Content | Robb Sutton

Case Study: Top 30 Of Something In Your Niche

June 9, 2010 By Robb Sutton 13 Comments

A popular way to get viral content spreading like poison ivy on a hot summer day is to do a top [insert a number here] list post. We have seen these in the blogging industry as top bloggers or top designs as bloggers around the world look to attract new traffic and show appreciate to others in the industry.

The big question: Does this same theory work outside the blogging industry as it does inside?

Well…I decided to take on a tall order last week and launch two posts with the same theme on two different sites to test the theory.

Case Study: Top 30 Of Something In Your Niche Article

Now…I used 30 but obviously you can use and number of items you want. On my mountain biking sub-domain of Bike198.com, I published an article titled “Top 30 Most Influential Cycling Blogs and Websites of 2010” and on RobbSutton.com I posted “Top 30 Most Influential Bloggers and Website Owners of 2010“.

The task was simple. Post two very similar posts in two completely different niches and watch the results and trends.

Side Note: I published both of these articles during a holiday week in the states. For optimal results, I would not recommend placing articles around periods of time when traffic is normally lower…like I did.

As you can probably imagine already, list posts such as these can generate a lot of new traffic for your blog, so let’s take a look at how they did. It is also worth mentioning, Bike198.com get triple the traffic of RobbSutton.com (love out accurate those Alexa numbers are?! Don’t pay attention to public online statistics) which makes the results even more interesting.

Results: RobbSutton.com Top 30 Post

Comments: 75
ReTweets: 108
Facebook Shares: 77
Newsletter Sign-up Increase: 100%
1st 2 Days Traffic Increase: 200%

Results: Bike198.com Top 30 Post

Comments: 11
ReTweets: 17
Facebook Shares: 88
Newsletter Sign-up Increase: 10%
1st 2 Days Traffic Increase: 20%

As you can tell by the posts, both of them did pretty well, but the RobbSutton.com posts far outperformed the Bike198.com post in total increases. Especially given the exposure and traffic differences between the two sites, the RS article really jumped out and pulled its own weight while the Bike198 article saw lower returns on the thousands of visitors it sees a day.

After Careful Contemplation: What Do These Results Mean?

There are several things that you need to take away from this test, so let’s spell out what I have learned from this whole experiment (besides not posting long, viral articles next to a holiday).

#1 – Comments Are Not A Measure Of Success

In the blogging niche, we tend to think of conversation on our blogs as a measure of how successful our blogs are online. However, having a lot of comments on your blog has nothing to do with how successful your blog is online. Outside of the blogging/MMO niche, comments are a lot harder to come by as your core audience is not used to using that form of communication. Within your target niche, your audience might be more used to Twitter, Facebook or forums as a way to communicate with others. Try to ignore the “I have to get as many comments as I can” syndrome. That theory does not apply to all.

#2 – You Need To Know How People Are Going To Spread Your Content

Hopefully, you already know the answer to this question. If you have been blogging for awhile, you should have a pretty good idea of where your content is spreading. When you are looking to make strides with a viral article like both of these, it is always a good idea to place at least your top two content spreading sources at the bottom and top of the article to make the viral condition of the article easier on your readers.

List posts are typically long, so do you really want to make them scroll all the way back to the top of the article to hit that RT button? Plan accordingly and you should have better results than if you just going along as business as usual.

#3 – Know Your Audience: What Do They Want To Read?

Honestly, I hit the nail on the head on RobbSutton.com but I could have done a better list on Bike198.com. I wanted to take this chance to form relationships and show my appreciation to other cycling sites (which I accomplished in spades), but my readers would have been more likely to comment and spread a list more like “Top 30 Mountain Bike Parts You Wish You Never Used” or something along that nature.

The tendency for many bloggers is to use something that works in the blogging/MMO niche and apply it directly to their sewing blog. The idea is to apply the techniques, not the direct application. Keep that in mind as you structure your next list post. You need to ask yourself the question: I know this worked on ABC’s blogging blog, but how can I make the same theory work on mine?

