How to Have an Influence on Your Niche

As a blogger, knowing your niche thoroughly is important. In order to become relevant in your niche you must be able to get involved with others and find a way to separate yourself from the many other bloggers who cover the same topics as you. Networking with other bloggers is a crucial part of gaining an influence on those in your niche. Without being part of the blogging community of those around you, your blog will likely be overlooked by many potential readers.

Here are 10 ways that you can increase your impact on your niche:

1. Focus on quality of content

This is important for any aspect of blogging and it’s a topic that gets repeated over and over if you do any type of reading about blogging. Despite the fact that it’s not a new idea, it is first on this list for a reason. Nothing else you can do as a blogger will have as big of an impact on your long-term success (networking is a close second, in my opinion).

While there may be hundreds or thousands of other bloggers in your niche, it’s likely that only a few of them actually publish high-quality, original content. Always appreciate the value of quality content, and put as much time as you can afford into content creation. It will pay off. With top-notch content, others in your niche will take notice.

2. Read and comment on other blogs

Reading other blogs in your niche is critical to your development and continued learning, not to mention for networking purposes. Commenting on other blogs is always mentioned as a way to get noticed by others and to draw traffic to your blog. While comments will rarely draw a significant number of visitors to your blog, they add up if you actively leave a number of interesting and relevant comments. Just as importantly, you can get other bloggers to notice you by consistently providing quality feedback on their posts.

Most subscribers of other blogs in your niche will subscribe to a number of blogs, and they’ll likely be interested in adding more if you can prove that you have something valuable to say. As a result, commenting on other blogs in your niche is one of the best ways to get your name and your thoughts in front of targeted visitors.

For more information on commenting, read Caroline Middlebrook’s post Do You Have A Blog Commenting Strategy?

3. Write guest posts for other blogs

One of the most effective methods of gaining exposure for my blog has been writing for others. When I first started promoting my blog I contacted a few bloggers each week about the possibility of writing a guest post for them. Almost every one wound up posting at least one of my articles. This helped for getting my name out there to others in my niche, it helped to build links, and most importantly it helped me to make some valuable connections with other bloggers in my niche. Many of those bloggers that I initially contacted out of the blue have now become my friends and trusted members of my network. As a result, I still write for some of them (including here at Blogtrepreneur).

In my opinion, there is really no better way for a new blogger to make a big splash in their niche than by doing some guest posts on other blogs. As readers start to see your name a few times you’ll quickly become recognized. New bloggers shouldn’t be intimidated at the thought of contacting other bloggers about writing guest posts. Darren Rowse has published posts to his thousands and thousands of readers that have been written by new bloggers with less than 100 subscribers, and other have done the same (of course you’ll need to provide the best article that you are capable of).

What other way can you display your name and your knowledge to lots of targeted readers for free? Still, very few people really take advantage of the opportunity to write guest posts. If you are interested in more information, I wrote an article based on my experience that should help you to get started as a guest blogger.

4. Participate in social media

Social media sites are not only a great place to drive traffic to your blog, they are also an ideal place to network and build a profile. Many bloggers use social sites like StumbleUpon to meet and connect with others in their niche. If you are not actively using social media, you are missing out on some great opportunities.

Niche-specific social media sites can be especially beneficial as they will provide more targeted visitors and better networking opportunities. Rather than focusing all of your attention on the major social media sites, try to find one or two that are highly relevant for your blog and spend some time using these sites and getting to know some of the users.

5. Participate in forums

There are online forums for just about any topic you can possibly think of. Forums are a great place to network with others in your niche, build your reputation, drive traffic to your blog, and help others at the same time. Many other bloggers and blog readers in your niche will be actively participating in forums, so it is another way to get involved with a targeted audience.

6. Write follow ups to posts from other bloggers

Want to get noticed by a particular blogger in your niche? Publish a follow up article that builds on a post from them and then send an email with a link to your post. Just about every blogger will at least take a look at the article to see your opinion and read what you have to say about their post. I have used this method a few times and it has worked very well. By adding on some valuable and insightful information, you can show that you belong in the category of the top bloggers in your niche.

