What bothers me about bloggers:

[Curtis2011]

Is the type of person who writes a blog titled "How to Become Successful", "How to Get Rich the Smart Way", "How to Get Massive Traffic To Your Website", "How to Sell Stuff Online", "How to Make Money Online", or anything of the sort.

The reason these annoy me is because most people who blog about making money online, have barely made a dime online.

People pretend to know about how to make money online, because they've heard stuff like what Steve and others explain about making money online.

But very few of these bloggers are actually doing what they preach, and THAT is one of the reasons their blogs fail to begin with! (along with many other reasons).

In my opinion, one should only teach something that he has already done, or become. You can't talk from the perspective of someone who's making money online, or living as a vegan, or in super fit shape, unless you ARE that person.

If you aren't, you are just adding your (worthless) opinion to the jumble that is the internet.

In my case, I could write an honest blog post titled "How to get 75 visitors per day to your website" because that is how much I averaged last month. I could also write a post titled "How to get your images to the first page of Google Images" because I have done that as well. I could even write an honest post of "How to make your website pay for its hosting, and THEN some" because my website is currently paying for itself, and then some.

It bothers me when I see bloggers trying to attract an audience by blogging about things that they have no real-life experience in. To me, it is just dishonest. One of the biggest reasons that people can relate to Steve so much is that he shares so much of himself, and you don't get the feeling that his posts are just someone else's words re-written again and again until they have no value. He creates new value by writing about his life experience, not about something he's only heard of.

[Daffy Duck]

I agree with you, Curtis. I'm sure some bloggers have "faked it" and succeeded, especially back when there was little competition, but the vast majority will not. It's like you said -- if you don't have personal experience, then you sound like everyone else.

I addressed this issue a few months go in a post called "Too Much Information!" Basically I was whining about how there are too many web sites (particularly in the PD field) talking about the same thing and almost nobody is unique, so I need to consciously ignore most of them.

[Rebecca800]

That is SO true.... Curtis keepin it real!

This is another reason for all the PD blogs and websites out there to specialize. There are VERY few people out there who I would call personal development gurus (even though Steve hates the term, that's what I'd call him ).

And yet, anyone with an interest in self help decides they should start a website on it....!! Nooo! Please stop and think about this. If it were me I'd write a list of my PD skills and try to form a new, smaller niche. One, for having less competition, and two, for actually being able to talk knowledgeably about my topic. Taking on the whole genre (especially when you dont have the kind of universal philosophy that makes you a "guru") is going to leave you with lots of gaps and people will soon see right through them.

[David Turnbull]

I'm sure I'm no saint when it comes to this, but it's definitely the reason I stayed away from the whole make money online arena. Too clogged up with clones and irrelevance.

But there can be value in coming from a somewhat ignorant perspective, as long as you are transparent about that fact. For example, many of the topics I cover are quite and because I lack life experience they may not even be proven to be sustainable. But I'm clear that "I'm just some kid writing about some stuff" so people know what they're getting.

I think it's just a case of people afraid of failure, so instead of doing what they want to do they jump onto the Guru-train and go for a ride. That way they're following an apparently proven system (a process) and when they fail they can blame it on the system rather than themselves.

[Trezker]

What bothers me is the people who blog about how to make money by blogging only make money by writing about how to make money by blogging. I get this strange feeling that you can't make money by blogging about something else.

The same thing bothers me about Steves personal development theme. His purpose in life is PD for himself and others. Of course PD is important for everyone, as a toolbox, but PD is not the highest purpose for everyone. Not everyone can live on doing PD for PD's sake, most people need to apply PD for something other than PD.

[Brutha]

I hate it when people say: I want to be a blogger but I don't know what to write about.
Then the go into a field like making money online and write a bunch of uninteresting posts.

There are however people like impaul99 who go to make a fairly successful blog on making money online after I told them that it's a bad topic, so what do I know? I don't have a successful blog (or an unsuccessful one for that matter).

In general authority also doesn't have to come from personal experience. If I remember right impaul99 went out and interviewed a bunch of people on how they made there first 100 dollars online (or something similar it has been a while ago so my memory might be fuzzy).
He also went to make some money with affiliate marketing outside his blog.

The important thing is that you have data on which you make your recommandations.
A blog on which scientific research is interesting for money making online, probably also wouldn't necessarily need a person who already made money online.

[Daffy Duck]

Yeah, impaul99 was able to do it in a unique way. He's also very persistant. These two things (among others) are what makes him successful.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

I addressed this issue a few months go in a post called "Too Much Information!" Basically I was whining about how there are too many web sites (particularly in the PD field) talking about the same thing and almost nobody is unique, so I need to consciously ignore most of them.

Which makes me ask the question, what blogs in the PD field do you consider original in their content or the way they present their content? I'd ask you to list the blogs that are just talking the talk and nothing more but the list would be so... Long...

