This blog started out, over 4 years ago, as my personal blog. At the time, my business blog was SEO Scoop, and I needed someplace to talk about the weird things that happened in my regular life, so I created this blog to cover that.
Deciding To Change
Over time, my interests changed, and I subsequently sold SEO Scoop. I’d decided that I wanted to center my work days around the more general topic of making a living online, and I came to the conclusion that this was the place to discuss that topic. The problem was, I wasn’t sure how to move from posting about punks who knock down mailboxes, and momma birds attacking me when I got too close to her babies, to the conglomeration it has become – how to make money online.
I didn’t want to turn off all my regular visitors, but I knew that at least some of them came here because they enjoyed my take on everyday life. (Most of those were extended family members and I knew they wouldn’t really be interested in hearing what I have to say about ebusiness). On the other hand, I also knew that many of my regular visitors were people who had found this site because they had been regular visitors of SEO Scoop, or knew me from the SEO world somehow. I assumed at least some of those visitors would be happy to hear my thoughts on ebusiness.
Where To Engage Those Loyal Visitors
Around this same time, social networks were starting to reach the point where even my not-so-technical family members were starting to participate. That’s when I realized that I could continue to share my daily oddities with the people who wanted to know those kinds of things by simply participating in the social networks where they hung out. (I’m also considering using something like Tumblr for a mini-personal blog but I haven’t done that yet).
So, knowing that it was inevitable to lose some of my visitors, but that I could still keep in touch with them elsewhere, I began the transition here from a personal blog about my life, to one that is focused on ebusiness. How did I actually make the transition?
The Actual Process
- I changed my template from a more laid back one to a more professional one.
- I slowly started making more blog posts about ebusiness and less about my personal life
- I began creating more and more ebusiness-related categories, and started consolidating the personal categories into a new parent category called Life.
If you really believe you’ll lose most of your regular followers, and don’t want to engage with them elsewhere instead, then it’s time to have some one-on-one conversations with them. Ask them if they would stick around even if your posts became less personal. If they say yes, try to come up with a compromise solution. Maybe you can have a private section of the blog devoted to the personal side of your life. Perhaps you can blog once a week in that private section, and only those visitors that you’ve made arrangements with ahead of time, are allowed into that private section. That would be what I would personally do in that situation. Your regular visitors would probably appreciate being a part of a private community like that. I’m not sure what the best way would be to actually create a private section, but I assume there’s some kind of plugin out there to handle this.
My Ideas, Your Ideas
So interacting with users on other social networks is one idea to keep that connection with regular visitors after such a major transition, and a private area of the blog just for those visitors is another idea. Of course, you could always just start a new blog, but that’s the obvious choice, and isn’t really the point of this post. I’ll bet there are other great solutions out there that I haven’t thought of. Do you have any ideas to share with those who are thinking of transitioning a personal blog to a business blog? If so, please share in the comments below.
This post is part of the Big Girl Branding / Blogs With Wings carnival created to find out “how to best go about taking a simple blog and turning it into a business blog without it being a turnoff to the readers. What would you do to turn a blog into a business platform without alienating the readers and maintaining your blog’s integrity?” Since others will be answering this same question, they’ll be adding to the ideas, so go get their solutions as well. Between all those participating, the right solution is probably out there.
I am an eBusiness Coach, Web Developer, Internet Marketer, SEO, Inbound Marketing Consultant, and General Web Geek, making my living from home.
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I like the gradual approach. Surely there will be a few people no longer interested, but those people would be lost either way. Those who remain will retain what they knew of you as a person, and incorporate that into what they know of you as an entrepreneur.
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Good point, David. Once they’ve gotten to know me on that personal level, they might be interested to know me on a business level. It happens.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I discovered this the hard way. I started with just a personal blog and when I decided to try and make money online I would publish the posts on my personal blog and the readers hated it.
It wasn’t long before I set up a second blog.
I often wonder what would have happened if I had not posted them on my person blog and had just set up a second blog straight away.
Dean Saliba recently posted..How Can I Improve This Blog
I guess we’ll never know the answer to that Dean, but the good news is that you’ve learned something from the experience – and there’s nothing stopping you from setting up another blog in the future. Good luck with any or all of them!
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I think any kind of major change to your blog is going to have an effect of some kind, whether loss of old visitors or huge influx of new ones. The steps above are good ones to take to smooth the process, but there are always going to be some bumps along the ride.
