One Blog or Many Blogs – Should the Network Begin
One of the things I have been noticing lately is there are quite a few topics I want to blog about but based on the domaining and domain development focus of my blog and the niche viewers I really do not want to alienate my typical readers by discussing other things in my life. Whether it be my renewed focus on training for a triathlon or marathon or topics that tend to be more gadget or even travel focused I am not sure they fit on my own personal blog anymore, kind of a weird situation to be in.
That said, I really like the fact I have branded my main site under my name, I think its important to standup and be seen under your name when doing business and really think the benefits have outweighed the negatives. Although the one thing I have noticed is that BruceMarler.com should really be treated as a business and I have not really been doing that too much at this point, yes there has been money made on it but that has not been a real focus.
All that said, I would like some thoughts from my readers, I have a few names that I think I would like to build into blogs about various topics with a combination of my own personal writing and outsourced writing. I think building a network of real blogs would be valuable, but I am having a hard time determining if it would be possible to combine all into the BruceMarler.com "brand". Also gotta make sure it does not distract from my main projects (hence the outsourced writing). I am not sure if my domainer friends would want to hear me write about my training plans and swim/bike/run workouts I will be hitting hard over the next few months and think it may be better to put them on RunMarathons.com (gotta remember to make that a link when it launches:) )
Would like thoughts from my readers, to build a network or bore you guys with other topics. Yes this is all just me thinking outloud.....
Bruce:
I think that’s a great Idea. Maybe you know by know but I have two blogs since the two are not related. I have a link to INJ on the Square Dance Blog and one to INJ on the Square Dance Blog. I think it can provide insights into a person if you can read what else they are interested in.
Just my thoughts
Brian
Bruce, I am having the same exact problem, I like to blog about domains, but I also like to write about teen biz in general, selling on eBay, all of my wilderness adventures, my running and tri training and also on photography. I am having this same problem with twitter should I have a personal and a biz twitter account?
I think I am going to start more blogs, but there are so many things that overlap. I could do it all on briandiener.com or some other site but selling ads and keeping track of what to write on would be so hard. I think readers like to read blogs that focus on one topic not everything from domaining to backpacking or rock climbing.
I also wonder if I should switch my blog because as we all know I will not be a teen forever so at one point I will have to change blogs.
I would love to hear what you think and decide to do send me an email I would love to chat about starting a network of blogs.
As always great post and sorry this is so long!
Brian Diener
TeenDomainer.com
Brian and Brian,
Thanks for the thoughts. I think I have the answer from listening to both of you, I think I knew it ahead of time but its always good to put it out there to get thoughts. We can all learn from one another.
B Diener,
I will send you an email, I have an idea…..
…
Keep the thoughts coming readers.
I blog about my life ,domains and whatever else pops to mind its my personal blog about ME , and family and friends read my blog i tend to lean towards domains because that’s a big part of what i do. more or less IMO if your blog is about you then you should write about you only people that will complain are trolls anyway
Bruce,
I’m no expert on this and have no experience in it, but been pondering the same issue. I’ve seen both strategies work well. One blog promoting across many subjects or sites is less time consuming. On the other hand many blogs across your network is good marketing serving each site. My conclusion is if your passionate about the subject and have the time, then go for it.
-Dan
Bruce,
I went through the same issue earlier this year and in the end decided to create several different blogs. Domainvestors.tv will always be my main blog where most of my time and energy goes but I have four other blogs now dedicated to different subjects I’m passionate about as well as morganlinton.com which is more just a personal blog about me which has also been evolving into a travel-blog (since travel is a major part of my life).
I would definitely read another blog you write and think many of your other readers would too – always interesting to hear what we all do outside of the Domaining world too.
I’m doing my first Triathlon on Aug 23rd and have been training for 8 months now! Would definitely be interested in hearing more about how you are preparing for a triathlon – maybe we can share tips!
So, to make a long story short, I’d say go for it! I can tell you I’ll definitely be a reader of both blogs
Oh wow…I just found this blog. I didn’t know you had a blog Bruce. Congrats, did you just launch this?
LMAO
I really find it hard to believe you have the time for several blogs. I created a second blog, spent money on development and logo. That was three months ago, haven’t even written the first article and probably never will.
More power to you if you can do it.
I do see a point with chef, but I think it would almost be easier because you know what you have to write on each blog, you might not post a new article every day but that is fine.
It seems like Bruce, Morgan and I have a lot in common, all debating how many blogs to run and running triathlons
Morgan I read a few of you other blogs and they are great I think you need to keep them separated and the readers who want to read both will and those who don’t will not.
And Bruce I did not know you have a blog Congrats on your first post!
Brian Diener
TeenDomainer.com
Patrick, TeenDomainer, thanks for being new readers:) This joke will never die!!!
Morgan,
A big hats off and congrats on training for your first tri. Last year was my big year for races, did a tri, a 62 mile bike race, 2 half marathons, and then a full marathon between sept and dec of last year. My point is its an addiction once you start. I kinda let it all go for the first several months of this year and now have to drop the extra weight so i can go after it again.
Go hard and enjoy it Morgan, make sure you let us know how it goes, I love that kinda stuff.
To The Rest,
I think the answer is I am going to do multiple, probably start the framework next week, I think I will manage it by mixing it up with guest posts and myself so I do not get distracted. I know Patrick just wants me to do one so its less competition for him:) LOL
Bruce
Just to throw my 2 cents in the conversation. I have been pondering this exact dilemma and I haven’t even started my FIRST blog yet. But I have many diverse interests and do not know if it should all go under my name or if it should be a “minor” player next to a special interest blog network.
One guy who has done it successfully is Nick Denton of Gawker Media. He is the #1 most influential blogger according to this article:
http://northxeast.com/blogging/nxes-fifty-most-influential-bloggers/
It seems his personal blog, http://nickdenton.org, is just a minor player in his blog empire as it is not even .com. As always the blog content is key but apparently he is able to keep his writing staff wages low in relation to his income. I don’t know if you plan on building a blog empire on this level but I thought it might be relevant to the post.
It’s an infirmative post! I share the same insights with you. I have just started making my blog in health and diet tips, but i want to include more as well as my interests are plenty. Well, let me do it one step at a time….