It’s a commonly accepted ‘rule’ that many Blogs fail within 3 months of starting up. There may be a number of reasons or factors behind each individual case, but I think a common trait of a lot of failed and failing bloggers is pandering to their readers.
A lot of bloggers write what they think people want to hear as opposed to writing what they actually think themselves.
If you take a look at some of the most successful bloggers, there’s one thing that stands out: They all have a ‘loud’ opinion…most do, at least. We are not just reporters of news or reflectors of the current trends – if you want that you might as well just populate your Blog with RSS feeds and never write at all.
Without the injection of your own personal opinion, you’re just another guy aimlessly tapping keys to the tune of a miscellaneous audience. You have to set yourself apart by writing content that defines itself through your personality, your experience and your beliefs.
By doing this you gain a readership that is like-minded, loyal and attentive (or at least you generate some debate with those that hold other opinions, which is just as good) – as opposed to just writing to an interweb of faceless blobs.
If you just write about what’s happening with no real thought or personal insight then you’ll become nothing more than an alternative news outlet, we really don’t need anymore of those. I have a million news feeds I can choose from – I (and others out there) want personal insight, experience, opinions and originality. I don’t want to be spoon fed but I do want to be inspired to try new things.
It’s tempting to pander now and then as it will gain you some immediate readership, but as you prostitute yourself more and more, the readership will diversify and broaden. We’ve all seen Blogs that were initially focussed on a clear topic drift off into trivia and chit-chat. This will leave you with a completely random readership that will most likely be unreliable, just scouring the Web randomly, rather than specifically coming to read your content.
With Internet Babel I have specific goals in mind, and those revolve around giving people the tools and ideas to make them think for themselves.
I care about trying to give people useful information and seeing them do something with it, and that’s why I want to extend Internet Babel to become more of an interactive community, via a Forum, WIKI or some other means.
You may have other goals for your Blog/Site but the main point is to know what you want to say, and stick to that goal – and don’t get distracted from it in a rush to get cheap visitor stats or diversify your audience.
Cheers
