What Am I An Expert In?
Lately, I’ve been considering either going niche with this blog or starting a second blog with a niche. Why? I hear the AdSense does well on niche blogs. And also, because I’d like to feel like maybe somebody thinks I’m an authority on something.
Except that I can’t think of anything I know everything about…
I used to be a big NFL fan. But the kids pretty much destroyed that. I used to be a comic book reader, but the kids and money destroyed that. I’m kind of a trivia genius, but who wants to read a trivia blog? I used to know everything about music and bands, but alas, well, you know.
So where does that leave me for a niche? I know a lot about computers. And I’ve even mentioned a computer tips blog. But I don’t know that I want to do that. I don’t have a passion for it. I just know a lot about computers. So, what is my passion?
I have no idea…maybe writing. I have dozens of stories in my head with intricate characters and plot lines and the whole thing. But sitting down right seems so hard.
Hmmm…
Possibly related posts:
February 28th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Besides….how ’safe’ is it to put your real writing out there for just anyone to come along and snatch??
I know, you are an expert in dry humor and falling asleep sitting up at the computer, no?
February 28th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Hehehehe…you said ’snatch’…hehehehe…
February 29th, 2008 at 2:38 am
Vote Lucy van Pelt for Queen!
March 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
I thought you could copyright anything you publish to the web? Although, it does make it easy for idiots to copy/paste and plagiarize. I think there are a lot of fan sites for short stories and such out there - it’s a great idea
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:27 am
You are correct, Wendy. Copyright is automatic even without the (c). In fact, at my site, I’ve actually made my content Creative Commons which allows a little more freedom to people to use my content as long as they follow some basic guidelines.
March 5th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Patrick, here’s my two cents on AdSense, Niche Blogging and Splogs. First I should explain that aside from TheBearsGarage, my real blog experience has been with Automotive blogging at MyFordDreams and associated blogs (the orignal blog sprouted failed offspring on Alternative Energy and other) http://myforddreams.blogspot.com and http://myforddreams2.blogspot.com
I have Adsense and Creative Commons on all of my blogs.
Adsense does not pay much. In the first year I earned all of $102 and since then, not a dime.
Niche blogging in my opinion has to be something you do because you feel pasionate about the subject, as I do about the Auto Industry and Ford Motor Company in particular. If you pick the wrong niche you won’t get the traffic and no traffic means no income.
If you haven’t encountered Splogs I’ll give you a brief rundown. Splogs are blogs that harvest content on a given subject, usually via RSS feeds and then repost that content on their blogs in order to generate ad revenue. Some harvest and repost only portions of the original post and sometimes link to the original content. But I have encountered several Splogs that harvest and repost full content, including original photos, with no link or reference to the original source.
Copyright “attaches” theoretically as soon as you hit “Enter” on your keyboard, regardless of the “C” that’s true. But as any blogger should be aware “Fair Use” does come in to play. A careful splogger can argue that they were just critiquing your original content or some other BS excuse.
I had huge problems with several Splogs, one bastard actually threatened to sue me for inflamatory posts I made about him. I was not impressed with his threats. I even went as far as complaining to Google about his violating AdSense terms. Do you know what Google had to say? So do I, they wouldn’t do a damn thing.
So, while I wish you luck, it’s important to remember the pitfalls of blogging, especially for profit.
that’s my two cents
Joe
The Bear
aka
BigFordFan of MyFordDreams etc….
March 5th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I found an old post I did on Splogs that I felt would give you a better snapshot of the situation.
In this post I link to older posts on the situation and explain his threats
http://myforddreams.blogspot.com/2006/02/splogger-takes-issue-with-me.html
Just to follow up
Joe
The Bear
BigFordFan