#4 – You Need To Go Over The Top With Your List

Far too many bloggers out there try to half ass this process by just putting up a simple list and hitting publish. If you really want to see success with a list post, you need to go over the top with the content. Because there are so many half ass’ed ones, you really need to set yourself apart. With both of my lists, I chose the imagery very carefully and stylized each one. I then carefully wrote a description/definition of why I thought that blogger or website should be on the list.

Over the top content will produce over the top results. Basically…you get what you put in.

#5 – It Is Not Always About The Stats

One of my main objectives with each of these posts was to show appreciation to others and create more relationships within my respective niches. On that front, these posts performed well above expectations. I was able to reconnect with bloggers I hadn’t talked to in awhile and I even got to meet some bloggers that I didn’t even know existed. If I didn’t get any increase in traffic or conversions at all…that would have still make it all worth it.

Are List Posts Worth Doing?

Absolutely. Regardless of your niche, you should be able to find a list that you can put together that your readers will soak up and then spread it out for you like wildfire. However, you need to carefully plan out your posts content, timing and formatting to insure the best results. Do not go out there and be just another “me too”. You need to hit the market with some over the top content that will bring you new readers, subscribers and new connections.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Social Media Tagged With: blog traffic, case study, how to blog, how to get more traffic, how to write a list post, viral content

The Two Groups That Are 99% Of Your Blog Income

June 7, 2010 By Robb Sutton 9 Comments

If you are looking to make income from your blogging, you need to turn your efforts online into dollars by readers consuming either your products and services or the products and services of others that you are affiliated with (or both).

By targeting a buying public, you can maximize your profits and insure a high conversion rate on your blog. We all want to be able to turn words into dollars right?! Often wonder how some blogs can make a killing without an enormous amount of traffic? Well…you better make sure you are attracting the right audience to accomplish that…so let’s break it down for real success.

The Beginning Blogger Trap

Before we jump into the exact groups you want to target, let’s talk a little bit about a route that beginning bloggers take that is the completely wrong road. I see a lot of beginning bloggers striving for approval from the pros in their field. If they are blogging about blogging, they are trying to get top bloggers to comment on their articles. If they are blogging about home improvement, they are writing articles that would even make Bob Vila drop his jaw. This is a trap you need to avoid!

When you are jumping after the approval of top pro’s in your niche, you are tailoring your articles to a group of producers…not consumers.

For your blog to be successful, you need to be impressing a group of readers that will actually pull out the plastic and consume products and services…not ones that are creating their own.

Stop writing over the top, complicated articles to inflate your own self worth by trying to gain the approval of professionals if you want to make money with your blogging.

The 2 Groups You Should Be Targeting With Your Writing

There are two groups of people that you should be targeting with your writing style and language in your blog articles.

Beginners
Intermediates

Why? Because they are looking for solutions to their problems within your niche. They need to buy your information and services to bring their game to a whole new level. When you start delivering on those promises by providing high quality recommendations and products, they will become repeat visitors and consumers of your recommendations and content. See how the cycle works?

How Do I Attract That Audience With My Writing?

There are several ways you can attract the beginning to intermediate audience, but here are a couple of sure fire ways to get you up and rolling.

1. Talk Simple But Not “Down”

When I write my blog articles, I try to make sure that 90% of my readers will completely understand everything in the article. If there are terms or ideas that are on a more advanced level, I go out of my way to either explain that point further or provide a resource where that explanation can be found (most likely on my blog). When you let the ego jump in and try to sound too much like an expert, you lose your target audience. Your blog articles should teach and inform, but also be careful not to sound condescending. No one likes to be talked down to but 99% of readers love to learn something new.

