You’ll hear me say it again and again on this site: Content is Crucial!
The biggest key to success in running a profitable blog is being able to supply content, and keep it coming! When deciding on a subject for a new blog, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
- Do I have a genuine interest in the subject? Even though you might just want to blog for the money, you will still need to choose something you have a daily interest in. What do I mean by daily interest? Your subject should be something that you currently think about or deal with at least once a day. If you have no interest in the subject, you WILL get bored in a hurry. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way several times.
- Could I be considered a subject-matter expert? Do friends or family ask your advice about any particular subject? Are you recognized as being THE expert about anything at work? If so, consider blogging about them. Spending hours researching your subject won’t be fun if you need to do it every time you try to write a post.
- If I had all day to type, could I generate at least 30 posts about the subject right now? Being able to write 30 articles right off the bat, with little or no extra research is a good indication that you’re a subject matter expert (see above).
- Will this subject be worth anything for advertisers? Sure, blogging about your pet cat might be fun, but remember that your revenue is from the advertisers! Check out the Google Adwords Keyword Tool to check the value of certain key words (subjects). The higher the Estimated CPC (Cost per click), the more money you will make with that keyword combination. This tool also gives me related keyword ideas that might be worth more.
- Will this subject attract visitors? Last, but not least, you need visitors. Sure, blogging about some ancient dialect of some extinct language that you did your college research paper on might be easy for you, but ask yourself how many visitors will actually be searching for this?
If you are able to pass these five tests, you’re in good shape! Start thinking of a good domain name to register!