Is niche blogging a myth? (Small isn’t the new big.)
February 19th, 2007
One of the popular thoughts is that “small is the new big.” Although many respected blogging experts say it, is it really true that small niche blogging can be wildly successful and profitable? A few quotes to think about:
- That is the great thing about niche startups; no market can ever be too small.
- …niche blogging is the way to go.
- we’re not interested in the hits, we’re interested in the best niche content.
Previously I was a strong believer of the “small is big” philosophy. However, AOL’s culling of three small niche blogs–pvrwire, divester, and bloggingohio–challenges this theory. If with the full support of the Weblogs, Inc machine these blogs cannot survive, is niche blogging a profitable model?
I recently interviewed some of the bloggers displaced by the closing of these niche blogs – Tobias Buckell, Willy Volk, and Eric Brodeur. The writers feel that the Weblogs, Inc network system is conducive to the production of good content. They are happy to continue to work under the Weblogs, Inc system. These talented authors do not feel that the blog network system handicapped them. Why then did they fail?
I recently discussed this with Jason Calacanis who is closely tied to the AOL/Weblogs, Inc organization. I had assumed that Weblogs, Inc believed that niche content was part of its foundation. For example, it is listed in DMOZ as “creating trade weblogs across niche industries in which user participation is an essential component of the resulting product.” However, Jason disputes this:
Actually, it was not *built* off of small blogs at all. Our growth was based mainly on our big hits like Engadget, Autoblog, TVSquad, and Joystiq. The smaller blogs didn’t play much of a role in growing the company.
If you think Calacanis thinks the niche blogs can be profitable, think again. Although he has publicly stated he would like to buy these blogs, it is not for the money:
Frankly, I wouldn’t try to make them profitable. I would run them at breakeven for the fun of it.
People frequently use the AOL/Weblog Inc purchase figures to estimate the value of blogs based on one criteria or another. Calacanis suggests that it is the system, not the content that makes Weblogs, Inc so valuable:
When AOL bought Weblogs, Inc. they didn’t buy the blogs. They bought the management team and the system for running blogs. The systems, software, and best practices Weblogs, Inc. created are used today at AOL’s other blogs like TMZ. The brands were icing on the cake for AOL to a certain extent. When you buy a small company like Weblogs, Inc. you’re basically buying the people, thats’ why it’s so important to support those people once you get them inhouse.
(You can read the entire Calacanis interview in my previous blog post.)
Being a part of the highly successful tech-recipes blogging cooperative, I am frequently asked if a particular topic is a good foundation around which to build a profitable blog. I believe the popular ”find a niche and fill it” may be too simple of an answer. Although optimistic, this theory is leading many young bloggers down the wrong direction.
A niche can be too small to generate adequate content, enthusiasm, and traffic. The advertising value of a topic can be so small that monetization of the blog is not possible.
Diving, the state of Ohio, and personal video recording–these niches were filled. They were filled by high quality authors producing high quality content. However, even with the help of a very successful network supporting them, the blogs did not succeed.
Small still appears small, indeed.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I never understood the idea of niche blogging. So you and 4 other little old ladies really care about your mexican china. Woopie. You may fill that niche, but unless mexican china is worth a zillion dollars a click, who gives a rip!?
When I think of successful sites, I think of sites like boingboing. It is certainly not narrow.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Even the successful “niche” bloggers like Darren Rowse (Problogger) are successful because they’ve started a dozen blogs at once. That’s really the secret to it… A single “niche” blog can’t pay the bills, but a dozen of them can.
Of course, we aren’t all supermen like Darren is. I can’t imagine finding the time to update a dozen blogs.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
[…] Blogger Davak is posting a series of interviews with Weblogs Inc. people, including Jason Calacanis, about niche blogging. It includes an interview with me about working on BloggingOhio before it shut down, as well as my continuing work in blogging and writing. How is writing for a blog different than creating the depth of a novel? If you were forced to choose one, which would you rather do and why? […]
February 19th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Problogging is a successful niche site only because…
1. There a ton of people wanting to be pro bloggers
2. There a ton of people wanting to market to these people wanting to be pro bloggers
High traffic, high money niche market. That’s really not the small-is-the-new-big philosophy.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
as blogger and a part of the tech rx team, my belief is to focus on what your interested in while at the same time think about what is going on in the world.
timing is key, being first is even better. i prefer not to limit myself by being too narrow in my scope of posts since my loves/addictions spread across the vast techie/gadget spectrum.
i guess i’m not sure if my blog is niche or not. hmm.. geeky, yes.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
While all niche blogs may not be big hits (there are, what, >>50 million blogs?), non-niche blogs definitely have it worse. Can anyone name a non-niche blog that’s a big hit? In one way or another, all successful blogs that I can think of are focused in some way on some topic. And yes, the successful ones are those with a large enough pool of interested folks to reach a critical mass.
I’ve always thought the coolest thing about the internet is that it dissolves the effect of geography. In a rural area, it may be that no one within 100 miles shares your niche interest. And it may be that only 100 people on the planet share your niche interest, but the internet makes it possible to meet and interact with them.
Can small be big? I definitely think so.
February 19th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
The problem is that it is impossible to try to define something as non-niche.
Maybe these two…
http://www.boingboing.net/
http://www.kbcafe.com/iBLOGthere4iM/
The reason the definition is so hard is that every site has at least a theme. Even if that theme is just the interests of the author who has created it. Therefore, even if it is not about *something*, people will say is is about *somebody*– examples…
Scoble or Seth Godin.
A quick scan of popular blogs shows a bunch of really general sites. Sure they have general topics, but they are not very narrow at all.
For example, there are many general tech and gadget blogs listed on the top blog list; however, the highly focused PVRwire blog couldn’t even stay profitable enough to stay alive.
Almost by definition, everything created fits into some niche. Blog authors should not fall into the “smaller is better” trap and focus away any chances of success.
February 19th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Ultimately it may come down to how a successful blog gets traffic. I think highly successful blogs get their traffic from repeat visitors (feed or email-update driven traffic) since organic traffic takes time to establish and many hot blogs get a hundred comments in the first day of a post.
So ignoring nicheness, a blog succeeds in the way that a TV show or magazine does. Butts in the seats every episode/edition. I think that a haphazard, eclectic array of posts is far less likely to hit a resonant frequency of as many readers as a coherent blog. There are many feeds I subscribe to because of a single post, but I have a low tolerance for low yield feeds, so those don’t last long.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:05 am
[…] An article like this is a great eye-opener for a beginner blogger–especially those that believe that niche blogging is easy. Posted by davak Filed in blogs […]
May 7th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
[…] http://blogs.tech-recipes.com/davak/2007/02/19/is-niche-blogging-a-myth-small-isnt-the-new-big/ […]
October 26th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
[…] David Kirk of See One, Do One, Teach One asks Is niche blogging a myth? (Small isn’t the new big.) and looks at a big local industry in North Carolina Dying from Pork. […]
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:31 pm
“Of course, we aren’t all supermen like Darren is. I can’t imagine finding the time to update a dozen blogs.” -Johnny
Of course, he cannot do that all on his own - he probably hires offshore employees to do them all. I know a company with clients like him