Trendy blogging for big traffic
One of the quickest and easiest ways to get traffic to your blog is to actually write about stuff that people want to read. Yet, very few bloggers actually do it.
If you blog about “what’s hot” in the on-going global conversation, there’s a bigger chance for your blog to be talked about as well. Especially if you are able to provide an interesting point of view or put an interesting spin to the stories you blog about. When you talk about what’s hot, by proxy you’ll become part of the heat. 
The good news is that even if you have a very niche-specific blog, you can benefit from this strategy. All you need to do is hunt down the stories that will resonate with your audience, or find a way to tie in a particular story to your niche.
To get started, you will want to visit news services on a daily basis to find new material for your blog. This applies even if your blog isn’t about politics or news. Regardless of your niche, the daily news and current trends will have an impact on what you include in your blog, so it’s good to stay informed.
Technorati Is the first place you’ll want to visit because you’ll see which news stories popular bloggers are writing about. Technorati lists the top six blog posts and top six news stories in the follow categories: entertainment, business, lifestyle, politics, sports, technology. You can also access the Technorati Top 100 from the home page as well as your favorites list.
You should also look at the top stories in Google News or Yahoo News and at the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today and Time magazine. Pick one or two favorites and visit them daily.
Other great places to find out what’s hot are Google Trends, Google Zeitgeist and Yahoo Buzz.
Finally, here are some links to other blogs and resources that report on the news and trends. You don’t have to check blogs like these every single day but it’s good to at least be familiar with them and check the ones that appeal to you and your audience on a regular basis, especially when you are in need of blog inspiration:
The Reuters news network’s US blogs: This is one of my favorite resources to find news and trends to blog about. Reuters does a great job on the research, and all you need to do is go in and reap the benefits!
The Huffington Post: Arianna Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist, author and co-founder and editor of the Huffington Post. According to Technorati, it is the #1 blog in the world. It is where readers go to catch up on breaking news and opinion.
The editorial staff at the BBC news: Talks about the issues in the news on this blog as well as many other issues. It will also give you more of an international perspective.
The NPR news blog: This one will also give you news stories that are a bit off the beaten path. Watch this one closely because some of these stories have great potential for becoming viral (if you blog about them from an interesting perspective)
The Drudge Report: Drudge has become a powerhouse when it comes to leaking stories (particularly about politics). He always puts a spin on the news that makes his site controversial to say the least - and yet, he manages make his posts look like regular news stories. It’s a site that receives heavy traffic and a lot of people refer to it.
MSNBC’s World Blog and “In the field” with CNN: It’s always a good idea to stay up to date with what’s happening around the world. Some of the most interesting stories are happening far away and these two blogs (created by professional journalists) are a great way to get them.
BoingBoing: This isn’t a news blog but it’s one of the Top 10 blogs on Technorati. Boing Boing is a blog about “cultural curiosities and interesting technologies.” So many bloggers refer to Boing Boing that you should be familiar with it and check it from time to time.
Jack Cafferty (CNN): This blog focuses on politics and each post draws 200 or more comments from readers, so it is a highly participatory blog. This is a blog to visit when you want to get a quick glance at the current political situation, especially in election years.
If you have a favorite news blog that I haven’t mentioned, feel free to leave a comment and tell me about it.
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Great post. I can’t wait to check out your suggestions. I like to read Tech Crunch, they do a good job of keeping me up to date on what start ups are doing. Like this blog, it encourages one to continue to move forward and positive.
Yes, that is a great post Miguel. Sometimes I forget about that type of important information and get wrapped up in my own thing. That’s a great reminder!
Take Care
Davin
Hi Miguel,
I was just sharing this concept with a friend who for the life of him can’t get his blog to get any traction.
I sent him a link about “The World’s Largest Pool.” It’s a blog post I put up on Facebook as a test case study. And, as predicted, it got very heavy traffic and dozens of comments. It was a good example of writing about “something people actually want to read about.”
Did he get the lesson. Not even close. He didn’t even bother clicking the link. Too bad for him. He’ll continue to do what he’s always done and get the same results he’s always gotten.
If you want to see it, the blog post about The World’s First $1 Billion pool is is at:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=46170380516
Thanks for reinforcing my belief & intuition Miguel.
-Art Jonak
Great articles! I’m delighted to have found your blog while using searching for info about viral marketing
It’s often too easy to get sucked into your own thing and scanning the headlines really keeps me in touch with what people are talking about. One site you might wanna look at it marketingvox.com
[...] to an important and valuable piece about blogging at Miguel Alverez’ marketing factor titled Trendy blogging for big traffic. It begins… One of the quickest and easiest ways to get traffic to your blog is to actually [...]
Since the only marketing I can afford right now is viral (mostly free) I’m reading everything I can about it… I like what you’re writing here and I’m considering it for my website, http://www.MyRideisMe.com.
What do you think is the balance of original or unique content vs. something you grabbed from somewhere else? There are several popular/profitable automotive based blogs out there that really do nothing more then:
- find someone else’s unique content,
- make some witty comments on it
- grab the pics and post it all
Sure, they give credit, but most often, the hits back to the content origin site are few… (happened to me).
I appreciate everyone’s feedback!
That’s true… but the the problem with posting about “what’s hot” subjects is that a ton of other people are also doing. So unless you’ve got established traffic, it’s unlikely anyone will find your post…
Andre Thomas’s lastest post: Reeling Your Readers In (Capture Their Attention and Hang on to It)