Know Your Audience When Writing

A common misconception I have seen from people who begin writing blogs to make money online is that they often do not know their audience. They randomly throw out posts about how they make a ton of money online, with no proof to back it up as well as writing towards no one in particular. I have mentioned in past posts that a lot of people, kids and teens especially, make their first blog about "cashcrate" or "swag bucks." While this may seem like a good idea at the time, I can guarantee you that there are few people looking up cashcrate on google. Search "cashcrate" on google and these are the results on the first page.

Click on cashcratetips.us, and you will find that the person in charge of the blog has received a check for $30 last month.... Theres days when I make well over $30 on cashcrate alone...I think this goes to show you that there is no market for the term cashcrate and making money online. 

Youre not out of luck though! Take this blog for example. Teens and how to make money online. Theres my niche. I myself am a teen, and I try to write these posts in hopes that I am helping my fellow teen friends out. Other good audiences could be...stay at home moms, college students, money for video games, the list goes on. Just pick something that you yourself are and youll be well on your way to knowing who your audience is and how to approach them.

Knowing who your audience means that you can learn and adapt from what your viewers want to see/read. For example, if your audience wants more information on anchored backlinks, then you should be able to give them more articles on anchored backlinks. I personally know that the majority of people reading this are teenagers so I try to cater to your needs, how to make money online as a teen. To get started I suggest you do some research on what blogs are already out there, and what blogs arent. If you notice that theres a lack of blogs related to "moms making money online" then nows your golden chance to get your foot in the door. Good luck and if youve got any questions post em below and check out some of my older posts!

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When Incentives Go Wrong The Cobra Effect

A story goes that during their colonial rule of India, the British rulers were unhappy with the number of venomous Cobra snakes rolling around the streets of the capital Delhi.
They wondered- how could we get rid of these snakes?
They followed a financial route- offering a bounty for every dead cobra presented to the authorities. This seems perfectly rational- under colonial rule the natives were not exactly the most well off or comfortable people, so most would certainly be willing to kill snakes in exchange for payment. And the British were right, for a while- the number of cobras on the streets decreased initially.

But of course, we wouldnt be recalling this story if nothing went awry. After a while the British found that more cobras were on the streets, despite the same number, if not more, of Indians presenting them dead cobras. What was happening?

The answer was simple but ingenious. The natives were offered financial incentive to kill snakes for the British- but they were now not just from the streets of Delhi, but from farms- cobra farms specially created by the locals to provide a supply of cobras that could be killed and then exchanged for money. Of course some of these cobras managed to escape the farms and go onto the streets, explaining the lack of drop in number despite the incentive program.

This is an example of the Cobra Effect (named after this story)- the name given to a situation in which an attempted solution to a problem makes the situation worse rather than better.
Want to see a modern day example of the Cobra Effect? Check out the article on how it affected Mexico City here.

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