Tips on Blogging as a Business

Q: Hi. I would like to create a new blog - but I have some quick questions, beforehand.1) Would it be sufficient to post on a weekly basis?2) Would it be necessary to purchase a .com domain?3) What is a good name for a blog covering only the most interesting side of baseball - business? (A .Com name should be available)Keep in mind, please, that I am looking to generate a ton of exposure and popularity through this blog. Thank you,Name Game

Asked by namegame

A: Hi Name Game, thanks for the question. I'm no authority on the subject - I blog on a small set of niche topics for personal reasons and don't ever expect to acquirea big audience - but I'll give you my two cents for what it's worth:

• If you're blogging in hopes of making money, don't. Very, very few bloggers make anything approximating a living wage doing so, and the window for developing a new "must-read" blog on a mainstream topic is all but closed.
• If you aren't doing it for the money but still want to acquire a big audience, weekly posts aren't going to cut it. Pick a narrow field - the business of baseball isn't bad - and bring fresh, original ideas to the topic, with an emphasis on breaking news, every day.
• From an SEO perspective, I'm not sure having yor own domain makes a big difference, unless that domain corresponds to a common search term in your topic area. It might be nice to own a domain to make it easy for readers to find you, and to make the brand portable if you want to change blogging platforms (plus it's cheap), so if you find a good URL go ahead, but it's not a make-or-break.

Bottom line, SEO tactics don't make for a popular blog. Table stakes for even a moderately popular blog are: regular (i.e., daily) high-quality posts with a mix of news and original insight on topics of significant interest to your target audiience. If it's not a passion of yours, but rather something you're doing to make money, there are a million (legal) ways to make more money more easily than blogging.

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