Why You Need Niche Experience to Be a Great Blogger

Have you seen ads online that say it’s easy to make tens of thousands online through blogging? In reality, there’s very little truth to this statement. In fact, only about four percent of bloggers make more than $10,000/month. Furthermore, the vast majority of bloggers (63 percent) make less than $10 in a given month.

So, what sets the former group of successful bloggers apart from the latter group of struggling bloggers?

What Makes a Successful Blogger?

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re looking at, it’s very difficult to lay out a concrete plan for what it takes to be successful. A lot hinges on being in the right place at the right time. However, there are a few factors that are certainly in play when it comes to being a profitable blogger.

For starters, you need writing skills. Nobody is going to read a blog if the writing is low quality and incoherent. Secondly, you need creativity. There are thousands of people who can write about generic topics – what unique spin do you bring to the table? Thirdly, you need marketing skills in order to drive traffic to your blog and generate revenue. And, finally, patience is crucial.

Are you able to check off all of these boxes? Unfortunately, so are thousands of other people – including many bloggers who have yet to turn a profit. So, what gives?

The Tipping Point: Experience

Though there are many factors that go into a blogger’s ability to make it big, a large consideration is the amount of experience someone has before they begin writing. In other words, real world experiences involving the topics you write about may be the tipping point.

In order to better understand this point, just study the resumes of some of the internet’s most successful bloggers. Start with Timothy Sykes. While he’s currently known for being a huge penny stock guru who teaches students how to make a living from trading low-end stocks, the only reason he’s able to find any success with blogging is because he has a track record to prove himself. If he hadn’t turned $12,415 into $4.2 million, do you think anyone would listen to him?

Another good example is Jake Dobki, the co-founder of the popular Gothamist blog. He started the blog because he knew city life in New York better than just about anyone else. He knew where to eat, what to see, and how to live life in the city. He then turned that experience into a successful blog that now spans the globe. Would anyone have listened to a guy share opinions about New York if he didn’t know what he was talking about? Probably not. Experience played a huge role here.

Don’t Dive Headfirst Into Blogging

It may seem like strange advice, but you don’t need to dive headfirst into blogging. Contrary to what thousands of other people say, taking the first step is not the most important thing you can do. Sure, you’ll need to eventually launch a blog and start writing in order to be successful, but there may be a few other significant steps in between where you are and where you’re heading.

There are a lot of people who can write. In fact, there are a lot of people who are skilled at writing and know how to build a blog and drive traffic. However, there are very few people who have valuable life experiences and skills that translate into rabid readerships and lucrative advertising revenue.

If you want to be the blogger that makes $10,000 per month – as opposed to $10 per month – experiences may be the tipping point.