Pen & Pro$per

“Variety is the spice of life” according to a popular adage. Variety is also an important dynamic when it comes to providing quality blog content and cultivating a diverse readership. The more you can offer, typically the more engaged (and faithful) your readers will be.

Still, the information has to be presented in a logical, clever, strategic, orderly fashion.
Here's some food for thought (pun intended).
No matter how appetizing a meal you prepare for others might be, you probably wouldn’t serve the soup, salad, main dish, and dessert in the same sitting, would you?

Allow me to elaborate here…
If I follow a blog that is promoted as being a blog for writing tips, I don’t want to read a post about how to groom my pet, or clean my carpets, or how to start a pet rock collection. That’s not what I’m there for.

Yet, far too often, bloggers try to share an endless array of passions and passing thoughts; integrating them into a boat-load of topics, themes and interests to their site, to the frustration and bewilderment of their readers. Don’t be one of them.

The founder and CEO of “Shout Dreams” Inc. and Shout me Loud Blog, (which boasts close to 1 million subscribers) addresses it this way:

“If you are planning to create a personal blog in which you write about many different topics, then this is fine, as money is not the primary reason you are blogging. If you’re blogging because you love to write and want to write about multiple topics, and any consideration of earning money from the blog is secondary to that, then by all means write about anything and everything you wish.

However, if you are creating a blog from which you wish to earn an income, a multi-topic/multi-niche blog is a bad idea.”

You can read more of this interesting article here on niche blogging.

Like most things in life, there’s a right and a wrong way to blog about various topics under the same blog umbrella.
 
HERE ARE 4 TIPS FOR OPTIMAL SUCCESS…

1. Have clearly designated tabs for easier navigation and organization.
This allows readers to “choose” when/how/if they want to read about topics outside of your regular theme.

2. Designate a particular day and theme for topics that deviate from your regular offerings. For instance, ‘Free Speech Friday” could be an opportunity to sound-off about current events or your blogging pet peeves. Motivation Monday might be for sharing motivational quotes or tasteful jokes. Get the idea here?

 

3. Try to find a tie-in.
I am a big foodie. Most of my followers here at Pen & Prosper know the scoop.
In fact, my secret ambition (don’t tell anybody) is to be a celebrity chef. For this reason, periodically I’ll entertain readers with lessons on blogging from culinary pursuits. Even though cooking is “off topic” a bit, it stays within focus because of the correlations and connections I make with writing.

4. Consider having multiple Blogs.
Have you ever thought of having a personal blog and a professional blog? Maybe you should. It’s actually a great way to successfully blog about different passions, speak to varied audiences, and maintain different goals. You might even choose different publishing schedules. The recreational blog could be updated once a month; while the professional one could be updated once a week. Whatever works best. You could even have guest contributors to submit articles to take some of the pressure off. The possibilities are endless. Hello?


Keep these timely tips in mind to solidify your brand and establish your expertise in your niche area.

Your turn. Agree or disagree?  Have you ever entertained the thought of having multiple Blogs?