7. Launch a community aspect on your blog

Blogs don’t have to be limited to simply posts. There are other options to get people involved and build a community around your blog. If your blog becomes a hub of activity for those in your niche, you will certainly have more impact than you could without it.

Forums are a common example of this. There are several options for quickly and easily adding a forum to any website, and then your blog visitors will be able to interact and communicate at a different level than just with comments on posts.

Another option is to add a community blog. Courtney Tuttle added a section to his site that he calls You Blog. With you blog anyone can register and post an article on topics related to internet marketing. SEOmoz also has a similar blog that they call YOUmoz.

8. Hold a group writing project

A group writing project can be a good way to get a number of bloggers from a particular niche together for mutual benefit. There are many different forms of group writing projects, but typically any blogger will be able to post an article on their own blog about a specific topic. Then they submit their link to the host blog and the host will publish a post with links to all of the other posts. Sometimes there are contests and prizes involved, other times the links, exposure and networking are the prizes.

9. Network with other bloggers through email

If you are new to blogging you may be hesitant to contact other bloggers. In most cases, bloggers are happy to get to meet others in their niche. Take a few moments to use a contact form at some of the blogs that you frequently visit. Just introduce yourself, mention something that you like about the blog, and briefly tell them about your own blog. Your never know what might come out of a simple introduction.

With those bloggers who you are already a little bit familiar with, make an attempt to stay in touch via email or instant messaging. Your network, especially of those in your niche, will be critical to your success. Always be looking for opportunities to help others and you will easily build a strong network.

10. Advertise on other blogs in your niche

If you have a little bit of a budget, consider paying for some ads on other blogs that share your target audience. When compared with other types of advertising and purchased traffic, advertisements can be pretty low cost, and they should produce targeted visitors. Advertising isn’t necessary, but it can certainly help to improve your exposure.

There will be plenty of options with advertisements. Take a look at several blogs in your niche and see where you can get the most impact for your money. You can pay for banner ads, text link ads, RSS footer ads, and there are also a growing number of widgets, such as Scratchback, that are being used by many bloggers

Blogtrepreneur Is Hiring!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been taking more of an administrative role here at Blogtrepreneur. I’m sure most of you will have noticed that my posting frequency has dropped over recent months due to a combination of offline factors.

I’ve been really fortunate to have Steven Snell from Vandelay Design on board so far, and he has consistently been posting every Tuesday. So far, I havn’t really had a chance to welcome him to the community, but I want to thank him for all his hard work so far!

As a single post every week isn’t enough to sustain a successful blog, I’ve decided to search for some new writing talent to improve the posting frequency here, and to really take things to the next level. So if you are interested, please use my contact form to get in touch.

All you need to send me when applying are links to some of your writings (knowledge of blogs and Wordpress in particular is preferable although not compulsory) and reasons as to why you would make a great addition to the Blogtrepreneur team.

Please note that this is a paid position and I will state prices once I’ve taken a look at some of your publishings. Other benefits will include a dedicated author’s page and the availability to link-back to your posts, sites in your articles and having the chance to improve your brand and image to over 1000 RSS readers!

Where Are You Going, Adnan?

I thought that some of you might ask that question, but I’m still going to be here, as usual keeping an eye on Blogtrepreneur. In terms of posting, I’ll still be posting whenever and wherever possible, but the added content will mean that I will feel less bad if I don’t manage to post anything in a week!

For those who have always been opposed to guest posting, the statistics would say otherwise, as I havn’t posted for a couple of weeks, and Steven has still managed to boost traffic and subscribership levels. I will always make sure that posts will be of the highest quality, but as mentioned, I will still be here keeping alive the Blogtrepreneur spirit!

A Redesign Is On The Way

I just wanted to end this brief post with news that Blogtrepreneur will be undergoing a major shift in design. I’ve managed to rope in the skills of Connor Wilson yet again to come up with a formidable template, and one which will definitely blow your socks off.

