I’ve seen blogs come and go for various reasons and recently I really started thinking about why some of the blogs out there fail and shut down and what these blogs could do to avoid failure.

Here are my10 Reasons Why Blogs Fail and How to Avoid Failure:

Get discouraged that they aren’t seeing the results they want and shut down the blog

Nobody said blogging was going to be easy but you can’t get discouraged and shut down.  Ask any blogger out there and one of the biggest tips they will give you is don’t give up and keep the content going.  There is a critical mass hump that you need to get over.  I started off with 0 readers and 0 subscribers it took months and months to build up a name.

Don’t market or promote themselves or their blog; both online and offline

You can have the best content in the world but if nobody knows about that you don’t exist.  You have to market yourself and your content both online and offline.  Without marketing you are dead in the water.  A little while ago I wrote about 11 ways you can drive traffic to your blog, I recommend that you read it.

Don’t have time to keep blogging and maintaining their site

This is an excuse I hear a lot and quite frankly it’s B.S. we’re all busy people, suck it up and turn off your t.v. for an hour shut off your xbox and get to work.  If you want to succeed then you have to get the job done.

Spread themselves too thin in terms of blog focus and end up losing their audience

You have to focus on a particular topic, area, or niche.  If you start talking about everything under the sun then you are going to lose your audience.  Become a specialist and OWN your niche.

Don’t maintain a steady posting schedule and let weeks or months go by before posting

When you start off especially, creating constant fresh content is essential.  Posting once every 2 weeks or once a month is not the best way to go about creating an audience and establishing yourself as an authority.  Post quality and post often.

Run out of topic or post ideas/get burned out

This is where reading and research comes into play.  Alltop.com is a great resource for information for virtually any topics.  Also try to branch out of your niche sometimes and read about other things to get ideas.  For example if you focus on tech read an occasional post on art and culture or history.  You can also try keeping a posting schedule (I don’t).

Let harsh criticisms and negative comments get to them, creates low morale and lack of confidence

I get criticized and called out all the time, and it’s nothing to get upset over.  It’s the nature of the game.  Some people will like you others won’t, it’s how you deal with the negative feedback that matters, but don’t ever let it get you down to the point where you want to quit blogging.  You might want to check out my posts on maintaining a positive online presence and repairing a negative online presence.

Start a blog about something they are not passionate about and eventually they just stop caring

Starting a blog just for the sake of starting a blog is probably the worst thing you can do.  If you are not passionate about what you’re blogging about then eventually you will stop caring and you’re readers will pick up on it.  You don’t want blogging go turn into a chore or a homework assignment, do what you love and love what you do.

Failing to provide unique and/or valuable content OR censoring to the point where the “voice” is killed from the blog

Reposting what techrunch or wired magazine said isn’t going to get you anywhere.  Try to provide a unique spin on things and make sure you’re voice is heard.  You can write about what’s hot but don’t be scared to voice your opinion or disagree about something.  With millions of blogs out there it’s oftentimes impossible to be the only one talking about something, it’s not always what you say but how you say it.

Trying to over monetize something to the point where it’s just ridiculous

There’s nothing wrong with trying to make a few bucks from your site, but never do it at the cost of your users.  You can stick all the ads you want on your site but if nobody is visiting then you won’t make a penny.  I don’t recommend new blogs to start advertising until they have established a name, then slowly, they can begin introducing unobtrusive ads into the mix.  Just remember, users come first, ads and everything else comes second.  Check out my post on how and when to monetize your blog.

Can you think of any other reason why a blog might fail and how to avoid failure?

Thanks for reading

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If you could have one super power what would it be?  John McCain should be president.  What questions should you ask while forming a social media strategy?  Social media belongs only under the marketing department.  Who do you consider a social media “expert” and why?

When you read the above statements or questions what did you think?  Did you want to respond to them?

Questions and controversy, 2 powerful ways to engage your audience and create conversations.  If you’ve been reading this blog (which I hope you have) you may have noticed that I ask questions quite frequently, and that’s because I want you to think when you read my posts and then I want you to respond.  Asking questions is great for virtually any social situation and that’s why questions work so well online.  It is our nature to automatically think of little responses when see questions, we can’t help it, we are curious and we are inquisitive.

