Start a Blog – How to Pick a Topic for Your Blog

This is the first post in what I hope will be a very helpful series for anyone who is interested in starting their own blog, or, for that matter, improve an already existing blog.

I’ve been blogging for over four years now, and over that time I’ve learned a lot of things, had a lot of fun, and made some pretty good supplemental income. Hopefully my experience and advice can help get your blog off the ground faster, keep you from getting frustrated, and help you build up your rainy day fund.

On that note, here’s the first post: How to Select A Topic For Your Blog

Whether you just want a platform to express yourself or a way to make some extra money (or both), blogging is, without a doubt, the best place to start. It’s easy, cheap, and if you play your cards right, can be extremely profitable.

However, many people stop before they get started because the first decision you have to make for your blog is often the most difficult: what do you blog about?

There tend to be two schools of thought when it comes to this:

• Pick a topic based on what has the potential to be the most profitable
• Pick a topic based on your interests

Obviously, the best answer for you depends on what you’re trying to get out of your blog.

If your primary interest is to make money and you don’t particularly care about the topic of your blog, you will need to do some extensive research of sites like Clickbank.com and Commission Junction to see which niches have the most profit potential.

To save you a lot of time, I’ll do some of the research for you; the three most profitable niches are as follows:

1. Making money online
2. Dating
3. Weight loss

I’m of the belief you shouldn’t blog about something just because you think it’s going to be the most profitable niche. Instead, pick something that you enjoy and you are passionate about, and then you can figure out how to make money from it, if you are so inclined.

If you go based solely on money, you’ll probably get bored very quickly, and give up after a bad month or two. If you pick something you enjoy, you’re likely to stick with it and focus on the long-term.

You need to face the fact you’re going to be spending a lot of time creating the site, writing your content, and building a following. Why spend your time on something that bores you just because you think it might be a little more profitable than something you’d rather write about?

Besides, there are so many ways to monetize your site – whether you use Adsense, Clickbank, Amazon.com, Commission Junction… the list goes on – that even if you pick a seemingly obscure niche, you’ll likely still be able to make some (or in some cases, lots of) money.

Finally, don’t shy away from topics that you feel are already covered by other blogs. In fact, if you pick an area that’s already well covered, you might have a little bit of an advantage. You can look at popular blogs, see what works for them, and, for lack of a better word, copy what has made them successful.

Now that you know all about topic selection, here’s your assignment: write a list of the top five things that you’re passionate about, and, if possible, try to put the list in order, meaning the first thing on your list will be the topic or thing you’re most passionate about.

For example, here’s what mine would be:

1. Entrepreneurship
2. Personal Finance
3. Environment
4. Music
5. Sports

So, when I update The New Business Blog, The Personal Finance Program, or Daily Fuel Economy Tip, it doesn’t feel like work, because I’m writing about stuff that I genuinely enjoy. That’s the point you want to get to!

Up next: which platform/content management system to use for your blog.

What are your thoughts on topic selection? Which of the two schools of thought do you come from? What do you blog about? Be sure to leave your comments below!