Blogging 3 Years Later
Just last month, this blog of ours turned 3 years old. If you’ve been reading our stuff this entire time, thanks a bunch. Chances are however, you’re probably a new reader or you’re landing on this site for the first time and if so, welcome. I decided to write a post about my experience with blogging for a couple of reasons. The first reason: my approach to blogging has changed over the past few years and I firmly believe that it’s worth sharing the rationale behind those changes. I know a number of my readers are bloggers and I hope they’ll benefit from this post. The second reason is for all the readers that aren’t bloggers. I want to tell you where this blog is headed.
Background: I started blogging in 2011 for two main reasons. I had developed enough home improvement and woodworking skills over nearly a decade that I could help people who were trying to add value and improve their homes. I also heard that people were making money blogging and I thought I should give that a shot. Seemed like the perfect combination of opportunities. I loved talking about home projects and I could potentially make some money on the side. Win-win. The only problem was, when I first started out, I didn’t know how to do that.
The first two years. When you’re first starting out, the easiest thing to do is follow the leader. The best and most influential home improvement bloggers were all pretty much doing the same thing. They were publishing great content. In fact, they were publishing great content several times a week. To be clear, I’m not just talking about Young House Love. Everyone who was leading the pack seemed to be posting at least five times a week. I think they all were doing that for a few reasons. The more content, the more search hits, the more readers. I don’t think that’s a bad strategy, at least at first. When you are trying to get rolling, publishing a lot of content really can’t hurt. Plus, if you really enjoy writing, then go ahead write the posts.
The underlying problem with my approach the first couple of years was my monetization strategy. Most of the big time home improvement bloggers were making money from ad revenue and sponsored posts. Those methods CAN be pretty lucrative IF you have a lot of traffic. If you don’t have a lot of traffic, then no dice. Ah, but more time and more posts will deliver more traffic. More pins. More time on pinterest. More social engagement. More tweets. More comments on popular blogs. More guest posts. More. More. More. If I just posted more often. If I just get that one post that goes viral. After two years and 300 posts, I was starting to become skeptical of this whole traffic and ad based concept. It works for some folks. Wasn’t working for me.
Moreover, most of MY content is not terribly pinterest friendly. The whole home blog scene tends to be dominated by women. My content is more aimed at both men and women. As a guy, I tend not to read blogs on a regular basis. I’m assuming most guys don’t. Even today, if I want to learn something new, I’ll google it. If I land on a cool blog, I’ll try to remember it, but chances are I’m not going to pour a cup of coffee and read 15 posts in one sitting. My wife will do that.
The past year. Around July of last year, I bumped into a blogging niche that was taking a completely different approach to online publishing. Lifestyle and income bloggers. They were publishing LESS often, sometimes 4-5 times a month. They had great traffic, but they weren’t using pinterest (if so, barely) to drive it and they were making more income in one month than some bloggers were making with their full-time jobs and their blogging gigs put together. Sound cool?
What are they doing differently? They’re publishing the same great content other bloggers are providing, but they’re also selling digital products on the side. E-books, courses, consultations, you name it. They have newsletter subscribers, not just RSS feed subscribers. They have e-commerce sites, static sites, affiliate programs, podcasts. It’s a whole other world of blog monetization.
Who are these bloggers? Pat Flynn. Derek Halpern. Chris Ducker. Ramit Sethi. Melanie Duncan. Many more. Normal folks, that simply package their content in more ways than you may be accustomed to in the DIY and home improvement community.
Whats next. Over the next several months and years, I’m going to continue to keep up the same posting schedule, the same content strategy and the same type of home improvement projects that you’ve come to expect. I’m also going to be rolling out some new features that I think will help me deliver value to you, my reader. I’m shooting to launch a new podcast before November and I’m thinking about adding a forum for more on-site conversation. The goal with these two projects would simply be to grow the Our Home from Scratch community.
If you’re new to blogging or are considering starting your own, here are a few things I would consider adding to your to-do list. Keep in mind, these are my own lessons learned. At some point I was guilty of all of these infractions at one time or another.
1. Start a Newsletter. I started my first e-newsletter in December and I’m on pace to reach 1000 subscribers by the time next December rolls around. How is this different than subscribing to posts in Bloglovin, Feedly or just an RSS subscription? Newsletters are emails that you write to your subscribers telling them in your own words what’s going on. You CAN use them to keep people in the loop on your latest posts, but you can also use them to remind them of giveaways, contests and downloads. You can write unique content. Have an idea for a post that you’d rather not publish? It would probably make a great newsletter piece, plus it’s exclusive. If you DO end up developing some sort of digital or physical product, it’s a great way of introducing it and offering sales information. So start a newsletter. I use Aweber for my newsletter service and so far so good. Not sure who would ever subscribe to your newsletter? Try offering something free in exchange for someone’s email address.
Just to put this in perspective. My absolute biggest blogging regret was not starting an email newsletter on DAY 1. Hands down. When I started the newsletter, I wasn’t sure if I’d get a dozen subscribers in a year. I’m getting 2 or 3 a day. Some days I get a dozen. I’ve had a Facebook page for my blog for nearly 3 years now. I have under 400 likes. Newsletters. Do it.
2. Only Post Valuable Content. Don’t waste people’s time. If you have nothing going on then don’t post. You don’t NEED to post something just because you always post on a Tuesday or whatever. If you take the time to write content that will provide value to people in one way or another, then you’ll readers will come back time and again. But if you mail in a post and just talk about what you had for lunch (unless your blog is literally about your daily lunches) and waste people’s time, then they’re much less likely to pay you repeat visits. I’m not talking about your blogging friends and real world friends that actually know you in real life. I’m talking about people that read those 2 or 3 killer posts you wrote over the past year and you’re starting to grow on them. Don’t blow it. Oh and for the love of God, if you take a week or two off from blogging, you don’t need to apologize to your readers. They’re not offended. I promise.
3. Don’t Make it a Chore. Growing your blog takes time. Don’t put pressure on yourself to churn out new, amazing posts every week. If you feel like you HAVE to hit publish or your blog is going to sink, you’re going to get burned out. Most people start blogs because they have something to say about a topic and they approach this new hobby with a fresh sense of optimism. So very many of them will quit or get bored or become cynical over a lack of success. If you’re blogging because you enjoy writing, then only write when you are going to enjoy it. If you’re pissed off or in a hurry, then you’re going to make the process miserable. Slow and steady wins the race. Take your time.
4. Be Known For One Thing. When people land on your site, they decide within the first few seconds whether or not to look around or to move onto the next website. People are a fickle bunch, no? You need to grab their attention and immediately make it clear who you are and why they should read your content. Chances are your content is diverse and you’re a complex person with skills, passions, hobbies and pictures of your pets. That’s all great. Let new readers figure that out after they’ve read a couple of posts. Initially though, you need to hit them right in the eyes with who you are and what you’re awesome at. Like a deer in headlights, if that’s what they’re looking for, you’re in luck. So how do you do that? Well, take my site for example. I want people to know right away that this site is about home improvement and power tools. Before they leave, I want them to think “Oh, this guy builds furniture. This guys is good at home improvement.” What do you want the people who land on your site to think? Gear your site towards that goal.
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