What makes hordes of people stampede to a blog, and then come back again and again?
Lots of different subjects appear to interest readers, on the surface…
But when you boil it down, the most successful blogs have articles that focus on one of three primal themes. They:
- Help their readers make money
- Teach their readers how to save money
- Inspire their readers to feel happier
That’s it! Now let’s go into more detail.
Why Money Matters
The bulk of your time is spent earning money, and then you spend additional time trying to hang onto your money. And chances are, if you don’t have much money, you’re trying to figure out how to earn more, right?
Guess what? You’re not alone, either. As a society, we have money on the brain.
To help you understand why, let me take you back. Waaay back to when humans lived in caves and foraged and hunted antelopes for dinner. Back then, our primal fear was starving. If someone discovered a new way to make it easier to hunt those antelope, you can bet that their campfire was packed.
Money, of course, is the modern-day equivalent of antelope, because like antelope, money is essential for our survival. After all, how else can we get food, water, shelter, and entertainment?
Now you may be wondering, “what if my blog isn’t about making or saving money?”
It doesn’t have to be. You can relate almost any blog topic to money in some way.
Personally, I help my blog readers earn more money as freelance writers. By contrast, there’s another successful blog that talks all about herbal remedies and how it can help save money on doctor bills.
All in all, if you write about earning or saving money occasionally, you’ll be sure to attract new readers and impress existing subscribers.
Happiness Is a Serious Problem
While we, as people, are healthier and live longer than any of our known ancestors in history, we are often miserable. It’s quite sad, too. We have more time for joy and happiness, and yet, we spend our extra time feeling unhappy.
Some think the modern era brought about this unhappiness, and while that could be true, Dennis Prager, the author of Happiness is a Serious Problem, says “the greatest battle for happiness is with our own nature” and he’s right. Happiness comes from within.
As a blogger, you can attract tons of new readers by uplifting, inspiring, and increasing the joy of life for people.
Not convinced? Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project has 27,000 subscribers who’ve joined her in the quest to enjoy life here on Earth a bit more.
Again, you’re probably wondering, “what if my blog isn’t about happiness?”
Don’t worry. Like with money, you can bring happiness into almost any blog niche. All you have to do is discover what potentially makes your audience unhappy and show them how to solve it.
Combine Primal Topics for Maximum Effect
These three primal topics—making money, saving money, and feeling happiness—are inter-related. It’s what everyone desires in life, so when you combine them, you create an appealing blog.
For example, Leo Babauta, author of the hugely successful blog Zen Habits, incorporates aspects of all three primal topics in his writing.
- He teaches you how to be more productive through simple living, so you may well make more money.
- You also learn how to be happier with less stuff, and
- When you buy less stuff, you potentially save more money.
Bingo! He hits the trifecta of meeting human beings’ 21st-Century primal needs. No wonder he’s got more than 150,000 subscribers.
Bonus: How These Primal Themes Help You Sell Products
Let’s say you stumble on an information product. Wouldn’t it seem like a bargain to spend a small chunk of change if it could transform your earning power, drastically lower your monthly bills, or unleash your inner peace?
Absolutely!
So, bloggers in these niches also become more successful because they’re selling what people want to buy, knowledge of how to be wealthier and happier.
Now that you know the power of these primal triggers, how can you design your blog to capture this big, highly motivated audience?
It’s simple. Provide really clear, useful information that addresses readers’ fears, a bit each day. On Monday, teach them how to save money. On Tuesday, teach them how to make more money. And on Wednesday, show them how to be happier.
Rinse and repeat.
Before I close out this article, I have a word of warning…
When people are scared, you can’t wander off-topic, deliver lame junk people have read dozens of other places, or ramble because you’ll lose your readers.
However, if you provide quick tips that help your readers alleviate those fears, as quickly and effectively as possible, you’ll win them over forever and you’ll be well on your way to building your very own cult-like following.
If you’d like some help relating your blog topic to money or happiness, please feel free to leave a comment!
Photo credit: BlatantNews.com
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{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
I like it! And it is so true…helping others brings happiness. Even better if you can help them with something they are consciously wanting help with! I enjoyed this article on tapping into the “primal” topics that interest blog readers. Thanks…
Hey Joel, is there any specific way you help bring happiness into peoples lives? I see you run a chiropractic business. Did you find anything, in your experience, that worked well for you?
You know, I’ve never thought of this before but it’s totally helpful and really made sense! (<– And that's the goal of any blog post, eh?) Great example with ZenHabits, too.
I liked how you mentioned tying happiness in when promoting a product. Because that's really what it all boils down to. If someone is buying a product because it will make them more money, I think it's safe to assume that they want more money in order to live the lifestyle the want and therefore be more happy. So why not play to that more directly when writing copy?
Great food for thought, Carol! Thanks!
One of the best and most helpful articles I’ve read lately.
Thanks for publishing it.
Great take on the issue, Carol.
Keeping those 3 points in mind would definitely help to make us all better bloggers.
Thanks for inspiration.
