One of the most daunting challenges we face as bloggers is how to make our blog different, distinctive and memorable.  In other words, how can we make our blog unique?

As readers of other people’s blogs, one of the things that often plagues us, is the sameness, the “me too” quality of so many blogs out there, especially those in popular niches.

It’s as if many bloggers are simply reading other blogs in their niche and then rehashing what they read, much like they’re writing a high school term paper.  (That couldn’t be what’s really happening, could it?)

Well, whatever the reason behind the tide of mind-numbing sameness we see on the web, one thing is certain:

These mavericks of mediocrity will never have popular blogs.

Why?  Two words…

Compelling Content.

Compelling content is what engages readers and encourages them to comment, to subscribe, to return to read again, and even to spread the word about “this cool new blog” they found.

If all you do is rehash and regurgitate, you cannot create compelling content.

Creating compelling content is much easier said than done, of course.  So, how can we, as bloggers, be more distinctive and markedly less mediocre?

At this point, it would be probably be helpful to come up with a simple, functional definition of “compelling content,” that will allow us to confidently go forward with the more concrete matter of how to create that kind of content.

So, for our purposes today, we’ll simply say that compelling content is both different and engaging.

Different can mean new, as in “no one’s written about this before.”  And it can be a very cool thing to write new material on a brand-new topic.  But if your whole focus is to explore virgin territory within your niche, you’re in for a tough time, to say the least.  And let’s face it, there may be a good reason that no one’s written about a particular topic before (maybe no one cares!).

In a practical sense, “different” is often just a matter of the perspective or viewpoint that an article or post is written from.

In terms of engagement, when we’re engaged with content it usually means that the content is speaking to a need or a desire we have—a need to connect with another person, a desire to be amused, a desire to be educated about a topic important to us, etc.

Being Different and Engaging When Blogging

The following are tips and ideas that will help you with the broader work of creation, whether that’s simply planning a new blog post or planning the content and tone for an entire blog.

Run down the lists and consider the options whenever you’re stuck on what to blog about or how to approach a subject.  Consider which options would be different or distinctive for your niche and which your current readers (or new readers you might attract) might find engaging.

Blog from a Different Life Perspective.

• From a woman’s (or a man’s) perspective.
• From an age perspective (i.e. teen, senior, Gen X, Gen Y).
• From a religious/spiritual perspective (e.g. Muslim entrepreneur, Christian investor).
• From a race/ethnicity perspective (e.g. African-American fashion maven, Latino business consultant).
• From a sexual orientation perspective (e.g. Investing for gay men and lesbians).
• From a “local culture” perspective (e.g. a US Southerner, an Aussie, a Londoner).
• From a profession-specific perspective (e.g. teacher, shop owner, outside salesperson).
• From a family or social role perspective (e.g. a new grandmother, a volunteer tutor, the father of a special needs child)

Blog from a Different “Position” in Your Niche.

• From a beginner’s perspective.
• From an “old-timer’s” perspective (old in terms of the niche, not necessarily age).
• From an expert’s perspective.
• From a “regular guy” perspective.
• From a “nice guy” perspective.
• From a “straight talk, no BS” perspective.

Interview (or Have a Guest Post from) Someone with a Different Perspective.

• See List Above.

Blog from a Different Topic Perspective.

• Go Micro.
  • Condos, as opposed to all of residential real estate.
  • Domestic white wines, as opposed to all wines.
  • Selling to the affluent, as opposed to selling in general.
• Go Macro.
  • Broad-based investment opportunities, as opposed to just stocks, just commodities, etc.
  • Worldwide adventure travel, as opposed to adventure travel within the US or in the Caribbean.
  • Running a Profitable Small Business, as opposed to marketing for small business, management techniques for small business, or client retention for small business.
• Go Hybrid.
  • Investing in Fine Art (collecting fine art + investing).
  • Living the “Internet Lifestyle” (making money online + “living the good life”).
  • Clothes Make the Man (fashion advice for men + success/career advice or fashion advice + dating advice).
  • Writing for Success (getting a book written and/or published + leveraging a book for career/business advancement).

