PS Your Blog is Dead
So said said James Kirkwood.
Is your blog dead?
Mine is. Sort of. Because I never set out to make money blogging, I did set out to learn some things about increasing traffic and rules of the road for driving traffic for one of my corporate clients. 
I’ve learned that traffic is finite. Very finite. It’s also finicky. And focussed. There are SO many good blogs out there. People just breaking into the space now, who are trying to monetize their blog, are in for a rude awakening.
The best blogs seem to have a theme, a niche, and a solid focus.
The draw of cheap hosting, the lure of a free WordPress theme and the thought of being in business is appealing because anyone can do it. And it seems everyone does.
I spend a lot of time online. Too much in fact. Blogs are the wrong label. Blogs are search optimized content management systems today. They are full fledged corporate sites… if need be.
There are too many people trying to make a buck off traffic. Monetizing traffic. Pumping out content with the hopes that people will click on a link that turns a profit.
Datapresser makes me laugh.
ANYWAY THAT IS THE GAME…
And everyone is in this game. Because everyone is in the game, it means that everyone is participating and NO ONE IS SPECTATING. This creates a very unique problem, which amplifies the scarcity of traffic.
I’m lucky to get 15-20 unique visits a day reading my obscure, rambling content. Who really cares about what I’m writing anyway? It’s not that interesting. You’d be better off going to JohnChow.com or PerezHilton.com.
Thankfully my blog is a laboratory for me and not a commercial enterprise. Everything I’ve written about is for a reason. For testing key words. For evaluating content response online. Article length. Video viewership.
Anyway, the reality is that there is no democracy online when it comes to sharing the blogging riches. I think that 99% of the money goes to the blogs who’ve been online for a few years and had first mover advantage, which is probably somewhere between 100-500 blogs according to my best research on Technorati.
The other hundreds of thousands of blogs trying to monetize their content will likely not be able to generate any income.
From what I can see, it is damn hard work and not worth the return, at least not in the short term. In the long term, perhaps. That is a decision you have to make.
For the others who are trying to make it with very little effort…you may be better of accepting this fact now:
your blog …is…. dead.
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About the Author: I value good design, growth, effectiveness, simplicity, profitability, lots of sleep, tons of laughter and above all, freedom. If it makes money - it's a business. If it doesn't make money - it's a hobby. Period.
David | Jul 13, 2008 | Reply
All that said, there are a few things that are going to make or break a blog.
1. Persistence - you mention older blogs and you’re right, but they didn’t start out with traffic they had to build it. They did well because they persisted. I’ve had this experience with plenty of blogs and online efforts. I am getting no traction and then I publish something that resonates or I am one of the few sources of information for and suddenly my traffic increases (some times a lot).
2. Promotion - New bloggers shouldn’t expect that just because they write it people will come. The Internet isn’t the field of dreams. I would suggest people interested in Internet promotion check out the 30 Day Challenge.
3. Think viral - When you’re developing content ask yourself if you would pass a post, page or video on to your friends if it wasn’t yours. If you wouldn’t than you can’t expect others to do that for your content. Things that are edgy, informative, comical are all likely to get passed on.
FWIW, I really enjoy reading your blog. I hope you don’t quit.
Cole | Jul 13, 2008 | Reply