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by Rebecca800

This is another reason for all the PD blogs and websites out there to specialize.

If it were me I'd write a list of my PD skills and try to form a new, smaller niche. One, for having less competition, and two, for actually being able to talk knowledgeably about my topic.

So true. Steve kept himself open-ended by tackling "Personal Development" as a field, but many people can't be successful like that simply because they haven't had as much life experience. Steve can cover being a vegan, polyphasic sleep, going through a divorce, and other stuff because those are all things he's experienced personally.

Originally Posted by Brutha

If I remember right impaul99 went out and interviewed a bunch of people on how they made there first 100 dollars online

I like this idea. Interviewing successful people is a great way to create value for your readers, and value (in the form of increased fame) for the successful person.

Originally Posted by Gene

Which makes me ask the question, what blogs in the PD field do you consider original in their content or the way they present their content?

The only blog I read often is Steve's. I have other sources of PD information, like some of Eben Pagan's products, Dr. Hawkins' books, - but Steve's is the only "blog". And of course, I have my own life experiences as well.

When I read most peoples' blogs, they either 1) Do not know what they are talking about from personal experience or 2) Are just giving their opinion on something, which is basically worthless 99% of the time.

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by Gene

Which makes me ask the question, what blogs in the PD field do you consider original in their content or the way they present their content?

Steve's blog is arguably the most original.

Zenhabits.net is very good, when Leo is writing. I'm not a fan of some of his guest posters. I also think he repeats some of his material some times, but that's hard to avoid in PD. Everyone does it.

I like Brian Tracy's blog, but that's mostly just because I like Brian Tracy.

Chrisguillebeau.com is a unique blog.

Ramit Sethi's Iwillteachyoutoberich.com is original.

Those are just a few off my head.

I don't want to sound like a hater. I think many people who start PD blogs have good intentions and their heart is in the right place. It's perfectly fine and often the person will motivate themselves to follow their goals because they write so much about PD. But I don't think everyone is really meant to teach PD, just like not everyone is meant to teach Calculus or landscape architecture.

I thought of starting a PD blog once. And I'm sure it would have been good. But I'm not very passionate about the idea, and I'd bet only about 10% of my posts would have been original and spectacular, because I'm not passionate about writing PD material. It's gotta be something that gives you an inner fire. For me, I like creating software that does useful things. It's very fun and interesting to me, I'm amazed by what computers can do, and that's what I enjoy teaching others about.

[allen080105]

Yeah, as far as personal development, I think it's that most people just haven't put in the work that Steve has. Until he sent out newsletter #12, I didn't realize how long he'd actually been working on his personal growth (15 years before he started this site).

What happened to me was I got stuck for content. I tried to write from personal experience and about things I absolutely knew but got stuck because I only knew so much, so what was next? Getting some experience now and sharing results. If you haven't been in the field that long then your writing will probably be general or you might feel scared to say stuff that's against the norm so people won't remember it and it won't provide that much value.

[AGBourne]

Good stuff from everyone.

I would say, people need:

• Niche themselves

• Blog about what they love and know as well as trying to master

• Think of the visitor and the reader first and foremost. Think from their point of view and what would they need and what do they want

Another thing I would add, is a lot of blogs out there provide nothing but fluff and opinions. As Curtis mentioned about opinions. And not enough actual steps of how to do something.

"Just do it" and "Take action" phrases are worthless and without actually providing the steps or making someone think with a different perspective.


PS. You don't need to succeed,achieve your destination and then go back and talk about it. You can blog as you are succeeding and paving your way and what you are learning or have learned.

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by AGBourne

You can blog as you are succeeding and paving your way and what you are learning or have learned.

I see that as one of Steve's strengths: he writes while he's still in the trenches figuring everything out. He also has enough drive to actually carry a goal to a worthwhile conclusion, rather than hitting a rough patch and giving up within a few days like so many PD blogs that never get more than a few posts before dying off.

[Jack Christopher]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

In my opinion, one should only teach something that he has already done, or become. You can't talk from the perspective of someone who's making money online, or living as a vegan, or in super fit shape, unless you ARE that person.

If you aren't, you are just adding your (worthless) opinion to the jumble that is the internet.

In my case, I could write an honest blog post titled "How to get 75 visitors per day to your website" because that is how much I averaged last month. I could also write a post titled "How to get your images to the first page of Google Images" because I have done that as well. I could even write an honest post of "How to make your website pay for its hosting, and THEN some" because my website is currently paying for itself, and then some.

It bothers me when I see bloggers trying to attract an audience by blogging about things that they have no real-life experience in. To me, it is just dishonest. One of the biggest reasons that people can relate to Steve so much is that he shares so much of himself, and you don't get the feeling that his posts are just someone else's words re-written again and again until they have no value. He creates new value by writing about his life experience, not about something he's only heard of.