You can expect to see a shiny new mascot, some Javascript beauty and an amazing colour scheme. As usual, it’s onwards and upwards for us entrepreneurs.

Single-Author Blogs vs. Multi-Author Blogs

For readers who have been subscribed to Blogtrepreneur for a while, and there are a lot of you, you know that some changes come along with moving from a blog with just one author to a blog with a few different writers. Adnan built a very strong community here by providing interesting, insightful, and relevant content over a period of time. Now, as you have read, Adnan doesn’t have the option to continue posting at that frequency and he’s brought on a few other writers, me included, to help Blogtrepreneur to achieve the goals that he has set.

Inevitably some things will change, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to look at the subject in a little more detail. I know most of you read a number of other blogs, some with one author and some with many. I’m interested to hear your perspective on the differences that you see in these blogs and if you prefer one to the other.

Single-Author Blogs:

Personal Connection - I believe a blog that is written by just one person is able to capitalize on the personal connection between the reader and the blogger. This, in my opinion, is a big factor. Most of us read blogs because we can relate to the person writing, so a loss of this connection can hurt.

Readers Know What to Expect - If you read a blog everyday or a few times a week, you have a good idea of the blogger’s style, what topics are usually going to be covered, the quality of the information and the writing, the general approach to blogging, and more. This is something that most of us as readers take for granted.

Posted May be Limited Because of Time - As we saw a few months ago here on Blogtrepreneur, a single-author blog is completely dependant upon the availability of that one person, and when his or her schedule doesn’t allow time for blogging, the readers don’t get as much information. Even those that have plenty of time for blogging are still unable to post as frequently as many multi-author blogs. Frequent posting can be good or bad, but it is just a reality of blogging that it will be more limited for most single-author blogs.

Unlikely to be Able to Produce a News Blog - There are a growing number of blogs that serve readers by publish news as it occurs. This really isn’t possible with just one writer. The single-author blog has to compete with a different strategy.

Limited to the View of One Author - Naturally, the writing will come from one opinion. You’ll get what that blogger knows, and nothing more. The experience of the blogger will also have a huge impact on the quality of the content. They can’t write about what they don’t know. Again, I don’t think this is necessarily good or bad. Some single-author blogs are great because that blogger has an incredible perspective and tons of insight.

Multi-Author Blogs:

Variety of Topics - As you’re going to see here at Blogtrepreneur, a diverse staff of writers means that readers will get quality information on a wider range of topics. Each writer is able to focus on his or her strengths.

Variety in Styles - Each writer will have a unique style and perspective to bring to the table. Two bloggers covering the same topic can do so in completely different ways. While we don’t want to repeat information, it is nice to know that different perspectives will be presented.

Quality May be Uneven - I subscribe to a few multi-author blogs where there is a drastic difference in quality from one writer to the next. With a single-author blog you have a better idea of what you’ll get, but the more writers you throw in the mix, the more variety you will get.

Posting Consistency Does Not Depend on One Person - With multiple writers, if one suddenly doesn’t have time to post the blog doesn’t go bare.

Readers May Not Get Connected to the Writers - This is a real challenge for some multi-author blogs. Building a relationship with readers is critical. Hopefully the writers at least respond to comments, but actually getting to know the readers is important too. I hope that while writing for Blogtrepreneur I can do a good job in this area.

Conclusions:

While there are certainly pros and cons of each approach, I think you’ll see improved overall quality and quantity here as a result of a diverse team of writers. Posting will certainly be more frequent than it had been for a while, and I’d much prefer this approach than seeing Adnan sell the blog right now because of his schedule. I think we’ll all benefit from the different perspectives and talents that each writer brings to the table.

Simple Steps to Improving Quality of Posts

Most bloggers are always facing the challenge to create blog posts that will attract new readers and continue to interest subscribers. Creating high quality content on a consistent basis is a serious challenge, yet it is essentially a requirement for a blog to reach its full potential. Almost all bloggers are aware of the importance of unique, engaging, and thought-provoking posts, but many are not really aware of what they can do to drastically improving the quality of their content.

