A good friend of mine recently quit his day job and began selling baseball cards on Ebay to pay the bills. He’s done a lot more than just pay the bills, though, as he’s become his own boss and now works about 70% less than he did when he was “employed.” And his income? Oh, maybe quadrupled.
Although he’s only been at it for about four months now, he’s really improved his quality of life substantially — it’s the kind of success that makes you half-jealous but also inspires you to go out and do something similar for yourself.
But despite his initial success, my buddy realizes that he can accomplish more. Problem is, he’s not quite sure how to go about it.
Earlier this week, I was over at his house, and he wanted to know if I thought his baseball card business could benefit in any way from having a Web site. For instance, could he build an online storefront that would help him reach customers outside of Ebay?
In theory, owning a Web site provides a nice platform from which to build an audience and raise the profile of your business.
In practice, however, most Web sites end up becoming useless chunks of digital real estate, barely worth the price tag that accompanied the original domain.
As I was formulating a response to my friend’s question, I began to realize that a majority of people out there simply don’t understand how to approach business on the Web. Of course, this is precisely why so many sites become “useless chunks of real estate.”
It’s not about technology — it’s about equity
So, where do most people go wrong?
Innovation happens so fast on the Web that it’s easy to become blinded by feature-rich technology and software. We are constantly hit with messages of “the next big thing,” and so we naturally assign value to what we perceive to be breakthrough innovations.
As a result, we begin to think that in order to conduct a successful online venture, we must include all this new and excellent functionality that has become available thanks to new technologies.
God help you if someone thinks you’re so 2005, right?
The problem here is that our perception of equity on the Web has been skewed unnaturally.
Yes, it’s true that there is value in new technology. For a company like YouTube, there was unbelievable equity in their product.
But here’s the real mind blower:
The real equity on the Web lies in the content, not in the technology that helps us produce it.
Think for a second here. Do you really care how that Weird Al video was delivered to you on YouTube, or do you just care about the video itself?
The equity lies in what your content is, not how it got there.
So what does this mean for my buddy’s Web site and his baseball card business?
It means that a bunch of fancy-pants technology driving a state-of-the-art, online storefront would be a terrible investment.
Thanks to the incredible rate of innovation, even your everyday Joe can go out and get a remarkably functional online storefront. This fact alone drives the potential equity of a Web-based store into the toilet.
Let’s look at this in real-world terms everyone can understand. If you want to go buy 500 acres out in the boonies, you might expect to see a cost of about $3000 per acre. If, however, you wanted to buy 500 acres within the metropolitan area of a major US city, you might expect to pay $150,000 per acre, if not more!
The bottom line is that there’s not a whole lot of equity in things that:
- are not scarce
- are not unique
It’s true that some companies and programmers actually need to focus on technology, because that’s where their equity is.
But your equity lies in your content, because it’s the one thing you can bring to the marketplace that is both scarce and unique.
It all starts with 10 simple articles.
So, how can 10 simple articles change your life?
These articles will serve as the foundation for your Web site — not to mention the future of your business. Savvy marketers certainly know the value of 10 articles on a niche topic, and I truly believe that there is absolutely nothing better you can do for your business.
By writing 10 simple articles on a topic that you love, you’ll effectively:
- Create equity in your site.
- Add equity to your business.
Let’s say you stick with writing articles on that topic for a year, and by the end of that time, you’ve accrued 100 articles. When all is said and done, you’ll own a Web site that is chock-full of detailed, current, and pertinent articles on your subject, and you’ll likely have a very targeted (and interested) audience who have all opted to come along for the ride.
And if you never believe anything else I say, make damn sure you believe this:
Google loves Web sites like this.
In my buddy’s case, if all he had were an online storefront and a slick AJAX interface, anyone could step into his market and compete against him with their own storefront. In essence, there would be no equity in his site because anyone could replicate what he already had with their own products…
But they’d have one hell of a time trying to compete with his content.
If he had 100 articles and they had none, it would be a joke. The bottom line is that in any topic, whoever controls the information flow around that subject holds all the power.
By writing articles on baseball cards, my buddy could establish himself as the preeminent source of information on that topic. He could build a valuable Web site and a targeted, interested audience at almost no cost. In as little as 9 or 10 months, he could create so many channels through which to make money that it would be utterly ridiculous.
