Often when people are trying to decide what kind of business they want to start, they forget to think about businesses that earn them money indirectly, such as the advertising revenue on blogs. But keeping a blog is very much a business — or at least it should be treated as such if you want to succeed.

Lately I’ve been reading a book called Secrets to Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. There is a lot in this book that I, as someone who has been blogging professionally for several years, find redundant. But there are also a lot of good tips for those who are new to the concepts of blogging and search engine optimization. The tips on selling ad space and generating ad revenue are useful for just about anyone who wants to make money via their blogs.

One thing that the authors of the book suggest is finding a niche and making your blog stand out within that niche. You can’t just have a general, all-purpose blog these days. You need to narrow your focus if you want to be able to target readers who will respond positively to your blog, and keep coming back for more.

For example, say you want to write a travel blog. You might want to narrow the focus even more: For example, you could use the blog to showcase your professional photography (readers always love photographs), or you could focus on affordable travel and post with tips for readers to see the world on a budget. You might also focus on a specific region, such as Canadian Rockies vacations. Your post could focus on the different vacation packages available, such as Canadian Rockies coach tours and Canada ski vacations.

As another example, my dad is extremely interested in German travel. He has been to Germany probably a dozen times, and speaks the language well enough to be able to visit areas where no one speaks English. He also is becoming quite the expert on train travel in Germany, and is a well-known poster on message boards on the topic. He recently started a website about German travel with tips and other information, and I am trying to convince him to start a blog to go with it, so that he can capitalize on his loyal following and start making some ad revenue from his hobby!

What subject areas are you knowledgeable or passionate in that you could turn into a blogging business?

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