Why You Shouldn’t Start a “Make Money Online” Blog

Posted: 21 Nov 2013 05:30 AM PST

This post might make me unpopular … but I think this needs to be said:

Your first blog should NOT be a "make money online" one.

You can blog about all sorts of things – but if you're giving advice on "making a living online," "blogging for money," or anything like that, and you've not yet done it yourself, then you're making a mistake.

Why Bloggers Often Start Out With "Make Money Online" Blogs

If you got into blogging as a result of reading sites like ProBlogger, DailyBlogTips, John Chow dot com, etc. then it's easy to see why you'd want to create a blog that's all about making money.

After all, that's what you've been reading about, and that's what your goal is.

I'll let you into a secret. Before my first real attempt at a "pro" blog – before I even knew problogging existed – I came across a neat little blog that was tracking the blogger's attempts to make money online.

And I instantly decided to do the same. I had no idea there was a whole "make money online" niche out there – I just thought this was a cool idea.

My blog lasted perhaps a week before I gave up. Of course, I didn't make any money – I didn't even have a clue where to begin!

Why a "Make Money Online" Blog Won't Work For You

I'm sure you already know way more than I did back then. (After all, you're reading DailyBlogTips!) But you're probably not ready to start a blog about making money online either.

Even if you've been reading about making money online, it's hard to blog about it with any sort of credibility unless you've actually made some money already.

Plus, the "make money online" niche is absolutely saturated with new blogs: there's just too much established competition for you to make it.

I'm going to quote from a post about making money online, by a new blogger who looks like they've never actually done what they're talking about. (I won't link to the post but you can find it by Googling a few sentences of the text.)

Many People Earn Online by various ways. It is Possible to Earn Money Online. But You have to work hard for it. There are no easy shortcuts. We have seen in recent years Many Entrepreneurs who have made their Ideas into Millions of Dollars. For Earning Money Online you have to define a Strategy and stick to it. There are Thousands of ways to Earn Money Online. All you need a Computer with Internet Connection and an Intresting Idea.

As a reader, this makes me think the blogger hasn't ever made any money online – he (or she) is just telling me about what they've read. The weird capitalisation doesn't help, or the fact that the blogger is listed as "admin" rather than a name on their blog – a sure sign of a newbie.

(If you need to fix your "admin" name, this post tells you how.)

Do you see the problem? Readers won't stick around and learn from you unless they're sure you've actually got some experience. After all, would you read a blog about parenting from someone who'd never looked after a child? Would you read a blog about cooking from someone who'd never switched on an oven?

What You Should Write About Instead

Maybe you were thinking about starting (or have started) a "make money online" blog. What should you do instead?

Think about your interest, hobbies, and experience. What topics do you already know quite a lot about? Could any of these become a blog?

You want a topic area that's broad enough to sustain your interest over the long term – but you also want to cover something specific, rather than writing about any old thing that comes to mind.

If you're stuck for ideas, here are a few broad, popular categories that you might work within, with some examples of specifics. Do you have enough experience with one of these to write about it?

Personal development: time management, motivation, organisation, de-cluttering, mindfulness, journaling, minimalism…
Health: weight loss, weight gain, fitness, sleeping well, quitting smoking, alternative therapies…
Technology: websites, blogs, Microsoft Office, social media, computer hardware, computer repairs, security…

You don't have to be an expert. I'm certainly not an expert on technology, but after years using Microsoft Office as a student, employee and business-owner, I could probably write a beginner-friendly blog about it, helping people who want to get to grips with basics.

There are an almost unlimited number of topics you could write about. Don't make the mistake of killing your chances of success by starting yet another "make money online" blog – the internet has plenty of those.

If you want some feedback on your topic (or if you disagree with me!) then drop a comment below.

Don't forget our new course, Get Blogging, is only open for new members until Saturday 23rd November.

Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!

Practice Makes Perfect

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 04:11 PM PST

Around four months ago I had a pretty interesting idea for an application. The development of such application is very complex, however, as it will require some artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.

I therefore had two options: to hire some people who knew this stuff, or to learn it myself. Since I always liked this field I decided I would learn it myself and start developing the app alone, at least initially.

The first thing I did was to hit Amazon and buy the five best-selling books on the topic. I spent around two months reading the first three books, and gained some knowledge while doing it.

After that I enrolled on a Coursera course about machine learning. The course has only been rolling for three weeks and I already learned a lot more when compared to the books.

How come?

The Coursera course has practice involved. Every week you are supposed to complete a quiz and a programming exercise. You need to submit the exercise and you get a score based on the number of tests your program passes.

This made all the difference, as when you need to apply what you are learning you understand things much better and absorb them much easier too.

Sure, books are useful, but if you really need to learn or master something you’ll need to put it into practice.

Many books do come with exercises and projects you can try at the end of each chapter, but most people just skip through though. When you are following a course with deadlines and scores, on the other hand, you feel much more motivated to do the assigned tasks.

Bottom line: Practice makes perfect. If you really want to master something, make sure to find a course or a project that will let you get your hands dirty.

Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!

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