Blog with a Different Content Style.

• Blog more concisely (for the attention-challenged crowd).
  • Focus on lists, quick tips, and bite-sized chunks.
• Blog more in depth (for the thoughtful and analytical crowd).
  • Focus on more extensive examination, more detailed breakdowns, case studies, etc.
• Move the “Free Line.”
  • Reveal secrets and details other are unwilling to / give away what others charge for (must be done strategically).

Blog Using a Different Formats and/or Different Media.

• Images
  • Use more photos (stock photos can be great).
  • Use original (not stock) photos.
  • Create a photo blog.
  • Use original illustrations, charts, graphs, mind maps, or other unique or uniquely-altered images.
• Audio
  • Create original audio content (solo recordings, dual-host “talk shows,” interviews, etc.).
  • Create a Podcast.
• Video
  • Use relevant videos from video sharing sites, such as YouTube.
  • Create original video content (screencast or “live motion”).
  • Create a video blog.
• Authorship
  • Have regular contributors, writing on certain days, on certain topics, from a certain perspective, etc.
  • Create a true multi-author blog.

Blog with a Different “Person-al” Focus.

• Focus more on yourself (be more transparent).
  • Be more honest and self-revelatory with what’s happening in your own life, business, career (and of course, relate it back to your niche and your readers).
• Focus more on your readers.
  • Make your readers the stars.  Answer their questions.  Profile their lives, their businesses, their travels, their collections, etc.
• Focus more on industry leaders / niche luminaries.
  • What are the “big boys and girls” up to?  How do they do it differently or better?  How does that affect the niche as a whole?  How does that affect your readers?

The above suggestions are by no means exhaustive, but they should help get you started with creating a more compelling blog, one with a unique take on your niche topic.

~Craig

Photo #1 Credit

Photo #2 Credit

What are some things I left out?  What are your ideas on being engaging and standing out in the blog marketplace?

If you ask most established bloggers about their major sources of traffic, organic search traffic (traffic that comes from users clicking on non-paid links from their own search results) is usually #1 or #2 on the list.

Good SEO (search engine optimization) techniques are a great help in getting more traffic from the search engines.

Unfortunately, for the newcomer, the language of SEO is a bit esoteric and some of the concepts can be difficult to grasp.  However, once you understand the basics of good SEO, you can implement most of them pretty easily, just in the normal course of making posts to your blog.  In addition, WordPress makes the mechanics of SEO very easy, in comparison to someone who’s building a site by hand using traditional HTML.

Getting free traffic from Google, Yahoo, and other search engines is so attractive, and often even vital, for website owners that there are many, many courses on SEO out in the marketplace.  They are also many paid SEO tools, services, and consulting firms out there, as well.  The good news is that you can learn many of the basics and reap many of the rewards for free, if you know where to look.

Late last year, with very little fanfare Google released Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide,  a “best practices” SEO guide, right from the horse’s mouth.

Now as the announcement post on the Google Webmaster Central Blog is quick to point out, this 22-page document doesn’t give away any secret formulas.  The exact formula for how Google determines search results is and will remain a Black Box .

After reading this guide, you should come away with a basic understanding of SEO terms and the essentials of how SEO works, which will vault you ahead of the vast majority of bloggers.

One quick caveat, don’t get freaked out at some of the technical recommendations and snippets of code that are shown as examples.  As I mentioned previously, WordPress does a lot of the technical stuff for us, but it does help to have a basic understanding of what’s happening behind the scenes.

Other resources for better SEO for your WordPress blog:

The popular All-in-One SEO Pack plugin does quite a bit to enhance WordPress’s default SEO capabilities.

The Thesis WordPress theme (in addition to being the best damn premium WP theme out there), makes the All-in-One SEO plugin unnecessary, since it has tons of SEO friendly customization features built in.  If you’ve been thinking about upgrading to a premium theme, this is just one more reason why Thesis should be at the top of your list.

