The Problem with Meta-Blogging: Being Unique in a Saturated Niche
Jeff Atwood’s latest article on 13 blog cliches makes a few points which I’ve thought about many times but never fully explored on Dosh Dosh. One of his cliches deals with meta-blogging, or the art of blogging about blogging.
I must confess that I am also not a fan of meta-blogging. I find some blogs about blogging to be rather dull, not because they are poorly written but rather because they are repetitive and do not add value.
Too much has already been written on the topic; it’s nearly impossible to get out of metablogging’s conceptual arc.
Archetypes dominate in this field. Some meta-blogging articles are minor variants of topics originally covered in greater depth on a bigger site like Problogger.
Even when I read an article on Problogger, I get the feeling that I’ve read it somewhere else. Eventually, the signals blend into noise.
Meta-blogging is like masturbating. Everyone does it, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But writers who regularly get out a little to explore other topics will be healthier, happier, and ultimately more interesting to be around– regardless of audience.
Unique Content is the Answer to Meta-Blogging Redundancy
Meta-blogging needs to be parasitic in order to evolve beyond its prison of ideas. It needs to latch onto another conceptual field in order to go beyond the thought circle it currently revolves in.
Meta-blogging is porous as it allows you to write about blogs existing within multiple topic fields and niches. If you’re already in the meta-blogging niche, the four tips below may benefit you directly; if you can create extraordinary content, you will build an audience and make more money from your blog.
Some ways which may help you go beyond the proverbial practice of meta-blogging:
- View Blogs as General Websites. Keep in mind that blogs are primarily publishing vehicles which rely on producing content in exchange for publicity, interaction and revenue. They are websites which provide information within the online public sphere.
Blogs can and should be created, optimized and marketed like every other website on the internet. Focusing exclusively on platform-centric blog monetization and optimization will reduce your content scope unnecessarily.
- Borrow Principles Elsewhere. Spend more time reading things that interest you (besides blogging) and incorporate their influence or ideological patterns into your meta-blogging articles. Explore diverse topics which fascinate you.
What do you like to read about? Start with those articles and examine their underlying theories or principles. Use them as case studies. Don’t be afraid to use a new topical language or writing style.
- Don’t Think Like a Blogger. If you really still want to blog about blogging in general, look at blogging from the viewpoint of someone with another agenda. Occasionally put on a designer, CEO, entrepreneur or advertiser’s hat.
Stop thinking like a blogger or blog reader. The change in perspective is crucial here, particularly if you want to create content that is unique and yet relevant to your blog’s theme.
- Perform Unique Research. My pet peeve with meta-blogging is its emphasis on creating general principles or laws to be applied to individual blogs; this is the main cause for the widespread repetition of knowledge. It only teaches you to tweak and re-tweak your template and blog structure again and again in a bid to reach optimization nirvana.
The individual experience should always precede general principles and any other historical precedent. A strong emphasis on statistical and experimental analysis would yield better reading material than an article that heavily borrows from others which predate it.
In the same article, Jeff Atwood recommends looking elsewhere for content ideas:
Three years from now, will anyone care that Apple released a new iPod on that particular day? My advice here is almost contrarian: if everyone else is talking about it, that means you should avoid talking about it.
Switch things up. Seek out uncommon sites with unique information. Dig down to original sources and read the material everyone is commenting (comments on top of comments on top of comments) endlessly on.
Moving Away from Meta-Blogging in General
I’m tired of the genre as a whole and I’ve consciously tried to steer Dosh Dosh away from meta-blogging. Most of the articles I’ve written in the past month have been focused on internet marketing, entrepreneurship and social media, topics where there is more freedom for fresh analysis or a unique spin.
I may still write meta-blogging articles occasionally and hopefully they won’t be boring and insipid. Quality is important to me and if I can’t contribute to the discussion or add a unique opinion, I’ll rather keep quiet and let others blog about it.
What do you think of meta-blogging? Do you enjoy reading blogs about blogging?
Theres no ‘problem’ with metablogging. Use it to enjoy it and take part. Be who you wan’t and dont think like somebody else.
Glen, did you read my article?
Glen, Maki specifically said in the article that there isn’t anything wrong with it. Maki then proceeded to tell you, me, and everyone else who does it how we can be more successful at it. Maybe you didn’t mean it like it sounds, but your comment sounds a little derogatory.
Maki,
Great article as usual but I ask you, PLEASE do not shift TOO far away from from writing about blogging. You have some of the most in depth, thorough articles on blogging out there. And your tone conveys a real desire to teach which is much appreciated in this ’saturated’ market where there is an overload of people that are obviously trying to hop on a late train and make a buck…
Now, I started reading people commenting about the ample blogs on meta-blogging. Yes, most of them are offering the useless same tips, probably written in approach. I’ve been making satirical swipes at them and other blogging stuff in my blog.
I personally think you are right on par with Problogger. You’re articles are comprehensive, detailed, and very insightful. Fact is, some people have a knack for blogging and some don’t. Yes, there are alot of blogs about blogging, but my personal philosophy on this (lately) is too stick with the meta-blogs you like and just filter out the others. It is becoming way too much info overload. People seriously need to trim the fat and not get too bogged down with trying to absorb everything in the blogosphere. It is way too much, anyway. I read you, problogger, and copyblogger, and that’s it.
I agree with what you said, meta blogging is too saturated now but one can still occasionally blog about it.If everyone blogs about the same things, it is quite difficult to gain readers because of completing in the “limited red ocean”.(Blue Ocean Strategy)
But make money online encompasses a wide area from Chris Carpenter’s Google Cash(Adwords/Clickbank), ebay to advertising from blogs such that no single blog can cover everything. For example, this blog and John Chow contain different things. Usually readers interested in make money online will bookmark both, but definitely not two blogs that says roughly the same things.
I agree that meta-blogging is a troubled niche but there are still ways to make a meta-blog most interesting. This has been the case for some time but it continues.
Ultimately starting a meta-blog is a great way for noobie bloggers to learn how to blog, even it if doesn’t contribute anything to the world.
But do we really write our blogs in order to contribute? If you have the content, which gets links and traffic then the naive ideal of wishing to contribute fails in importance to other factors, like money making. I’m being blunt here but there’s no need to beat around the bush.
Sound tips for differentiating yourself in a very crowded field.
Being a partial meta-blogger myself, I am very aware of the negative points that you raise, and which are all too easy to fall into.
There are only a limited number of topics to write about, but I attempt to put my own stamp on them, and I try to assist newbie of non-technical bloggers with getting to grips with blogging, so while I may well write about a topic covered a million times, I try to make it readable & interesting-some of the major meta-bloggers forget to cover the basics-I try and see things from other perspectives.
Ultimately it comes down to natural selection: after a given period of time (a year maybe?) you will have the audience your writing deserves: Whilst I’d like Darren Rowse’s income, I don’t think i could do what he does, so I’m kinda happy with what I’ve got, whilst still trying to improve.
I’ve enjoyed your recent posts, though I know I haven’t gone comment mad, but do keep up the blogging tips Maki: where would I get my new material from?
Dammit, I make a typo, and ‘edit comments’ doesn’t seem to be working:
“newbie of non-technical” should read “newbie OR non-technical”.
I agree with you Maki. I don’t think there’s anything intrinsically wrong with blogging about blogging but I do think a lot of what is being written is rehashing what’s already been said. There’s little innovation happening in the field.
Ultimately I think this is because emphasis is placed solely on the mechanical aspects of blogging and how things are said, not on what kinds of things can be said. ProBlogger is a great site but I think a lot of meta-bloggers are caught up in trying to emulate Darren Rowse because that’s a winning formula. In the end it means that the formula is repeated over and over again and there’s no innovation.
I do still enjoy reading some meta-blogs and I do think there is still some innovation happening, but not near as much as there could be. Blogging is so broad and I do think there’s a lot to be written about it that isn’t being written. I think the real problem is that all meta-bloggers seem to think ProBlogger is what meta-blogging is — that it couldn’t be approached any other way.
In truth, blogging is nothing more than a content management system… and there are a million things that could be said about it. A million new things. It’s just a matter of no longer viewing it through the lens of what has been said at ProBlogger. Because I can tell you this with certainty: every meta-blogger reads it, and every blogger idolizes it, and this is quashing potential innovation in the field.
I’m starting to think meta-bloggers need to stop reading other meta-blogs (or at least ProBlogger) and start seeing some of the innovation occurring within the thousands of other topics people are blogging in. And *then* maybe the field can start to achieve some of its potential.
If you really still want to blog about blogging in general, look at blogging from the viewpoint of someone with another agenda.
Why?
Yes I did read it, I wouldnt link to some of your posts if i never read them Mr. ????
P.S. If i come across as a dick I don’t mean too. I’m a big fan of your content but if somebody has a view about something I’m sure you don’t mind them expressing it
@ Keith and Missy,
Thanks for the kind words. No, I won’t shift too far away from meta-blogging. I’ll just attempt to approach it from a different angle so hopefully things will be fresh and useful. ^_^
@ Kindaichi
Yes, the ‘make-money-online’ niche is far broader than meta-blogging and there’s a lot of topics to write about, some of them I haven’t even touched on in this blog.. (ebay selling is an example)…
@ Matt Jones
I actually don’t think you need to blog about blogging to learn about blogging. Blogging isn’t a difficult task. And honestly, if I wanted to make money from a particular blog, I’ll stay far away from meta-blogging because it’s a low-traffic, content-intensive niche.
Balancing the profit motive and providing a value-added service has always been a challenge for all webmasters, not just meta-bloggers. It is however possible to make money while still contributing to a community or providing useful information.
@Chris Lodge
I like the idea of ‘natural selection’.. of naturally ending up with a audience that finds your work useful. Our personal reading habits will testify to that: we (or at least me) tend to subscribe to a bunch of blogs and then slowly weed out the ones we don’t find useful or interesting.
Meta-bloggers will always have an audience. It’s just that having an innovative and unique insight into things may provide a competitive advantage that will get you more readers over time.
@Skellie
Thanks for adding your thoughts. As you can probably tell, I’m a jaded meta-blogger and I would really love to see all the new things that can be said about blogging. Will you be up to the task?
As you’ve said, Problogger might be part of the problem.. because Darren does command a lot of respect from all meta-bloggers and his success in making money has motivated many to dream of doing the same.
Another point to note is that he has been doing meta-blogging a lot longer than most meta-bloggers, and his footprints are all over other blogs and search engines; it’s hard not to do a search for a blogging-related keyword and not come across his site.
I think however, the main issue is the mental block which stops meta-bloggers from embracing other conceptual fields or from even viewing blogs as the same as other websites.
I’ve mentioned both in my article and I think the problem doesn’t lie with the archetypes but the inertia behind embracing other disciplines or points of view.
@Glen Allsopp
Why? I actually answered your question in my article itself: “The change in perspective is crucial here, particularly if you want to create content that is unique and yet relevant to your blog’s theme.”
I asked if you read my article because your comment was a little incoherent to me. And like Court has pointed out, I’m not attacking meta-blogging or asserting that it is inherently faulty.
I’m dealing with the problem of creating unique content within the meta-blogging niche. And I’ll always welcome any arguments you have against the points I’ve made in the article.
We all can find a special area in teaching how to blog and stay clear of standard lessons learned from most who teach this. I think of problogger like a volume of encyclopedia; when I need to see his view I’ll go check. I cannot read it everyday. The market isn’t saturated, it’s just not imaginative:)
Newbies come on the Internet every day. Some of them want to start their own blog or business. If they go to Problogger they are going to get confused because of the overwhelming mass of posts and comments.
A new blogger might find more success from a newer blog. They can grow a relationship together.
Remember! Blogging is about building a relationship. It would be almost impossible for a new blogger to build a relation with Darren. But, that same person can build a relation with one of the smaller meta-blogs.
So true. I recently did a post on how there is a great deal of repetition out there when the topic is blogging. This has its ups and downs.
Think it’s a lot like personal finance magazines, fitness magazines, that sort of thing. They have to cover the basics while keeping longtime readers happy. It’s an art.
If people come to us seeking tentpole knowledge but we’re off working in the fringes, telling them to consult the archives, that’s not good sense or good business. In writing, this dynamic would be be called elegant substitution — variety for the sake of variety. Fortunately, in the fast-moving world of blogging, there’s almost always something new to talk about.
I do, however, tire of seeing the same material over and over on blog blogs. The trick is to find new ways of doing older things.
Hope you have a change of heart about the meta info.
now someone here talks about Johnchow dot com…Tell you what, John chow dot com is nothing but crap.it focuses on bogus promotional campaigns and John chow only makes money.Does any one reading his site find value in it other than making John chow richer?
amen to that, Maki…
Maki,
I have noticed the blogging about blogging world getting as crowded as the blogging about making money online world. With the constant increase in blogs in general, most niche topics are likely to get crowded. So you absolutely have to differentiate yourself from the crowd or you’ve just got another blog.
You do a great job of differenetiating yourself from the crowd. Great post!
Maki,
Hear, hear! I particularly second your comment above regarding ‘natural selection’. That to me is what blogging is about.
Thanks,
Logan.
Being new to the whole blogging thing. I would have to agree, in researching blogs I have found a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon just to jump.
As far as meta-blogging, it helps us newbies learn more but yes I too am finding more and more that I feel like I have read it all before.
I try to read problogger everyday and now this one too. My blog is still in it’s infancy and someday aspires to be bigger and better.
Great Article.
Yes, about your number one (View Blogs as General Websites) here’s an article about blogs: http://blog.butterflymedia.ro/.....ate-sites/. Could give some insight?
But I guess that your social media marketing is rather more successful than getting hits from search engines?
I believe that blogs are more appropriate to get traffic from social media rather than from search engine hits - unless you have something that can help you generate thousands of articles / minute and publish it as well.. that will capture google’s attention..
A very nice and informative article.
^
I would completely agree. I especially liked point no. 3 & 4. I think this would help me a lot being a beginner of a blogger myself. Thanks a lot!