This is a continuation of the previous posts “How to start a blog that will actually make you money [Part 1], Mini-Course: How to start a blog that will actually make you money [Part 2] & Mini-Course: How to start a blog that will actually make you money [Part 3] in which we went over the basics of:
- Choosing and purchasing a domain name
- Securing reliable web hosting (and what hosting actually is)
- Setting up WordPress on your site
- Selecting a WordPress theme
- Selecting and installing plugins for your site
If you haven’t read through the previous posts, please do that now, since this week we are going to dive into which plug-ins and widgets you should install and which you should try and avoid.
This week we are going to get right into the bulk of what makes up a blog site. The content!
First things first though. Before you can start churning out stellar content for your audience you need to narrow down your topic, who your audience is, and what end goal you have in mind.
Choosing a topic
Hopefully you took the time to do the necessary research when you were choosing a visual theme for your site. If you didn’t, now is the time to dig in and figure out what it is that your audience wants or needs from you.
There are many factors to keep in mind when selecting a topic that will produce a desirable profit.
- Public interest – don’t pick anything too obscure. Remember you are here to fill a need in your readers. In the same respect that you don’t want a topic that is too overly saturated.
- Personal knowledge of the topic – Go with something that you at least have a moderate interest or knowledge in.
- Longevity – Think ahead down the road. Will you have enough content to contribute for years to come? Or will it die out in a couple of posts?
With the above in mind, start by brainstorming several possible topics that you might like to pursue, then consider the following:
- Who is your target audience? Will you be able to write in a voice that the audience will relate to? For instance if your audience is teenage girls, can you write in a manner that they will understand?
- Does the topic have long term appeal? In other words, will your subject still be relevant in six months, a year, five years from now? Off the top of your head you should be able to write down at least 25 things that you would blog about in your future entries. And they should have long term relevance.
- How large is your target audience? Again, don’t go for something that is so obscure that your audience will only be a handful of people. You want a good moderate number here.
- What will you do differently to make your content more appealing, engaging, entertaining or interactive?
For every potential topic, you can offer your opinions, personal experiences, commentary, news, and DIY information. Take this blog for example. It is filled with information, current industry news, and of course how-to information to get you started and informed on what is going on in the world of internet marketing.
Before committing yourself to one particular topic, keep in mind that your chosen topic become the focal point of your blogging life and your site. Your interest and passion for the topic should be strong enough to sustain you through the times when you aren’t sure you can bring yourself to read another article on the subject, much less write another compelling blog entry.
Stay tuned for the next installment of this mini-course. It will cover actually posting your first blog entry (technical step by step instructions) as well as how to add images to your posts.
