Over the years, this last year more particularly, I’ve noticed this trend in others as well.  I think sometimes we get so excited when thinking about the “dream” of working from home and/or being rich.  We get so focused on trying to accomplish that dream that we start cranking out ideas.  The more ideas you think of the more your thoughts expand and, then again, the more ideas you get.  This can be bad though.

I’ve seen many people in this last year trying so hard to find the right blog niche for them to blog about, the right topic to make a site about, etc. After spreading their efforts so thin all they are left with is 40 different websites, all of which are doing nothing.

If you want to avoid Entrepreneur A.D.D. I would suggest picking one idea and sticking to that one idea.  Find that best paying blog topic that fits you.  Blog about it for a few weeks and see if you like it.  If you don’t, there’s nothing wrong with minimizing your losses and moving onto another topic.  If you move on though make sure you actually move on.  Sell your old domain, or just get rid of it.  If you hang onto it you’ll come back to it after your next effort too.  It’s like when you break up with someone you immediately want to get in touch with the person you were with before them.  It’s a comfort thing.

Content is important.  What is equally important is how you display that content to your viewers.  Are you going to blog about something?  Would your site grow faster if you started it with a message board/forum?

Also, how much time do you want to put into maintaining the site?  With a blog you have to update it fairly regularly to keep your readers loyalty.  Forums are nice because, once they’re built up, you don’t have to do anything.  Your community members contribute new content daily.  The tricky part to that is it takes some time to build up a forum.  If you can go through the trenches for the first year or two, it’ll be smooth sailing after that.  Traditional websites are kind of a little of both of the above.  You don’t have to contribute as regularly as a blog or forum, but you can’t let it sit forever.  You will want to add some new content every once in a while just to keep the site “fresh”.  With a static site you should take your time and do it right.  If your site has really great, informative content then you can let that content cycle for months before having to do any updates.

Picture gallery sites are also popular.  They are easy to maintain and can bring lots of visitors.  However, people come to view pictures, not content.  So, there’s your con with photo galleries.  You can have thousands and thousands of views as people click “Next” hundreds of times to go from one photo to the next and you still haven’t earned a penny, because no one is clicking on your adspace.

Below is an example of a reader that sent us a screenshot of their high-volume gallery views, but low adsense return.

Gallery Adsense

To some, the ease of running a gallery for a couple dollars here and there is more realistic than having a lot of time to spend to try and generate more money with a content site.  When it comes to making money online, would you rather make 45 minute updates every week, or dedicate one full day to writing some great content and then not having to worry about it for quite some time?  The best decision depends on your circumstances.

1. For an online journal
2. To make PPC income
3. To make some affiliate marketing income
4. To spread the word of a cause
5. Just because

The person in particular that had contacted me last wanted some passive income.  They had heard me speak of bloggers making $60K – $160K+ a year and they wanted a piece.  They had thought about it for a while and thought they had a blog topic

Here’s where we immediately get into the pros and cons of a domain… and, more importantly, blogging on a domain.  Yes, it’s a good idea to blog about something you are passionate about.  However… are you really going to love that one topic for more than a year or two?  Probably not.  There lies the problem.  You start this awesome blog.  You get tons of readers.  Then, one day, you wake up and you are exhausted on that topic

I was recently asked if it would be a good idea to blog about Scion xB’s.  xB owners are very enthusiastic about their cars.  The domain this person was thinking about was IlovemyxB.com.  It’s catchy and could be a great domain, but for a forum… not a blog.

Things to consider when starting a blog site.

1. Pick something you enjoy.  Otherwise, you will get sick of it and lose interest in blogging.
2. Pick something others will enjoy.  The idea is to build readership.  If you’re blogging about loving green shoelaces, chances are your blog isn’t going to take off, because not everyone loves green shoelaces as much as you do.
3. Pick something that doesn’t have a definitive ending.  At some point xB’s will stop being made, or you may sell your own, or you just may stop liking it because it breaks down all the time.  Who knows…?  If xB’s stop being made… what good is a blog about xB’s?

My point is…  blog about something you love.  This goes deeper than that too.  If you are starting a blog to make some sort of income, no matter how big, you need to blog about something that will last.  Blog about something universal.  Something that will last.  You do not want to start a blog about something that will make you a bunch of money for 6 months and then no one cares about that topic, or you don’t care about it yourself.

If you are going to blog for dollars, blog about something you can always blog about.  Make it something that won’t die.  Let’s make this a gravy train.  Fishing will never die… blog about fishing.  Entrepreneurs will never die.  Write about ways to make money doing things you love.

The bottom line is to blog about something you can’t stop blogging about.  Otherwise, what is the point?