2. Provide Static Resources

Are there complicated terms within your niche? Is there standard/staple content that everyone should know within your niche (even if you take it for granted)? By creating resources through blog articles or static pages, you are helping those readers that may not completely understand the concepts and ideas within your niche topic. When you solve this issue for your beginning readers, you become their resource online. As a bonus, when you need to point your reader in the direction of an explanation of complicated terms or ideas in your articles, you are pointing them to a page on your blog instead of an outside resource.

3. Provide Most of Your Information for Free

Beginner and intermediate readers of your blog are going to be gun shy of paid content and products. Chances are they have been down a bad road or two online, so there defenses are up on why they shouldn’t spend any money on what you have produced or what you are promoting. By providing high quality content for free via articles, ebooks and newsletters, you can build up your own reputation to insure that your paid products convert well in the long run. Your reputation with your new readers starts from day one. Get started on the right foot with over the top, quality content for free. The conversion down the road will be much easier.

The #1 Reason Why Blogs Make Money

They solve the problems of people within a given niche and do so in real time with a developed relationship. If you are constantly on the search to impress the pros…you will never end up being one.

Blogs make money because they fulfill a need.

When you start tailoring your blog and content with the idea of making money online, keep in mind your target buying audience. After all…they are the ones that generate the dollars.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Generating Cash Tagged With: how to blog, how to make money blogging, make money online, make more money blogging

Do Not Make This #1 Fatal Blogging Mistake

May 13, 2010 By Robb Sutton 13 Comments

There is one fatal blogging mistake that I have seen most beginning (and some experienced) bloggers go through. At some point in time with their blogs, the blogger decides that it would be a great idea to start talking about blogging on their blog about gardening. The typical mind frame hits that hits the following thought process: “A lot of bloggers follow my blog, so it must be a good idea to talk about my other passion as well! Besides…I see other bloggers have success with talking about blogging…so why can’t I?!”

This is a trap! Let’s walk through it a little bit so you can see why you shouldn’t talk about blogging (or advertising rates, statistics or anything else off topic) on your blog about gardening…

The Blogger With Blinders

Horse with Blinders On - Blogging Blinders Before you ever started a blog on your given subject, you had a passion for your niche. You bought products related to your niche, talked to your friends about it and got completely immersed in the atmosphere. One day, you came across blogging as another way to release that passion on the world and now you are making a little bit of coin at the same time. It is a beautiful thing and one of the main reasons I love this form of passion outlet and business building.

But you fall into a trap…

You just found another passion that you want to talk about so you start talking about it on your gardening blog. Like a horse with blinders on, your view of your favorite activity/subject matter is now skewed through your new found, exciting passion of blogging. While you may think that there are bloggers following you on your gardening blog that would like what you have to say about blogging, there is one fact that will never change.

Even bloggers go to blogging blogs to read about blogging and gardening blogs to read about gardening (or any other niche).

When you start going way off topic on your blog, you are not only putting off your current readers who have no interest in blogging, but you are also putting off your readers that do blog! It is a double edged sword that cuts your blog to pieces. If you are going to go slightly off topic and try to expand your subject matter. Writing about “How to have the greenest grass on the block” would be a much better topic to dive into as it will strengthen your brand and expand your offerings.

Another Harsh Fact For Bloggers That You Should LOVE!

Want another harsh fact that you should absolutely fall in love with is the #2 reason you should never talk about blogging on your blog about gardening?

98% of people want to consume the products and services you create, not create their own.

What do you think the ratio of Wal-Mart shoppers is to business owners in the United States? Statistically, it is almost immeasurable. For the blogger, that is a great thing. That means there are more people out there that want to help build your business than become your competition. So…why do you want to teach them how to do the exact same thing on your blog about gardening?

There is an underlying desire within blogging to help others blog (why do you think I started this site!), but there is a time and place for it. If you really want to help people with their blogging or get them started blogging, you need to either do it privately or on a different site. Keep your brand and content focused for true success and leave the talking about blogging for blogs that are focused on that subject matter.