At that point, his only problem would be figuring out how to further capitalize on all the opportunities that he’d created for himself.
And it all would have started with 10 simple articles.
64 Comments ↓
so well written my friend and great advice at that! this could be the start of a great series. of post..but on it’s own it’s great too!
i’ve been too busy to keep up to date with my google reader. i’m just glad your post was right on top..when i happend to be looking!
Chris, Thanks for the great explanation about the difference in value between blogs and static web sites from a business perspective. Good stuff.
Very good article.
Well said. The real estate adage of “location location location” doesn’t equate into the digital realm. It’s just as easy to visit any other URL. Nowadays it’s all “content content content”.
Great post Chris. Another benefit comes back to the old adage that people prefer to do business with folks they like. By contributing something in the niche (good info articles on baseball cards) he is establishing an audience who begins to feel they know him. His passion for it will come through, and if his intention is to share some valuable insights, people will pick up on that.
Just like in the non-Net world the best way to make friends and build relationships is to offer something of value and that you care about, and to be authentic.
But what about that SEO advice I read yesterday that said all I need are links …
And the one I read the day before that said that Google doean’t use LSI (themed content like you refer to here) to rank sites …
Or the one that said that …., oh never mind, I’ll just write the articles and shut up.
Damn fine advice Themedude !
Hmmm… maybe I should have done this.
Oh wait… I did.
Did OK on links too, Mike.
And in Google.
Hmmm,
Maybe I should have done ALL of those ….
Oh wait …no, I didn’t …. BUT I’m going to !
Thanks to the Dynamic Duo !
Tony: Absolutely spot-on. I think the communication benefit of blogging is pretty well known at this point, but a lot of people still have a hard time believing that a blog can hold real value. Unique, expert content that rests on a fully-indexed domain is hugely valuable. Sound the horns.
Mike: For you, a good blog really is a brick-and-mortar business
Brian: I never promised that you could conquer such a competitive keyword in 9-10 months, but with Copywriting 101, it looks as though you’ve done just that.
[...] Go Check It Out. Subscribe To This Blog Via Email or RSS [...]
It’s probably fair to say that those 10 articles need to be solution-focused, ‘how-to’ type stuff so that they’re returned on search queries for business-related issues.
My own site has over 3000 original pieces of content, but I tend to think is of little commercial value since it’s creative writing (short stories, scripts etc.) rather than business-applicable articles.
Which is annoying really, because one could (if one were mad) argue that we’re a text equivalent of YouTube, but I don’t see anyone queuing up to offer me a billion dollars
Michael,
Agreed. Creative writing may work if you’re focused on becoming a fiction writer, but for the rest of us, creative pieces probably wouldn’t hold nearly as much value.
Instead, write information-rich, topical articles that people interested in your subject might find helpful.
Within just about any niche, a collection of articles focused on that topic hold some pretty serious value.
Hi Chris,
Sorry to be off-topic. I quit by day job a few months ago to start my website and I need a design badly. Will you be accepting new clients soon? I looked at a few of your designs and they look great. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Henry
I like this article too. Thanks and I’ve subscribe to your RSS feed.
Excellent article, very well written. I wish I had that level of success on E-bay!
I enjoyed this article alot, and you definitely have another subscriber!
Hi Chris. Quite a valuable advise, and to be frank I hate leaving “Good article” or “good post” comments but even if nothing is coming to my mind right now (could be because it is 3:35 AM) I want to drop in a few words. You said:
Although I’ve been blogging for a long time I agree that people — especially the ones planning to give you work — find content on your business website more convincing compared to that on your blog. This of course is a bias because some people — for instance you — publish pure gems on their blogs, but this is the reality. This perception is going to change gradually; I’m getting a few assignments through my blog.
Content, yes; nothing can beat good, relevant content.