Ana
As a very happy Thesis user I found this blog article very good, you have hit the nail on the head. (Though I hadn’t thought of this enduring problem with blog topics in such a simplistic way.)
The trick is to use this formula to whatever you are trying to sell or market!
I’ll have to be more creative in my blogs etc.
I know for a fact that in my line, people do get a real kick out of getting a new tat. So that’s the feel good part!
Making money…the demand for tats is really high at the moment and growing! (Good for me!)
However, tats are not cheap which means people have to make sure they get it right in the beginning or else…major expense & headache getting it right.
I look forward to all your blog posts. Thanks!
Tom
What a great example of how huge the variety is of what could make people happy. Personally, tats are against my religion, so they would not make me happy. But you’ve carved out a whole niche of people who find joy in this! And this is what makes the blogosphere so much fun.
Amazingly simple put: “You can relate almost any blog topic to money in some way.”
If I had understood this phrase, say, 3 years earlier I would’ve been a rich man.
Thanks for making me remember the 3-point-principle
Great article! I would probably add that if you can entertain people or find a unique way of providing information about something people are passionate about (sports, music, movies, etc.) you will attract quite a following. I suppose that probably ties into the happiness thing, but I figured I would throw that out there.
I do think that falls into happiness. I really liked Carol’s article because she broke down what people want, quite simply, into three core topics. Money, on one hand, helps you survive, and on the other hand, everything else falls into happiness.
Hey Carol,
I think you’ve given me a couple of ideas what to write about on my blogs. I think there are a lot of people out there who wants happiness but the source of their happiness is very varied and diverse. The trick is also to find what makes them happy, address them in your own content and get them to come back again and again. Got to check out how Leo does it.
If you don’t know Leo, get his free ebook on how he got 150,000 subscribers — great introduction to how he did it. Of course blog marketing has changed over the years, but still lots of great tips in there.
You forgot sex. Can you honestly say, sex ‘doesn’t’ sell?
I’m not being facetious. And I believe you mean well.
Do you think this is:
a. Original ideas?
b. Perhaps a little oversimplified?
Please don’ take this personally. I’ve seen way to much ‘experts’ who want to tell me how to be happy, make money and Clark Howard has the market on saving money.
Again, I certainly don’t want to be quarrelsome or disrespectful. I just don’ t agree that there is ANY magic formula for making blog bucks.
Good luck and all the best.
Where did Carol say this was a magic formula for making blog bucks? What she’s saying is, when you target happiness or money, you can attract new readers, because everyone wants money and happiness.
Not to get too personal, Hal…but does sex not make you happy? Um…I’m surely hoping so. If not, free tip — you’re doing it wrong.
I think helping people have a better sex life would definitely fall in the happiness category! Using sex to market works because…it makes people feel happy.
If you feel like you’ve seen to many ‘experts,’ my sense from that comment is that these bloggers didn’t succeed in helping you do one of the three things above. The bloggers we love and follow do at least one of those three things.
Feel free to bring us an example that doesn’t.
I never really looked at it that way before, but your post is absolutely correct. Those are simple common things that people struggle with and look for help with everyday.
Thanks for the information As a new bloger I will keep the three points in mind and a real part of my blogs
You nailed what I do on my blog. I focus on helping business owners and entrepreneurs make money, get money, save money, and I love writing about positive afirmations and business and life coaching topics which are really about becoming a happy person.
http://www.donaldhunterfinancial.com/why-keep-doing-the-thing-that%e2%80%99s-holding-you-back/.
This is awesome. 3 simple topics but very powerful. Surely going to implement these. Thanks for sharing.
Carol,
Your article confirmed that I’m on the right track and encourages me to be stay on track.
When I set out to write my life story, a book urging readers to embrace happiness came out instead. I proceeded not realizing that the happiness genre was so crowded. Instead of comforting me, that fact made me a little scared and very intimidated that my message would not be heard above the din of established and well-known writers.
Gretchen, Prager and Leo are amazing examples of writing from the heart about what people care about can also lead to financial success. (I’m delighted to be a member of Leo’s A-List Blogging Club where I’m learning so much about the unique and amazing writing we call blogging.)
Thanks for giving me this reminder to keep my blog focused on alleviating my readers’ fears and offering them tips that will help them create the happy lives they seek.
Kudos to you, Flora, for following your heart and taking the risk!
Hi Flora –
I’m in A-List as well! Hope to see you over there on the forum, too.
Never think of the happiness niche as overcrowded. Do you have the sense America is maxing out on happiness, that we’re all just way too happy? Yeah. Still plenty of room there for new people to come in and inspire an audience.
Great points! With my self help site, I have a contact form where readers are encouraged to let me know what THEY want to read about because I’m much more interested in giving them what they want as opposed to what I want to give them.
The most common theme centers around happiness – how to have happier relationships, how to feel happy, how to be happier, etc.
At the end of the day, we all want to have tired smile muscles.
Thanks for a great post and to all involved for creating what has become my #1 must-read blogging blog.
