20 Successful Blogs in Every Topic Imaginable

One misconception that forever bothers me is the belief that blogging doesn’t work unless it’s meta. People don’t believe blogs can be successful unless they are about blogging, marketing, or social media.

What they don’t understand is that it’s only the marketing blogs that publish things like “income reports” and the like. Regular blogs in traditional topics don’t do this, yet they are still out there killing it.

Today I’m going to bring you 20  successful blogs, often built solely through publishing great content + guest blogging, that span a huge variety of topics, to prove once and for all that blogging can be used to build an audience in nearly every topic imaginable.

Successful Blogs: The Guidelines

Any blog featured here cannot have any of the following characteristics:

1. Focus on blogging/marketing/social media
2. The blog cannot be tied to another popular site
3. Must have an involved community
4. No “mega” blogs or magazines

I’ve included data on the approximate (~) subscriber count (when available) and what the major income source seems to be (when applicable).For sites that have no subscriber count available, I used the Google Reader browse feature, which shows the number of Google subscribers only, so keep in mind that those RSS counts are likely much higher.

Enjoy!

(1) AutoBlog [Automobiles]

1. URL: https://www.autoblog.com/
   Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 1,766) [Likely much higher]
   Main income source: Advertisements
   What guy doesn’t love a sweet looking ride?
   Autoblog fills a big need for a big audience of automobile fanatics.
   I see so many bloggers who are against “news” sites, and while I’m also in favor of creating ‘evergreen’ content, when you are dominating a specific niche well, your blog is certainly capable of breaking news, even if those posts won’t generate lifetime traffic.

   
   

2. (2 ) Stereogum [Indie & Alternative Music]

   URL: https://stereogum.com/
   Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 57,076)
   Main income source: Paid promotion, affiliate links, advertisements
   This one’s a biggie!
   The big breakthrough for this site was being early in the scene, and breaking a lot of big artists first (Arcade Fire and the like).
   this site also knows their audience really well, and manages to always please despite the difficult task of selecting music that their audience will like.

3. (3)  Listverse [Random Top 10 Lists]

   URL: http://listverse.com/
   Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 7,654) [Focus on social media]
   Main income source: Advertisements
   If there was ever a site that showcases the power of List Posts, here it is!
   One thing even I don’t get is that this site get’s authors to guest post, but doesn’t even give them a link…
   Apparently getting your opinion in front of a big audience is the only reward, something to consider when crowdsourcing for your own site

4. (4)  Arseblog [Arsenal Soccer]

   URL: https://arseblog.com/
   Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 1,382) [Focus on Facebook at 20k+]
   Main income source: Book sales, advertisements
   Great way to tackle a popular topic, without biting off more than you can chew.
   If your a new blogger and thinking to yourself, “I’ll start a soccer blog!”, I hate to be the dream killer, but it doesn’t work that way.
   Focus is a fundamental key to blog success, being the king of your sub-niche and moving on to broader topics (or even whole new sites) down the line

 Money Saving Mom [Budgeting + Personal Finance]

URL: http://moneysavingmom.com/

Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 10,360)

Main income source: Affiliate links, advertisements

Ah, I had to add a personal finance blog to the list, but I wanted to stray from the “making money” types as they resemble MMO too much in some instances.

MoneySavingMom fit the bill, because it is a very focused personal finance site, with a huge emphasis on saving dough on day-to-day things.

Their “narrow mindedness” has been more rewarding than limiting, as the blog is super popular and puts out fresh content continuously.

(6)  Garfield Minus Garfield [Humor]

URL: http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 17,123)

Main income source: Book sales

I had to add at least one totally strange blog up here!

Garfield Minus Garfield is the epitome of humor blogs in my opinion, because it creates nothing original, it actually just takes Garfield out of his own strip, revealing what seems to be a very delusion and nihilistic Jon Arbuckle!

This strange humor has to be seen to be believed, and if that’s not enough, Jim Davis has allowed the site to publish and sell a book of the comics! (I’m sure he gets a piece, but still, that’s just funny in itself)

(7) Ecoki [Green Lifestyle / Eco-Lifestyle]

URL: http://ecoki.com/

Approx. Subscribers: 2,000+

Main income source: Shop

The green living space is big right now, and definitley growing.

I chose a “startup” blog over some bigger options because let’s face it, a list of giant blogs would be boring.

I love how the design of Ecoki speaks to it’s content AND to it’s audience, remember what people are reading about when creating the “look” of your site.

(8) Startup Quote [Images + Quotes]

URL: http://startupquote.com/

Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 1,303) [Tumblr blog, focus on “followers” over RSS reader]

Main income source: Advertisements

Fantastic use of good design work to build a popular blog around original design content (not just posting “finds” from others)

(9) What I Wore [Personal Style]

URL: http://whatiwore.tumblr.com/

Approx. Subscribers: (Google Reader count: 10,849)

Main income source: Advertisements, affiliate links?

Since I’m not into fashion blogs all that much, what I can tell you most about this site is that the author’s personality takes the spotlight.

It’s a personal fashion blog, so that makes sense, but the general principle here is that her personality is inserted without pause.

Every post is flooded with the author, and it makes the case that a strong personality (and taste) can make for a great unique selling proposition, even in a crowded niche like this.

Digital Photography School [Digital Photography]

URL: https://www.digital-photography-school.com/

Approx. Subscribers: 846,000+

Main income source: Advertisements, affiliate links, e-Book sales

Run by ‘the Problogger’ himself, Darren Rowse, this blog is actually his real money maker, not Problogger.net.

This thing is an absolute monster, a huge blog in a very profitable niche. Lots of people buy cameras, and they’re expensive.