[...] Dit is dan ook de reden dat ik initiatieven als buurtstart.nl en topclick.nl niet zou aanraden. Als ondernemer kun je ook een site of weblog (laten) opzetten met een klein aantal artikelen waarin je de kern van je bedrijf uitleg. Een weblog is eenvoudig opgezet, dat kan (bijna) iedereen. De kern van de kennis die jij hebt als bedrijf, wat is het onderscheid met anderen. Bouw daar een leuke website omheen, niet te moeilijk niet te mooi, gewoon helder en met aandacht voor de inhoud. Want 10 artikelen die de mensen interesseren kunnen het verschil al maken. Dan wordt je ook in de grotere zoekmachines al dan niet in de lokale of vertikale versie gevonden. [...]
Awesome. We’re eager to grow our own business in such a fashion — I want to enjoy what I do and show that infectious fanaticism for the products we sell by natural means. We’re fans of reviews and guides, and we’ve been meaning to do more with blogs. Articles seems to be a natural fit for our website. Eager to get cracking!
Hmm. Maybe I should have done this. Wait. I did. But I spread it out over a 100 articles
Nevertheless, beautiful post, Chris. Quite possibly one of the best bits of info about blogging in a single post.
Though 10 or 100 posts, it doesn’t stop there. I have at least 4 or 5 sites with 100+ posts and they are barely starting to get traffic. Start with the content, keep adding more, and then start promoting.
No one knows you’re there until the links start coming, and the links dont start coming until someone knows you’re there. If you build it, they MIGHT come. Make sure that there is a market for your content. If it’s not there, help create it.
Chris
My site is still new, and I’ve already learned a lot from yours. Most of all that it takes a process of focused evolution and continuous innovation to improve.
Even within a ready-made solution (I currently use your Pressrow theme in WP.com) there is a lot of scope for Pe(a)rsonalisation. That takes some time, and concentration, too.
There are many ideas here, and not just about web design. I liked your inspirational piece about Pe(a)rsonal skills and qualities best of all.
Marvellous stuff - so many thanks.
Chris,
..and believe it or not there is tremendous demand for content involving baseball cards & sports memorabilia. I launched a site totally devoted to news from this hobby/industry on July 1 and we’re already selling advertising and had over 60,000 page views in October alone.
Why did I do it? Because there was a need. There is a thirst for information out there and if you can serve it well, and market yourself, people will find you. Please tell your friend about our site, too! Thanks!
Oh my goodness, this is the one thing I preach…get your articles and your name out there. Besides adding credibility, your link will show up predominantly in the search engines under your key search words or phrases. I couldn’t stress writing for the web more. Great post….I am adding your link to my promoting blog at http://www.selfpublishedebookpromotion.blogspot.com if that’s okay.
Of course it’s ok! I’m always honored to receive a link.
[...] How Can 10 Simple Articles Change Your Life? - If you blog, you’ll want to read this from top to bottom. If you don’t yet blog, it’s even more important for you to read it. [...]
[...] How Can 10 Simple Articles Change Your Life? | Pearsonified [...]
Once you’ve created site content, then the next step is to push it. Offer your visitors a once a week newsletter about baseball cards. Get them to sign up and get their e-mails.
Now you have a list of customers and you can promote yourself or monetize the list. It’s the Tech Target model.
Jcooke,
Absolutely. You know what they say about leading horses to water, though
10 content-rich articles are great in theory - but try writing ones that really offer original content. That’s the challenge. And the bottom line is ghostwriters just don’t cut it anymore. The best articles are the ones a site owner writes himself. Sure, get an editor or something to clean up the text, but the meat of the content, the ideas, advice and the overall concept must come from the Web publisher.
Lisa,
No one is going to write you a better, more relevant article than you. Someone else’s articles aren’t likely to change your life, but I believe yours certainly can!
The article is very informativ. Thanks for the great explanation. Well done.
[...] Here’s a good blog post on website content. How Can 10 Simple Articles Change Your Life? In his post Chris Pearson, recounts a story about a friend who creates a website (nonething fancy) but has wonderful content (10 articles). He kills his competition with his content. When you are selling your expertist, you must promote yourself with articles that provide value to your prospects. I see this over and over, people search the web looking for information and find you. Articles posted on website can provide leads years after the intial posting. Don’t forget to submit them to industry websites. If your website provides a service, people will find you. [...]
