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Your Uniqueness Does Not Necessarily Translate Into CASH!

August 9, 2008 Posted under: Making Money Online by Caroline Middlebrook

Yesterday I wrote a post about being unique and I said that everybody is an individual and can bring something to a blog / a niche / a business / anything that nobody else can bring because everybody has their own individual voice and their own perspective on things.

What was interesting to me is that never in that post did I mention money and yet in the comments section almost everybody talked about making your uniqueness profitable. Here is the problem with that as I see it:

When you can tap into your own uniqueness, you are going inside of yourself and just being yourself. This is effortless and it just flows. Recently, I have found that I am able to write blog posts so much more quickly than I did a few months ago because I have figured out how to just be myself rather than trying to write to appeal to my audience, or to a social media audience, or to make a sale and so on.

But when you come to a situation from the perspective of “how do I make money from this?” it shifts your perspective and that uniqueness is often blocked. Suddenly now you are focused on the money and you shut off access to that which is uniquely you.

Now I’m not saying that you can’t make money! Just about any popular blog should be monetizable and of course if you are starting a business of some kind then that should have profit potential too but the issue is the mindset that you bring to the table.

You have an idea for a blog, a website, a piece of software, an invention, whatever it is and sure you are hoping to make some money with it but set that aside for just a moment. What do YOU have to say about the topic? How do YOU feel about it? Approach your new venture from your own unique passion first and then worry about the money. Once you’re already on a roll, and you’ll know when you are because you’ll feel it inside of yourself, you can ask “okay, how can I make this profitable?”, and the answers will just pop out of you.

Now we live in the real world here - not every blog makes money, not every website makes money and even if you are being true to yourself that doesn’t necessarily mean that everything you touch will turn to gold. But here’s the thing - if you feel that you must make money with every website, then you’re diminishing the possibility of that happening because you’re approaching it from the wrong mindset.

If you can just enjoy what you are doing without needing it to be profible, then the money is sure to come - but it might not necessarily be from your first efforts, or your second, or - you get the idea?

I’m building some niche sites right now and I’m enjoying the process even though I don’t have a huge interest in the topic - I am still bringing myself into my writing. Hopefully those sites will generate some revenue but if not, I’ll just move on to the next one. Actually, it takes time for a brand new site to get some PR and rank well in the search engines so it will be a case of build-and-forget anyway.

Okay I realise this post is probably sounding slightly woo-woo so I think I’ll publish this one over the weekend and then get back to techie WordPress videos on Monday! :-)


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16 Comments:

Dan Mihaliak
August 9, 2008

Hi Caroline
So we can be unique and not make money on our blogs but there is room for millions more blogs in our niche because we ARE unique. You’ve got me confused! LOL

Dan Mihaliaks last blog post..Favorite Destinations in Philippines

Evan
August 10, 2008

Hi Caroline,

Not woo-woo at all but a very practical and down-to-earth reality check. Thanks.

Mistic
August 10, 2008

Let me share with you my earlier period experience :)

I got at least 4 blogs; which mean every blog with different niches - I was not really interested at all with the niche but to get paid from high paying keyword was my goal! I can say, my main objective was to make money through affiliates link and adsense.

Finally, I can’t maintain all of the blogs because all niches that I was writing not in my expert.

Now, I’m writing what I love and money will come later :) No pressure at all and I’m easy with my new style :D

Regards,
Mistic
http://www.photoshoptutorial.tv

Caroline Middlebrook
August 10, 2008

@Dan, sorry I realise this is confusing… Many people start an IM blog with the intention to make money. The thinking is, if I write about IM, I can promote big ticket affiliate products and pull in mega bucks like John Chow. This type of thinking usually leads to regurgitated material and your blog just slips away into the mire like all the others.

If you think FIRST about what you can do differently, but rather than ‘brainstorm’ it as such, just learn to be yourself when you write without thinking about how you must promote this aff program, and optimise for that keyword and so on - your writing will naturally take off and then you’ll find that the money begins to flow in on its own later.

Be yourself first and then you’ll find it easier to make money down the track. If you attack every new venture from just the money perspective you cut off the creative flow.

Millionaire Mindset
August 10, 2008

Do your own thing first… do what you love… it is easy… don’t just try and jump at every trend that comes along because it might not work out.. at least with something you love if you dont make money you will still have done something you loved.

Andreas Ostheimer
August 10, 2008

I also think that you have to be interested in what you write about. Only finding a profitable niche is not enough. Somebody (maybe a fellow interested ghostwriter) has to write articles which show genuine interest for this field.