Oh yeah…1 more thing…before you run off starting a blog about blogging because you have also gotten blinders on that are telling you that is the only way to make money online…the highest profit, biggest revenue generating blogs I know…have nothing to do with blogging. They just never talk about it…and you can take that to the bank.

Resist Image by gwen | Horse Blinders Image by ?rtofdreaming

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: Blogging, blogging about blogging, blogging blinders, focused content, how to write blog articles, successful blogging

To grow your blog and see the success you seek, you must make that vital connection with your readers. With this strong connection, you will realize the growth and viral spreading of blogging.

Those that know me (or follow me on Twitter) know that I am a cycling obsessed, wanna-be photographer that also happens to own a blog network. What surprises me the most is how similar the art of connecting with people through words is to that same connection with photographs.

Recently, a friend of mine and fantastic photographer, Joe (regularjoe on Flickr), sent me this link to David Griffin’s talk on telling stories and making that connection with photographs.

As director of photography for National Geographic, David Griffin works with some of the most powerful photographs the world has ever seen.

Like most things in my life, I started seeing the parallels between great photography and blogging. Ideally, to make that connection with your readers, you need to be telling a story with your blog and your articles. Take a close look/watch and start to relate this video back to your blogging.

Telling A Story With Your Blog

Now that you have seen how it is done with photographs, how can we apply this back to your blogging. The following list is a few tips/tricks I use while writing that helps me tell a story to you guys through my blog articles.

Visualize While Writing

I am a visual learner by nature, so when I read blog posts, I sometimes struggle with writers that are not painting a picture on the subject they are writing about. Especially in the cycling world, I try to literally paint a picture with words and walk my readers through the experience. By telling this “story”, I can connect through my words and solve the problems that face my readers on a personal level.

On this blog, I do things like the following: “As you sit down with a blank “new post” screen scratching your head on what to write and how to connect with that new search engine visitor, sit back, take a deep breath and go to those same feelings you had with writers block and how you conquered the fear.”

I literally picture myself sitting in front of the computer screen in my head and relate those feelings to words on a page. By making that emotional connection through words, you will make a connection with your readers that will make them want to come back for more.

Lay Out The Scene

Fantastic images that tell a story are not shot on accident. The composition of the photograph brings the viewer on the journey without actually being present. When I was starting to shoot with a super wide angle lens, Joe told me to really focus on composition and tell the events that were about to take place through a single image. For example, with mountain bikers, show where they are going to ride next or the obstacles they face.

With your readers, you need to do the same. You need to lay out the scene and show them what they can expect next through your words. Each article is a part of a sequence that adds up to the whole. Are you just publishing articles on what you feel like that particular morning? Or are you planning out the story and linking subject matters together to lay out the scene? By planning your articles and their sequence, you take your readers on a journey that will bring them back.

No One Wants To Read Research Papers

Just like no one connects with bland photography, your readers do not want to read research papers. They connect with blogs because of the personal nature of the writing. There are no footnotes, no table of contents…just the relationship between the bloggers words and the readers emotions on the other side of the screen.

By telling stories through your words, you can make that connection and keep readers coming back for more time and time again.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: Blogging, david griffin, how to write blog articles, photography, successful blogging, telling a story

10 Ingredients Of A Successful Article

April 22, 2010 By Robb Sutton 14 Comments

Every blogger knows the good article when he sees it (it’s simple – a good article is interesting to read ), but how to make it from a scratch? There are plenty and plenty of articles about that.

As the matter of fact, nearly every blogger who writes about making money online or blogging has some day made an article about that. We have carefully tasted their creations and designed a combined list of main ingredients of a good blog post.

#1: Difference

Almost anything that can be written is already out there and original idea is a real scarcity, so to appeal to readers be different. Do not make another hamburger! If it is impossible to come up with an original idea, try to put bread between two pieces of beef. It may not be delicious, but it will create a commotion and attract attention to your blog. But be careful not to scare-off your readers.

