5 Ways to Turbo Charge Your Blog Monetization

By now you probably know that simply plastering ads all over your pages and prominent donation links don’t really work. There really are no get-rich-quick schemes in blogging; turning your blog into a reliable income generator requires hard work, experimentation, and patience. Those are three aspects common among the five methods I share in this post.

Optimum Ad Placement

Like it or not, your average visitor has learned to ignore parts of your website that seem like ads—even elements that really aren’t ads! The kneejerk reaction to this reality is an in-your-face approach towards ad layout, sacrificing readability for the sake of ensuring your ads are front and center.

If you’re committed to building a long-term quality audience however, you’ll need to find a good balance between content and ad visibility. [Read more]

5 Ways to Stand Out in Your Niche

We all know how saturated certain blog niches are, especially when you’re talking about technology, entertainment, and sports. Having a lot of competitors though doesn’t mean you can take the following steps to stand out and differentiate yourself from the rest of the field.

Focus on Geography

Everyone knows about Gizmodo and Engadget, but how many people realize that both blogs are mainly for US readers? I’ve found some degree of success with Technograph, a tech blog I created that’s all about Technology in the Philippines, where I’m currently based.

The US is still king when it comes to come to potential traffic and thus potential income. But concentrating on your region and provide updates more suited to your home audience is a great way to be unique.

First!

Some blogs become mainstream because they consistently broke news first, scooping your so-called mainstream media and online competitors. The irony is that as they become more mainstream, these blogs show less and less initiative, becoming part of the establishment that independent operators can trump.

This is a method that’s as old as news itself: be the first to break it, and you automatically stand out from the rest in your niche.

Thoughtful Reporting

Granted, it’s very hard to be first always, but it’s also possible to survey the entire situation once everyone has published their fast—and sometimes inaccurate or shallow—coverage.

In other words, by concentrating on providing quality content, thoughtfully reporting on an issue or an event and covering all perspectives, it’s possible to become an authoritative source. Being an authority in your niche is a powerful differentiator, as it establishes your blog as the site to visit for a topic.

Socialization

A lot of blog authors are content to just post the content and wait for it to bring in the traffic, not even bothering to reply to comments. This creates another opportunity to stand out, in the sense that you can interact with your readers, making them feel that they’re a real part of the (cliched) “conversation”. Readers feel more valued, and thus are more willing to return. Some of the more successful sites are those that get visitors talking with the author and others.

This approach does require a lot of time, as your formulate responses designed not only to address the reader’s questions or opinions, but to encourage further discussion as well. But experience has taught me that bloggers can derive a lot of useful content from what their readers say. It could be a perspective that no one else has thought of, or the lowest price you’ve ever seen for that gadget you were reporting on; sometimes those comments provide enough material for that next post.

Stop Looking Like a Blog

Many mainstream blogs have decidedly dropped the traditional blog format, so you’re probably wondering: how does this help my blog stand out? The answer is that, by going beyond the typical blog format—which limits what visitors can see on their first visit to your site—you’re paying attention to your readers’ experience.

Expert blog theme coders are surprisingly very affordable (take a look at wedomarkup.com) and you’ll see what I mean, so it’s relatively easy to convert your blog into something that—while not following the traditional blog format—creates more appeal for a potentially wider readership.

So how do you stand out in your niche? Feel free to hit the comments below.

So What Should the Performancing Hive be Really About?

We’re currently in the process of revamping the Performancing Hive, Performancing’s paid subscription community. Like the current sign-up page says, Hive “exists to provide you the help you need to increase the performance of your blog.” As we take steps to improve Hive and re-examine the focus of the community—not to mention Performancing itself—we would very much like to hear from you. [Read more]

5 Ways to Make Your Blog Timeless

Blogging is immediate, particularly for niches that rely on breaking news realtime. Thus it’s easy to forget that readers will visit your blog and read posts months, years, and even decades after they were written. Here are five ways to keep visitors engaged with your content, and prevent them from bouncing after they scratch their heads in confusion over your outdated blog posts. [Read more]

5 Things Your News Posts Should Cover

A couple of weeks ago, I came across a post detailing what every news article should cover. I unfortunately can’t seem to remember where I encountered it (if you know what I’m talking about feel free to leave a link in the comments), but the tips shared there make a useful foundation for writing news posts that are very useful for your readers—regardless of topic or niche.

In order of importance, here’s what I think every news post should include:

What Happened

Reporting on what happened is a given in any kind of news reporting, whether formal or not. In fact, the point of the source article was how all news articles cover this, but not the following.

Who Was Involved

Another given: no event is free from the influence of personalities or entities, nor are people or companies totally free from its influence. Yet with tight deadlines and lack of pertinent details, it’s easy to overlook this crucial requirement. Many events are significant enough to overshadow those who are involved, or those with the potential to be affected, but forgetting to include the who may leave readers wondering why the news you report is relevant to them.

How it Happened

Amazingly, most news reporting is content with fleshing out only the what and who, failing to mention how things happened in detail. The easiest way to cover this base is to zero in on a significant cause, and discuss how that led to a significant effect. Again, this is another way of making the news relevant to your readers, ultimately making it more relevant. People have an easier time relating to events when they understand how things happened.

How You Found Out About It

The source article said that journalists usually leave this out, based on the possibility that revealing their methods and research will diminish their “institutional authority”. Yet detailing how you found out about the news not only adds flavor to your post, it also helps convince readers of its accuracy. What would you believe more, a post based solely on the opinions and perceptions of the writer, or a compilation of perspectives and insights from various sources?

Background

It’s easy for a blogger to assume that readers automatically know everything about a given event or topic, especially if a blog enjoys a large regular readership. Yet detailing the background—the history and long-term implications—makes it easier for the reader to understand the news and put it into context. This also provides opportunities to link back to previous posts covering a particular topic or event. That’s always a good way to attract the traffic that authoritative sources enjoy, as the links lead visitors back to older posts.

It’s necessary to include all of the above when sharing news with your readers, if you want to establish your blog as an authority that people can rely on for detailed and updated news. The best part? Only your creativity limits how you can present these. Got any tips on how to represent current events to your readers? Hit the comments below.

5 Ways to Quickly Generate Blog Posts

All of us have deadlines, post quotas, and traffic targets to meet. Whether self-imposed or an employer’s requirement, these goals all rely on producing content on a regular basis. Here are five ways to keep the content coming, specifically catered for use during limited time or dry idea spells. [Read more]

5 Ways to Optimize Online Videos For Your Blog

Blogs are hardly about text anymore, with online video players embedded within posts commonplace. Here are five ways to use online videos to maximum effect. [Read more]

5 Ways to Remain Focused on Your Blog

Even bloggers who profess a quality-over-quantity focus stress the need for regular posting, if only to keep the blog visible within a niche. The question is, how can a blogger retain focus for what’s admittedly a repetitive task? Here are five ways that have proven useful for yours truly. [Read more]