Part II of II: How pro blogging led me to insomnia

When I started out, I had no idea where blogging could take me. All I knew is that people were making money blogging and I so desperately wanted out of the corpse-rate 8am-8pm rat race.

So, 2-1/2 years ago, I got online, and started focusing on creating good content. I started going on forums and other blogs. I signed up for practically every social engine/site/news/media/WTF there was on the planet. I've been following the advice of what the gurus said to-do, and I've been at it a long time, and the work/reward is not where I'd like it to be. Granted, I'm very grateful for what I have, but I'm frustrated and it makes me sleepless.

Bottom line: A blogger needs traffic to make money. Right now, the bulk of my revenue comes from consulting gigs I do on the side which are fantastic, but long term, I do not want to be a social media consultant. I want to be a Publisher. Besides the BlogHer ads, all the other banners ads you see are affiliate banners, and not traditional paid ads. I do this mainly because I want BISJ to "look" like a higher quality blog. I don't want punching monkeys or flashing t-shirt ads. The affiliate stuff though is going to change because I need the work/revenue ratio to be better.

Here's one of the roadblocks I discovered. All the advice from the techies and biz folks is great stuff, however, they do not factor in the fact that the Internet does have a dissemination between male oriented topics and female oriented topics, and it is not gender equal in terms of leverage from the typical social media sites. It is a reality, and you need to know this in order to better market and promote your Lifestyle blog.

For example, Digg is supposed to be a way to put news "the people" care about onto the front page. In  newspapers, the editors decide front page news, on Digg "the people" decide. Well, "the people" on Digg are primarily a male geek audience so what do you think primarily gets dugg to the top? I can tell you it is not female oriented topics like parenting, fashion, or love.

This theme is consistent with the majority of the big social sites where bloggers have the potential to gain traffic. I've spent hours and years doing research on this subject which sometimes keeps me up til 3am. Yes, it's a bit much, but this is the marketer in me. Let me illustrate the online landscape for Lifestyle bloggers a bit more if you do not blog a Big 4 topic...

In general in the US, the typical social mediums right now are geared more to drive large traffic to blogs that are focused on the Big 4 topics (which I call) which are: technology, business, politics, and celeb gossip. These topics dominate US blogging. If I were in Asia or Europe, my blog would probably get more traffic because Lifestyle blogs are far more popular overseas than they are here in the US (today.) I emphasize "today" because I know this will change in time, but it is not the case today. Some basis for my theory:

• In the Technorati 100, over 90% of the blogs cover a subject in the Big 4.

• In the A-List of blogging (meaning names you see commonly around the Internet and in the media), how easily can you name a blogger besides Dooce, who does not cover a Big 4 topic? Again, someone who is A-list and does not blog about tech, business, politics, or celeb gossip?
  

• If you belong to Blogburst, notice that the majority of blogs in their top 100 list are either sports or politics.There are some fashion and food blogs which is great but there was a better mix of Lifestyle blogs when iVillage was a customer. This is important because you won't make any money from Blogburst unless you are in the top 100 list, yet Blogburst still makes good money off of your content no matter what, and the level of traffic you get is minimal or spotty comparitively because they make you do full posts for your RSS feed. There is no incentive for a general reader to go to your blog unless you are creative in link baiting them somehow.

• Outside of the Big 4, the topics in the Lifestyle categories that get the bigger coverage are food, fashion, sports, parenting, cars, and travel. Ironically, health is not a biggie. Diet Blog has done a great job as an independent, and FitSugar is doing real well but it is also part of the bigger Sugar Publishing network. Can someone name a health oriented blog (independent of a bigger network) that gets over a million page views a month?
  

• In the media, female topic blogs or bloggers do not get even close the exposure that male topic blogs or bloggers get. Some of you can blast me for saying this out loud, but I'm happy to be proven wrong with proof. Who are the Arringtons, Calacanis', and Scoble's of health and wellness or even of women's topics? I see Dooce quoted or referred to everywhere, and she's great but there are loads of other women bloggers. Perhaps, I'm just buried under a rock and the insomnia is getting to me.

I'm not boo-hooing my situation, I'm just pointing out some realities of the market in which I play in today, and what I have been dealing with which has contributed to my sleep issues. It's one of the perils when you are ahead of your time. This is not to say that I or anyone else can't be creative and figure out a loophole or another way to break through. For example, fellow fit blogger Israel Lagares created Health Ranker which is a Digg-like site all about health topics because he got frustrated that there wasn't enough social focus for the health niche. Sweet! If anything, this frustrating situation is bringing out the creative problem solver in me.

...I'm just pointing out some realities of the market in which I play in today ...

This is one of the reasons I am so excited about Yahoo's Shine, because Yahoo is enabling the "small gals" like me and millions others to leverage some of that ginormous Yahoo traffic where we could never get from places like Digg or StumbledUpon. If iVillage, the #1 most trafficked women's site in the US, added a blog capability like Shine and Team Sugar allows, and started featuring stories from users, then that would be another HUGE source for traffic for us small gal bloggers who want to make a living through blogging like the Big 4 topic folks. Divine Caroline is starting to take a more aggressive move to partnering with female bloggers, and that is exciting too because we can grow as they grow, and as always BlogHer is a place that all female bloggers must be a part of.

During my break, one big happy thing I learned is that I LOVE being a content creator. I love writing, photography, graphic design, video, and community. I love the people I have met online, and I love that I am creating content that is uplifting to others and myself. None of these things will I stop doing, but how I do it will most likely change because this girl needs her beauty rest.

If you work online, and have been having insomnia or bad sleep, I HIGHLY recommend going off grid for awhile to rest and re-examine. It's been a blessing for me!