#2: Knowledge of Your Audience

That is one of the the most important rules of marketing (and that is what a good article is all about: you are exchanging your material for readers’ attention). All people are different and it is critical to understand who your readers are and what there problems are. What are they looking for? Why did they come to your website and what can make them stay? These are the questions that you should ask yourself every time you start a new article.

#3: Whatever Your Readers Order

The article is not for you, it is for them! After you start to understand your readers you should get an idea of what they are looking for. Just give it to them, or explain why they don’t need it. Imagine that you are in a restaurant, you ordered a chicken and they bring you soup. Unless you get convinced that you really want the soup you will simply leave (it would be better if they served you chicken in the first place, but nobody’s perfect).

#4: Interactivity

Make your readers think and interact with you through questions, stating arguable points or in any other way. Unless they are involved in your blog in any form, they will not feel themselves as part of it and will not become your subscribers. You know why Chinese restaurants are so popular? It’s not because of the food (you can order it home), its the process when everything is flying around just in front of you and occasionally ends up in your mouth as if by magic.

#5: Aftertaste

When the reader has found what he was looking for (the best outcome is when the search ends on your blog), do not let them leave you once and for all. Make your readers understand that there is much more interesting and important stuff coming later on your blog. The dainty can be delicious, but it must leave a pleasant aftertaste as well, or else what do we have left, when its all finished?

#6: Deep-water Bait:

Yet again do not let the reader just get off your hook, lure them deeper and deeper in your blog. Just like a pro chef gives you the appetizer and only after that the main course, you should tempt the appetite of your reader. These tricks can help you:

related articles widgets;
in-post links to related articles;
anything else that works

#7: Unforgettable Taste

That is not an ingredient actually, but the result and an extremely important one. It is often called brand development. You want your blog to be famous, don’t you? Internet marketing is not purely about links and bookmarks. Do not forget that you are marketing your brand and it should be not only recognizable, but also memorable.

#8: Knowledge of the Topic

You should know well any topic you are writing about. People try to find something new and original in your article, give them only the valid information and not some general stuff. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and if you’re at it, learn as much of them as possible (I actually love cats very much, but could not resist this game of words ).

#9: Fresh Info

There is no way a person can know everything. Besides there is always new stuff emerging. So, unless you are 100% certain that your knowledge is complete and up-to-date, you should make a bit of additional research just in case there is something new.

#10: Collaboration

After you did your research, you should not be shy to show it and to link to the sources of your information. Besides being simply polite and honest it will also help to attract attention of the people you are linking to. They can get interested in your work and this may help you to make more connections for the future.

This, of course, is not the ultimate list of the things you should put into your article to make it tasty, there are other extremely important ingredients like passionate writing as well as self obvious things such as correct spelling and things of lesser importance like image for every post. All of them will be covered in further articles, so stay in touch.

Now that was an example of how to provide incentive to sign-up for an RSS feed Hope you will find these ingredients worthy using for your projects. Also feel free to post your opinion or questions in the comments.

This is a guest post written by Edward ‘The Chef’ over at Flavor of Success, “Be the Chef in the Kitchen of your Life”. Flavor of Success is devoted to gathering and sharing all kinds of success stories. We are interested in the stories of celebrities, businessmen and simply everyone else.

Image by Lexitaru

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: blog content, Blogging, how to blog, how to write an article, what makes a good blog article

New Look For RobbSutton.com And The Reason Behind The Madness

April 5, 2010 By Robb Sutton 16 Comments

You might have noticed that a couple of things have changed around the pages of RobbSutton.com. Over the weekend, the design has gone through some changes and they are pretty drastic. While the actual article format hasn’t changed all that much, the overall site design went through a major overall. It was time for something different that fit the needs of the site and what you see today was the result.

The previous design based off the Headlines theme by Woothemes. While I really liked the way the site looked, the design was very image based and there was a lot of dead space between elements. Over time, I continually shortened up that dead space in the css, but it became distracting to the goal of RobbSutton.com (more on that in a minute).

