7 replies
I've just started a personal blog in which I talk about the poor state my life is currently in. I have no house, no girlfriend, no car and a low paying job with long hours. The incident in which I lost my car is when I was also diagnosed bipolar. I'm going to be completely honest and transparent from the start.

My goal is to get back on my feet and take everyone on the journey with me. I like a high risk lifestyle and find myself in some ridiculous situations. Without blowing my own trumpet I think I have quite an entertaining style of writing (you can ignore this post) and that's one of my main advantages when it comes to trying to make it not another generic blog. I've also been pretty damn prolific with writing the posts mainly due to it being therapeutic to just sit there with my own thoughts. I'm enjoying it.

In the future I would like to sell some affiliate products which have helped me on my way to getting out of the rut. Products I can give an honest appraisal on. My question to all you wise sages out there is this too broad a genre to get a loyal audience? Any advice you could give me to help along the way?

Any help will be much appreciated.
#blog #direction
  • Well what is your target audience? When you are making posts on your blog, who do you see interested in reading your blog?

    Basically, does your blog have a purpose (outside of your own personal benefit of owning the blog) and does it have a target audience?

    *It is good to see that you enjoy writing about your personal life. I would recommend you continue to do so even if this blog is not a great avenue to make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author samkadya
    Originally Posted by marc2001dj View Post

    I've just started a personal blog in which I talk about the poor state my life is currently in. I have no house, no girlfriend, no car and a low paying job with long hours. The incident in which I lost my car is when I was also diagnosed bipolar. I'm going to be completely honest and transparent from the start.

    My goal is to get back on my feet and take everyone on the journey with me. I like a high risk lifestyle and find myself in some ridiculous situations. Without blowing my own trumpet I think I have quite an entertaining style of writing (you can ignore this post) and that's one of my main advantages when it comes to trying to make it not another generic blog. I've also been pretty damn prolific with writing the posts mainly due to it being therapeutic to just sit there with my own thoughts. I'm enjoying it.

    In the future I would like to sell some affiliate products which have helped me on my way to getting out of the rut. Products I can give an honest appraisal on. My question to all you wise sages out there is this too broad a genre to get a loyal audience? Any advice you could give me to help along the way?

    Any help will be much appreciated.
    I would advise you to start a separate blog that you can use for making money. As for this blog try google adsense as google will adapt their adverts depending on other factors other than content of ur blog.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeff Schuman
      I'm not sure you will ever make any money with your blog, but it could save you money on therapy. In the end you may turn things around for yourself. Best of luck.
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      • Profile picture of the author mrhelpful
        Originally Posted by Jeff Schuman View Post

        I'm not sure you will ever make any money with your blog, but it could save you money on therapy. In the end you may turn things around for yourself. Best of luck.
        I completely agree. This is more of a therapeutic exercise. If you create another site showing those kinds of things, then sure go ahead. But the audience you build up will be looking for the next post about your situation. They won't be looking for ways to get out of it. It's too broad. People are always looking for a story. However, if I personally were in that situation and were looking for a leader, I wouldn't be looking for an empathetic blog for an answer. I would be looking for more of an authoritative blog to show me the way out. It may pay off at some point, however that may not even be in the next year.
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        I'm 19, no mom or dad.
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        • Profile picture of the author marc2001dj
          Thanks for all the replies. The way I see it is that people who follow my blog and see the gradual improvements I'm making in my life they will be more likely to believe they can make those same improvements themselves. You tend to see a lot of finished articles but rarely due you get to see the process these people undertook to get there. I've been the high flyer and I know what it takes to get there but due to some unfortunate circumstances in my life I'm forced to start it all over again. I know I'm going to get there again and I want to inspire people to feel the same.

          My target audience will be people looking to improve their lives. For example I read a high priced e-book which changed my whole perspective on the dating game. I went from just being an average Joe to hooking up with some incredible women. Women most men just dream of. I won't go into details because I don't want this to sound like I'm trying to blow my own trumpet. All it took was balls to get out and put what the e-book said into action. If more people used to product I'm sure they could have the woman of their dreams within a month. This is just one thing I believe in my heart of hearts I can help people with.

          What it boils down to for me is how can I make other peoples lives better? Money isn't THAT much of an issue. I just want to help as many people as possible so that involves establishing a loyal readership and lot's of traffic. Is that possible with the blog I'm proposing?
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  • If you get into the niche that caters to people who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, you can use your personal blog as a way to communicate with other people with the same problem. Your blog can, on and off, discuss the struggles that you may encounter. Viewers will be able to relate to you. It would be humanizing and thus you will be a more credible person to listen to. You can develop your own product or a sales funnel on a website outside of your blog and use the two to develop a following. That is, if you are comfortable with this sort of project I think it can be pretty profitable. More profitable if you are willing to kind of pioneer this idea of developing a following of people who have bipolar disorders and then actually contribute positively to them, enough to justify them giving you money. A $27/month membership can make a lot of money or a $97 guide or system that offers to aid in the resolution of what they are having problems with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Franklin
    Marc....

    If you can post about your experiences and perspectives as well provide some insight in your blog, you can actually get a good following.

    One of my favorite bloggers is James Altucher and his blog is riveting because he talks about his experiences as well as what he has learned in bouncing back from the lows in his life. People love the honesty in his posts and it shows in their commenting. He also is very good in employing many tactics outside of his blog to direct more traffic.

    Everyone has a story to tell and as long as your posts come across with your honest voice and nothing phoney, you can actually do very well. Check out his blog to get a feel for what he has done. You can really learn a lot in how to blog well just from going through his blog.

    Good Luck!
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