Blogs emerged on the Internet as personal diaries where people would publish online their daily activities, personal experiences or comments about events. As the phenomenon evolved, however, many blogs started to focus on niches, providing services or information for readers and blurring the line between blogs and traditional websites.
Many people, specially those considering to start a blog, wonder if blogs oriented around personal stories can be successful. The answer is yes and no, depending on your goals and on your definition of success. If your objective is simply to share your experiences and to have a virtual place where friends and family can keep updated with you, a personal blog can certainly be successful.
On the other hand, if your objective is to promote your ideas, market your business or make money with your blog then you should choose a more specific topic. Ideally you will have some expertise and passion around this topic, and it will also provide useful information for your readers.
The Blogging Content Matrix is a two-by-two matrix illustrating 4 possible types of content. The vertical axis divides content that has value from content that has not. Bear in mind that value here is defined as being useful to a large number of readers. Personal diaries or poetry, for instance, will obviously have value for a certain segment (i.e. Friends), but that segment is too small to be considered. The horizontal axis divides timeless content from content that is time-bound like news or current events. Below you will find a description of the 4 possible cases:
Content is valuable and timeless: The first case refers to content that is valuable to the reader and does not depend on time. Blogs in this category usually give advice, share tutorials or explain how things in a certain field work. Alternative they can also provide entertainment or create a community around the topic. Examples include Copyblogger, Creating Passionate Users and Guy Kawasaki.
Content is valuable but time-bound: Blogs in this category will provide useful information for the readers, but such information is useful only for a certain amount of time. Those blogs usually publish several posts daily and the topics range from general news to technology, politics and celebrity gossip. Examples include TechCrunch, PerezHilton and DailyKos.
Content does not have value and is timeless: The third case refers to blogs that publish personal ramblings, poetry, narratives and the like. As mentioned before, this content will certainly have a value for some people, but those segments are too small to generate enough traffic. Bear in mind that some bloggers achieved tremendous success sharing personal experiences (i.e. Steve Pavlina), but the focus of their content is always on how those personal stories can help the reader and not on the stories per se (meaning that the personal experiences actually have value for many people).
Content does not have value and is time-bound: The last case involves the classic online diary where someone will share his daily activities. Famous people and celebrities could probably make a successful blog using such a model, but this is not the case for the average blogger.
In conclusion, if your objective is to promote your ideas, your business or make money through a blog you should be structured around the first 2 cases.
Many people, specially those considering to start a blog, wonder if blogs oriented around personal stories can be successful. The answer is yes and no, depending on your goals and on your definition of success. If your objective is simply to share your experiences and to have a virtual place where friends and family can keep updated with you, a personal blog can certainly be successful.
On the other hand, if your objective is to promote your ideas, market your business or make money with your blog then you should choose a more specific topic. Ideally you will have some expertise and passion around this topic, and it will also provide useful information for your readers.
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| Blogging Content Matrix |
Content is valuable and timeless: The first case refers to content that is valuable to the reader and does not depend on time. Blogs in this category usually give advice, share tutorials or explain how things in a certain field work. Alternative they can also provide entertainment or create a community around the topic. Examples include Copyblogger, Creating Passionate Users and Guy Kawasaki.
Content is valuable but time-bound: Blogs in this category will provide useful information for the readers, but such information is useful only for a certain amount of time. Those blogs usually publish several posts daily and the topics range from general news to technology, politics and celebrity gossip. Examples include TechCrunch, PerezHilton and DailyKos.
Content does not have value and is timeless: The third case refers to blogs that publish personal ramblings, poetry, narratives and the like. As mentioned before, this content will certainly have a value for some people, but those segments are too small to generate enough traffic. Bear in mind that some bloggers achieved tremendous success sharing personal experiences (i.e. Steve Pavlina), but the focus of their content is always on how those personal stories can help the reader and not on the stories per se (meaning that the personal experiences actually have value for many people).
Content does not have value and is time-bound: The last case involves the classic online diary where someone will share his daily activities. Famous people and celebrities could probably make a successful blog using such a model, but this is not the case for the average blogger.
In conclusion, if your objective is to promote your ideas, your business or make money through a blog you should be structured around the first 2 cases.
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