I8-D Site is Doing Great
I just wanted to say that the transition of this site from all of the crazy hobby sites I’ve started into something that I take very seriously is going great.
Now I know that many of you are reading this site and thinking, “What the heck is this site about? It looks like you just write random articles. Isn’t there a theme at all to your writing?”
Well, let me assure you, there is certainly a method to my madness. No, there isn’t a single article on here that was put together randomly. I’ve ran a couple very successful blogs (success as measured by more than 100 unique visitors a day). I’ve ran gaming and technology blogs in the past.
And in that past, I or those who worked with me sat down and thought long and hard about what people want to know, what we like writing about, what’s news, and what’s hot. There are two kinds of blogs, those who write whatever they want, and those who write what they think people want.
Honestly, I’ve always written on topics that I wanted to write about and things I thought others would also find as enjoyable to know about as I do. I’m lucky enough to be interested in things that other’s do like, and I don’t write horribly, so I’ve been able to pull together some successful blogs.
I’ve been out of the blog business for a while. I’d wanted to get back in, but I didn’t want to do it for pleasure. I can write for pleasure without having a dedicated website. What I wanted, quite honestly, was to make money writing.
How I’ve done it is taken many months and studied how successful blogs make money. And I’ve learned some very interesting things. I’ve taught myself how to study what people want.
This is not a lesson on how I do what I do. Call it trade secret. Anyone who really wants to know can learn it themselves. In fact, I found some businesses touting that they had this big secret to knowing what people want. It’s not that big of a secret, really. It just takes a lot of work if you are doing it by yourself.
I’ve seen these sites that will tell you what to write, and they’ll pay you a portion, a stipend. Rather than working for a boss who tells me what to write to make them money, I figured out how to figure out what to write on my own. Instead of getting a small stipend for all my trouble, I get to keep it all.
On the other hand, until I’ve done a lot more writing, the site will look a bit schizophrenic. But the numbers are looking amazing, really. With no advertising except for my tiny little twitter account with only a few real followers, I’m watching the numbers rise, and rise, and rise. That’s pretty good, considering nobody is retweeting me, nobody is mentioning my articles on their blogs. Nope, these are pure search result hits. And the average visitor isn’t just reading a single story either.
Admit it. You’ve never read this site, and you’ll probably never come back (not yet, at least). But you found at least 2 stories of interest on here. There may be no theme, and it may seem disjointed, but it’s working because most people are reading more than just one story, and the unique visitors continue to grow.
Hopefully in 2010, after these first tiny steps, this site will grow by leaps and bounds. You may never be a “regular reading”, because that’s not what this site is about. But you very well may come back here reading on a topic you didn’t even know I would write about.
Thank you all for a great start!
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Categories:
Tags: