them for a post or two – but over the weeks, months and years if you don’t have an interest in your topic you’re not likely to attract those that do.
2. sustainability – the other main problem with blogging on a blog that you have little interest or passion for is that it is incredibly difficult to sustain for the long haul. I’ve tried it and rarely lasted longer than a month or two on a topic that I didn’t enjoy. I probably could have gone longer but in the end realized that even if I’d been able to grow a readership on those topics that it would have been a rather empty experience of blogging and that I’d have likely given up at some point or another.
While if your goal is to make money blogging you do need to analyze your topic for its potential profitability I wouldn’t start with that. As I encouraged students in Six Figure Blogging this week – look at yourself and your own experience.
A few questions to ask:
- What do I know about?
- What topics do I read about and seek out information on already?
- What topics do others come to me for advice on
- What topics keep coming up in conversation for me?
- What topics would you write about for free?
Once you’ve come up with a list of topics that reflect YOU it’s then possible to begin to refine them by looking at other factors including profitability.
