If you blog once, you’ll want to blog again. Nearly anyone who has started a blog about something they’re passionate about will agree with that statement. Many bloggers intentions online is to make money doing it, and one way they think they can make it happen faster is by writing for multiple blogs. But is this the best way to approach it?
Running more than one blog at a time seems fun. If you love cooking and landscaping, you obviously can’t fit both topics into a single blog. So, you want to expand and make a blog for each topic. It makes perfect sense.
But just because it will be fun and is a smart move if you feel you absolutely have to write about both topics, is it the most logical? I mean, with two blogs you will really be pressed on time more than ever. God forbid you have other commitments, because you’re going to need to devote your time to make both blogs rock.
But, if you decide to hold off and just stick with your landscaping blog, well, things might be a little easier for you.
Most people would disagree with what I’m saying here; that running multiple blogs is a bad idea and will eat up all of your time. But if you can run more than one blog at a time and still have free time, then you’re probably not running them very well.
I know if one just one blog eats up countless hours during my week, I can’t imagine what a second or third would do.
I’ll just come right out and say why I think it’s a bad idea to run more than one blog at once: it’s all because of time. Plain and simple, you should NOT run more than one blog because of how much time you will spend working.
It’s not as crazy as it sounds
Blogging is all about spending time, I know. But, why spend more time than you actually have to? Like I said (and you will all agree), one blog alone eats up a lot of time so why add more work on top of it?
Think about it, to run a successful blog you need to basically follow a routine like this:
- Write blog content
- Market your blog content
- Create a dedicated audience
- Write cornerstone content
- Build your blog into more than just a blog
A lot of work? Try multiplying that by two or three and see how long you last with a new blog or two. It’s hard enough on just one, don’t you think?
It sure sounds like a lot of fun to create a new blog. I know how it is personally, as I have tried and am trying again to do it (I’ll explain why I am contradicting myself here). But let’s face it, you can label it all as fun but in reality, it’s a lot of effort. And creating just one successful blog is hard enough.
Why One Blog is Ideal Time Wise
I sat just debating with myself how I was going to tell you why I thought running just one blog is the best way to go. I decided to create a list for you guys rather than just writing out massive blocks of paragraphs, as I have quite a bit to say.
- You will not have focus on just one blog, but others. This makes attending to all of those duties I listed above more difficult than it should be and eats up your time.
- Starting another blog before you even have one blog established and “successful” is just flat-out a giant mistake. Know how to create one successful blog before you start another one.
- Chances are, you will have to shut down or stop blogging on one of your blogs due to lack of time or commitment.
- The more overworked you are, the less and less blogging remains fun. It starts stressing you out, and being a stressed blogger rather than a happy blogger results in huge failure.
- Despite what anyone says, running multiple blogs does not make you money, or become popular faster. If anything, it slows you down as you can’t give just one blog total focus all the time.
What would you add to that list? I firmly stand behind these points and would love to hear your thoughts.
The Secret is in One Blog
I really do believe that there is a certain time for when you should start a new blog. If you really want to, and are actually ready to, I say do it. No, not when you think you’re ready, when you’re actually ready.
That’s why I have decided to split this article into two. Next, I want to talk to you about why having another blog is important, but only when you’re ready. I’ll explain to you how to know when you’re ready, as, like I said above, I am starting a new blog myself. And here’s my shameless self promotion for it.
Thesis Owners, Get Excited for my New Site
After the huge success of selling my first Thesis skin, the Blogussion Theme for Thesis, my ego has inflated to the point where I believe I should do it on a larger scale. So, I am developing this site I call Kolakube, where I will be releasing and selling Thesis themes, writing articles and tutorials about Thesis and even offering freelance services for Thesis owners. If you would like to keep updated with this site, click here to sign-up to the mailing list.
So stick around guys, I will be writing the second post to this one shortly. But in the mean time, what do you think of my opinion? Is it crazy? Does it even make sense? Interested in whatever you have to say.
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?LOL, I am ze breacher. Simply because I think it is *not* about timing. It’s about alignment and intent. But then that is different thing in itself.
You have me on your KolaKube list already, signed up yesterday. So is that not a new blog? Just an article library I guess? Cool.
Asnio – I miss you, on that one.
Kolakube is going to be a lot of things…you’ll see.
Are you the author of KolaKube?
Got a whiff of it. Sounds AMAZINGLY AWESOME!
