“If people were paid for writing rot such as I read in some of those magazines that I could write stories just as rotten.”
– Edgar Rice Burroughs
7 common men’s blog mistakes
Since 2011 I’ve been reading manosphere sites. Before then I used to browse through The Art of Manliness on a daily basis. And before that I was collecting old men’s magazines from the 1950’s and 60’s.
Basically I’ve been involved in masculine entertainment for most of my life.
If you ever pick up an old men’s magazine, or just look at the cover of one online, you’ll notice that the content is eerily similar to most of the “edgy” stuff now.
Looking at the pulp cover from the start of this article you can get a feel for what I’m talking about. With a simple name change “The Incredible Harem Of Doctor Heeber” could be about Dan Bilzerian or some rapper. “You’re Eating Poison By The Plateful!” pretty much sounds like a headline ripped from a Paleo blogger. And “A Beginner’s Guide To Buried Treasures” could be a Bitcoin article.
Everything old is new again.
One of the downsides to pulp collecting is the price. Buying a good magazine is expensive. As a result I have a lot of inexpensive duds in my library. Looking through those has shown me a reoccurring pattern that leads to poor content and low readership. This is something that bankrupted publishers in 1962, and it could ruin your blog now.
Here are seven common mistakes that could cost you your men’s blog:
1. Excessive vulgarity
A lot of new writers go crazy with swearing and nudity. They go overboard with f-bombs, gross-out humor, and naked girls.
The big problem with this is the fact that it really eliminates most of your audience. People can’t read your site at work or school and a lot of guys would be embarrassed if they were caught browsing it. This doesn’t mean that you have to be tame, but you should and find a balance.
There are only two good blogs, that I can think of, where excessive vulgarity actually worked. The guys running both sites are the rare exception to my rule. Most dudes, however, could never emulate them.
2. Acting like a megalomaniac weirdo
I always laugh when I see guys acting like they are the reincarnation of Emperor Nero. Dudes get 30 readers on their free blog and they go mad with power. A classic example of this would be something that happened during my first six months of running my site.
When I started 30 Days To X some insane troll showed up to leave massive rants about all kinds of weird nonsense. I blocked him from commenting, but was intrigued by his madness. Doing a quick Google search revealed that this weirdo, and his equally bizarre friend, ran a horrendous looking forum where they were apparently experts on global law.
The two of them were, literally, the only members but they acted like their site was some massive success. One of the two even wrote a list of rules for readers including a fine of “1,000 troy ounces of 99.99% pure gold” for anyone who quoted his posts on other parts of the web.
Acting like you’re better than the people who read your site is a great way to lose an audience.
3. Negative tone
Around the tail end of 2012 I stopped reading all manosphere blogs. Instead I read “softer” sites like James Altucher’s and Bold and Determined. Reading fitness advice and life lessons might not be as manly as subjects like “30 Feminist Tumblr Bloggers Who Want You Nurtured,” but it was positive and got me motivated.
Negative articles wore me down and made some of my favorite blogs unbearable. The content went from being fun and interesting to whiny and annoying. Articles about meeting women or staying healthy are fun. Pieces about marriage being a raw deal for men, or posts about society’s inevitable downfall get old fast.
What’s worse is the audience that these subjects attract. If you write bitter and negative garbage don’t be surprised when your readership is made up of losers. It’s better to be positive than to find fault with the entire world.
4. Belittling others
Little sites with poor audiences love to “discredit” more established bloggers. Tucker Max and his new site wanted to bash everyone else in his niche by claiming that other men’s blogs were run by dorky virgins working at T-Mobile. After doing so Max sat around scratching his head and wondering why no one was showing up to read his content.
Obscure and lousy blogs are almost always the ones that try to slander others. That’s why they remain small and meaningless.
If you want to grow you have to work with others. Making fun of everyone in your field isn’t going to get you very far.
5. Posts no one cares about
A few weeks ago I was browsing a popular site when I noticed that the newest post covered something that no one would care about. The article read like a dear diary entry about some band. While the author could have made this relatable to his readers, he chose to write a meandering piece that didn’t do anything or go anywhere.
All the comments mentioned this and a lot of people were really upset.
If you want to write a personal story you need to make it relatable.
6. Generic information
While personal posts should always have a connection that others can relate to, they should never be too generic. Writing bland posts is a huge turn-off for any reader. They could go to a thousand other sites and get that exact same information.
Your blog’s content isn’t as important as your tone. If you look at most of the points on this list you’ll quickly realize that almost none of them have to do with actual content. They have to do with how you present your material.
Being generic is a huge problem. Without any sort of voice you’re going to find it very difficult to stand out.
7. Lying
You have to practice what you preach. The truth will come out eventually and people don’t take kindly to frauds. I could probably triple my readership by writing about going out and picking up girls. That’s a subject that tons of dudes love. I could easily whip out posts like “How to meet girls at concerts” or “How to meet girls at the beach” and watch traffic skyrocket.
But I don’t do this because that’s not stuff that really interests me. I’d be lying if I pretended that I was some pickup wizard. My dishonesty would make me rich, but I’d get caught eventually.
It’s better to be honest than to try and fabricate some persona.
None of these rules are set in stone
There are a million ways to do anything and you shouldn’t let others tell you how to live. If you want to declare yourself a god and make a site filled with porn videos that bashes feminists, that’s your choice. Maybe it will become huge, who knows?
However, I think that my rules listed above are generally applicable to most guys.
If you have any other suggestions feel free to leave a comment.