Writing for Your Wealth

People who are struggling to make money are always asking those who have made it rich what their secrets are. This is as true in the blogging business as anywhere else. Well, I’m not particularly rich yet, but I’m working part time and making a comfortable living, so I think that qualifies me to tell you…

There are fewer “secrets” than you might think.

There’s a bit of learning, a bit of taking action, and a lot of sticking with it.

It’s kind of like studying martial arts.

What martial arts has to do with being a successful blogger…

A few years ago, I started taking karate. I’m fairly athletic, and I did well at sparring and katas, and I even beat out the other gals to win my division at my first tournament (okay, there were only three of us in that division, but let’s not burst my competency illusion).

I enjoyed karate and stuck with it for a year and a half, maybe two years, and made it to purple belt (which was about halfway to black belt in our school). But then I moved across the state, and a five-hour drive was a tad long for a karate commute. In my new city, the particular style I had been learning wasn’t offered, and when I tried a school that taught a different style, I found it hard to change moves I’d been drilled to perform a certain way. Also I was busy settling into my new town, and I started going less and less. And I was making more money with my internet business, so I was traveling a bit more, and… and… and…

Yeah, you’ve got it: excuses.

There must be at least one martial arts school per square mile in the average American city, and most of them are set up so anyone can get a black belt. It’s not about athleticism, or hand-eye coordination, or intelligence, or god-given skill; it’s about being teachable and showing up regularly to practices for four or five years.

And yet… how many people do you actually know who have a black belt?

Compared to the number of people who can say, “Oh, I’ve taken some martial arts,” it’s not very damned many.

Well, guess what? Making money online works the same way. There are a lot of people who have tried, but only a few have succeeded in turning this into a full-time income.

As I started out saying, it’s less about “secrets” than you’d think. The “sticking with it” factor is huge.

Though I can’t speak from experience on getting a black belt, I can give you a couple tips on sticking with a blog long enough to turn it into a money-making asset that will pay you again and again.

1. Don’t choose too small of a niche

When I was first getting started building websites for profit, there was a lot of “be the big fish in the small pond” talk. People were creating tiny niche websites, with the idea that they’d be able to become number one for something like fences more easily than they’d become number one for home improvement.

Here’s the problem with the tiny niche idea: you quickly run out of things to talk about.

In this day and age, to do well with the search engines, you need to update your site frequently and continually work on building links to it. The secret to not getting bored with your site is to cover a broad enough topic that you won’t run out of ideas.

For example, I have a blog on fireplaces that I started around the same time as I began a blog on home improvement ideas. Strange as it may seem, I actually like writing about fireplaces (especially gas fireplaces you can flip on with a switch, oh yeah), but even with this interest in the topic, it’s become a struggle to continually update that blog. In the three years I’ve been running it, I’ve covered all the basics and then some, so now I rarely update it more than two or three times a month.

On the other hand, the home improvement blog is going strong, getting daily updates, and has more than 2,000 posts to date. Though it’s one amidst my many sites, it usually accounts for half my daily income. It’s a niche topic, but it’s broad enough that I can cover scads of things: water gardens, fireplaces, swimming pools, roofing, fencing, air conditioners, flooring, trim, furniture, decorating… you get the picture.

So, to aid your ability to stick with your blog, choose a broad enough niche that you won’t run out of ideas for months and years to come.

2. Always be on the lookout for inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere, but it’s only apparent to those who look.

If you’re a writer, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. You’ve probably been told to keep a notepad (iPhone, Blackberry, whatever) with you so you can jot down ideas as they come to you. This is a great tactic. If you’re always on the lookout for ideas to write about, you’re less likely to draw a blank when it’s time to sit down at the computer and get some work done.

One of the ways I’m able to make a living from my sites on an hour of work a day is that when I do sit down at the computer, I make that productive time. I’m not idly clicking through dozens of blog and news feeds, hoping for inspiration. In fact, if I catch myself doing that during my focused work time, I usually quit.

Here’s how I make sure I’m ready to write when I sit down at the keyboard:

A couple times a month, usually when I’m at the bookstore anyway, I browse magazines for ideas. Since my sites are in the home and garden niche, it’s easy to find magazines. When I was broke, I’d take a pen and notebook and just jot things down right at the bookstore (iPhones weren’t out then, and I couldn’t have afforded one anyway). These days, if I find a magazine that can give me several ideas for blog posts, I’ll just buy the issue. If you find one that constantly delivers, consider signing up for a subscription. It’s a lot cheaper that way, and you’re saved the time of having to go to the bookstore–not that most of us writers find bookstore browsing to be a chore.

In addition to being a magazine fan, I frequently check out books related to my niches (Today I may buy books I know I’ll use often, but I started just ordering stacks from the library–there’s no reason you need to spend money on research). I don’t necessarily read these texts from head-to-toe (in fact, for the home and garden books that’s really rare); rather I browse topic headings for ideas that would convert nicely into an article topic. One book may give me several article ideas, though in the spirit of good research, I’ll often draw upon numerous sources. You’ll find, however, that as you become more comfortable in a niche, you’ll be able to draw on a lot of your accumulated knowledge to whip out articles quickly.

Lastly, I listen to podcasts and audiobooks while I’m working out at the gym, walking the dog, on a road trip, or on a plane. They can be on my chosen niches, but usually they aren’t–they’re more about learning interesting new things for me than doing research. And yet it’s amazing how often you’ll read or hear a line in a seemingly unrelated place that will spur your thinking, giving you an idea you can exploit in your writing.

There are certainly other ways to find inspiration, too, and I invite you to share yours.

The important thing is to continue learning, and you’ll never have a shortage of ideas. You’ll be able to write for the long haul and become a black belt blogger.