Any blogger that is dedicated to being successful and willing to put in the effort that is required has the ability and the opportunity to improve the quality of content that is being published. Some bloggers feel that they are not the best writer or that they don’t have as much knowledge as some other bloggers, so they assume that a high level of quality is out of their reach. While these things will certainly help if you have them, there are plenty of ways that we can all improve on our current process of developing posts. Here we’ll take a look at 9 steps that you can take to push the quality of your blog posts much higher than you thought you could.

1. Don’t Force Yourself to Publish Frequently

While I do feel it is important for bloggers to publish new content regularly, you shouldn’t feel the need to publish a new post every day just because other bloggers do. Each blogger should have their own publishing frequency that works best for them. If you have the option of posting low-quality posts every day or higher quality posts 3 times a week, I would advise you to go with the 3 posts a week. It’s much harder to develop a loyal audience with lower quality content.

In many cases bloggers keeping pumping out new content because they feel they’ll be left behind if they don’t. Once you free yourself from this mindset and you determine to focus on quality rather than quantity, you’ll see that you can produce posts that you are more proud of.

2. Set a Schedule

It’s a good practice to have a schedule that you at least attempt to follow for your posts throughout the week. This doesn’t mean that you have to post at specific times each week, but it can help your preparation by knowing when you need to have posts ready. This can really help the quality of your content as you’ll know ahead of time what you need to do, rather than waiting till the last minute. Personally, I like to write most of my posts on the weekend and then continue writing throughout the week as I have time. With a basic schedule I know at the beginning of the weekend exactly how much I need to do to be prepared for the week ahead.

3. Pay Attention to Results

You can learn a lot about what your readers appreciate and respond to by analyzing your stats over a period of time. All of us will face peaks and valleys in terms of traffic, but you may be able to find that particular topics or types of posts are drawing consistent results (either good or bad). Satisfying your readers is obviously important, and their opinion of the level of quality of your posts is really what matters. Pay attention to these results and learn from your experiences and you should be able to create more content that they like.

4. Listen to Your Readers

Many of your readers that leave comments will give you feedback that can be used to improve the quality of your posts. Take this opportunity to reflect on the opinions of your readers and find ways to make your posts more useful for them. Some bloggers use polls and surveys to get feedback from readers in addition to just the comments. You should also have a contact form or a way for readers to email you so that they have the chance to reach you privately if they prefer. I’ve gotten some valuable feedback via email from my readers and I feel that this has helped me to improve my product.

5. Value Ideas

Producing high quality content is much more than just being a skilled writer. The idea for the post is probably more important than the actual writing itself. Especially if you are blogging in a saturated niche, unique ideas are critical. Schedule time to brainstorm and develop ideas for your upcoming posts. Personally, I find it to be very productive to keep a binder or notebook of ideas and initial post outlines. I keep my notebook with me at most times and whenever I have an idea for a post I write it down.

6. Take Time to Research

Some posts you’ll be able to sit down and type pretty quickly with little effort involved. Others may require you to do a bit of research in order to really create something of quality. I think most bloggers put off these types of posts because they don’t allocate the time to do adequate research for posts. If you can schedule an hour or two each week just for researching your posts I think you’ll see significant improvements in quality. It will also allow you to cover some topics that you couldn’t otherwise cover.

7. Pay Attention to Format

The same blog post formatted in two different ways can bring about greatly different results. Reading articles on a computer screen is not always easy, so help your readers by formatting posts properly. Use headers and sub-headers, whitespace, lists, bold text, etc. to make it easier for readers to digest your content. Michael Martin has a nice article at Pro Blog Design about 30 Ways to Improve Readability.

Readability isn’t the only issue to consider with formatting. Adding images to your posts can also help to make the post more attractive and draw more attention. Some bloggers feel that you should use an image in every post. Personally, I think images can be effective when they are used properly. If the image relates well to the topic of the post and catches the eye, it’s usually going to be an improvement to the post.

