Increase Your RSS Subscribers By Trimming The Fat – Focus, Focus, Focus!
Author: Jim | Filed under: Blogging 101, Observations
In my experience as a blogger, one thing that I have learned the hard way is how to blog effectively. There are days when I’m sure you’d love to write about how you shot one under par, or why your new job is a drag… but you need to take things from the readers point of view in order to boost your numbers.
It is my firm belief that one of the best ways to retain blog readers, encourage commenting… and ultimately increase your traffic is to simply stick to your niche, your focus area. Sure, there are a few blogs about nothing… but it’s tough to get any interest if your readers are interested in internet marketing and you get side-tracked into talking about web design.
Jimvesting Dot Com Trims the Fat
Over the past few months, I have taken a blog that had WAY too many “focus areas” for its own good, to a fine-tuned machine capable of unspeakable destruction producing great growth numbers. The following is a little about my history. Jimvesting.com was originally started up with three focuses: stock market, sportsbooks and get paid to programs. You’ll notice that nowhere on that list is the more obvious “make money online” niche. I started out making myself way too many promises. I was going to update sports spreads and my personal wagers every week, post multiple stock pitches and review GPT programs. What was I 
thinking? I suffered through 4-5 months with less than 25 subscribers because I didn’t understand how to trim the fat and focus on what I really wanted to say. 
“Make money online” was ultimately a combination of my interests, as all three topics were essentially ploys to try and make revenue on the internet. It wasn’t until I rejuvenated my blog into a focused website that I really saw growth develop. This brings me to the most important rule of blogging:
Rule #1: Start Small, and Gradually Increase Your Niche Focus Area
There’s no doubt in my mind that every successful blogger has started small and gradually expanded their focus outward as subscriber numbers grow. There is really no other way to do it, because without a following you can not… and should not… attempt to diversity your portfolio. Nobody is going to be able to follow along, and you are throwing away otherwise interested subscribers that will boost your rankings and exposure. Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity! 
Taking a Break v. Taking a Break
There are two different types of break-taking activity that I would like to talk about here. I feel that it’s nearly impossible to keep putting out techniques, tutorials and the like day after day. With this in mind, lots of bloggers, myself included, like to fill dead time with some personal time with readers… anywhere from looking at payment proof to talking about a new website you think is interesting in your niche. However, 
many bloggers confuse this type of relaxation with taking a break from their focus areas, and put out posts that, quite frankly, are a complete waste of time.
Jimvesting Calls You Out!
A few examples of this that caught my eye: Garry Conn, an internet marketing blogger, wrote about… rotator cuff excercises? The Germz, a make money online blogger, wrote about… T.I. music lyrics? This happens all the time. While I can give these guys the pass because they are obviously doing it just to try to place higher on Google for random search results, I still feel that articles like this are a waste of time. Why? Well you aren’t trying to sell your product to a hip-hop dance crew (or a rotator-cuff injury ward?), so you are probably putting out useless content.
Don’t get me wrong, traffic is great… but we want the traffic flowing to our blog to be real, not from something completely unrelated that will soon dwindle. For me, I want to cater to the subscribers that I already have and expand my reach gradually. If you get so large that you have nothing else to write about but your cousins new truck, be my guest. Until that point, you are much better off focusing on your target area, trimming the fat, and increasing your rss subscriber numbers the right way… with superior, and relevant, content. 
-Jimvesting
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Jim,
Good post here. I have seen my numbers climbing since I have concentrated more on the things that affect everyone learning the Blogging business.
I try to draw word pictures of all the mundane tasks involved in learning how to Link Money and Blogging.
You get a Stumble up and a Digg for this one.
Rich Hill
You mention 4-5 months of less than 25 subscribers, you have really come a long way. It proves that your method is right, by focusing on a niche rather than be a scatter shot, we can achieve fantastic results.
jeflins last blog post..Inflating Earnings By Capitalizing Expenses
Wow, Jim your posts are getting more interesting as time passes.
Thanks for the great read!
Lucass last blog post..Fantastic Ways to Increase Affiliate Sign-ups
This post is awesome….incredible
Speaks EXACTLY to where I am at
So thankyou. I literally wrote a post about how I was fed up of having just 25 subscribers and I am going to focus more and write quality content.
Genious
A really great post.
I think that you’re right Jim, I mean, what do T.I’s lyrics have to do with making money online??
Klajdi Henas last blog post..Top 5 MMO Blogs
Great point. So many people fill their blogs with crap… it is better to not post than to post about off topic junk.
