Comments on: Getting Off Topic – How to Let Your Blog Go #2

By: DVD vending kiosks

DVD vending kiosks — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:53:13 +0000

off topic: loved the cat!

By: B. Durant

B. Durant — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:26:26 +0000

On ABAN I have no topic so I’m all over the place, but on http://pet-snakes.com I stick to the topic at hand pretty rigidly. With it being a fairly focused niche blog (snakes as pets) it doesn’t make sense to go off-topic.

As for other blogs it depends on what their theme and if they are niche-centric. It’s really more important to me that they be interesting.

By: LintCollector

LintCollector — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:23:14 +0000

“Do you mind when other blogs go off topic?”

Not if it’s moderate and unobtrusive.

I used to subscribe to John Chow for his writings on blogging and making money online. When posts about his dinners (with lots of full size photos, not thumbnails) slowed down my feed reader and consumed a big chunk of my monthly download limit, I unsubscribed.

It wasn’t just the off-topic nature of his food reviews that put me off – it was their intrusive nature; for me they got in the way of the topic I subscribed for.

Had he limited their number, and used thumbnails in the posts or used breaks (eg click to read more), I might still be reading him.

By: Reginald

Reginald — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:19:47 +0000

The content of this post just emphasizes the importance of investing the time and energy to clearly organize and establish your blog.

Knowing exactly what you want to offer your readers is essential.

I find it quite annoying when I go to a blog expecting, base on its title, a certain kind of content and finding an array of information not necessarily relevant to the blog itself.

By: Redrogue

Redrogue — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:27:45 +0000

I am new to blogging and is currently learning. As I read this article, I find the “common sense” in it although I think it is easier to say to stay focus than to practice it. Bloggers sometimes are just filled with ideas and need some space to burst it out. Thus, out of niche topics come out.

This is a common problem but this article is really helpful to all “pro bloggers” around who seem to wander away from their blogs’ topics.

By: MyDirectory

MyDirectory — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:50:46 +0000

I always get new ideas reading blogs and other section of the topics that I don’t know.

New Ideas ..

By: Dee Stewart

Dee Stewart — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:18:46 +0000

I have a book niche blog, but am also a publicist so I receive news that don’t fit the blog, but it fits my demographic and I know it will drive traffic to the blog. I use a feature called Off Topic Thursday I try to reserve for those posts. But sometimes the news is too immediate to wait, so I post with an Off Topic Label and alert. This way my subscribers no this post is different.

What I have learned is that if you use off topic posts effectively you can add more subscribers, who stumbled upon your blog.

Great post and love the pic!

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:40:20 +0000

I am only JUST starting to get readers feedback on my financial blog (because my readership is growing yay) so I will definately be taking readership feedback into account and giving the people what they want.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:33:12 +0000

First, I want to thank you for all the help I’ve received from ProBlogger. I’ve only been doing this since March and I have such varied interests and experience that I couldn’t figure out which niche would best fit my blog. I just decided to chuck the niche and do what I’ve done so often in my life – go my own way. I assigned a different topic to each day of the week and listed them so my readers would know what to expect. I gave myself two days (Monday’s Musings and Wednesday’s Wonders) to play with any article that flowed and didn’t fit the other catagories. Surely does make it easy to stay on topic with my set up.

By: Jamie Monk

Jamie Monk — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:16:25 +0000

I am certainly in the niche blog category and finding new posts is not always easy when I am also working 6 days/week and have a family. Sure I’d love to be a full timer, and ProBlogger helps with tips, but a niche blog can be hard to make money from, so I find myself stepping outside the zone now and then, which I really don’t like to do, but it sometimes comes down to that or a lack of posts – which is the lesser evil? :)

By: Ulla

Ulla — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:00:38 +0000

My blog normally concentrates on photos and some words going with them. I just went off-topic some days ago when I participated in a group writing project with a small story. I tried to make that clear in the title – so people just interested in photos could easily skip this blog post. I intend to keep on particpating in that project which means one post per month will be off-topic…I think that can be tolerated.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:37:12 +0000

Wow it sounds like we’re all at it from these comments.

I will put my hands to a big going off topic crime with one of my blogs.

I think the main reason was I started to write about what I thought people would want to read about more than what I wanted to write about.

The result?

I didn’t enjoy writing and people didn’t enjoy reading.

It’s time to start over and this time stay focused!

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:41:18 +0000

This is a really timely post for me because I have just been wondering whether I should stick to my niche or not. I have just started a blog about beading and diy jewellery and I have loads of ideas to write about…(i think i’ve written out about 200) but I still wonder whether I should add some more personal off topic stories. I’ve noticed with many successful craft blogs that women tend to reveal a lot about their personal lives. I just don’t know what I should do.

jess

http://vitrospective.com/blog

By: Jennie Rosenbaum

Jennie Rosenbaum — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:53:56 +0000

I’ve been worrying about that lately, my blog started out as a typical artists blog that then branched into news and debates about issues in my genre. I get a lot of traffic from my news editorials and coverage even though I only look at nude art issues but my traffic drops when I start discussing my own work again or upcoming shows and so forth.

I’m beginning to fear that my news segments are starting to become the main topic and my own stuff is the off topic and wondering if my readers resent that. I don’t want to split the blog because between the two topics I can just barely generate enough content to post every week day and the traffic from the news discussions lead to greater exposure for my work – but I worry about annoying my readers.

By: IzzyBeth

IzzyBeth — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:18:49 +0000

I have a personal blog – and I started posting about my adventure into weight loss. After a while, I just decided to do a completely separate blog about my weight loss and kept my personal blog focused on family stories, photos, etc. It is working well so far.

http://izzybeth.blogspot.com/
http://timeforachangeinme.blogspot.com/

By: Kelvin Kao

Kelvin Kao — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:16:43 +0000

I go off-topic once a week nowadays, and I’m very specific about it. Every weekend I will have a post that lump all my off-topic thoughts together. This will be less distracting from the niche topic, and it creates a rhythm for me.

By: Marelisa

Marelisa — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:54:43 +0000

I think you can certainly look for ways to expand the topic of your blog, without writing about things that might not interest your readers. To use companies as an example, if you run a hamburger fast food restaurant, you can probably add things like fried chicken and pizza to your menu and do well with your clientele. However, trying to add sushi or escargot will probably not go over too well. So think about your audience and what else they might be interested in.

By: Deda

Deda — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:40:18 +0000

I have long thought about ways to write on my blog and in the end decided that it is somewhat less definable and that has a love and music. With a lot of fun …
I have not made a mistake ..

By: OldSailor

OldSailor — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:11:25 +0000

I agree readers don’t like off topics. Thanks for your tips. Even if a blogger wants to write about off topic, little changes has to be done to suit the blog. Today I posted “Stop using shipping lanes to transfer toxic waste”. It is actually about dumping of toxic waste in India by US. The toxic waste was transported through sea. I focussed my post to highlight that shipping lanes are not to be used for illegal activities.

By: DOOM

DOOM — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:57:40 +0000

THe best way to initialte a change in the focus of the blog is to adjust the subheader along with it. that can give a quick glance to incoming readers where you are headed. For examples if as martin has given the exapmle: If your subheader says “a blog about trees” do change it to ” a blog about forests” if you do decide to broaden your focus.