I think it’s certainly possible to run two successful blogs at the same time but not if they’re at equal levels.
For example, if you’re starting a new blog after one has been around for years, it’s certainly possible due to the vast backlog of articles, relationships and traffic you’re regularly receiving on your mature blog.
You certainly wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand of writing every day – you’d burn out. However, since the mature blog is so far along, I don’t feel it’s necessary to write every day, maybe twice or so a week.
You’ve already got most of the main topics covered so now it’s simply diving deeper into them – this requires additional time hence a wider blogging schedule.
So in the meantime, you can still work on a fresh blog.
It does require some sacrifice on your behalf because you’re going to strain yourself keeping up with the demand but once you find your flow, I think you can do it.
I wouldn’t really recommend starting two blogs at the same time, no, no no. Build a great one first, then expand
I really believe that creating one successful blog first is better than having a couple that are growing together. I’m with you, keeping up with writing on more than one blog is super hard. Like, just one blog is hard enough as it is.
Thanks for the comment man.
I think everyone is in agreement here. Start one blog, get it established and successful. Only then should you attempt another one. And maybe even another. A good portion of the A Bloggers have multiple blogs that do fairly well. But by then, they can afford to outsource, hire writers, market and all that other good stuff to make things run smoother. That’s when it starts to get good.
You just got to get over that hump…
That’s exactly my point man, I mean why try to do more than you need to? One blog takes up hours and hours of my day anyways, how much time is another going to take? I mean, I love blogging and do put in hours a day usually. But, I don’t want it to take up my whole day.
I am in agreement Alex. But, since my mind has so many ideas I have actually struggled at this. What is a good experiment is to start multiple blogs (pretend) and come up with about 20 posts. If you can make it easily to 20 then you know your passion and need to focus on that. If not, don’t start it. I wish I would have done this early on.
Additionally, when starting your first blog you really need to have a “business model” or plan of attack and how you are going to grow your community. Point is is that growing your community takes the most time and is the most important. I have seen so many people start one blog, expect all of those readers to join them at their new blog, but this is wrong. You are creating a new community. It’s going to take more time and you have to make sure each community is still fully attended to. If not, they just might all suffer.
Lastly, I will say that I have two blogs, but one is solely me and the other I am growing to become more team based.
In the end its your call.
So, if you can come up with 20 posts for 2 different blogs, then do you think you should go on and make 2 blogs?
I think a business model is important definitely, but I also think having the will to actually work with it is even more important. I mean, I make a lot of plans I want to follow but don’t always end up going by. Maybe because I think I can do something better, which is great. But usually it’s because I don’t want to put the effort into it all of the time into carrying out the plan.
I think it’s okay to have a personalish blog since you don’t have to put the most work into them. But it’s up to you of course. Thanks for stopping by bud.
I would agree here.
It is important to have one good, quality blog instead of 3 or 4 mediocre blogs.
I think if you have just one good blog, it will be more than enough for your online career. It will take more than enough of your time and you can make good money out of it, instead of having 3 mediocre blogs that won’t earn you much.
Why not overachieve on one blog than just have a few average blogs?
Thanks for the comment!
Wow, that’s quite the opinion. I’ll bet Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net wouldn’t agree with you. You should read his book, ProBlogger Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. It’s his story of how he rose to the success he did. It wasn’t by writing just one blog.
It is possible to write multiple blogs if you have the passion, the time and the organizational skills to pull it off.
However, newbie bloggers should start with just one blog and stick with that until they are comfortable and familiar with all the tasks necessary to blogging and blog promotion. Once that blog starts to achieve the success they had hopedm, then adding subsequent blogs should not be a problem.
If your heart is in it and you are passionate about it, blogging can be anything you want. That includes building and maintaining multiple blogs. But it won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen if you don’t believe you can do it.
He would I guess, but I think times are just different. Back when he was starting out, you could just run a blog and have huge success with it by just writing posts. Nowadays, you need so much more. And it’s hard to do it all on multiple blogs.
I actually did order his book and have it, I just have a few other blogging books to read before his haha.
Thanks for the comment Joella.
it is just the opposite of being crazy. I will have another blog, if i think I can maintain it and also if I am earning enough to outsource some of my duties which will save me more time and hence will reduce the stress.
Outsourcing takes a lot of pressure off of you, so I suppose if you can outsource then go for it! I like getting things done myself, so I would rarely ever want to outsource anything. But that’s just me I guess.
