There are basically two types of bloggers in the world - reporters and experts - and some people perform both roles (usually the experts, it's hard for reporters to become experts, but it's easy for experts to report). Becoming an expert is crucial to make money blogging.
If you have ever taken an Internet marketing course or participated in a seminar specifically for beginners, you have probably heard about the two different methodologies. Whenever the business model is based on content, and if you earn an online income then the model is based on content, people are taught to either begin as reporters, or if possible step up as experts.
I'll be frank, you want to be the expert.
Reporters leverage the content of the experts and in most instances people begin off as reporters because they haven't established expertise. Experts enjoy the perks of preeminence, increased income because of perceived value, it's easier to get publicity, people are more likely to find you rather than you having to seek others out, joint ventures come easier, etc. experts in most cases simply have higher incomes and attract more publicity.
Too Many Bloggers Are Content to be Reporters
The thing with expertise is that it needs - training. No person becomes an expert without doing things and learning. People routinely begin without expertise and as a result begin their blogging journey by talking about everything going on in their niche (reporting) and by reporting on and speaking with other successful bloggers (reporting again).
There's nothing wrong with reporting of course and for many bloggers it's a necessity in the beginning until you build some expertise. Unfortunately the ratios are skewed when it pertains to reporters and experts - there are a lot more reporters than experts, hence reporters tend to struggle to gain publicity and when they do, they often just help the reputation of the expert they are reporting about.
Don't Replicate Your Teacher
If you have ever spent some time researching products about the Work from Home niche you will notice a pattern. Many people first study affiliate marketing from a mentor (for lack of a better term). The guru teaches how he or she is able to make money online, and very often the view that the student gleams is that in order to make money blogging you have to teach others how to make money online.
The end result of this process is a huge army of amateurs attempting to replicate what their mentor does in the same niche - the affiliate marketing industry - not realizing that without expert status based on proven record and all the perks that come with it, it's next to difficult to succeed.
Even people, who enjoy little success, say for example growing an email list of 1,000 people, then go out and release a product about how to grow an contact list of 1,000 people. Now I have no issues with that, I think it's fine to train novices and leverage whatever experience you have, the problem is that people gravitate to the same niche - Internet marketing - and rarely differentiate themselves.
How many bloggers out there do you know of that all say they teach the same things - email marketing, SEO, pay per click, Internet marketing, and all the sub-niches that fall under the heading of Internet marketing. It's a competitive industry, yet when you see your mentors and other mentors making money teaching others how to work from home (and let's face it - making money from home as a subject is one of the most compelling) - your first inclination is to follow in their footsteps.
If the key is to identify yourself as a expert and you haven't spent the preceding 5-10 years making money online, I suggest you look for another industry to establish expertise in.
Have patience and focus on what you do to learn and then translate that training into lessons for others, and remember, it's okay to be a big fish in a small pond, that's all most experts really are.
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