Allyn Paul - A Man Who Mows Down The Competition With A Blog About Lawn Care - A Niche Blog Success

I really enjoy it a lot when I find brand new blogs that I instantly know will become one of my favorites. For me, when I consider whether a blog I am viewing for the first time will eventually become a blog that I start to read on a regular basis, quite a few things stir around in my mind in order to make that determination. For one, the blog can’t be spammy. I appreciate and respect blog authors who choose to monetize their blog and content, but it can’t be spammy.

A second and huge determination is whether I connect with the author. Is their chemistry between us? Does the author seem genuine and sincere? Things like that. A third determination is evaluating whether or not the author of the blog can help teach me something or provide me with something useful. In other words, I want to leave the blog having taken something from it. When I read a blog, I want to learn something new and I want to be taught by someone I feel connected with.

On July 22nd, 2008, Allyn Paul wrote a comment on a blog post where I invited people to ask for my advice on how to make money With Google AdSense. In his comment, Allyn asked for some advice and I gave it to him, no big deal. What I didn’t say in the comment response to him, was how much I liked his blog and how much I enjoyed the visit. I wanted to keep things on topic, knowing that I already knew that I was going to contact him later to get to know him better.

Allyn Paul is the author of a blog titled, Life and Lawn and quickly it is becoming a blog that I read on a day to day basic. Ironically, one of my past time enjoyments is working on my lawn. I very much enjoy gardening and absolutely love my houseplants. So finding a blog like Life and Lawns is a huge score for me. Plus, I totally enjoy Allyn and his unique style of writing. It was really a fortunate thing that Allyn took the time to stop by and ask his question. If he hadn’t, I would have never noticed his blog. So that really goes to show you what the power of commenting has. You should indeed invest time into commenting on other blogs. Allyn commented on my blog, he now has a new long term reader of his.

Aside from finding blogs that personally interest me, I am constantly on the hunt for blogs that serve as great examples of what I consider to be really awesome niche blogs. It is rare that I find them, so all in all, Life and Lawns really hit home for the fact that it is a blog covering a topic that I am personally interested as well as being a great example of a niche blog that I can share with my own readers. I have multiple articles on my blog where I explain the importance of choosing a great niche topic to write about.

Often I have suggested starting a blog that provides information based off your own day job. Many times I have said to start a blog that covers a topic that you are personally interested or invested in. Never choose a topic that is foreign to you. A successful blog is a blog that has tons and tons of high quality and useful material. Writing content on a blog that covers a topic that you’re not comfortable with is a suicide mission and something that will eventually lead to your failure.

Life and Lawns is a prime example of an explosive blog where you have an author behind the screen of a computer, and from what it seems, can’t humanly type fast enough to extract the information out of his brain and onto his blog. In many ways, from a writing standpoint, Allyn and I have a lot in common with our level of passion for our blogs.

He expects a lot from himself when he publishes content on his blog just as I do too; however, he very well may be even more particular about what he writes. With that said though, Allyn does indeed have a voice and it is very noticable in his writing. He has an opinion on things and is one who can seamlessly blend that into his writing.

A few days ago, I decided to ask Allyn if he would be interested in me writing an article about him and his blog. I provided him with an email that had a list of questions I wanted to ask and explained that if he was interested in the idea of me writing an article to answer these questions so that others can get to know him better. Allyn was thrilled with the idea and took the time to answer my questions. Here are some Q and A’s with Allyn Paul from the successful Life and Lawns blog.

Garry Conn: “When did you get the idea that you would like to make money online and can you describe to me how you have come to be a blogger rather than a traditional web site creator?”

Allyn Paul: “I did not originally set out to make money from my website. I began the blog on a free blogspot as a hobby and outlet to say what was on my mind. At first, I wrote about anything and everything while peppering in a few posts on lawns and landscapes. My first post was on 6/11/07 and was just me spewing about lawn chemicals and other gripes that I had related to common misunderstandings in our industry.”

“I migrated to a self-hosted WordPress blog in Sept. 07 because I wanted more functionality and because I wanted to earn respect in my niche. I have since learned to tone it down and use my blog as a platform to educate, rather than bash people’s mistakes. I started to see my blog as a way to generate revenue in about March 2008 when I noticed people were actually finding the blog through Google and were staying and reading and sending me emails with questions.”

“At that point I instituted Adsense, thinking I’d use it to pay for hosting. I also began reading various blends of make money online blogs such as GCDC. As my knowledge of SEO grew, and pageviews increased, my revenue grew right along with them. So far this year, I’ve made enough to pay for upgraded hosting for the next year and also take my wife on a nice trip to Cancun! My goal now is to continue to learn to convert my traffic into money to see if I can eventually make enough to expand into video posting and eventually Internet TV, like an HGTV online kinda thing.”

Garry Conn: “Of all the different topics that you could have chosen to write about as a blogger, why did you choose the topic of lawns and landscaping? Did you know at that time when you launched the blog that your content could be monetized, or at the time did you have other intentions in mind?”

Allyn Paul: “I truly love gardening, landscaping and grass! I’m the nut who is always out in his lawn or landscape looking over everything and making sure it is perfect. If my lawn is not striped like a baseball field, I ain’t happy! I’m not totally creepy though; I don’t go so far as to talk to my plants, but I do drink a lot of beer with them! I figured if I was going to start a blog, I should enjoy the topic, or it wouldn’t last long. I had no idea that you could make money from writing about lawns and lawn tips. I just started the blog as a hobby. I also enjoy writing and got an ego trip when strangers would leave comments or send me email.”