In my opinion, it depend on your blog strategy. If your blog strategy is with quantity over the quality, more blog is better. However, if you look for quality, more blog surely become a hindrance.
But quantity over quality in many niches just doesn’t cut it, don’t you think?
Nice post!
And good luck with kolakube.
Really appreciate it, gonna make it rock.
I would agree – start with one blog. Treat it like a business, make it successful. Then when you are making enough money – invest in outsourcing and start a second one (if you want to).
Andrew
That’s not a bad idea at all, and I’m sure many bloggers use this strategy for their own.
I’m surprised at how many people disagree on this one. I have to agree with what Alex has said as I have personally tried to run a second blog and the quality of my work dramatically decreased as a result. I’m not saying that it is a bad idea for others but for myself trying to balance design work and blogging became much harder with two blogs.
I have even tried running a second blog, and it’s hard. Right now, it’s just sitting on my host doing nothing as a failed attempt. But, I’m trying again as I am more established with Blogussion through Kolakube.com.
Some people can do it, others can’t. I just wanted to rush having a second blog, and that may be what happened to you as well man.
I can’t imagine having another blog, but that’s just me. I know several folks who run multiple blogs and do it well. I’m looking forward to hearing why you think having a second blog is important. Maybe you’ll talk me into starting another one eventually. But I doubt it
I know I still need to talk myself into creating a second blog, but I’m going to make it as easy as possible on myself!
You are absolutely right Alex,
I get your point hear and I am very sure this post is not gainst mini-sites.
Having many sites to cater for might be a little confusing, especially if in the same niche.
Imagine having a three blogs on blogging, writing for them might not be a problem but I will be confused when promoting, which blog should i link my comment links and guest post to e.t.c.
Thanks a lot for the great post,
-Onibalusi
I think it would be pointless to start multiple sites in the same niche. I mean, you’re just creating even more competition for yourself lol.
I agree about building up a quality blog, I run four forums and own dozens of blogs but 99% are crap and the one forum that is doing pretty well I’m not maintaining nearly as good as I could be.
Very honest of you to say that.
I’ve started up and closed or sold blogs and really do not have enough time to focus on more than one sufficiently (to my own high standards). When I am earning enough to get assistance I will probably feel comfortable expanding. But then I also have to be ready to share the reigns. I am enjoying the experience too much still.
I think you should focus on what’s doing the best, I mean what’s the point of hanging on to all of that “crap,” right?
Everyone is in love with Thesis and promoting it. Yah I’m sure it’s a good theme, but there comes a point when market saturation comes into play. Just how many people can you sell the Thesis theme to?
Here’s another example: You could have the biggest blog deveoted to the video game Halo. The people that read the blog will be people that play Halo (perhaps obsessively). What can you sell people that already love Halo (thesis), play Halo (use thesis) and own an Xbox 360 (have web hosting)?
The answer is nothing (or very little).
I gotta be honest, I don’t think the blog will be much of a financial success for you. If I were you I’d stick with this blog or do something different.
I believe his main sales will be custom made themes (skins) to people that already DO own Thesis; he’s a thesis theme designer.
Oh no, I’m not making a blog about selling Thesis, but to sell skins for Thesis. Like the Blogussion Theme, a premium skin to put over Thesis.
Sounds a little bit better for making money, right?
I agree, if you have alot of blogs then you are going to hard time writing for all of them. If you focused o just one blog then you could write as often as you please and thus build traffic faster.
Can’t agree with you here. I run a fitness blog and a personal blog (which is more devotional/inspirational). They are two distinct niches so I am much better off with two blogs.
How often do you update your personal blog? I think having a personal blog and a niche blog is alright since a personal blog isn’t usually as hard to maintain as a niche blog. But mostly I was talking about having multiple niche blogs at the same time.
Thanks for the comment Kevin, stay fit.
DO NOT RUN MULTIPLE BLOGS! I hope my ALL CAPS made the point. In our niche, having a blog per city seemed vogue, that was until maintenance and blogging came due. It’s a time suck, so keep to one blog and develop multiple categories. If ya have a bug that cannot be quelled then simply start another blog on a subfolder or subdomain of the your main blog.
How exactly is writing on/maintaining a sub folder blog easier then a different domain?
I agree with your point – the secret is in one blog. However I believe different bloggers got different strategies and perception. Some bloggers got time to do that. believe it or not, over than 5 blogs per day.