Learn To Sell Porns last blog post..I am officially “Mentoring” 10 people to Sell Porn
Actually Jim I made over 65 bucks that day just from that page alone in YPN. The majority of the people looking for songs online are actually non tech savvy people and they will click on as many ads as they can.
I’m still getting traffic from the pages and I’ve been getting way more subscribers since I made the post.
But thanks for the backlink
Germzs last blog post..My Viral Video Results, a must read.
Good post Jim, I agree to a point, you’ve got to have a focus. But as you know, I don’t like to be boxed in…as long as your readers know what to expect I think you are good.
Now, you trying to update on all those areas in the beginning, yeah…lol, a lot of work. I like where you’re at with the blog and enjoy being a part of it.
Germz got paid off that post so…he showed you how to make money! lol, as long as you know what your readers can handle, you have free reign. As for Garry Conn, he’s made it clear his blog is no longer a “let me teach you how to make money blog” and thus, he has been writing about whatever he wants. That’s great for him, he makes money elsewhere online, but again…he let his readers know that the change was coming.
Good post as usual dude…keep it up…
Normal Joes last blog post..IMwithJoe.com Weekly Updates and Such
Hi, I accidentally found your blog looking for online money making ideas and have gone through it and I must say what a great job you are doing. I agree with the fact of trimming the fat and sticking to your niche. I am trying that now with my new blog. Keep up the good work. I’ll be back.
My Make Money Online Adventures last blog post..A Free Ebook That Actually Helps You Make Money Online
As long as something works for you, continue doing it. I think both Garry Conn and The Germz have reasons for doing that.
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Twitter: @jimvesting
August 26, 2008 at 12:20 pm #
Haha that’s very true Axio. They both know I’m just poking fun at them cause they are two of my good buddies… so I figured they wouldn’t mind the linkage
I love the link love
So everyone feel free to link away!
Germzs last blog post..My Viral Video Results, a must read.
Nice post. I guess that once you have a fair number of subscribers, best to supply content that will not alienate them. Plus, you can always start another blog that covers one of your other interests and ALSO makes money
goofbloggers last blog post..Should You Spend Lots On Advertising A New Make Money Online Blog
I’m tired of my tiny little feed count. I’ll do what you’ve told. Thank you Jim.
Ganeshs last blog post..What’s Going On
Personality and Passion are your fuel. Content and aesthetics are your vehicle. Constant Vigilance your driver. With these and a little elbow grease for good measure you will realize your life’s goals.
This applies to internet marketing, blogging, and affiliate sales. Never show weakness, never back down and always be willing to adapt to the new market.
Big Ben Pattons last blog post..Finding My Footing
Great blog NetFool.
I think your right about the off topic posting. Once in a while is fine, but when it effects the content, you could really screw yourself for readership.
Keep up the great work, subscribed via RSS.
Brad.
Brad Blogging.com – Personal Blog Tips And Blog Helps last blog post..Create A “Sidenotes” Section On Your Sidebar
great post, jim! exactly what john chow mentioned during our short chat with him in toronto (http://www.johnchow.com/dot-com-pho-toronto/).
gotta save this post in its own folder.
I never write posts that are irrelevant to my readers and my blog niche, and I hate when I go to a post of blog I sub to and start reading something totaly irrelevant especially when they are trying to sell me something, however, I do like to hear some personal stuff, now and then, about my favorite bloggers.
Keyword Anchor Do-Follow Blogs last blog post..Search Engine Optimization – Free Cool Tool
Excellent post Jim! Reading this post helped me take a step back and look at my blog. I realize I was trying to cover way too much, and made me change my blogs theme to e-business basics. Great stuff man, keep it up
TheWebpreneur.cas last blog post..How To Drive Traffic To Places Deeper Than Your Homepage
The last point you mentioned brings random search engine traffic but certainly not potential subscribers. Now it’s upto the webmaster or blogger to decide upon whether he wants to monetize on search engine traffic or subscriber based traffic. I think the first one pays off more, as the regular subscriber readers are inclined to ignore the ads on your website.
Twitter: @jimvesting
August 28, 2008 at 4:45 pm #
I think that it’s a lot easier to feel like search engine traffic is giving you more bang for your buck, it’s not though. If your readers are real, you can leverage your network and get may more return for your efforts than a few clicks here and there can get you.
Yeah, Thats correct. If we have real readers we can earn a lot and blog eventually goes up.
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