I hear what your saying.

But you don't necessarily need experience. Ford got the idea of the assembly line from meatpacking. The meatpackers "had no experience" in cars, but their insights helped Ford revolutionize manufacturing.

[Marko500]

@Curtis2011

I agree with you, there are many people who do not write their own blogs from the experience.

However, usually the audience sees thru these bloggers and such person does not make a success. Then they either give up or understand.

Even worse are people who just steal other people's articles, it is bad, and stupid, but there are many such people .

[Thomas H]

Curtis I agree with you 100%

Even then I still catch myself doing it sometimes. I'll write up a post and be about to post it and then ask myself "what do I really know about this?"

It's stupid to do that because if you're not writing from from a place of personal experience you're just recycling stuff other people have said. When you do that the words don't have the same meaning even if it's the same advice.

If Steve Pavlina makes a post on how to get 1 million visitors to your website it's congruent and people will appreciate what he's saying because it's true. If I copy and pasted the text directly from his article and copied it on my site it would be worthless because I have no authority.

I'm new to blogging so I do my best not to do this. Thanks for the reminder.

[James81]

There are certain subjects I am confident in talking about, because I've experienced quite a bit in my life.

On other subjects, I try to make it clear through my writing that I am currently trying to work through the issue myself and am just making the post to show insights into the process of working through an issue.

My current blog post is one like that. An area where I have mixed experience, and thus the tone is a mixed tone.

I'm more comfortable saying "You should do this and this and this" if I have experience to back it up. If I don't have much experience, I tend to use "I" statements and just project my thoughts about a subject.

[brendannz]

[QUOTE=Daffy Duck;440755]

Steve's blog is arguably the most original.

Steve's is very good, but sometimes he gets a bit extreme, calling meat-eaters nazi's, 10 reasons you should never get a job etc.

But I think his thing is, that he's not a preacher and doesn't want to run anyones life, which is why he targets his site at smart people.

I like Brian Tracy's blog, but that's mostly just because I like Brian Tracy.

I quite like how Brian Tracy's quite practical and to the point, and not so fluffy and short term emotional high.. like "I HAAAVE THE POWER" type talk.

Chrisguillebeau.com is a unique blog.

Ramit Sethi's Iwillteachyoutoberich.com is original.

Those are just a few off my head.

I'll check out these..

It's gotta be something that gives you an inner fire. For me, I like creating software that does useful things. It's very fun and interesting to me, I'm amazed by what computers can do, and that's what I enjoy teaching others about.

I'm thinking of starting an art / music / film / tied in with spirituality blog, I'm not exactly sure if I could get an audience though. I'm already working on some other stuff at the moment though. But if I'm doing quite a lot online it would be good to have many areas feeding each other.

[Manomanman]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

The reason these annoy me is because most people who blog about making money online, have barely made a dime online.

As I get into Internet Marketing, I can sympathize with your view. In fact, i was bitching about the exact same thing to a friend yesterday.

But it is ultimately dis-empowering to focus on it. As long as the person isn't making outlandish promises, everything seems fine to me. In my experience, there are plenty of legitimate "how to make money online" people, (i.e. gurudaq.com), and they have rapidly separated themselves from the pile of garbage.

[Ekb]

From the recent stevo posts, writing about stuff you may know absolutely nothing about my in fact be very good - for the person writing them. Putting themselves into a different mindframe that allows them continue to evolve themselves. Also - flooding the market is the perfect habitat for quantum leaps - PD sites are likely to also evolve and become way more exciting as time eventuates... tick tock.

[AlwaysLearning]

I'm gonna have to disagree. If no value is provided, then the blog will slip into obscurity and the problem will solve itself. But meanwhile, the writer him-or-herself is benefiting just from writing.

When I first started my blog, the value it provided was close to absolute zero. Now I'm nearing 1k visitors a day, well past $1/day, and I've heard from people whose lives were radically changed by my writing.

The overarching theme in this thread could be summarized: "Only experts should be allowed to write." Problem is, writing is itself part of becoming an expert (hence, e.g., the doctoral dissertation in academia). Personally, I find a lot of "experts" to be jokes: political pundits with millions of viewers who are wrong time and again, old scientists whose deaths are eagerly anticipated by young scientists; governors of Alaska Experts are who you go to if you want guaranteed mediocrity. Amateurs, on the other hand, are a mountain of dirt, but within that mountain there are gems and diamonds waiting to emerge.

[Curtis2011]

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

I'm gonna have to disagree. If no value is provided, then the blog will slip into obscurity and the problem will solve itself. But meanwhile, the writer him-or-herself is benefiting just from writing.

Wrong. By writing more you increase your ranking on the search engines, thus getting new visitors almost by default. Even if your content is worthless, having a buttload of it and having it SEO'd can result in thousands of people clicking on your website, only to find trash.