I agree with you because having a big number of blogs without getting any profits is totally a loss. But if a blogger could manage to run multiple blogs and got bigger profits from that, I guess it’s better for the blogger.
And congrats for your new theme site!
If you can run 5 blogs and write to all of them a day, then more power to you. That’s so much though, wow!
Thanks for the comment and the kind words, I’m so excited for it all!
Nice article but I a disagree !
Actually you have compared blogging with time/management. But what if one blogs due to his reading/writing habits, his diverse interests and his passion to share?
I know many bloggers who can not limit themselves to just one topic or blog. Although not every blog can be successful equally, but one can manage multiple efficiently if he is passionate about the topics. Otherwise it is pure headache
We all blog about our passion, and like I said: if you can write to multiple blogs a day and don’t mind spending hours doing it, then go for it. But, creating a successful blog that makes money by just writing is kind of unrealistic, you have to do a lot of other things to it.
Thanks for the opposing opinion.
Running multiple blogs, or multiple businesses for that matter, is really determined by your personal diligence and your support system; Without guest bloggers, people that help you, etc. biting off more than you can chew will inevitably lead to a crappy product, and yes, its much better to focus on creating one widely used (viral) blog with great presence, recognition, and branding, then have 10 horrible blogs that no one enjoys. For some people, they are able to multi-task and handle the stress of managing multiple projects better than others. For me, just managing one blog is enough when coupled with working as a Finance Director.
This is a superb article! because it really points me out, i was so greedy to plan running my subdomain blog and main domain blog, so i wanted to run 2 blogs, but now it really stresses me out, i really regret running two blogs, i realise i should have just one blog, and concentrate with it. There is another option though, which is autoblog..
Aww, did you write this for me? By now you probably know of the small(ish) network I’m setting up. If not, there’s a few posts right on my home page, starting with the one in Commentluv now. lol
I do agree with some, and obviously disagree with some.
It might be a BAD idea if:
1. Your a beginner, having only blogged a few months.
2. You plan 3 4 5 blogs in completely different niches, and do not have excellent organizational skills, and/or a team for research and writing etc.
3. You have considerable offline commitments – school, job, family, friends, etc.
I’m sure there’s more, but hose I think are the biggies.
It is not a really bad idea if you have little to no real concern over those things listed above. I know this, because it described me almost to a “T”…..I’m not completely friendless yet. LOL
If you will allow me to self-promote in a weird ass sorta way, let me describe why I am not the least bit worried about my upcoming blog network of my own.
While they are separate blogs on separate domains, they are all different aspects of the same niche.
Writing – writing on 5 different blogs, will not be much different then writing in 5 different categories on the same blog. I will also have guest and regular writers.
Maintenance – what, installing plugins? Design tweaks? I know a bunch, and I have a wonderful designer/assistant.
Time – ah yes. As I hinted to above, this is what I do. Online marketing and personal coaching to same.
I do not have the overwhelming offline commitments some do. I’m not in school, nor do I have a JOB. I have no family of my own. I do see friends, but we’re not stuck at the hip.
It is definitely doable if you plan for it.
Hey Dennis, I totally agree with you. I was in the process of typing almost the exact same thing you did until I noticed your comment. I have four blogs, go to school, full time job, and a wife and kids. I find it very challenging at times but I do extremely well at multi-tasking at home and work. I found that strategic planning is the key. I am always on a constant schedule and I plan all of my post ahead of time unless they are just spur of the moment topics. I just wish I could find more writers to alleviate some of the writing and because I like all of the technical aspects a little more than writing.
Alex, you are right too. Having one blog is much easier and it would be better to have one successful blog than to have a bunch of mediocre ones. Overall, I think it depends on your skill set for all the task that blogging creates. You have to ask yourself in the beginning, are you going to outsource or are you going to do it yourself? I prefer to do it myself because I’m passionate about learning and love challenges. I have outsourced some of the writing but I still do the design, SEO, marketing, video, formating, and planning.
Hey Patrick, my you do have a full plate!
Have you put out public calls for writers yet? Even better, you might be in a good position for a partner. You do the tech, partner does the writing.
I think it all depends on the purpose of the blog. I have 10 blogs and find the time, some I care less about their all about making some cash, and a few I really care about and take more time with content. It really all depends on how much time you have and the dedication factor.
