Quick question about a new blog

[bdw357]

Hi guys! My name is Brad and I'm brand new to this forum. I came across this forum while researching blogging ideas and I recognized Lynn's name. I see her Google+ post in my Google account all the time. I read through some of the threads and ya'll seemed like a very active helpful group. So I thought I would reach out.

Here's my story:

I created a blog about a year ago and like most the ultimate goal is to make some type of income. I created the blog based on an interest of mine. My thinking is that I would always have something to write about if I pick a subject I'm involved with daily. For the last 4 or 5 months I've been second guessing my idea for the blog.

The very first step when trying to make money online is picking a subject or niche to write about. My understanding is that this subject should be something that motivates readers to buy. Well, what if your subject is not a product that can be sold? In other words what if your site is about something that gets interested readers but they are not there to buy anything, only to read the articles?

So recently instead of working on my site (like I should be) I've been spending my time thinking that I should find a niche that attracts motivated buyers. Maybe create a site that provides a solution to a problem or create some type of training material that can be sold.

Here is my site url: http://inspiredbyfitness.com

I'm new to the blogging arena so please be gentle. I'm looking for motivation to continue my site or ideas for making changes that might help me find ways to monetize in the future. I know I still need lots more content before I think about making money but if I could at least have a direction or road map it would help me see the light at the end of the tunnel.

My plan with this site is to provide readers the motivation needed to start and stick with a fitness routine. I want people to come to my site and get motivated to get fit. Then maybe even return when they need more motivation. That all sounds great but how do you sell that information?

Thanks for reading my post and I appreciate any help or ideas you can provide.

Have a good day!
Brad

[Lynn Terry]

Welcome Brad :)

Great domain name, and very nice blog. Well done. ;-)

People spend A LOT of money in the fitness / weight loss / exercise markets!! From running shoes to exercise equipment to DVD's and programs - it's a hot buying market. So no worries there for sure.

Have you tried ANY form of monetization yet? Also, how active are you with the blog, and with social media channels in this niche?

[bdw357]

Thanks for the compliment Lynn! I haven't done much in the way of monetization just yet. I have created some post with Amazon links and a couple with other affiliate links but not much. If I can ever get any decent traffic I will add more.

The truth is I'm not as active as I should be on my blog. I was at first, but traffic was very slow and short lived. It became a drag to write content for 5 or 6 people. I think the majority of my traffic, if not all, came from Facebook groups.

Here is my routine:

I find a news article or YouTube video that I find interesting and write a post. Or sometimes I would find a product that I can promote and write an article on that product with an affiliate link at the bottom.

After writing the content I add the new blog post to about 10 or 15 Facebook groups. I also add the url to twitter, pinterest, and, stumblupon.

I would do this once or twice a week. This would get very small amounts of traffic but only for a couple of days then it drops back to 1 or 2 visits a day. This became frustrating as it took time to create the content and promote the post for only few extra visits per day. Am I doing something wrong?

Any advice you can give would be VERY much appreciated.

Thank you for any help and/or insight you can provide.

Have a good day,
Brad

[Satu]

Hi Brad!

It's true that fitness and weight loss are big evergreen niches. That also means there's lots of competition out there. Your site seems to be ok but it's also feels a bit anonymous - it's a hodgepodge of posts that are somehow related to fitness.

Where's the inspiration? I think the site needs more personality, something that would make people revisit.

Do you optimize your posts for keywords? That would help you get more traffic.

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Brad,

What you're doing is more like spamming than marketing. :) I mean that in the nicest way possible. There are definitely better ways to grow your traffic and run a successful (profitable!) website. You mentioned in your original post that you are personally interested in fitness and involved in that daily. So you should have lots of FUN with this site and market! ;-)

First, have you had a chance to watch my free Content Marketing training session? If not, you'll find it here: http://www.clicknewz.com/9061/free-content-marketing-webinar/ That will be a great starting point for you.

You definitely want to target super specific longtail keyword phrases as Satu mentioned in her reply above. You also want to be super active on Google+, Twitter and Facebook - as well as in Google+ and Facebook Groups. On Google+, be sure to download this free guide: http://www.clicknewz.com/8827/what-the-plus/

[bdw357]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Satu, I do agree with your assessment of my blog. It is a bit of a hodgepodge of fitness related post. I guess that is me trying to learn how to write blog post. I'm trying to provide useful information but I guess it's not coming out that way. I certainly don't mean to create a spamming site. I try to find things I find interesting and then write a short blurb about it hoping others will find it interesting as well.

I do know how to do keywords research but when Google changed their keyword tool it has become a bit more difficult for me. Some of my post are keyword optimized but not all. I will try to pay more attention to this in future. Do ya'll know of any good keyword tools that don't cost an arm and a leg?