Think of first dates, meeting new people, reading this blog, etc.  Questions are always a great way to get the conversation started, don’t you think?  They invite opinions, different points of view, new ideas, criticisms and compliments.  All of which make for an interesting conversation.  However, when you ask questions make sure they are relevant, it’s good to give the user’s some freedom but if you leave every question you ask as broad and open ended it may not be as effective; sometimes it’s good to give direction.  Here are some of the questions that I ask on this blog at the end of my posts and I find that I get great responses:

• What did you think of (insert topic)?
• How would you use (insert tool/topic)?
• How would you create your own (insert topic/tool)?
• Did I miss anything in my post?  (this is great because it helps users engage and act as the “experts” I love using this question because I get some awesome responses from you guys)
• Would you recommend (insert tool/topic/strategy)?  Why or why not?
• If you were (insert person/company) how would you (insert topic/idea/strategy)?

These are just a few of the many questions that I ask in my posts.  What are some effective questions that you use in your posts?  Do you even use questions in your posts?

Controversy is another great way to start conversations and engage your users.  Some people stray away from controversy, I dive right into them, because that’s just how I am.  There is nothing wrong with being controversial and stating your opinion (with taste though).  I do so frequently, some people agree with me and some don’t, that’s just how it is and I’m fine with it.  I’m not trying to convert anyone or force anyone to subscribe to my way of thinking.

My latest bit of controversy was with Robert Scoble who mentioned that he hand selects everyone he follows on twitter even though he follows just under 21,000 people, you’re telling me he hand picked 21,000 people?…right.  Then he goes onto say that Friend Feed is great because he receives a much higher rate of activity and more people have followed him there than they have on twitter in the first 9 months, I called him “clueless.” (even though a few months ago Friend Feed made Robert a default recommended user to follow when people first signed up).

Now, I’m not saying that I was right or that Robert was right.  The point is that it was something controversial and that I wasn’t afraid to go after it, and neither should you.  I’ve been called out many times and I have called out people many times.  Controversy is a great way to create debate and create a bit of argument (no there is nothing wrong with argument).  A few weeks ago I wrote a post about why social media marketing should be its own department and I had many folks disagree with me, no problem.  Controversy can help make you unique and stand out, let all the other folks out there agree with each other, you don’t have to!  Combine asking questions with covering or creating a bit of controversy and you have a winning combination.  Social media isn’t always puppies and roses ya know?

What do you think?  Does controversy work to start discussion?  What about asking questions?

Thanks for reading!

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I’ve been writing on this blog for around 8 months and I usually don’t miss a day, sometimes I even write more then once (or even twice).  A few people have asked me where I keep getting my blog topics from so I thought I would share a few ideas with all of you.  First of all I’m assuming your blog covers a particular are, for example, this blog is pretty focused on online marketing and social media type stuff.  If your blog is about anything and everything, then you really should have no problem at all.  BUT! if you are like the other 99.9% of bloggers out there who do have a particular topic then it can be challenging to keep cranking out new content.

Here’s what I do.

First of all I read industry related blogs such as techmeme to get a good glimpse of what the top stories are.  You need to find the “techmeme” of your industry.

I also take a look at the Google news page and also the NY Times and CNN to see what’s going in the world

I’m a big fan of the Adage Power 150 list of blogs, and usually find something interesting on there, there are over 600 blogs listed all in the marketing/social media/online marketing/ advertising space so this is really a fantastic resource (yours truly is on there as well!)

I use my RSS reader to subscribe to many of the blogs I enjoy and that’s also usually more than enough content for me to ponder, I subscribe to around 30 or so feeds which I find to be plenty.

I also really enjoy using alltop.com as a great reference for particular topics.  All you do is visit the site, pic your topic, and you are presented with around 50 top related blogs which all have to do with your particular area.  For example I read socialmedia.alltop.com and marketing.alltop.com to get a good idea of what the hot button issues are.  I like to diversify my reading though and also read non tech stuff, like art and history.  Think of alltop as an online magazine rack, it’s a great resource, use it.