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Absolutely, there will be bumps that are just unavoidable, Laura. I guess all we can hope for, as you say, Laura, is to smooth the process as much as possible. In the long run, it generally all works out. It’s just the short term that can feel a little painful during the transition.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Put this on Stumbleupon. It is a tricky issue you bring up: ideally, a blog should be both business and fairly personal, and have no obstacles. There’s tags, categories and all sorts of other ways of organizing content that one need not be penalized for being a bit spread out. And a blog does need a personal touch, even if dedicated purely to business matters.
I’m not sure what the solution is. I would forge ahead with whatever I have planned, I imagine. It isn’t that I would be insensitive to my readers. Rather, it’s more that some regulars are going to drop by the wayside even if you change nothing.
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Donna,
I like the simple way you converted. I bet that there are an awful lot of bloggers out there who are kicking themselves for not keeping a narrow focus with their blog posts.
I think it is entirely possible to reorganize a site like you did by using a few plugins and some common sense. The Redirection plugin for WordPress would be part of the equation.
Here is one way:
Install and activate the Redirection plugin. Edit your permalink settings to include the category of the post in the URL. Then you can re-categorize your posts according to what categories really make sense as well as create any new categories. The redirection will 301 redirect all your old posts to the new URL with the new category.
Then you can just focus all your new posts on the new categories. Over time you can transition those unused categories over to your archives and just forget about using them anymore.
It will be a slow transition that will not sacrifice all of your existing links or your existing traffic.
What do you think?
Kathy recently posted..The Real Money In Freelance Writing Comes From Promoting Your Own Niche Websites
I haven’t used that particular plugin, so I’ll just take your word for it that it works well. In general, though, redirecting old posts to a new url within a new category might be a great idea. I guess it depends upon whether or not new categories will make sense within the new direction or not. But if so, then yes, 301 redirects are a good idea, and if the plugin makes those easier – all the better! Thanks for letting us know about it, Kathy.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I have always been thinking of this blog as a business blog. In the online consulting space the border between personal and business is not always obvious. Take Shoemoney as an example, he also make personal posts, just like you do. If you really want to have a truly personal blog your best option would be to write under a pseudonym.
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That’s a good point, Sorv. Hmm, what’s a good pseudonym for me? How about Priscilla Punch?
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Good point! I have been thinking this is a gradual process where you need to create reputation, have some funds to hire other writers. You also have to have your own products as well
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Thank you so much for sharing. Got here from a blog carnival. This is interesting to read others journeys on income from blogging. Been working on probloggers 31 days to a better blog so had some knowledge. It is nice to get information from others to do this the best. It is a learning curve.
I am attending a Travel Blogger convention this weekend and expect I will learn more. Submitted a post to their contest. Based on page views and comments so if you have time and inclination http://www.tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/family-feud-studio-audience-on
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Excellent post sharing your journey into a business based model of blogging. And great tips for any blogger wishing to move from a personal blog model to one aimed more towards making money.
Thanks so much for sharing this post on the last edition of the Blogs With Wings Blog Carnival.
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I’m actually glad that I ran across the blog carnival because really, this was a post I should have written long ago. I just didn’t think to write it until I saw the carnival topic. That’s another plus for social networking. I see things I might not normally see due to Twitter, communities, etc., and they spur ideas for content. Gotta love that.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
Hi Donna – Really like how you thought through the process. I maintain both a business and a personal blog, much for the same reasons as mentioned here. Family members tend to hit the personal blog, especially an “updates” page I created just for them. They rarely visit the business blog.
Your use of social media, like Twitter, is also a good way to segment your readers. I tweet under two names, again for many of the same reasons. And when people I know want to follow me or ask for my web address, I send them to the one most likely to capture (and hold) their interest.
Tumblr? I use it as a mish-mash of personal, business, ecletic, just photos … It was the solution that provided me with a happy medium between two kinds of sites.
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I have a hard time dealing with two Twitter accounts, so I’ve tended lately to segment my family/friend updates to Facebook and Tumblr, and biz stuff on this DD blog. That’s working for me atm. Twitter is my anything and everything spot.
Twitter: DonnaFontenot
I have to admit, sometimes I have a bit of a time dealing with two Twitter accounts, too!
But I’m working on being more deliberate about what I tweet to each account. Have a great week!
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