This post is a bit different then I usually write on this blog, but I hope it will not bother anyone. I just thought it would be a good idea to give new bloggers a different explanation on the reasons why you should try having quality blogs and having patience as your blog grows. It’s a modified version of the Three Little Pigs story, so feel free to skip it if you’re only after serious posts.

Once upon a time, there were three little bloggers and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Before they left, they read some blogs and everyone told them to build their blogs strong and do the best they can, because that’s the way to get far in this business.

The first little blogger built a low maintenance blog, rewriting content and news he saw somewhere else, just because it was the easiest thing to do.

The second little blogger built a blog in a saturated niche, trying to make it big, writing original content and trying to get to the front page of Digg.

The third little blogger found a nice niche that wasn’t covered by others, wrote original content and started to network and learned how to do linkbait.

One night, the big bad boredom wolf, who clearly liked to pick on bloggers, came along and saw the first little blogger in his low maintenance blog.

He said "Give up this blog, give up this blog, little blogger, or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your blogging mood away!"

"No way!", said the first little blogger. "Making money online is easy and I’ll be rich in no time!"

And of course, the big bad boredom wolf did blow his blogging mood away and he quit his blog after one month, because he didn’t see any results.

The big bad boredom wolf then came to the second blogger.

He said "Give up this blog, give up this blog, little blogger, or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your blogging mood away!"

"No way!", said the second little blogger. "Making money online is not that hard, and I already got like 10 subscribers! I’ll stick with it!"

And of course, the big bad boredom wolf did blow his blogging mood away and he quit his blog after three months, because it wasn’t growing like John Chow’s did.

The big bad boredom wolf then came to the third blogger.

He said "Give up this blog, give up this blog, little blogger, or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your blogging mood away!"

"No way!", said the third little blogger. "Making money online might be hard, but I’m doing the best I can and working my ass off to make it big. I’ll stick with it until it makes it."

Well, the boredom wolf huffed and puffed, but couldn’t take down the third little blogger.

But it was a sly old wolf, so he waited a couple more months, and came back, trying to get through the back door and leave the little blogger without ideas for new posts.

The little blogger saw the boredom wolf trying to get in, and he took out a notepad and a pen, opened a RedBull, and he started writing down ideas.

When the wolf finally found a backdoor and got in, he saw all the subscribers, the traffic and the original articles that the little blogger had, and he left in shame, because he had failed at his job.

The next day, the third little blogger, now turned big, did some guest posts for all the other big bloggers, and he said to those that wanted to start a new blog: "Build your blog strong and do the best you can, because this is the way to get far in this business."

Conclusion?
Work hard, work smart and don’t quit until you make it. Be the third little pig blogger, because that’s how you get far in this business.

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A recent article from Xfep.com, called 46 Things To Do Before Launching a Blog Network, got me thinking a bit about the costs, advantages and disadvantages of starting a blog network. And I’ve realized that it would be way more time involved then I have available right now. Not to mention the money.

But how about the next best thing? A network that would bring bloggers together, would cost almost nothing to maintain, everyone would keep the money that they earn, and they would still have the benefits of being in a network, the support of the others.

What I’m thinking here is an equal partnership blog network, based on quality content and aggressive promotion. Everyone would own his domain name, would pay for his own hosting, promote his own blog. Practically, business as usual, with these exceptions:

• they would all display the network logo on the blog
• they would each promote in a speed linking post in the weekend the best posts from around the network
• they would support each other in their promotion efforts
• they would be part of a private forum, members only, where they could exchange tips and ideas, helping each other to improve monetization, SEO, and other aspects
• they would link in the sidebar to the other blogs of the network
• they would all vote on those that want to join the network

Nobody would own the network, it would just be an admin to take care of the forum and put the new applications to vote. No cutting from your profits. The only benefit to everyone would be helping each other grow.

Requirements that I’m thinking of right now:

• minimum 50 subscribers
• quality content, not just rewritten news. You can’t ask the others to support you grow if you just rewrite stuff or if you don’t put any effort into promotion yourself.
• no adult/gambling/pills/real estate/credit cards blogs

I’m thinking of a minimum of 50 subscribers to make sure the blogs that join are in it for the long run. There are plenty of blogs out there that are abandoned after just 2-3 months, and those that join need to be prepared to put the time that a blog needs in order to grow.

Anyone interested in joining such a network? Please reply in the comments with your thoughts on this and any questions you might have. I’m thinking of starting one if there are people interested.

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If you want to make serious money blogging, then your best bet isn’t a niche where others are already successful (making money, celebrity, cars, politics), unless you can find a sub-niche of that subject that isn’t covered well. I for one would be pretty screwed if Shylock Blogging would be my main online venture. But as it is, for the moment is just a side project that I enjoy.

Depending on how much time you plan to dedicate to that blog, you can go for something that’s a bit harder to rank for, or you can find a smaller niche. A blog for gymnastics enthusiasts might be harder to take over a certain limit, but it should be easier to become an authority there then if you did a soccer or tennis blog. If you’re going to invest all your efforts in this one blog, then make sure that the niche you pick leaves you enough room to grow even one year from now.

If you look in the blogging niche, the highest authority, ProBlogger.net has 33,000 subscribers and growing at a slower rate. If you look at TechCrunch, the authority when it comes to technology and start-ups, they got 609,000 subscribers. If you look at Gizmodo, you find out that they had 12 million page views in the last 7 days.

Look around you and ask yourself. Out of all the people that are using the Internet, how many of them would really be interested in blogging tips, and how many would rather read technology, gadgets, celebrity or automotive articles? I can tell you this much, it’s easier to find a sub-niche for yourself in the celebrity niche then finding one in blogging tips, and the potential is much bigger.

But, the absolute best would be to find yourself a niche that isn’t filled or covered properly, be aggressive in your promotion, write quality content, and dominate it. TechCrunch took over technology because there was demand and the supply wasn’t there in this area. You don’t need to have the knowledge of the industry and the connections that Mike Arrington had (though it helps). All you need is the ability to write good content, the working power and the patience to stick with it until you make it big.

What are people passionate about? Sports, money, travel, cars, finding a good job, relationships, whatever you can write about and has a low competition so you can become an authority, can be a good choice.

Conclusion

Your best bet is a big topic covered badly. Second best would be a sub-niche of a popular topic that isn’t covered properly. Worst would be to target a topic with lots of competition. Since it’s something that you’re going to focus on for at least 1-2 years, make sure you take the time to pick a good niche.

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