Hey - thanks for the great articles across your site and the cutline theme too…just wanted to mention a book (I have nothing to do with it, in any form)…
Call To Action by Brian & Jeffery Eisenberg
It really fits into what you are talking about. Combined with your articles I am moving in a new direction for the first time in a long while.
An update here..In just 7 months we have become the #1 sports card & memorabilia news site (http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com) because we offer fresh content every day. We also spread the content around with links on message boards, etc. As long as you offer news value and/or interesting content, that’s OK..not spam. And Lisa is right…writing your own content is the best. Adding pictures is even better. Readers like tips, instruction and how-tos as well as research that can help them get ahead of the competition. Not TOO basic, but well researched, crisp and confident content.
very good article. Great points here and very truethful. Chris, i really love your articles.
Sorry to ruin the party..
http://www.v7n.com/content-isnt-king.php
http://www.v7n.com/marketing-content.php
Good writing though
Rento
Rento — You haven’t ruined anything, but you have brought up a point that deserves another look.
Both of your v7n articles fail to address the fact that they’re considering two incredibly different business models. My primary point of contention here is the fact that not all of us have—or necessarily want to have—a variety of products to sell. This means that if we still want to find a way to monetize the Web, we’ll need to find other ways to drum up business, and that’s what my tips are all about.
The second thing I’d find fault with is the simple fact that there are some of us who operate out here “on the edge,” trying to develop an Internet economy in regions that require far less initial overhead. It’s a different type of challenge, but one that is worthy of respect nonetheless.
This is almost like saying that starting up a premium laptop company like Alienware wouldn’t be worth it because you couldn’t make as much money as Yahoo! or Google. Of course they won’t make as much money—their respective industries (computers and search) have different market caps!
I am a part of the “made from scratch” sector of the Web, and I find it questionable that v7n would fail to mention the legitimacy of small businesses operating on—and profiting from—the long tail of Internet commerce. I feel like they’ve cheap-shotted a market sector that deserves much fairer treatment than has been given here.
Wow! Love the article. Love your site. Love the message.
I gotta lotta love for you, Chris (and in the most professional way, or course).
I’m going to take your advice and begin my quest to conquer the mighty 100 articles. I think I have 3 on my site so far. Can you write some articles on the next step after you have the content? How do you turn your equity into monetary value?
Awesome work.
- Daniel
Great article – very well written as well. I can see that the methodology is working for you. Content is king.
I agree that a website is only as valuable as its content or service. Thanks for this interesting article.
Great article. I truly believe that having a blog full of relevant content is the way ot go for getting relevant traffic to your site. Great comment to rento’s comments as well. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.
Man, love your blog, designs and specifically this blog post.
I also spend a large amount of time talking to clients about. I generally put it this way: You can kind of compete as a ‘business card’ website today, but in 5-10 years you’ll be page 10 as all the real content players will have taken the front rows…where do you want to be? Then I point them to one of my favorite quotes: “Best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Take care man and thanks for putting out some great stuff here.
- Sean
Same here, I really love your blog, you set the standard in terms of design and content! Thanks for this awesome post, motivating me to start writing 10 articles right now!
liked the use of the metaphor…
i got early what your friend and baseball cards might mean to me…
yes- content is the king!
Great article and advice. Despite the fact that millions log on to the internet every day and that almost as many are out there trying to use it in some productive way, we often forget that it is still a relatively new technology. As a result, it is still a little-understood technology in many ways. Some of those are cultural – what, for instance is it doing to us as a society, for good and ill? We are shifting so fast we sometimes don’t stop to notice. But perhaps more important, once things have completely shifted, where will we be, and what will be the best means of capitalizing on that shift? Capital investment and overhead, for instance, aren’t what they used to be. Artistic design and an ability to change quickly are suddenly much more important than they ever were. And, as your article points out, information is suddenly the most important product you can offer – more valuable than gold. There are other uses of information, but you offer an outstanding example. We need more prophets like you out there in cyberspace.
Great tips, especially about equity and now how it got there.
Rento, I agree that having something to sell is key. But the v7n articles miss the point. How do ecommerce sites attract traffic?
No one links to a product. So you need content to attract links for natural search.
PPC? That’s a sucker’s game by design over the long term, and Google knows it and loves it. Watch your margins sink year after year unless you can keep people coming back. How can you do that? Content.