~Craig

What kind of SEO tactics do you use on your blog right now that you feel give you good results?

“Begin with the end in mind.” –Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

For the sake of argument, I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this blog post at a site called Blog Profit Center that you’re at least somewhat interested in earning money from your blogging efforts.

Why is that assumption important?  Well, there are many different reasons why someone might blog that are completely unrelated to earning income (though they are not mutually exclusive of blogging for profit).  Blogging might simply be a form of creative expression, or it might be a way to share a passion with others who are like-minded.

But if one of your primary purposes in blogging is to profit from your activity, there is one absolutely essential thing that you must determine from the outset— or if you’re far past the outset, “now” is okay, too.

Know your outcome.

“Wait, I thought that we already agreed that I was interested in making a profit from my blog.  Isn’t that my outcome?”

Yes, it is.   But it’s far too general and non-specific to give you an effective focus and to help you achieve that outcome.

I always grit my teeth when well-meaning veteran bloggers, asked for advice from newbies, say:

“Just focus on creating great content.  There’s no point in worrying too much about monetization early on, since you won’t have that much traffic anyway.”

Wrong!

If we were starting a “real” offline money making venture (otherwise known as a business), how would this advice sound?

“Just focus on providing great service (or great products).  There’s no point in worrying too much about monetization early on, since you won’t have that many customers anyway.”

See the problem?

So, since you and I are not interested in running a blog whose profitability is DOA, what should we do?

First, we need to determine the primary way that we plan on creating income from our blog, at least in a general sense (you can always test and adjust specific methods, as you go).

By knowing the general nature of how we plan on monetizing our blog, we can start to shape the style and focus of all that great content so that it can begin to help us realize some of those money-making goals.

Here are three brief monetization scenarios:

1.)  Making Money through Advertising Revenue.
This includes direct ad sales, contextual advertising (like Google AdSense), and affiliate income.

2.)  Making Money by Selling Your Own Products or Services.

This might be your own information products, consulting services or other specialized professional services. Or it may even be niche consumer goods (check out the Crackberry.com blog and their online store).

3.) Creating Income Opportunities by Building Your Authority and Reputation in Your Niche.

This one is a little more nebulous, but it is a legitimate outcome to aim for.  Whether you’re already established in your niche, or you’re trying to build a name for yourself, a well-trafficked blog can help raise your profile and enhance your reputation.  This could, in turn, lead to speaking engagements, new employment opportunities, new business ventures, etc.

The important thing is that once you determine what the desired outcome from your blogging is, you can use that as a guide to help shape everything from the design of your blog to the topics of the posts you write

This should all be in the service of your readers, of course.  The idea is to always maintain a base of integrity and to strive to help others, while helping yourself.  If you’re overly mercenary in your approach, if you’re just out for number one, you’re readers will sense it, and your blog will die on vine.  Then you’ll wind up helping no one at all—yourself, least of all.

Lastly, once you determine what your general method of monetization will be, you should determine what action or actions you most need your blog readers to take that will help you reach your goal.

Sometimes, this is obvious and un-complicated.  If you’re pursuing Google AdSense earnings, you just need them to click on the ads.  Simple.

But sometimes, this is less obvious.   What if you’re promoting your professional services or your info product?  It would probably be jumping the gun to say that you want them to hire you or buy from you.  What’s the next action you most need them to take after reading your blog?

• Is it promoting a post through a social sharing site?
• Is it opting in to your email list?
• Is it subscribing to your RSS feed?
• Is it sending you a private message through your contact form?

What action will take your reader the next step down the road to what you’re trying to accomplish?  Determining this, so that you can encourage this next step, may be the second essential step in building a profitable blog, right after knowing your outcome.

Photo Credit

~Craig

What are your thoughts on this?  What do you think is important to focus on when trying to build a profitable blog (or any kind of profitable website)?