8. Find Your Voice

Most people read blogs because they like the blogger or because they can relate to the blogger. If you’re in a crowded niche there are probably several other blogs that your readers could subscribe to if they wanted to get information on your specific topics, but hopefully your approach to blogging will stand out from the others. When writing your posts, try to approach it from your own unique perspective, and give readers something that they can get attached to. The quality of your content can be significantly improved by distinguishing your writing style from other bloggers.

9. Be Consistent

Taking the time to produce great content really isn’t going to matter if you wind up taking a month between posts. As I said earlier, you don’t need to post frequently or every day, but you should have some consistency in order to retain readers and build a loyal audience.

Consistency doesn’t only apply to publishing content. It also applies to your effort. Even when you are not publishing new content you should be focused on developing content to be published in the future. Just because you’re not going to be publishing a post on a specific day doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t work on your blog. Take that time to brainstorm post ideas or to work on your upcoming posts.

The Blog Promotion Curve

Launching and growing a successful blog takes commitment to several different areas, including promotion. Even blogs with large, established audiences need to be doing some type of promotion in order to keep growing. What’s been interesting to me in my experience with blog promotion is the curve that takes place as your blog develops and your base of readers grows.

Defining the promotional curve

When a new blog is launched, off-blog promotion (anything you do to market your blog that takes place away from your blog itself) is critical. Naturally, a new blog will start with zero readers, and in order for people to subscribe they will first have to find the blog somehow. As a result, new bloggers need to dedicate the majority of their promotion efforts to things like commenting on other blogs, writing guest posts, building social media profiles, building inbound links, etc. These efforts will lead people to the blog, which provides the initial exposure that’s necessary to start the growth process.

As the blog’s audience and subscriber count begins to grow, more time will need to be spent on the blog itself, or those who are arriving as a result of the promotional efforts will not stick around because there is nothing worth seeing. Eventually the blog will reach a stage where the blogger’s time is too valuable to be spending on excessive off-blog promotion, and the priority will curve towards promoting the blog by different means. At this time, activities like content creation, community building on the blog, sometimes contests and other activities will be more productive than the tactics that were used to gain the initial exposure.

How the curve impacts you as a blogger

As a blogger, it’s important to understand the stage of development that you are in. My blog started to really grow last summer when I became very active in writing guest posts for other blogs and gaining exposure in that way. That wasn’t my only method, I also did a good bit of social media marketing, but creating content and managing my blog only took a portion of my time, not all of it. One day I hit the Digg front page and gained over 200 new subscribers. Then it hit me. All of a sudden I felt much more pressure to create the best content that I was capable of, because now I had something to lose if I didn’t.

When you are first launching a blog the biggest challenge is simply being noticed. I think most of us believe that our content is good enough to be appreciated by our target audience, the problem is that they can’t appreciate the blog without ever seeing it. Simply put, your first challenge is to get people’s eyes on your work.

I’m not in any way suggesting that what you write and the methods that you use on your blog are not important until you have an audience, but I do believe that new bloggers should be active in other places aside from just focusing on their blog itself.

One example that quickly comes to mind is Caroline Middlebrook. I first came across Caroline’s blog through a comment that she left (I think it was on my blog, but I could be wrong), and I’m not alone. In fact, Caroline had a commenting strategy that worked extremely well. As a new blogger she spent a lot of time reading and leaving valuable comments at other blogs. As people clicked-through and visited they saw that she had plenty to offer at her own blog, and many like me subscribed.

When the curve begins

At some point you’ll find yourself spending more and more time on your blog itself, as opposed to doing whatever you can to get people to notice you. At this point it’s just not worth your time to do so much off-blog promotion. Sure, commenting and being active in other communities is still a vital part of blogging, but your efforts will be more valuable if you use them to grow the asset that you have been building.

