The Post-Revolution Will Be Televised

Has the blogging revolution petered out? I don’t like to think so, but the novelty has worn off. That’s not to say blogging itself is wearing out.

Everyone and his mother are blogging. To stand out, individual bloggers will need to “niche blog.” That is, pick a topic you know a lot about or want to know more about, find out what’s currently out there, and more importantly, what’s not, and start filling in the gaps.

Here’s some advice I gave to a reader who wants to differentiate himself among other homeschool bloggers:

Homeschooling: now that’s blogosphere gold yet to be dug. Don’t let the number of homeschooling blogs discourage you. It’s how you gather and process the information that sets you apart. To build an expertise in homeschooling, you’ll have to make the effort to do actual reporting and information gathering.

Give readers what they’re not getting on other homeschooling blogs or web sites, such as more in-depth news, better or more timely information. Interview high-profile homeschool advocates and opponents, for example. Write a homeschooling article once or twice a month, and send it to Townhall.com or NRO. In turn, the bigger bloggers will link to you, bringing you even more traffic.

The pickings are ripe!

And to another homeschool blogger with a special needs child:

Homeschooling kids with special needs. Perfect, Allison. You probably don’t need to start a new blog, but changing the title will help.

Provide links in the sidebar to articles about that specific topic or as close to it as you can get. Start building an archive of specialized posts that help homeschool mothers and others get the information they need. If you really want to be ambitious, shoot a few e-mails to education reporters and let them know you’re available for quotes.

I jumped into this post midstream, so you may be confused about why I’m talking about post-revolution blogging. I was reading this post by blogger and writer Jane Genova:

There will be less and less attention paid to the spontaneous outpourings of “amateur” bloggers who share their daily activities, feelings and impressions. The medium is now too sophisticated for that. Its passage from a quirky underground thing to something the establishment has anointed as highly useful has been rapid in a medium which is only six years old.

So, to be taken seriously, the postings will have to be clearly differentiated from all the other “stuff” out there. Call it niche marketing…

Blog consultant Paul Chaney weighs in on the subject.

As a political blogger, I know I’ll have plenty to say for years to come, though I don’t know if LBC in its current form will be around. If I want to generate higher traffic, I’ll need to focus on specific topics and become the go-to blogger on those topics. Ranting about Bill Clinton won’t cut it.

One area I could focus on is a local hot-button issue: the illegal alien invasion, particularly in Northern Virginia. The Herndon Town Council just approved a “day labor” center for illegal aliens, who should be sitting in deportation hearings instead of a taxpayer-supported hangout waiting for lawbreaking employers to pick them up. What does the federal government have to say about this issue? Where are the immigration enforcement agents in all this mess?

Updated information about the illegal enterprise in Herndon, along with some investigative and original reporting (I’ve already interviewed one of the council members who voted against it), could attract the attention of local media, too. Judicial Watch is planning to sue, and I’ll give you weekly updates about the lawsuit.

Although blogging may have lost some of its “rebel” appeal, the medium is constantly growing and reinventing itself. The revolution will never truly end.

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Mark in Mexico: “Why is Mexico such a mess? It’s the culture. Don’t scoff. I live here, remember? Mexicans do not understand the very basics of Rule of Law. They don’t understand them and I don’t believe they ever will.”