You can also use Google Alerts or Google blog search to search for and monitor specific topics as they pertain to your industry.

Then I draw upon life experiences, encounters, conversations, etc.  If you think about how much you know or have experiences you can actually come up with quite a lot.

Of course there are always lists of topics, like the one that Chris Brogan created, but I prefer to write topics or ideas that I come up with.  The above ideas are really more then what you need.  I don’t keep a reserve of posts that I put up (as many bloggers recommend you do) and that’s simply because I always have something to talk about, sometimes I will write a day or two in advance but that’s about it.  I like the pressure of having to think/create something, but that’s just me

What tips/ideas can you recommend for coming up with new blog topics, how do you do it?

Thanks for reading

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In what I can only assume was a piece of linkbait (because they can’t be serious), Wired Magazine ran a post by Paul Boutin (who writes for Valleywag) which basically discourages anyone from creating a blog and encourages anyone with a blog to call it quits.  Isn’t Wired Magazine just a giant blog by the way?  Same with Valleywag…I know, genius isn’t it?

Here’s a direct quote from the article:

“Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.”

First of all Paul is correct about one thing, that there is a lot of garbage (or noise/spam) out there, spammers and bots diluting the amount of quality content.  But then again, you don’t have to read the spam and auto-generated posts now do you?  It’s not that hard to find quality content sites out there.

To be honest I think the advice that Paul gives is probably some of the dumbest advice I have ever heard.  Can you really be telling people to not create a blog (or use other social media platforms?).  My blog was created roughly 8 months, through that blog I have been presented with unique business opportunities and partnerships which I would have never gotten otherwise.  Not to mention the fact that my blog traffic has been growing at a solid rate month after month.  Had I listed to Paul I would be stuck reading the junk that he’s out their spewing.

Paul neglects the fact that it’s not always about what you say but how you say it.  People read blogs for information and a unique perspective.  You can cover the exact same stories as every major tech blog out there, but if you add your own personality and your own perspective then I guarantee you that you are going to have readers.  What Paul says is the equivalent of telling of a child “you can’t be an artist, you’re never going to make any money, stick with math and science.”  Look, if you’re passionate about something and you have something to say, then don’t let anybody in the world stop you.  Go out there, work your ass off and make it happen!

Starting a blog and joining social media platforms is a great idea (if you haven’t done so already) because you get to control your online presence and market yourself.  I have a great community of readers and twitter followers (thanks guys!) and I rank #1 for my name “jacob morgan.”

Paul’s biggest critique is that blogs are “so impersonal,” I don’t think that’s true at all, I interact with and respond to every single email, comment, question that I get.  If you think a blog is impersonal then maybe you should change the way you are interacting with your readers.  Also, it’s not just about the blog, the conversations take place on twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc.  So just because someone isn’t leaving you comments doesn’t mean they aren’t talking about you.  A blog is just one way to interact and communicate.

Another genius quote from the article is as follows:

“That said, your blog will still draw the Net’s lowest form of life: The insult commenter. Pour your heart out in a post, and some anonymous troll named r0rschach or foohack is sure to scribble beneath it, “Lame. Why don’t you just suck McCain’s ass.” That’s why Calacanis has retreated to a private mailing list. He can talk to his fans directly, without having to suffer idiotic retorts from anonymous Jason-haters.”

Now, I don’t consider my readers the “net’s lowest form of life” at all, in fact I think I have some of the most clever and creative readers out there, I say this because I have interacted with many of you (via email, comments, etc).  To me it sounds like Paul has an ego problem and he can’t handle any negative comments about him (and we all know Jason Calacanis has the biggest ego of all).  You have to remember that with social media you are opening the doors to both positive and negative comments, you aren’t going to just have someone praise you 24/7, that’s now how the world works.  I’ve had people disagree with me and call me out an all sorts of stuff, but that’s what it’s about, it’s the interaction that matters to me and the connections/relationships that I can build.