When I was flipping through potential donor themes (I like to keep things cheap and base my designs off of established premium wordpress themes), I ran across a new one from the crew over at WPZoom that I knew would work perfectly. I downloaded the Yamidoo PRO Magazine and got to work. After several days of hacking away, I got to a compromise that was good enough for launch and initial testing. There are still a couple elements that need to be added and some bugs to fix, but overall I am really happy with the result.

So…back to the real reason behind the madness.

In the world of blogging, there is only room for one king. I know you have heard over and over again that content is king and there is no substitute. Well…I am here to dispel the lie. Content is not king. Why is content not the king in blogging? Because there are thousands of blogs out there with fantastic content that are still only make pennies on the day. Content by itself does not insure the success of a blog as there is an overload of quality content on the net.

So if content doesn’t sit at the head of the table…what does?

Conversion Is King In Blogging

Before you jump off this page thinking I just mentioned a mentioned a spam word…hold on for a second and go on this ride with me.

Conversion is you key into the best part of blogging…the interaction between blogger and reader. The absolute best part of this blog and my others is the connections I have been able to make with other like minded individuals. The only way you can build more relationships is by converting causal, first time visitors into subscribers to your rss feed and newsletter so that you can start the process of gaining trust.

Without that conversion, you can not build your business. Don’t worry though…content plays a HUGE part in the conversion process by attracting that first time reader to begin with, so it goes hand in hand with what I am talking about. It is also your first impression on potential new subscribers, so don’t go thinking you are going to convert well without some kind of quality content on your blog.

Now…what does that have to do with the site design change? While I really liked the way my previous design looked, it was not high enough on the conversion scale for my needs. Sometimes, by using too many images and distractions in the design, you can bring the eyes of your readers away from your content and conversion elements bringing that focus on the peripherals.

Not a good thing if you are a blogger.

So on the new design, you will find the focus back where it belongs: content, newsletter sign-ups and rss sign-ups. No clutter, no confusion and all out converting so I can connect with more bloggers and help them improve their blogs. That is what this site is about and that is the goal of RobbSutton.com. If anything else distracts from that goal, it has to go!

As you can see by the new layout, there is special emphasis paid to newsletter subscription sign ups and other assets for this blog. While I completely believe that many readers are visually attracted to blogs (through the use of images like I have talked about in earlier articles), there is a balance between the two that can not be ignored.

I have found success in blogging through helping others doing something they love…only better…regardless of niche. The more I give back and structure my sites in a way that makes that goal easy, the more success comes my way. It is a beautiful thing and outside of the connections made in various industries with passionate people…it is on of the other things I absolutely love about blogging. This new design is a step forward in the right direction to help more bloggers.

So what do you think?

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Tagged With: blog design, design, how to convert readers, woothemes, wordpress, wpzoom

One Of The Most Powerful Weapons In Blogging Revealed

April 1, 2010 By Robb Sutton 8 Comments

My life is a series of obsessions strung together in time. Some call that intense…others call it OCD…I call it my life. It is who I am and there isn’t much changing that at this point. Part of that obsession rolls into imagery and capturing life through the lens of a camera. While I am not very good at it right now, I can see the power of pictures through friends that are amazing photographers and that is inspiration to get better. Now that I have about one more line to convince you to read the rest of this article that had a title about a blogging weapon…what is it exactly and does my experience relate to something you can apply to your blogging?

Imagery In Your Blog Posts Set The Mood Of Your Articles

If you are not taking a serious look at how you use images, icons and illustrations in your blogging, you are missing out on a key connection point with your readers. While you may feel that your words can part seas and move mountains, the fact remains that not all of your readers are stimulated the same way you are. By using thought provoking images in your blog posts, you are able to connect on a deeper level with readers that are more visually stimulated. These same images also compliment the content for those readers that prefer to be moved by words.