Selling stuff is king, but content is the advertising of the Internet, because as the article points out, banners and other web ads don’t work. Chris’ friend is not selling banner ads, he’s selling baseball cards, and the content is a prospect attraction funnel.
Content is the key attraction strategy of the web. Ignore it at the peril of your bank account.
Great read!!! I just started my own Videogame and Tech blog and this truly is going to help jump start it. I now see exactly what makes for a good post/good site. Concentrated, unique content will always win out over a lot of stale content. Thanks again!
Despite having worked on major web sites for a while, I don’t think I’ve heard this explained in a more concise form ever before.
It’s easier to drive community interest towards a site that has higher equity value. To me I see more sense in trying to become part of something larger (with more equity) if I can still maintain my identity, rather than strike out with entirely independent site.
I’d say there is probably two levels (or more) of equity in any site: the equity of an item of content, the equity of the page/area of the site you place it in, and the equity of the whole site itself.
Think of it similar to the base equity of the structure of your house, the equity value of being on a corner lot, for example, and the equity of being in that particular subdivision/neighborhood or even city. It’s all about adding up the values there…
-rawn
In regard to the 2 articles posted that are rebutting the article about “10 simple articles” The clickthrough rates for adsense may be unimpressive, but if you have a niche that knows what you offer through banner ads is legitimate, and relevant to what they have come to your site for, they WILL click through
An example is here. I started the site and wrote a ton about poker strategy, the word caught on, and I had 4 sign-ups in the first full month.
If you are writing something people want to read and can learn from, they will take your word for it when you recommend things to them.
Maybe banners alone don’t work, but if you provide write up’s for what you are offering on a consistent basis to get your readers interested, they will sign up.
You never fail to inspire us. You’re such a genius when it comes to combining inspiration with work as well as some techie matter with fun. Where do you get your own inspiration? Anyway, keep it up.
I enjoyed your blog entry about “How Can 10 Simple Articles Change Your Life? ” At last I found somebody who has a similar idea like me. You said it right: it is the uniqueness of the content/product/service plus its scarcity that determines the equity and the success of the website.
Great advice that I have been following for a while with great results.
I’ve found so many useful tips here, please keep them coming.
-Dave Dragon
Ride it like you stole it
Great article Chris!
I’m currently setting up my first “real” website at http://www.lifeinchange.com
At first, my ambition was a fairly statical page through which I could help change peoples’ lives to the better while making a bit of extra cash. This article gave me some new perspective on how to reach out to more people than I otherwise would, in a way that will make the site much more inclusive.
Keep up the good work!
- Niklas Wallenius
LifeInChange.com
who would have thought 10 simple articles….Hmm?
I find it hard to believe that anyone professionally blogs withough whoring themselves out, or their readers. The only way would be if you’re not really a traditional “blog” but a site that posts content in a blog format, like ask a ninja and such. Any video plog doesn’t really apply either because it’s a different medium.
[...] Neoclassical one). He’s also a source of some very good advice, including this post he did on how 10 simple articles can change your blog (and thus your [...]
Hey, I was wondering what the guys site name is. I would like to check it out and maybe reccomend it to my friends who buy baseball cards all the time.
Hell0, can anyone tell me how his friend is making a ton of money just selling baseball cards?
great stuff man . nice information
Great advice, BTW do you think that it’s best to specialise in one niche subject or is it ok to be more general (if you have more than one favourite subject) and then find out what your audience is most interested in?
For some time now I have been gradually waking up to the thought that my articles do not have to be 100%, never before seen by mankind, ground-breaking literature of a revolutionary sort.
They just have to be correct in what they DO say and say it well enough to be understood.
Herman Melville was probably not the first guy to write about whales, but “Moby Dick” seems to have done alright.
Well written.
All begins from that 10 simple articles. After that you can be witness of a miracle (on the web).
I can see this is posted last October 2006. Would this still work today?
I know there are lots of cheap articles on all sorts of topics that are being sold everywhere like Ebay and many people are using this strategy already. They called it PLR articles which people spin around and post on their websites.
Would Google be able to keep up with that? Is this really effective at this point in time?
Hoot and/or Holler ↓