Economies of Blogging – Content and Blog Consolidation Due To Economies of Scope or: “Why I chose to change my blogging strategy”

In economics the term economy of scope is used to describe a competitive advantage of one company as a result of efficiencies associated with marketing and distribution. Economies of scope usually result in:
1. Reaching more people with each dollar spent
2. Family branding and product bundling
3. Further efficiency due to synergy between products

In my opinion the world of blogging and content is a very good case study for economies of scope. If we take a close look at blogging and content we find a very unattractive market, so to speak. The threat of entrants is very high as everyone may start a new content site or blog with ease. Customer bargaining power is extremely high as amounts of free and alternative content is abundant and of course so is the threat of substitutes as a result.

Nevertheless, out of hundreds of thousands of sites we see a few selected blogs or content sites emerge in every niche. How do they succeed where all others fail? The answer is two fold. Naturally these sites provide quality content which is updated constantly and meets the reader’s requirements. However, it is an illusion to believe quality content and timely updates will suffice. The difference lies in marketing and distribution.

Blogs and content sites which have successfully acquired a critical mass of content (and sometimes readership) have actually created a significant competitive advantage of economy of scope. Each new article or post published by any one of these sites is assured massive distribution and marketing which in turn will result in more interest in this site. Reaching critical mass of content and readership is very hard and requires a lot of work and investment.

For me personally writing is a hobby. The feedback I receive for writing online comes in three distinct ways: Page views, article sales or high article ratings. My writing strategy has been geared to generate either one of these three.

In order to do that I’ve been experimenting with several options available to online authors:
1. I’ve set up my own Blogger blog named Personal Financier.
2. I’ve published articles on Helium and Associated Content for page views and rating.
3. I’ve submitted article for sale on Constant Content and Helium.

The results of my experiments have been very enlightening. Here they are:
1. In three months I’ve posted 50 posts to my blog which has attracted 367 visitors who visited 656 pages and generated a whopping 4.5$ income.
2. In three months I’ve posted 36 articles on Helium, 3 of which to Marketplace. I’ve received a two star rating for my articles, sold one to marketplace for 60$ and received 4.5$ in page views.
3. In three weeks I’ve posted some of my 36 article on Associated Content for 600 page views or 0.83$ and a clout index of 3.
4. In two months I’ve submitted 17 articles for sale on Constant Content out of which I sold 6 for usage for 68.75$ total.

As a result of my performance I’ve decided to adopt a new strategy. I’ll be writing articles for sale on Constant Content as this venue is most profitable. Should an article not sale for unique use I’ll submit it to my blog, Helium and Associated Content for page views and on Constant Content for usage.

My performance strengthens the conclusions I’ve presented in this article. I’ve been posting quality content regularly to my blog and to content sites. Economies of scope enable the selected few to purchase quality articles and distribute them directly to their readership. I, the author, benefit from article income which would have never been generated through my personal blog and the content site benefits from scale and scope economies and generates income from advertisements.

I believe the strategy I’ve put forth is suitable to all competent authors who have been tempted to blog on their own for either exposure or profit. Submitting content for sale or for exposure to content site and blogs which have scope advantages is wise and economically sound for both.

If you can spare the time to market your own blog be prepared to put in a lot of work into blogging before getting the exposure you deserve.