Carol, thanks for focusing in for us. Really good food for thought. The translation is where I get stuck. Will take this back to my marketing team to talk about how to use these as the underlying themes for our marketing efforts. Seems these points are applicable on multiple levels of running a business.
Good point, Kathi! It’s not just useful for blogging.
Great article! I learned so much from it and look forward to more in the future.
Excellent article! We all want to be happy and look for ways to do that on a low or no budget. In my blog I try to show people the way to saving money by cooking at home and being happy with your loved ones around your own dinner table with twice the flavor and half the costs.
Thanks for sharing this great article!
This is great. Ok, I am really new to blogging. Specifically what should I do? Create titles that incorporate money saving and happiness? Then include keywords throughout the blog that relates to the topic and money savings and happiness? I know this sounds simplistic, just trying to figure out how to blog and get the most out of it. Any suggestions, greatly appreciated
Hi William –
Well…that’s a big, big topic there!
I say the one of the most important words in blogging is “why.”
Why do you want to blog? To make your clients feel more connected to you? To find new clients? To move into writing a book or selling classes? As a hobby? Because you have a passion for collecting Hubbel figurines you simply must share with others?
Next, who do you want to reach? Who would be reading the blog?
Now we’re ready for the money/happiness question — how could you help that audience meet their primal needs? That gives you your niche topic. Maybe it’s saving money on hospital bills through acupuncture, which also makes you have more energy, so you feel happier…or something along those lines.
I’m not suggesting you SEO the words “money” and “happiness” through your posts. The idea is to give really useful advice from your expertise that would ultimately help your readers meet those primal needs.
Hope that clarifies.
Carol – I keep trying to think of things that don’t fit into your categories, and I really can’t! (I guess saving time would either fall under saving money or feel happier).
You mention for bloggers to think of “what potentially makes your audience unhappy and show them how to solve it.” I just read a great article about that on David Risely’s blog (http://www.davidrisley.com/target-market). He sells security solutions for WordPress, and his target market was people who were actually SAD – they’d been hacked. The rest of the WordPress users weren’t interested in his product because they just didn’t think it would happen to them – they weren’t sad yet!
Hi Erika –
Interesting story on David’s product. He must need to locate the sad people to make them happy, but I bet they’re REALLY happy if he can solve that problem!
Very well spoken, theworld does revolve around money and has done ever since it was developed to ease the barter trade. there is one thing I keep on remembering though:
“Having money does not make you happy, though it sure makes it a lot easier!”
I sometimes wish I had lots of it but deep down I also know I do not really care for the stuff as most times it affects you nature adversily.
The fascinating thing is that studies have shown that more money does make us happier…to a point. The point where we’re fed, clothed, housed, and can basically live without that primal fear that we’ll end up in want of those things.
As you go up from there, apparently, there is little happiness gain. Or maybe they just say that to pacify those of us who aren’t yet million-dollar bloggers!
Carol
Your advice is superb and so powerfully expressed. It inspired me to take action and launch my latest blog themed “Being Happy & Making Money.” I especially love your suggested Mon/Tues/Wed recipe – I’ll implement that and compile those posts plus more into my weekly newsletter for subscribers.
Oh and I just gave you a great rap in a post that referenced this article. BTW, for a non-user you did very well getting a gig on the official Thesis blog.
Well…as it happens I’ve been looking seriously at going to a paid theme, and I’m leaning heavily toward Thesis. So stay tuned on that! I’m sort of hitting the limits on my free theme at this point on my blog. Been talking to the gang. If I switch you know I’ll be blogging about it!
But the guys here at DIY Themes were interested in having me guest for my writing brain, not my blog body…
It is interesting that an often talked about observation is:
1) Find a winning formula,
2) Get good at rinse and repeat
3) Keep making one minor change at a time and measure your results
4) Back To Step 2
Thanks for the article,
Jeff
Boy…did that hit the nail on the head…great article. It comes down to 2 things that most people are after, acquiring pleasure & avoiding pain…
Well, there’s an even more basic way to look at it!
Certainly thinking about pain points is a mantra with copywriters. And it’s a similar scene with our blogs. Think about why readers are at your blog? What are they trying to solve? They need their day uplifted maybe, or they need to learn how to earn or keep their money to avoid the pain of starving or even just having to move out of their home.
When we bear readers’ pain in mind, we’ll always find a great topic to write on.
Great post, that answers my question on why ProBlogger is starting a website on happiness.
I will gladly accept your help in finding a way to incorporate my blog around these simple topics.
@VENUEINSIDER
I’ve been circling around these same three topics for my blog but I couldn’t nail them down for months. They were on “the tip of my tongue” for so long but I couldn’t clearly identify them or focus on them. This is the slap on the back of the head I needed, THANK YOU!
You’re welcome…and at our house we find a bag of frozen peas on that injury relieves the pain nicely.
Hi Carol,
Great posting again! It was a good stuff and it sounds great. It really provides the effective & informative notes on essential topics that attract new blog readers & to give up the issues with blogs. Thank you so much for sharing this post. Keep up your great works, Congrats.