Hmmm.. Lots of things to seriously ponder on. Thank you so much for your insights. Learned a lot from this.
Personally I run 3 blogs, and i’m an editor for 2 others. And i must say I do have my hands full juggling them all around. One of them is established for over a year, nearly 2 at this stage, but traffic for it is pretty awful, i’ve loads of content and pagerank 3, but the traffic doesn’t match it, im lucky to see 100 visitors a day. So about 4 months ago i decided to start another blog, and it’s traffic is 3 times higher and has only been on the go for a couple of months and it’s got a lower page rank!
My 3rd blog is my latest venture, and im thinking of shutting down my first one if this goes well, as it doesn’t make sense for me to be spending so much time on my first blog if its going nowhere
anyone any words on inspiration for me? :p
Running multiples blogs without establishing one can really mess things up especially when you are a newbie blogger and don’t know much of blogging.
Maybe if you are trying to do a “perfect” blog and develop it perfectly, then you could be right. But maybe two blogs is possible. If you are not making perfect blogs then ypu could run more
Yes, there are only 24 hours a day. Content will be spread thin if you have multiple blogs.
Nearly anyone who has started a blog about something they’re passionate about will agree with that statement.
i believe in the power of focus. True that blogging can be a very addictive profitable hobby managing a blog as mentioned in the post is not an easy task to handle no matter how much you think you can.
It takes time and effort to build up a profitable blog and i am just starting out… i would consider setting up another one once my primary blog is able to sustain by itself. Therefore before that time, i will have to work really hard with what i have got first.
=)
cheers
I guess the main point is: “Know how to create one successful blog before you start another one. ” My problem is that I am living in Sweden. I could write in english of course, but when I am blogging in Sweden I have to measure “success” differently. The population here is so small so it’s extremely hard to live on just one blog. On the same time, I only want to write about what I love. Well anyway, I will try to make my blog some kind of a source of income before I will think about starting anothetr one.
I have enough trouble handling my one blog, and writing for a couple of other sites. Running two blogs would probably kill me
So true. I tried opening 3 new blogs just to get money in a more focused niche. I ended up stop writing after the 4th or 5th post. Now I’m back to just focusing on my main blog again
It’s the time and losing the “fun” factor as u said in the post that made me stop doing it
I write multiple blogs on multiple topics partly for myself and partly for clients. It can be quite overwhelming at times constantly shifting gears and the project management part can be a bear but the end results are still worth it.
i do agree that having too many blogs will spread you thin and all but from my experience the first blog is not usually a success.the first is usually an experiment.so one might just have to start another from he lessons learnt from the first.
it is a matter of commitment and timing.but of course the lower the number ,the better.
Hi Alex.
Great post. I had actually been thinking about starting a second blog myself. I have lots of things that I would like to eventually blog about, so it is tempting. I shall re-consider now though.
So far I have been really happy with how my blog has been growing, and I think I have kept my content good, but I can see how the time restraints of a second blog would put a strain on that.
I guess, to add to your comment about making one blog successful first; most people probably start their blogs whilst holding down a job, so if you really focus on making a success of the first blog, maybe you can hope to blog full time one day, and once you get there, it is going to be a lot easier to afford the time to start new blogs.
Of course Darren Rowse is the ultimate role model for that aspiration… But maybe just covering my rent is a good place to start
Multiple blogs are good for me because I never stop write for them. If I play a game, then I write for the game blog. If I skateboarding, then I write for the skate blog. It makes us write everyday.
I agree that you likely won’t be able to manage them properly, but you do have to realize that if you start multiple, but you only focus on one, once your main blog takes off, your others will be so much easier due to the increased age and google trust that has already started to develop.
You’re right and have a good idea, but I think the best thing to do is to create a second blog and write on it month by month.
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I run multiple blogs and sites and you’re right; it’s very difficult and stressful to keep them current and growing. If I had to do it over again I would definitely stick to much fewer sites but I would definitely still branch out and do more than one site/blog to remain diversified. Diversification in niches is what has made me successful but I have the stress lines all over my face to show for it!
thanks man, you`ve opened my mind. i make only one now. but do you recommend me to merge all my blogs together? they are all about computer
Man – so what am I going to do with my 1200+ blogs? I post “some” content on each one once every month max, and they make me average of 75 cents a day each (adsense and amazon only) So $900 a day between them.(or about $320,000 per year)
GoIng to be very hard making that with one blog I think
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