Images Do Not Stop With Blog Posts

However, the use of imagery on your blog is not limited to complimentary images in blog articles. Through the use of illustrations and icons in your design, you can set the mood of your entire blog and make it a more powerful converting weapon. By using “eye catching” images and icons, you are directing your readers to where you want their attention. This can be newsletter sign-ups, rss sign-ups or advertisements for your paid eBooks. Whatever your most important assets are in your blogging, you can attract attention to those items on the page by using images and icons.

But be careful…

I have seen bloggers use this theory to an extreme creating a cluttered look that generates the opposite desired effect. Too many images and icons can cause a distracting mess that not only takes away from your content, but it also returns a lower conversion rate due to the mind blowing confusion. Like with all things in blogging and design, moderation and planning is generally the best rule.

So How Do I Get Kick Ass Images On My Blog?

Luckily, I have already published a couple of articles for you to check out on using images in blog posts.

And…of course…you can just take your own!

Here are a couple out I have taken recently…

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Photographs Tagged With: attracting attention, blog design, how to find images for blog posts, image use in design, uses pictures in blog posts, web design

It Is Always Easier To Criticize Than Create – Blogging Trolls

March 25, 2010 By Robb Sutton 25 Comments

Yesterday, I was reading and commenting on an article by Nicholas Cardot at Site Sketch 101 titled “Are you crying about other’s success?” and it got me to thinking. At some point in your blogging career, you are going to make a dollar or find some other kind of success and there are going to be those other bloggers and people that want to shoot you down for it.

Lately, there has been a growing trend in the blogosphere of putting down other successful bloggers that are making money through their blogging efforts.

Lame.

One…we want successful bloggers in the industry in and outside of the blogging niche. Why? That means that you can be successful within that niche as well. I don’t know about you guys…but I don’t want to spin my wheels for nothing! I like making a living doing what a love. Anyone else that says any differently is just lying to you to make themselves feel better about their place in life.

Two…it is a cry for help. If you see other bloggers putting down the success a fellow blogger is seeing, they are trying to attract traffic to their blog using controversy. That is great for comments and a small bump in traffic, but this “controversy blogger” is missing a very key point in successful blogging. Controversy traffic converts at a rate that is almost unmeasurable. Unless you are Perez Hilton, your controversy traffic is going to make you zero cash so it is a wasted effort while you throw your own name through the mud.

My Experience With Blogging Trolls

In the beginning with Bike198.com, I got a lot of “internet superheros” that just wanted to beat down my blog until I gave up and quit. They would post about it on forums, try to comment on my blog and even say something on their own blog that their mom reads about my site. Eventually, they all go away. Why? Because I ignore them. These guys are more worried about padding their forum post count (which makes more money for those site owners and not them…funny how that works) than they are about actually getting their own bikes dirty.

After awhile, they move onto the next guy hoping to get a reaction because that is ultimately what they are after from the beginning.

When I released Ramped Reviews, I got another wave of spoiled milk with bloggers and other people thinking that I was only in blogging to get free stuff. Not only is that completely false, but if they would have taken the chance to read the ebook, they would see that it is about much more than just free product. Once again, these people eventually moved onto the next guy without making any real lasting impact.

What Can You Learn From These Situations?

Controversy blogging has its place, but that place is not in the realm of trying to bring down other people in your industry. Now…if they did something so despicable that it has to be told, that is different. But if you are just planning on shooting down their success because you don’t feel its right to make money, then you are barking up the wrong tree and almost insuring your failure.

So remember these 5 things.

You want successful bloggers in your niche because that means you have the ability to be successful.
It will always be easier to criticize than create, so remember that as you draft your articles and deal with Internet trolls.
Ignoring is often the best form of dealing with Internet trolls as no one wins online arguments and you are giving them what they want…a reaction.
You can delete comments when necessary. They don’t own your site…you do!
If you are getting complaints about something you are doing well, congratulations…rinse and repeat!

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Social Media, The Web Tagged With: blogging success, blogging trolls, make money blogging, site sketch 101, successful blogging