This blog is a real life case study of why you SHOULDN’T listen to the article that Paul wrote for Wired Magazine.  In fact this blog is a real life case study of why you SHOULD go out there and create your blog, join social networks, build your online presence, provide quality content, and network/build relationships with as many people as you can.  If I was able to do it then I’m sure you can as well.  I’m definitely not planning on pulling the plug on this blog, but thanks for the “great” advice Paul.

Google your name, what do you see?  I know exactly what I’m going to see when I Google my name, I control my online presence/identity and I use social networks to build my personal brand…do you?

Thanks for reading

what did you think of the Wired Magazine article, do you agree or disagree, why?

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This question comes up a lot with people/companies that have blogs.  How do you know when to monetize your blog and how do you do it?  Let’s get right into it.

The first thing we need to do is to look at the different ways you can monetize your blog.

Adsense Ads

This is probably one of the most popular approaches to go after, adsense ads are google sponsored ads that you see on the right hand sides of search results or on many web pages.  All you have to do is create an account with google adsense, get approved, and then copy and paste some code into your site.  Adsense ads usually work on any type of site but work especially well for high trafficked sites.  With adsense ads you get paid every time someone clicks on one of the ads on your page, the amount you get can vary but it’s usually a few cents let’s say .5-.50 cents (but it fluctuates widely).

Contextual Ads

These ads work much like the google adsense ads except they appear in-text.  Adsense ads usually have their own little designated box/space where they go on your site, contextual ads appear within the text by hyperlinking/changing the color of a particular piece of text, this piece of text is the ad.  These ads are less obtrusive and may deliver a higher conversion rate since they within the text.  Again, the more traffic you get the more successful these ads can be.

Sponsored/Banner Ads

These are ads that blogs usually charge a monthly advertising fee. Check out techcrunch, see all those ads on the right hand side of the site?  Those folks are all paying monthly fees to have their ads shown.  Prices can range from  below $100/month to over $5,000/month depending on how much traffic you get.  Centernetworks also has sponsored ads and so do most large blogs out there.

Affiliate Ads

In order to show affiliate ad/products/links you need to sign up with companies such as commission junction or shareasale.  What this allows you to do is show ads/products/links from other companies on your site, if someone takes some sort of action on the ads (such as purchases a product) you collect a commission fee, usually around 7-20% of the product price.  My brother has a site which is an excellent example of affiliate links/products, it’s a gas scooter website and every product on the site comes from gas scooter company.  My brother makes a commission for every scooter that someone purchases from his site.  He doesn’t get THAT much traffic but he has had a good amount of scooter sales that get him around $30-$75 per sale.  You can also include affiliate links to products that you review, such as books.

Leads and Business Opportunities

To me this is probably the most important way to monetize a blog.  By consistently churning out quality content readers begin to respect and trust you as an authority in a particular topic.  By being an authority in a particular topic you cosnsitently get asked to help out on projects.  Take this blog for example, I don’t have ads of any kind on here yet I do get asked to help out on various projects.  This is favorite way to moneitze because I actually get to contribute on various projects while building relationships.  One client will far surpass the amount of money that can be made from types of advertising withing a 6month-1year period.  A lot of people neglect to talk about this type of monetization and that’s a mistake.

So how do you know when to monetize?

Well this is a tough question to answer and there aren’t any rules out there either.  In my opinion I would refrain from any type of advertsing if your site is brand new, you want to wait before you have some solid traffic before intoducing ads.  If you start displaying ads too early then you may lose your readers.  Once your blog had been around for at least 6 months-1 year and you are noticing solid traffic increases you can slowly begin inserting ads.  Make sure you don’t turn your site into a giant spam site, what I mean by this is don’t try to go for as much advertising as you can be selective and be tasteful.

Perhaps you start off with some adsense ads on the right hand side of your page, then you can include a few banner ads, perhaps a contextual ad every now and then, and a product/affiliate ad where relevant (especially if you are doing reviews of product/services).  But again, my favorite way to monetize a blog is thorugh clients who read the blog and want help on various projects.

I hope this gives you some insight into how you can monetize a blog and when you should monetize a blog.  Do you have any other tips/ideas/advice for how/when to monetize a blog?

thanks for reading

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