Now you will need to protect your investment and nurture it by creating something that will retain the interest of your existing readers and also appeal to first-time visitors as they arrive. Once you have built a reasonably-sized readership, some of your promotion will be done for you. For example, you can create a great post and watch your existing readers vote for it on social media sites, which will result in new readers finding you through social media. This is a luxury you don’t have as a new blogger with no audience. Additionally, links will come much easier once the blog is more established.

Putting the curve into practice

Knowing about the curve is one thing, acting on it is another. For example, I have two blogs. One has a pretty good audience that has grown over the past 6 months to a year. The other is still pretty new and hasn’t been exposed to nearly as many people. Part of the reason it hasn’t grown as quickly as I would like is that I have been treating it as it if were more established. My promotional methods off the blog have been almost non-existent. In order to jumpstart the blog I need to go back to the basics and make more of an effort to get exposure from other places. On the other hand, most of my efforts on my primary blog are spent on content development. When I create the best content that I’m capable of, it gets promoted by current readers and new readers come as a result.

Where are you on the promotional curve? Do you spend most of your time working on your own blog or promoting it in other places? How does this fit with the stage of development of your blog?

Taking Advantage of a Competitive Niche

I’ve talked to a number of bloggers who got started out because of an interest in a particular niche or because of a desire to make money, only to find down the road that there are a million other blogs doing the same thing as them. With the constantly increasing number of blogs online, it seems almost impossible to have an impact in a saturated market. I’m sure you’ve read about how you should avoid choosing these crowded industries because of the difficulties you’ll face. Many of you probably blog in competitive niches, and I’m sure some of you would choose a different path if you were to do things over with the knowledge that you have now.

While I completely agree that analyzing the niche is a critical step before launching a new blog, I also see some strong reasons to want to be in a busy and active niche. My primary blog covers topics related to web design. Of course there is no shortage of information already existing on the subject, so yes, it’s not easy to stand out. On the other hand, I have some incredible opportunities that bloggers in smaller, less popular niches simply don’t have.

If you’ve been building your blog for a while, you’re probably not too excited about the idea of giving up and starting over just so that you can choose a less competitive niche. If you haven’t launched your blog yet, maybe the topics that really interest you have also interested thousands of other bloggers. If either of these situations applies to you, you may want to consider simply accepting the challenge that you have in front of you, but recognize the opportunities that come along with this situation.

To start with, blogs in crowded niches have opportunities for:

1. More Links - Since there are more blogs and websites on the subject, it should be easier to build links.

2. More Traffic - Crowded niches provide loads of traffic to the blogs that are popular. With more people interested in your subject, there’s simply a larger potential market.

3. More Subscribers - Blogs in tightly-focused niches often struggle to gain subscribers, but popular blogs in a competitive niche will have huge audiences.

4. More Exposure - Of course there are many ways to get exposure, but a crowded niche can provide plenty of opportunities. There are more blogs to get links from, more blogs to write a guest post for, more social media sites that cover your topics, more chances for search engine traffic, etc.

5. More Advertisers - One of the things I love about blogging in the web design industry is that there are tons of companies that are interested in advertising to designers and developers. There are so many products and services in this niche that it’s not very hard to fill advertising spots with competitive rates.

A Plan for Success in a Competitive Niche

1. Make an Effort to Get Exposure from Other Blogs (Preferably Major Players) in Your Niche

As I mentioned above, there are more opportunities for exposure in a crowded niche, but you’ll need to make them happen. One of my favorite methods is guest posting for other blogs with a similar audience. When I was just getting started with my blog I was pretty active with finding other blogs to write for, including Blogtrepreneur. Over a span of two or three months I wrote about 20 -25 posts for other blogs. While I didn’t see a huge response from any post in particular, all of them added together to lead to more subscribers, some valuable links, and the one thing I didn’t really expect, some great contacts that helped me to build a strong network of other bloggers. I think many bloggers don’t pursue guest posting because of the added effort and time that it takes, but I highly recommend it and I think you’ll find that it’s well worth the time.