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

When I first started my blog, the value it provided was close to absolute zero. Now I'm nearing 1k visitors a day, well past $1/day, and I've heard from people whose lives were radically changed by my writing.

At 1k per day I HOPE you're well past $1/day. But it's great that people's lives were changed.

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

The overarching theme in this thread could be summarized: "Only experts should be allowed to write." Problem is, writing is itself part of becoming an expert (hence, e.g., the doctoral dissertation in academia).

I don't give a crap about having a pHD or having someone call you an expert. What I am talking about is that if you have 0 experience in an area, and just read a book about it, then the only value you can provide is that book's value + your opinion. You really have nothing unique to offer that you have learned through experience, besides putting someone else's material in your own style of writing.

It is similar to judgment-filled hateful people saying "love thy neighbor", or poor people complaining that "all rich people are rich because they take advantage of others". If you haven't experienced it yourself, then you truly have no idea except what you've heard from others (and the people you hear it from often have no idea either).

[AlwaysLearning]

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

What I am talking about is that if you have 0 experience in an area, and just read a book about it, then the only value you can provide is that book's value + your opinion. You really have nothing unique to offer that you have learned through experience, besides putting someone else's material in your own style of writing.

You have some good points and I find myself leaning a little more your way after reading you. I do think that everyone has valuable experience, though. Take myself, for instance. One of my experiences is, I was in the US Air Force for 2 years. Now, the AF has ~400k people in it at any given time, so this is hardly unique, but it turns out very few people have blogged about their experiences there, so I was able to provide a LOT of value by doing exactly that, even though it's hardly unusual or out of the ordinary.

I'm convinced that virtually everyone has something they could write about. Heck, if someone didn't have something worth writing about, that would
be so unusual and rare, that it would be worth writing about! (It's like the old math paradox, "Let n be the smallest number which has no unusual properties")

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

By writing more you increase your ranking on the search engines, thus getting new visitors almost by default. Even if your content is worthless, having a buttload of it and having it SEO'd can result in thousands of people clicking on your website, only to find trash.

Usually if there's trash near the top of a Google search, it's either because the search was incredibly obscure and longtail, or because someone deliberately used blackhat methods to get it there, and in the latter case, it's probably not going to stay there in the long run.

Noone's going to get in the first 5 results for, say, "raw food diet" by posting a crappy article about raw food diet and 500 crappy articles about other stuff. I have in my possession a collection of ~70000 articles someone posted as one giant zipfile at one of the webmaster forums, but I can't just throw that onto wordpress and become an overnight millionaire. I'd be lucky if it would even get indexed. Google does do manual quality checks of websites.

If someone manages to get decent sized traffic by dominating obscure longtail keywords, then (by the low-traffic nature of those keywords) they must have dominated quite a lot of them, and that itself is value, just by sheer quantity and filling a void which was otherwise empty. That is, if some trash is at first place in Google, then probably the only things it's pushing down are also trash, or unrelated at all. I mean, say I have a really obscure problem like "how to empty the golist on a SanDisk mp3 player if my computer is SuSE linux", I'll be extremely grateful if anyone wrote anything on that exact topic, whether it's perfect prose or barely legible English!

[danthony]

As a blogger myself, I write only what i really have experience with as in already experienced myself. There is so many copycats and fluff on the internet that is absolutely mind blogging. Good point and post.

Originally Posted by Curtis2011

Is the type of person who writes a blog titled "How to Become Successful", "How to Get Rich the Smart Way", "How to Get Massive Traffic To Your Website", "How to Sell Stuff Online", "How to Make Money Online", or anything of the sort.

The reason these annoy me is because most people who blog about making money online, have barely made a dime online.

People pretend to know about how to make money online, because they've heard stuff like what Steve and others explain about making money online.

But very few of these bloggers are actually doing what they preach, and THAT is one of the reasons their blogs fail to begin with! (along with many other reasons).

In my opinion, one should only teach something that he has already done, or become. You can't talk from the perspective of someone who's making money online, or living as a vegan, or in super fit shape, unless you ARE that person.

If you aren't, you are just adding your (worthless) opinion to the jumble that is the internet.

In my case, I could write an honest blog post titled "How to get 75 visitors per day to your website" because that is how much I averaged last month. I could also write a post titled "How to get your images to the first page of Google Images" because I have done that as well. I could even write an honest post of "How to make your website pay for its hosting, and THEN some" because my website is currently paying for itself, and then some.

It bothers me when I see bloggers trying to attract an audience by blogging about things that they have no real-life experience in. To me, it is just dishonest. One of the biggest reasons that people can relate to Steve so much is that he shares so much of himself, and you don't get the feeling that his posts are just someone else's words re-written again and again until they have no value. He creates new value by writing about his life experience, not about something he's only heard of.