Andreas

Oza Meilleur
August 10, 2008

Bonjour Caroline!

I love the Woo-Woo You.
Coupled with the Techie You,
it creates one damn excellent
blogger and human being.

A big fan of yours since the very beginning,
I’ve watched you “come together,” and it
has been a beautiful thing to witness.

I agree about everything in your post,
wise words indeed. If you enjoy the journey,
if you write with passion and have FUN doing it,
then the rest will follow.

After all, it’s The Law, right? ;-)

Big hugs and lots of love,
Mudd a.k.a. Oza
xoxo

JohnCow
August 10, 2008

Caroline, this is so true and the part that stuck out to me the most is…

“But when you come to a situation from the perspective of “how do I make money from this?” it shifts your perspective and that uniqueness is often blocked. Suddenly now you are focused on the money and you shut off access to that which is uniquely you.”

I think this is the exact smae thing for keyword density as well, if you are writing to achieve a certain keyword density then your content will simply be crap. Focus on proving the reader value and the rest will come.

Great post!

JohnCows last blog post..Sunday Ramblings - A Contest and A Lesson from Jerks

Rick Butts
August 10, 2008

Making money from your inner uniqueness is a tricky balancing act. Even people with loads of natural talent and clarity about it must work on focusing, message, branding, and of course - practicing to get really good.

Marketing is still the key - and while a lot of people get seduced by the “tools of traffic” having something valuable to say in a unique way is essential for converting that visitor into a sale.

I highly recommend everyone read “Bird by Bird” by Ann Lamott and somewhere along the line - learn to improve their “voice” in writing and creating something valuable.

Rick Butts

Rick Buttss last blog post..Peace is not the Absence of War

Mike U.
August 10, 2008

Great post. It is basically about finding one’s own voice.

One note about “build-and-forget” - In my view this strategy could be useful in finding a niche what potentially could become the main niche to concentrate on. Otherwise jumping from one topic to another won’t allow a blogger to focus and build an authority in any subject.

Regards,
Mike

Hi Caroline,

This post speaks volumes to me. I have a long history with Niche blogs and last year I realized that it made more sense to post about my take on a particular subject or topic and this would be more meaningful to my readers than just following everybody else.

Thanks for the post and it is just so true.

Greg

Caroline Middlebrook
August 11, 2008

@Oza, lol I have never thought of there being a “woo-woo me” lol! And thanks for your kind words :-)

@John, yup I don’t think about keyword density. When I write for my niche sites I just write the article and then I go back and just make sure I’ve got the keyword in there a couple of times and leave it at that.

@Rick, thanks for the book recommendation, I’ve not heard of her before.

@Mike, what I am doing at the moment is taking one broad topic, and building two sites on that topic but each built around different keywords and I also have some ideas for related niches so I can build separate sites but the knowledge I gain in that topic remains relevant.

I really got a kick out of the blog post. It was absolutely hilarious and I was showing some of my blogging friends in the kind of stopped laughing. Nice job Caroline.

Ultimate Blogging Experiments last blog post..What Is Digg and What Can It Do for My Blog?

Miss Gisele B.
August 12, 2008

Caroline,

This is an excellent post because it’s easy to get caught up in the latest trend “because it makes money” … but the big question is what happens when the trend passes?

If you focus on cultivating your passion you will go further and will maintain your blog for many years to come.

Miss Gisele B.

Miss Gisele B.s last blog post..OPI Retro Fun in the Sun Summer 2008 nail polish colours

infoaddicts
August 13, 2008

Hello Caroline,
You wrote
“But when you come to a situation from the perspective of “how do I make money from this?” it shifts your perspective and that uniqueness is often blocked. Suddenly now you are focused on the money and you shut off access to that which is uniquely you.”

I totally agree, write first and foremost, and the money will eventually come.
Good luck building your niche sites.
Regards
Jeff

Lindsay
August 14, 2008

Well, since the original emails were asking about whether there was room for more internet marketing blogs (we don’t worry about room necessarily if we’re just following our passion), I assumed the authors were wondering if they too could make money in the niche. I was simply suggesting that if their main goal was to make money, there were easier niches to do it in.

I’ll add that passion doesn’t always translate into profits, so it makes sense to choose which passion you follow carefully *if* wealth accumulation is the goal.

Goodbye, and good luck.

Lindsays last blog post..Why Google Adsense is a Perfect Way for Writers to Make Money


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