In addition to writing guest posts, getting links and mentions from other blogs is extremely valuable. Link exchanges are generally not going to work with anyone besides new bloggers that are also trying to build there audience, so if you want to get a link from a more popular blog you’ll have to give them a good reason. Some blogs publish weekly or monthly link posts that cover relevant topics for their readers, and many of them are open to suggestions if you have a post that you think is worthy.

Linkbait and social media is another popular combination, and one that I personally like very much. Most major social media sites have categories that cover the most popular and saturated niches, plus there may also be some niche-specific social media sites that would provide a targeted audience for you.

Whatever method you choose, you’ll absolutely have to get some valuable exposure to make momentum in a crowded niche. Choose the method that you think will work the best for you.

2. Take Advantage of Community Sites, Forums, and Niche Social Media Sites

One of the things I love about being in a crowded niche is that there are so many places for me to reach a targeted audience that may be interested to what I cover at my blog. Take some time to find the most active community sites in your niche and make an effort to become an active member. All of these types of sites can help you to make some strong connections and get some interested visitors to your blog. Less popular niches will not usually have these opportunities, so make the most of them.

3. Use Major Social Media Sites

While niche social media sites are a great opportunity to get targeted visitors, major sites like Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon will have the potential to send a much higher volume of traffic. The traffic you get from the major social media sites will not be as targeted, but the huge numbers can make up for that. Especially if you’re looking to build links or sell ad space, major social media will be important. In the case of selling ad space, social media can help to get your traffic higher and the inbound links will help bring even more search engine traffic, so in time it can help to increase your ad revenue because of the higher traffic.

4. Be Different

Every blogger needs to have a plan for standing out from other blogs, but even more so in a crowded niche. While there may be hundreds of other bloggers covering the same topics as you, if you can take a unique angle or find your own approach, you will be ahead of 90% of the other bloggers. Find something specific that you can do differently or better than others in your niche, and make that your trademark.

5. Identify Monetization Opportunities

One of the most appealing reasons to get into a crowded niche is the amount of money that the leading blogs are making. Of course, for every one blog that’s making good money, there’s probably 50 or 100 that are making nothing or have already given up. In many cases, those who aren’t able to capitalize were unsuccessful because they choose the wrong methods and strategies for monetization.

In crowded niches there will typically be more options for making money, but the work may also be harder. For example, I mentioned earlier the abundance of potential advertisers in the web design niche, but there are also plenty of opportunities for the advertisers. They can choose to buy an ad or your blog or on any one of a few hundred others. As a result, you may not be able to demand as much, and you may have to work a little bit to keep your ad spots filled.

The ability to recognize the most profitable opportunities will separate the successful from the unsuccessful. A recent example is Max Davis who purchased Blogging Experiment. In Max’s first month with the blog he increased revenue from $1,826 to $5,021 without increasing expenses. Max is an experienced website owner and he does this type of thing as a business, so he knows how to recognize monetization opportunities.

6. Build a Network

Networking is important for all bloggers, but in a crowded niche a strong network can help to quickly elevate your status in the niche. Those of us who blog in very popular and common niches have the opportunity to network with an almost unlimited number of other bloggers. Simply start getting involved at community websites, forums, niche social media sites, and the comments section of other blogs.

7 Business Lessons You’ll Learn from Blogging

When it comes to blogging for money you’ll get a wide range of opinions on the subject of whether a blog is a business in itself. Personally, I feel that a blog can be a business on its own (without any other services or products being sold) because I see plenty of them every day that are making money. Of course, a blog can also be used very effectively to promote and improve an already existing business. Either way, running a blog with the intent to make money either directly or indirectly will help you to learn a number of valuable business lessons.

My blogging experience started with the intent to blog for the purpose of promoting a service (web design); however, over the past year I’ve taken an interest in learning more about blogging to earn a direct income as well. During that time I’ve learned more about business than I could have by reading or studying without actually putting anything into practice.

Blogging is an excellent proactive learning experience for anyone interested in business and entrepreneurship, and I’d like to take a look at 7 lessons that you’ll learn from blogging. While you may or may not have already had a textbook knowledge of these lessons, blogging will give you a first-hand, real-world knowledge that is always superior to anything you can read in a book.

