Just a blog: How to Write ‘Off Topic Posts’ Without Losing the Focus on Your Blog

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

How to Write ‘Off Topic Posts’ Without Losing the Focus on Your Blog - DailyBlogTips

How to Write ‘Off Topic Posts’ Without Losing the Focus on Your Blog

Posted: 23 Aug 2011 09:38 PM PDT

This is a guest post by Aman Basanti. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Being a savvy blogger, you understand the importance of having a focused blog. You make sure that what you write is relevant and specific to your target market. You do not post content that may dilute the focus of your site.

Yet you still like writing about other topics, especially topics that are related to your overall market but are not specific to your niche.

So how can you continue writing on those subjects without losing the focus on your blog?

This was my dilemma. I loved writing about consumer psychology and wanted to keep my blog, Age of Marketing.com, focused on buyer behaviour. But I also enjoyed writing on other topics like blogging tips, entrepreneurship and personal success.
What was I to do?

The answer was to think outside the box, or in this instance, outside my blog.

The Answer

Just because entrepreneurship was not the focus of my blog did not mean it was not the focus of another blog, like Business Insider. Just because blogging tips were not the focus of my blog does not mean they were not perfect for ProBlogger or Daily Blog Tips.

Turned out not only could I continue writing about other topics, I could turn it into a powerful traffic generation strategy for my blog.

Here is how I benefited from writing off-topic posts and publishing them on other blogs:

Kept my blog focused: I could still keep my blog focused on consumer psychology and buyer behaviour.
Expanded the number of topics I could write about: It is easier to find post ideas when you have more topics to choose from.
Made blogging fun: They say a change is as good as a holiday. While I loved writing about consumer psychology, it was fun to write about other topics as well.
Built traffic and back-links: Traffic from guest posting is the highest converting traffic (in terms of blog opt-ins) I have ever got to my blog.

What this does and does not mean

Now this is not your ticket to writing and submitting generic, half-arsed guest posts to other bloggers. Nor is it an excuse to stop writing for your own blog.
It just means that the next time you spot a brilliant post idea that is not directly related to your niche, then go ahead and write it up. Or if you start to feel stale and need a break, take time out from your blog and write for another blog. You will build traffic, back-links and recharge your batteries at the same time.

About the Author: Aman Basanti writes about the psychology of buying and teaches you how you can use the principles of consumer psychology to boost your sales. Visit Ageofmarketing.com to get his new e-book – Marketing to the Pre-Historic Mind: How the Hot New Science of Behavioural Economics Can Help You Boost Your Sales – for free.

Original Post: How to Write ‘Off Topic Posts’ Without Losing the Focus on Your Blog