Comments on: Value Blogging: A New Model For Success?

By: Christopher Ekblom

Christopher Ekblom — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:26:28 +0000

These are some excellent points. Too often, I see bloggers focusing their energy on ways to make money as oppose to providing valuable content to readers. This content should be timeless, and as you said above, “just as relevent in the future” as it is now. I think many bloggers miss this key to success and pehaps it’s why many people have a negative vibe about writing online. Great post.

By: Steven Aitchison

Steven Aitchison — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:46:20 +0000

Great post Skellie, i have been reading and learning from all the aforementioned blogs for over a year now and love most of them.

By: BrentD

BrentD — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:36:32 +0000

Thanks again for the dynamite post. Following your advice, I have began value-blogging and my readers are becoming so improved, so rapidly that I fear government investigation.

You’re an inspiration.

By: Mitchell Allen

Mitchell Allen — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:11:38 +0000

Skellie,

To continue the sporting accolades, this post is a hole-in-one!
I fear that many bloggers are too formulaic.
Yet, those who go beyond the basics, reap the most benefit.

Cheers,

Mitch

By: Tom Hanna

Tom Hanna — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:42:20 +0000

Great post, but I’m not sure I’d call how-to blogging value blogging. The implication is that other types of posts don’t add value. Posts, and blogs, should always add value, but that might be commentary, summary, analysis, explanation, new information or even getting old information onto the “live web” for the first time. Anything else is really just spam.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:33:46 +0000

Really good advice – I find that I am more likely to Stumble or bookmark a ‘value’ post which I know I can go back to again and again than I am a news post which only has a short shelf life.

They suit all of the insatiable learners, and being one myself, I always consider what I would have gained if I had come to my own blog post as a new reader…if the answer is nothing, then the post is scrapped.

By: Carlo Selorio

Carlo Selorio — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:10:34 +0000

Hi Skellie,

Awesome post… I’ve been focusing on valuea blogging lately and the results have been phenomenal… in fact, I smashed my traffic stats each of the past four months.

Well Done.

Carlo Selorio

By: Vern at AimforAwesome

Vern at AimforAwesome — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:22:43 +0000

I just wanted to add StevePavlina.com to your list of value bloggers. He has something like 600+ articles written for people to enjoy for free! I really like this model and you’re right Darren, the only way to really accomplish something with your blog is to give it your all and give value to your readers. If you just give news bits – that’s not lasting value. That’s not providing content for the next 10 years… only the next 10 days. I am in the process of focusing my AimforAwesome blog on what type of topics I’m going to cover since I’m interested in so much. I am positive though, that the value blogging model is the right one for me.

By: Skellie

Skellie — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:53:50 +0000

@ Blog Angel Team (Joanna): My approach has always been to give everything away free. The online income that I do make is through indirect sources (freelancing, consulting, etc.). I’ve not read ‘Teaching Sells’ yet but I’m familiar with the ideas behind it and I do think they have a lot of merit, particularly if you want to take control of your own income without advertising and affiliate sales (which many bloggers feel a little uneasy about).

By: SouthernbytheGraceofGod

SouthernbytheGraceofGod — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 19:49:58 +0000

Value Blogging! Never gave it a name myself, but it was the idea behind the concept of my blog Bird on a wire http://lagniappemarketing.net. But I guess I got sidetracked and it turned out to be something not even close. Time for a rework I suppose!

By: elamb

elamb — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:59:33 +0000

interestingly simple, clear and to the point. 90% of the money I’ve made on line have been done by creating content that helps other people.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:26:49 +0000

Skellie, this is a great post and makes me feel better about my own blog. I always feel the blogs in my niche (green living content) that just deliver the news or talk about new green tech stuff are doing the best by the amount of comments they get.

I on the other hand try to give them products that I personally used or have researched based upon my own green experiences. I even try to engage them with my own personal experiences for a discussion like this. Very few comments. Is it my niche?

My best read post was green toliet paper! So, I am trying to keep it more simple but I am still confused as to what they want. I try to write like you said with value but maybe I need to do a better marketing job?

My readership has grown but not as much as the above blogs have. Any thoughts on what anyone would want to see that is valued writing on the green front?

By: Jimmy Vee

Jimmy Vee — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:40:48 +0000

Couldn’t Agree More. You become more powerful by delivering valuable information. This allows you to create relationships and its those relationships that create opportunities in business and life. The law of the universe gives back to those who deliver value first.

By: maneesh

maneesh — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:15:00 +0000

I tried news like posts for sometime on my blog, even did a post saying news posts are better to increase subscriptions, hwoever wasn’t comfortable doing it, and came back to ‘depth’ posts, or what skellie names value blogging.. it does suit my style of writing better

However, I must add, that value blogging is not easy, you can only add value for your reader if you are yourself at a level where you have the authority to do that. Sharing what you learn is a good way for noo-bs to go about with value blogging imo…

By: Netvalar

Netvalar — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 11:48:59 +0000

Yes a title for what I do with music information. One of the things I like aobut value blogging as you have named it is when I know my readers need a new post and I have too many ideas sitting around I can dig through my blog put together a them and interlink to other posts I already put out. Of course on those days I also end up with some 20+drafts saved for when I can finally work them into either short posts or the actual finished thought.

Plus in some online circles people feel left out if I don’t spam them. So delievering value posts also takes away from the fear of spam. Everyone in the 2 social communities that I end up sending a list of links to always stop by to say thank you. Where as before I started value posting I would get irate comments back and that was just testing the waters.

By: Wayne Liew

Wayne Liew — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:37:58 +0000

I guess there are many bloggers out there that are still following the wind. They see a great post on a service by some great bloggers, they will sign up and write more or less the same what the blog blogger wrote.

Value blogging (the term I just learnt) has been always being implemented by me. The downside of this method might be if you have an off-topic post, your visitors might feel disappointed and this is what I am scared off.

Value blogging needs a lot of brainstorming as well and only people who are passionate about the topic can really do that.

By: Appfunds

Appfunds — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:30:34 +0000

When I read about all this SEO stuff I really get confused.
Can you imagine Mark Twain studying “positioning and optimalization” instead of writing ” Tom Sawyer” ? Would it contribute anything to his work ?

By: Blog Angel Team (Joanna)

Blog Angel Team (Joanna) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:27:09 +0000

Skellie, congratulations on your first post here – and for paying so much attention to the feedback in the comment box. It’s appreciated :-)

I was interested in your take on how value-blogging sits with the model that Brian and Tony Clark are advocating (and that Darren has signed up for too) – the idea that only some of this kind of valuable content should be given away for free (as an attraction strategy) and that we could look to a ‘teaching sells’ model for the true “value” of what’s on offer

Joanna

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:18:10 +0000

Provide value…..isn’t that why we blog?

From day one, I have felt that it is my duty to “pay it forward”, when I blog. It’s my way of saying thank you, to all of the bloggers (including Darrin), who freely shared what they had learned.

By value blogging, we can make great contributions to that “information highway”, called the internet.

Before we hit that “publish” button, we should ask ourselves, if what we are posting, will be helpful to others. If our answer is “no”, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

By: worknplay

worknplay — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:31:58 +0000

may be I am shifting towards this as well, I have been writing about how we can build traffic and links by different means rather than trying just the traditional methods. Although my blog is a mixed spot, this post has sure got me thinking.

Thank you , that was a great advice