Like me, you’ve probably sometimes wondered just what it is that makes Shoemoney, ProBlogger, John Chow etc. so different from the rest of us. So I decided to take a closer look at their recent posts and content, compare it with some of the mid/low level type MMO Bloggers around and see just what their trick is.
What it isn’t
Well, for a start off I’ll tell you a few things that DON’T make them stand out from the crowd:
Content and Originality?
No – looking through Shoe, ProBlogger and John Chow Blogs recently I can’t see much that I couldn’t find on Net Fool, TUK or a lot of other Blogs – and to be honest Jim and Jason do it better in many cases. Looking on the ‘Big’ Player Blogs I see the same recurring subject matters of ‘content’, ‘getting subscribers’, ‘distractions’ etc.
They also have a high proportion of posts where these ‘top Bloggers’ talk about each other and tell you all about the conferences and expo’s they’re going to be guesting at…yep, really useful.
Like everyone else much of the remaining Blog content is made up of paid reviews, affiliate promotion and general internet/SEO chat (apart from the annoying but probably lucrative restaurant reviews of course).
Grammar?
Nope – the standard of grammar is poor – their stuff doesn’t read particularly well. I’ve seen a lot worse for sure but this isn’t premium quality copy by any stretch.
Posting Frequency?
Partly – Shoe, ProBlogger and John Chow are all averaging 1-2 posts per day recently, which is about as much as you’d want, otherwise you’re just padding your Blog out.
So – what is it?
OK – so they have a flashy skin (nice new look John), good prizes and a lot of good ads, but there are a few main reasons they are where they are:
They’re Big, of course
One thing that makes them big is the fact that they are big – it’s a self-fulfilling thing, because nothing succeeds like success. People want the kudos of being associated with them and therefore want to link to them. Like Doug said in his interview, these sites have thousands of backlinks and eager subscribers because of who they are, not just what they provide. Advertisers and others see a success story and link to it or advertise on it for no other reason than that.
That means that there was a ‘tipping point’ somewhere where these ‘elite bloggers’ graduated to a higher level – either through pure ‘money power’ i.e. a straight purchase of links/traffic, use of contacts in the business, link-bait, luck or (more likely) a combination of all of the above.
The point is that once you’re at this level its easy to stay there – you just keep churning out the same old stuff and keep patting your mates on the back – and as long as you don’t really screw up there’s not a lot that will drag you back down. Hey, if he charges $500 for a review post , he MUST be good eh?
Value Add & Stickability
What you’ll also find on these Blogs, and this is what keeps a lot of people coming back, are the value-added features, such as Job Boards ($50 a month to post a job anyone?), Forums, Chat, Blog networks plus the E-Book purchases and regular comps of course.
These guys know that posts alone aren’t going to keep a visitor on the Blog, particularly when the same stuff is on a hundred other Blogs – so they diversify and put features on the site that are going to make people WANT to come back. In that way, they’re more like a ‘portal’ than a pure Blog.
Visitor Retention
They sign them up and keep them coming back. Big FeedBurner numbers speak a thousand words, and they’re sexy advertiser-bait as well.
Interaction
Active and lively commenting keeps things fresh. Just looking over recent posts, ProBlogger’s averaging 20-30 comments per post, Chow 40-50 and ShoeMoney is way up around the 80 mark and more. Threaded commenting is great as well.
What to do?
OK – here’s a few things we can try that might help us get promoted into the Premier League – in addition to the core requirements of creating quality content and doing good SEO:
- Diversify & Value Add – This is an area where all of us can learn. Put a Marketplace, Jobs Board, Forum on your site – find some kind of service that’s going to make real visitors want to come back on a regular basis.
- Build Subscribers – Regular incentives for subscribing, regular incentives for staying subscribed. Offer individual sign ups for different services, and make those lists contribute to the overall subscriber numbers. Create Newsletters.
- Interactivity – Keep your comments areas active. Deeplink to recent and not so recent posts to kick-start some up to date feedback. Hell, open up a chat or shoutbox area, or show how many people are currently online.
- Help each other out – the top guys have their clique. We should also be doing the same. Keep visiting the mid and low level Blogs you like and spread the love. If you see something you like. comment or post about it.
- Posting Frequency – You have to keep adding content, but find a level that suits you. Don’t just churn out rubbish because you think you have to. When you get an idea, turn it into a draft post, and aim to have a few drafts that you can return to and get ready for publishing when you have a little time.
- Give practical advice – if you have a good result, tell people about it but more importantly, tell them how you did it. Don’t spoon-feed them though – it doesn’t have to be a step-by-step guide, just give them enough information to let them work it out for themselves.
- Go off-topic occasionally – most normal people have interests outside of Making Money Online, and they have opinions. Every so often, throw in a little off-topic post that might grab some interest from outside your normal target market.
- Act Clever – analyse your individual posts and see where visitors go in your Blog. Work out what works and work it even more.
- Act Big – increase your advertising and posting fees, cos if you undercharge people think you’re desperate, but if you charge premium rates, you must be worth it, right?
- Stick with it – have a plan, don’t get disheartened and don’t give up after three months. Work on building a brand and people will start coming to your Blog to see what you’ve got to say about a subject*
Basically, the upper echelon is very hard to break into, unless you’ve got a lot of money to throw around or some good contacts to take advantage of. For the rest of us, we can look for incremental gains in traffic organically through good content and good management. And you can look for that killer piece of link-bait or Value-Added service (interaction, real-time updates, a service) that’s going to tip the scales and get a heap of quality traffic heading your way.
Any other tips and tricks for mixing it with the Big Boys?
Thanks
Dave
* Plus, of course, “don’t forget important bullet points off your list” and “be prepared to edit/update your post if someone points it out” (see first 2 comments) – thanks Coffesh0p 
There weren’t too many Blog posts that really caught my eye this last week or two but there are a couple of things worth mentioning:
