One of my favorite pastimes is answering prospective bloggers who ask the age old question: “I sell something boring. How do you expect me to blog everyday about boring stuff?”
Well, I’ve been stumped before. Like with someone who actually was selling enema kits. It was the first and last time I was stumped for coming up with ideas for what people could blog about around a product line that surfers were searching for.
My favorite example of someone selling something kind of boring and straight forward is Bob Parsons.
He’s the guy who owns Godaddy.com. Domain names are something you need when you need them and that you pretty much don’t think about in between purchases. They aren’t as bad as insurance, but it’s kind of the same thing. You only pay attention to Godaddy when you need a domain.
Really? I’m sure you caught Bob’s commercials during the Super Bowl with Danica Patrick taking a shower and the well-endowed women in the now infamous “baseball” commercial. Domain names aren’t all Bob’s selling!
Now I know you and I can’t afford $3 million dollar ads during the Super Bowl. That’s not the point. The point is Bob has made a mundane task, buying domains names seem not only fun, but, against all odds, sexy! Domains. Sexy. I know it’s the first time you’ve ever read those two words together, but Bob Parsons shoved them together and it works. I’ll give you a moment to ponder.
And he has a blog. And a radio show. And a video blog. Yeah, the guy who sells things to geeks that only a relatively tiny percentage of people on the web actually buy. What on Earth could a guy who sells domain names have to put in a radio show and on blogs on a regular basis?
Well, see for yourself.
What’s my point?
Same as it ever was. You can blog about anything. You just have to be creative and you have to have a product that enough people are searching for to make it worthwhile. Bob doesn’t blog about how to buy domains. He blogs and podcasts videos about internet security and the issues that affect everyone who owns a domain, thinking of buying a domain, hosting, web design and all the other crap that comes with a domain. He does funny stuff and he does rants against domain squatters and people who cheat the domain buying system.
Now, here’s why I almost went with a different example. Now that you’ve seen with your own eyes how someone can successfully drive millions of people toward his business, you’re gonna trick yourself into thinking you always knew that a guy selling domains would easily have a lot to blog about.
Do not be fooled. You actually had no idea before you saw Bob’s content that there would be anything he could blog about on a regular basis to attract a prime audience to his products. Be honest!
Not convinced?
- You sell furniture. Your blog is about interior design and organization. There are 4 trillion things you can blog about if you sell furniture. Don’t believe me? How many home decor and related magazines are in publication right now?
- You sell “World’s Greatest Dad” coffee mugs. You blog about all the things kids can buy their dads on Fathers Day. On such a site with such a product, you should come up with all the ways to honor dad, including stupid coffee mugs and trophies proclaiming the greatness of said dad. They’re stupid, but dads all over the world are prepping their fake joyful reactions when they unwrap tens of thousands of just such products. Then blog about the importance of kids making their dads get regular exams for the myriad health issues dads are up against. “My Dad got his prostate examined and all I got was this lousy mug!”
- You sell snarky t-shirts with lines from teen movies on them. You blog about teen culture. How to be too cool to care. How to be stylish on a budget. Pick up a teen mag, read the headlines, and freakin blog about what kids who buy t-shirts like yours care about.
- You sell [insert product here]. You come up with ideas for regular ongoing content that people who buy [insert product here] are also interested in which is related to [insert product here]. (It’s a formula dummy)
And Finally, The Holy Grail of Odd Niches…
- You sell enema kits. Your blog is about the health benefits of detoxing, healthy recipes, colon health, and about a million other things people who are into that kind of stuff are reading about right now on your competitors’ sites and places like About.com!!
Yeah – I was stumped before on the enema kit when the guy asked me, but no longer. There isn’t a niche on the planet that has people looking for solutions and information that cannot benefit from having a blog. Not a single one. If enough people are looking for your product or service on the web, you CAN have a blog that pulls in readers, rankings, and dollars.
Now, I hope you’ve picked a better niche than enema kits. I mean seriously. And assuming you have, then you aren’t going to have any trouble thinking creatively about what people who are best targeted for your product or service would be interested in reading about or keeping up with.
This big fat hairy excuse for not starting a blog is now officially debunked, rejected, spat on, and found severely lacking. Please stop sending me niches you think no one can blog in. You’ll never beat enema kits, so stop trying. Start Blogging!
