January 23, 2008
Confessions of a no-niche blogger
I blog about stuff. My blog is one that is identified as personal or general, one that doesn’t have a central focus on a particular niche. There are a lot of advantages to being a general blogger, the primary one being that everything fits so you can write about whatever you want. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should write on every topic, though. After a blog has built up some content it begins to develop a voice. That voice reflects the interests of the bogger and attracts a following of readers. To be successful as a non-nich blogger you need to identify your voice and concentrate on creating content that reflects the personality of the blog - your personality (for what is a blog but a public proclamation of ones own viewpoints and interests?)
I think the biggest mistake that general bloggers can make is to try to shoehorn inappropriate content into their blogs. It’s a mistake I’ve made numerous times, and one that I need to guard against. I did it last week when I blogged about Skeet porn. The post described what I called the fluke factor, the phenomenon which occurs when a serch term brings you traffic that wasn’t actually looking for your site. If I’d stopped there I probably would have had a much more successful post. Instead I went outside my own realm of interest and I bombed. I redirected the focus of the post towards the manipulation of search engine traffic - definitely outside my areas of expertise. My wording was awkward and my ineptness showed. I rambled on for almost 1600 words trying to clarify things that I don’t understand very well myself. I confused my readers and I suspect that very few of them read the whole rambling wreck.
That was a wakeup call, reminding me that I need to be true to my blogging voice. I’m a good storyteller - I know this because me readers say it’s so. Some of my most popular posts have been stories about my family, about growing up in the South and about life in Hawaii. I’m addicted to hidden object games and visual puzzles. My fanaticism shows and my readers respond to it with enthusiasm. Cooking has always been another of my passions. I don’t share many recipes, but when I do I almost always tie them to stories about learning to cook as a child or why the dish became a family favorite. My readers relate to those stories and it’s particularly gratifying when they respond with similar memories of their own. Supporting childrens charities and advocating for the homeless are important parts of my life. When I posted about the Keiki Slippah Wish Project I was astounded at the response. I should not have been. The most ardent fans of skeet’s stuff read my blog because they have interests similar to my own. They responded so generously to the needs of children in Hawaii that the project was able to expand to include the homeless children in my own community. Gardening, stories about my dogs and essays inspired by photos have also attracted new readers and kept them coming back for more.
The common thread that runs through all of those topics is that they reflect my own personal interests. The same can be said of my most well-received sponsored posts. Stories about growing up in the rodeo culture and my son’s love of baseball generated keen interest in my sponsors’ sites and resulted in effective advertising for them. Those early posts taught me a valuable lesson. When I inject my voice into a sponsored post I produce something that works for my blog, works for my readers and works for my sponsor. Any post that doesn’t satisfy all three falls short and should have been reconsidered before I hit “publish.” While it’s tempting to snatch up every money-making opportunity that comes my way, it’s more satisfying at the end of the day to know that I’ve produced something I can be proud of.
As a relatively new blogger I still have a lot to learn. I’m an avid reader of “better blogging” articles and tutorials. The lessons that have had the biggest impact, though, are the ones I’ve learned through trial and error. Delving through my archives brings those lessons into focus and allows me to assess my own strengths and weaknesses. It’s helped me to see that my voice is my biggest asset. Do me a favor, would you - slap me around a little the next time you see me forgetting that.
[tags]better blogging, blogging[/tags]
Posted by skeet @ 11:26 am • Blogging
RSS feed for comments on this post.
TrackBack URI
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 pm, pussreboots Says:
Your niche is that you’re blogging from Paradise! And you do those wonderful Tuesday Teasers.
In fact, you’ve won an award. Happy blogging.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:00 pm, brettbum Says:
I dunno Skeet, I always suspected that you might be one of the great unknown and undiscovered Porn Bloggers of our time.
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:48 pm, skeet Says:
Aw, mahalo Sarah! You say the nicest things!
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm, skeet Says:
I just could be that, Brett. Mahalo for the Stumble! Um, you didn’t categorize me as adult content, did you?
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:49 pm, Whim Says:
Love you just the way you are Skeet.
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm, Chelle Says:
Hey Skeet, once I found your site I couldn’t stay away. I’ll be here through all your wonderful posts and those that fall short of your personal mark now. You’ve enthralled me truly and I can’t keep myself away from your beautiful writing style.
January 24th, 2008 at 7:33 am, skeet Says:
Aw, mahalo, Whim! Even on my bad days?
January 24th, 2008 at 7:34 am, skeet Says:
Mahalo, Chelle! I feel like I just got an early Valentine’s gift!
January 24th, 2008 at 2:45 pm, Misty Dawn Says:
Absolutely fantastic post Skeet! I had to come to similar realizations lately.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:06 pm, skeet Says:
Mahalo Misty Dawn! I learned the lesson long ago, but am still a repeat offender. I’m working on it!
January 27th, 2008 at 3:04 am, Martin Says:
Awkward ineptness IS my niche
January 27th, 2008 at 8:48 am, skeet Says:
Now, now Martin! I claimed it first. You’ll just have to find some other realm of incompetence and stake your claim. Awkward ineptness is mine!
January 30th, 2008 at 1:43 am, Ady Susatyo Says:
This post caught my attention, since I’m a non-nich blogger as well
(at least for now). I guess my biggest problem for now is on identifying my voice and blogging personality. It’s indeed quite challenging to produce something that we can proud of. And I still figure out how to make a nice start for it 
January 30th, 2008 at 11:31 am, skeet Says:
I’ve just visited your blog, Ady and it looks like you’ve made a nice start already. It’s your blog, so let your imagination and interests guide you. You might be surprised at what you discover as your voice begins to develop. I didn’t know I was a storyteller until my readers pointed out that that was what made them keep coming back.