If you are about to start a new blog it can be a useful exercise to think through the direction that you want to take it in as these decisions will direct just about every aspect of your blog work. For example, somebody using a blog to promote an existing business is going to have different goals to a political blogger.
Whether you have already got a blog or are about to start one, take a moment to think about the following factors and as you work your way through the course have your answers in mind.
Who Are Your Target Audience?
Think about who your target audience is for your blog. Are they male / female? What is their income? Are they married? Have children? Are they tech-savvy?
The reason this is important is because it helps you figure out how to market your blog. A young man who is heavily into the Internet is more likely to Digg your latest blog post than somebody who still finds email tricky.
Is your target audience somebody who is likely to carefully read through your posts in detail trying to glean as much information as possible (older crowd for instance) or are they a “give-it-to-me-quick” kind of person? These factors will affect your content and writing style. The former may respond well to in-depth how-to posts whereas the latter will likely prefer quick, easily-scannable lists.
Your Blog Monetization Strategies
From the outset you should try to have a clear idea of how you want to monetize your blog. For example, if you are planning on selling private advertising then you’ll need to make sure that your blog theme is designed to support the sizes and shapes of ads that you want to run.
If you are promoting something that is already in existence such as your services, or an existing business then you will want to make sure that you prominently work your promotional content into your blog seamlessly.
There are some easy monetization options such as AdSense can that slot into just about any blog and there are all sorts of sizes and shapes of ads to choose from. The question then becomes, do I place ads from the beginning or wait until I have more traffic?
My take on that subject is that if you intend to blog for money then you should start placing those ads right from the start. This goves you a chance to experiment with them while your traffic is still low and what also happens is that your readers come to expect to see ads so they don’t resist them. Putting ads on later on can be met with some hostility from regular readers who object to you suddenly trying to make money!
Also, you will often attract potential advertisers from within your own blog readership but if you don’t have advertising in place then they wouldn’t even know that advertising with you is an option. By placing some ads right away, you are setting yourself up for better advertising opportunities in the future.
Think About Your Brand
It’s important to think about branding as early as possible because it can be difficult to change later on. What image are you projecting from your blog? What is your brand? Are you branding yourself as a blogger using your own name, or do you have some kind of business name or product that you are branding? If you promote yourself think about your avatar – do you have a good picture of yourself to use?
Moving In A New Direction With An Existing Blog?
Sometimes people start blogs and only some months later when they have been writing it for a while do they really figure out the direction they want to go with it. If you already have a blog then take some time to think about the above factors in relation to your existing blog and determine whether or not you need to chance direction in any area.
If you need to change anything that is ok, it is better to figure it out and then bear those changes in mind as you move forward rather than just blindly continuing on with something you are not happy with.
Related posts:
- Guidelines for Picking a Great Blog Topic
- How to Plan Your Blog
- RSS Feeds & Analytics – Getting Set Up
- Blog Hosting
- What you Need to Know About Your Blog Hosts
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