1 - Networking is Critical

When I started blogging I had no idea how important a network is to a blogger (in fact, I didn’t know much or anything about blogging). I quickly realized that every successful blogger has a strong network of friends and colleagues online.

Building a popular and profitable blog without a network is just about impossible. Likewise, in the business world a network can be the difference between an average career and finding exciting and challenging opportunities.

For any entrepreneur, regardless of what type of business you are building, a strong network will be one of your most valuable assets. Take the time to meet others in your field and find some ways to work together or to help each other.

2 - Businesses Need a Plan

When starting a new blog it can be tempting to jump into things and just start blogging. Modern blogging platforms make it extremely easy to get started quickly, but the need for planning still exists. If you hope to run a successful blog you’ll need to have a plan to get there. Most likely this plan will evolve somewhat over a period of time, but you should always have some direction in mind to keep yourself on track.

In the business world a lack of planning will lead to almost certain failure. While a blogging plan and a traditional business plan or marketing plan may be very different, blogging will at least teach you the value of taking the time to plan and the results of ineffective planning.

3 - Making Money Online is Realistic, but Not Easy

Many people start new blogs every day with the hope of quitting their day job in a month. After all, people like John Chow and Darren Rowse make a significant amount of money with their blogs, so why can’t you? Well, I believe that anyone can earn a substantial income blogging, realistically only a very small percentage will earn that type of income. The biggest thing holding most online entrepreneurs back, in my opinion, is effort. Yes, it is realistic, but it won’t come easy.

Aside from blogging there are plenty of other ways to make money online. Running an e-commerce site, affiliate marketing, keyword sniping, all of these approaches will take real effort, but all are realistic. The problem is that most people see making money online as an easy way out, but they don’t want to put in the time that it takes to be successful (which is almost always less than the time it would take to build a traditional business).

4 - A Great Idea without Consistent Effort will Only Go So Far

Having a great idea is just the start. In order to take that idea and actually profit from it you’ll need to put it into action. Throughout my time as a blogger I’ve seen others that have had plenty of potential, but it seems like the consistent effort just wasn’t there.

Regardless of what type of business you are running, the necessary action is critical. If you have a great idea don’t wait around while someone else beats you to it.

5 - Integrity Counts

Blogging is very personal in nature. Many of us follow particular blogs because we connect with the writer. Because of this, integrity is a major issue in blogging. I know personally I tend to really respect bloggers that are transparent and seem to have honest intentions.

In the business world there are always going to be temptations to take short cuts, but in the end integrity does count. In most cases those short cuts might help you temporarily, but they’ll usually come back to haunt you. Whatever type of business you are working in, make it a priority to be seen as reputable and trusted.

6 - Not All Expenses Are Bad

A few weeks a go I wrote Expenses are Part of Doing Business Online. One of the main reasons that I wrote that post is because it seems like a large percentage of online entrepreneurs see all expenses as negatives, and they tend to feel that doing business online makes expenses unnecessary. While it’s true that most online business have expenses that are far less than traditional businesses, there are certainly some expenses that are more than justified.

If you’re a blogger you may learn the value of quality hosting when one of your posts gets to the front page of Digg. Or you may learn that paying freelance bloggers is a cost-effective way to build quality content for your blog that generates even more money in advertising revenue. There are plenty of expenses that can make your business more profitable, the key is minimizing the unnecessary expenses and being willing to spend on those that will help you grow the business.

7 - Building a Business is a Long-Term Experience, Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

Most bloggers tend to give up very quickly when they find that they are not making money as early as they had hoped. Blogging is like any other business in that it can take some time to be successful. Sure, there are a few examples of blogs that are profitable very quickly, but they are the exception, not the rule. If more bloggers took a long-term approach to making money there would be a lot less that give up along the way.

If you are building a business, remember that you are building an asset. With a long-term, asset-building approach your business will have a much better chance of success.