Lynn, yes I'm VERY much into fitness and I often inspire others around me to get involved. That is the reason for my blog and why I thought it would be something I could share with others. Unfortunately, talking to people about fitness and answering questions is much easier than writing about it. When I write I feel like I'm writing an essay which is why it has no personality I suppose. I do have some things to share just having a hard time expressing it on paper.

I will watch your training session and download the guide you provided. Hopefully this will help me understand more of what I'm dong wrong.

Thank you both very much for your feedback. If you have any other ideas please let me know. I'm still learning so there will be mistakes but hopefully I can get this figured out.

Thanks again,
Brad

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Brad,


I think the Content Marketing training will really help. :) Almost everyone struggles with writing/blogging, even when they can easily talk about their topic all day every day.


One of the tricks is to browse forums on your topic, and instead of replying to questions or topics ON the forum, use that as a base and write a blog post instead - in the same way you would have responded on the forum. I often sit down to blog but get in the mindset of answering an email or a phone call on the topic I sat down to write about. It works wonders!


Also see: http://www.clicknewz.com/1993/how-to-write-a-blog-post/ I find that having a structured outline for posts really helps a lot. That link will also show you the seven elements I include in my own blog posts.


For keyword research, I use WordTracker's free keyword tool exclusively. They've done some nice updates to it recently: http://www.clicknewz.com/8332/wordtracker-updates-free-keyword-tool/ It's free, unlimited use even, and very easy to use.


For a tutorial on keyword targeting, see this post: http://www.clicknewz.com/8301/keyword-targeting-example/


Hope that helps. :) *cheers*

[bdw357]

Thanks so much Lynn.

[bdw357]

Lynn, so I was reading one of your blog post and I found a url to your low carb blog. This reminded me of my original question and the reason I came to your forum in the first place.

This is a perfect example of what I was asking. In your low carb blog you have picked a very precise niche and by doing so will attract readers looking for low carb ideas or answers to their questions.

My blog is in the fitness niche but not really dedicated to one particular aspect of fitness. Inspired By Fitness could mean all different kinds of things related to fitness. My original idea was to use my blog to inspire people to get and stay fit. That was the niche I was targeting. However, I'm not sure that is a large enough niche to target for the long haul. In fact I'm not really sure its a niche at all.

What are your thoughts on this? Am I making it way to difficult on myself by targeting such a large niche? Do you think I should find something more specific and start over? Is it possible to use the same domain name but target a more specific niche?

My ultimate goal is to provide positive useful information and enjoy doing it. But it is work and time invested on my part so I want to make it as easy as I can on myself.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Brad

[Lynn Terry]

Hi Brad,

On my low carb blog I talk about a variety of topics. The low carb diet specifically of course, but also: fitness, weight loss, mindset, emotional overeating, motivation, and I even talk about travel and travel reviews.

I think your topic is great. You can lean toward the general theme of getting and staying inspired, making it fun, finding the programs or routines or things that work for you (them), etc. That's the hardest part about getting and staying in shape: being inspired or motivated to do so. To take action. Which makes for a great theme, as I mentioned.

[Henrik Flensborg]

Yeah, the ever present questions: Who am I making this site for and what kind of experience am I planning to make for them?

First impression when I look at the site is SPAM.

Any health-related website that features Acai Berry and Creatine affiliate links immediately makes me leave. Sure, the berry is healthy and creatine is a useful supplement, but it takes away credibility from your site.

If your aim is to create a super useful/interesting blog that people will talk about and participate in then this is a bad start.

If you're not really looking to actively maintain and run a blog, but are solely looking to promote affiliate programs, then Acai Berries and Creatine supplements is probably not your best first targets as the competition for those products/keywords is fierce. But if you only objective is to get people to leave your site as soon as they land through an affiliate link then you don't need to worry about credibility.

Right now you're right smack in the middle of the dilemma: How soon, how often and how aggressively do I mix promotional content with my regular content.

I think we've all been in this situation - I know I have. This delicate balance between one one hand running a blog, newsletter or any other type of publication where people gather because of the service you are providing through your content or interaction with your audience and on the other hand trying to sell them stuff.

Personally I've found it much easier to make recommendations for products I've been using myself than simply promoting affiliate links on sites where I have an actual interest in the topic.

For those of my sites that are made exclusively to sell something I've found that it suits me better to base them on products/topics that I have no real interest in. And these I don't consider blogs (despite being created using WP)

The great thing is that you've become aware of this before you started adding people to your list/newsletter.

You have some time now to decide what kind of website you want to run - and figure out how to set yourself apart from the hundreds/thousnds of other health and fitness blogs out there.