Why Darren Rowse is still the #1 blogger in the world
The problem is that a lot of the high profile bloggers have stopped talking about the topic that engaged their readers; how to make money online. Instead they show you the all-star Las Vegas events they are invited to, the meals they ate and continue to pedal the same affiliate schemes at you - cleverly disguised as posts.
They're all at it. I read John Chow, Zac Johnson, Shoemoney and Problogger on a regular basis and most of them have recently stopped being useful to read... Let's have a review of each shall we?
JohnChow
The blog I read the most often seems to be receiving less comments than it used to, balancing posts between videos of the events he has attended (without useful information he learned there), pictures of his meals (but he's always done that), affiliate campaign pushes disguised as posts... Ironically the most recent article he's had that offered advice was about how to maximise your affiliate income from search engines, and I guest posted that. I think the drop in comments on his site is because the content is less instructional and more of the narrative, and that's not what made his blog popular.
Zac Johnson
I read this 'super affiliate' blog periodically but the majority of the posts are either self promotion (see me in ...), affiliate led (news from affiliate networks that ultimately benefit Zac if you sign up) and more narrative. He does however write advice occasionally and it's largely okay, but it's not quantifiable anymore and that's what I think connects with users better. "6 steps to earn 15% more" is what users want to read.
Shoemoney
Jeremy skips between news that loosely effects the readers, competitions, self promotion and the occasional tutorial, although it's been quite a while since there was a useful 'make money online' article.
Yet, Darren Rowse is still king
He may not be as sensationalist as the others listed here, he may not be as cavalier, but Darren continues to publish high quality instructional posts on Problogger. Almost every single one of his posts is about finding your passion, improving your website or interviewing important figures within the niche. Darren continues to do an excellent job and I think that's why Problogger hasn't showed any sign of slowing down.
So that's why I don't post as much as I used to. I don't want to be one of the bloggers who publishes news or affiliate deals simply to help generate income. I aim to have all my information relevent to the user. I'm not preaching hate against the A-listers, they earn a lot more than I do and have bigger readerships; I'm just getting tired of the typical 'make money online' blog because at the moment because no one is actually explaining HOW to do it.
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