Garry Conn: “Reflecting back from the day you started your blog all the way to current, what are three things that you would recommend to others would who would like to create a blog and make a passive income from it? I don’t mean get rich, but having a little extra money to cover a bill or two each month would be nice.”

Allyn Paul: “If you are set on a niche topic, start it on your own hosted WordPress. I tell friends of mine to get a free blog from WordPress.com and write unimportant stuff about whatever just to get a feel for blogging and how the WYSIWYG works, etc. But I tell them to put their true niche blog on their own hosting from the beginning.”

“A second thing I would suggest would be to establish strict guidelines for your niche and stay within them. You don’t want to confuse readers with a bunch of topics that don’t relate to the keywords they are searching for. I still have a few old posts on my blog that I just can’t part with yet but need to because they are not a part of my niche and only serve as a distraction or exit point.”

“The third piece of advice I would offer would be to care about your content more than making money. If you do that, the money will soon follow. Good content sells! I am actually too strict on this and have lost (missed out on) money because I did not want to put Adsense inside of my post content for fear it would stunt the readership. Garry, I recently took the advice you left for me in your recent comment and made my Adsense units larger in the posts and my CTR has tripled, while average page views and time on page stayed static.”

Garry Conn: “Did your job as a public affairs specialist in the U.S. Air Force have any influence on allowing you build and maintain a successful niche blog? What can other people who don’t have experience in journalism and writing do to improve their writing skills so that they too can produce content that is entertaining, informative and or useful for others?”

Allyn Paul: “Yes, big time! I am used to writing a lot of stories (posts) on a deadline. I run other blogs beside life and lawns and I set up deadlines for myself and stick to them. I also learned to write in “my voice” when I was editor of the base newspaper in the USAF. I learned to convey things in my own way, injecting my personality. What can other people who don’t have experience in journalism and writing do to improve their writing skills? Read read read! I like to read books written by people with “higher” education, but who convey themselves in plain and entertaining English. A book that comes to mind is “Freakonomics” by Stephen Levitt and Stephen Dubner. They take a super dry topic and dumb it down to my level and keep me glued in! That is talent!”

Garry Conn: “If you were to create a second blog, what are things that you would do differently compared to some things that you may have learned the hard way on your lawn care and landscaping blog?”

Allyn Paul: “I have lost 50 pounds in the last 12 months. I am 35 yrs old and started working out again. I see lots of weight loss-type blogs, but the people behind them mostly complain about their struggles and failures. I’d like to start one and speak pointedly to people that it can be done. Things I will do differently: I will pay for a custom template for the new blog because I can! I will write 20 posts before launching and time them to publish every 3 days or so. I will get more involved with Stumbleupon and Digg (my current niche is not really suited for those IMO) I will secure advertisers from my contacts in the real world prior to launch. I now know what I can do and am able to forecast and set expectations for results that they will see and charge accordingly. I would love to have monthly, predictable advertising revenue from clients that I know face-to-face.”

Garry Conn: Where do you see blogging ten years from now and where do you see yourself within the blogosphere and is blogging something that you will do in the long years to come?”

Allyn Paul: “I see blogging and the “new media” as a way to keep the big news and information organizations in check. Blogging is a way for average Joes to get the same voice that TV news “experts” have. That’s why Fox News online, for example, now allows readers to comment! If they didn’t, I suspect their readership would be lower. Yes, I will blog for fun until I die because I am very opinionated, have a big mouth, and a drive to share what I think and know. I also think it’s really cool to help people with things like lawn care. It’s “environmental” in a sense. And if I make enough to take my wife on nice trips along the way, all the better.”

About Allyn Paul

I started my first lawn business at the age of 14 with an orange-colored push lawnmower and a strong desire to earn money to take my girlfriend to the movies. In those days, I knew nothing of grass types, grass care, or weed control. All I knew was the Florida sun was hot, but $8 for 45 minutes of work was a pretty good deal. It was easy to “mow” and “blow”, I had 4 customers. Today, I am still in the “green” industry, and work for a very large operation. I’m based in Chicago and we bring in $8.5 million in revenue on the Southside and South Burbs.

My early introduction into landscape maintenance helped me develop a love for all things green and sparked an entrepreneurial spirit that motivates me in my blogging efforts today. I’m 35-years-old, married with 2 sons and making a living keeping lawns green and trees and shrubs healthy, while making a little side money in the blogosphere educating Do-It-yourselfers in lawn care procedure and practice.

One thing to keep in mind: I happen to be employed in the lawn and landscape industry, but I am a major DIY’er myself, and taking care of lawns would be a hobby to me if it wasn’t already my job…does that make sense? I love grass man!

In addition to the above, I served in the United States Air Force from 1993-1997, after earning a 2-year degree from St. Petersburg College in Florida. My time in the Air Force was invaluable. I was fortunate to have the job of public affairs specialist, which is basically photojournalism. It was during these years that I developed a love for writing…and drinking coffee.

What Does Allyn Paul’s Lawn Look Like?

I figured you might want to know what Allyn’s lawn looks like.  I’ll admit that I was curious too. It wasn’t too hard to search his blog and find a picture displayed as proudly as ShoeMoney displays his famous AdSense check:

One of the really neat perks with meeting Allyn is that I am going to send him digital pictures of my lawn and grass so that he can give me some free tips and advice on what to do to get my lawn looking really nice.

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