Solid State Psychobabble - Scientific Self Help Blog - Muse Critique

[supernaut76]

Solid State Psychobabble http://solidstatepsychobabble.posterous.com/ is a blog about evidence based self help. I plumb through quality psychological research and come with evidence based tips, techniques and strategies for motivation, achievement, success, dating, happiness etc. Would be great to have some feedback for this muse. I'm just writing out of sheer pleasure at the moment and because it helps motivate me as well. Will try to monetize in the future.

Any comments would be appreciated. I'm not seeing this as an all out attempt to get a revenue stream. I have other plans for that that are more 4HWW compatible.

[DaveinHackensack]

I can seem some potential in this niche. I'm going to serve you some broccoli first, but stick around because I have a great idea for you for desert.

- No offense intended, but the name of your site is horrible. Consider this definition (http://www.yourdictionary.com/psychobabble) of "Psychobabble"

talk or writing that employs the language and concepts of psychology and psychiatry in a trite, superficial, or confusing way

That's not what you're offering on your site, is it?

- Where's your personal profile? You have a doctorate in something, why not post your bio to add credibility?

Now, for desert:

- Blogs are a dime a dozen (including mine). It's tough to get enough traffic to monetize one using conventional methods such as Adwords. Here's a different tack you might want to consider.

A member of one of my sites (who has also read the 4HWW) started this business with a partner, Straight from the Lab (http://www.straightfromthelab.com/). It's a simple, brilliant idea: an expert reads 70 major financial academic journals every month, and then sends subscribers a newsletter with the most relevant, actionable research summarized. Check out what he charges (http://www.straightfromthelab.com/current_issue.html) -- a lot, right? One of the testimonials gives a clue: his customers are people with more money than time. I bet the same is true with the top personal achievement / executive coaches too.

So, here's my idea: instead of launching another blog, why not start the exact same business with psychology research instead of finance?

[AlexMoen]

I don't know, Dave. I would test that idea out first. People working in the psychology field hold jobs vastly different than those in the financial sector. Financial jobs are known for their long hours and hard work, with lots of money and little time. Although it could work for psychologists, I would assume most of them are academics and are constantly researching and reading as is.

[DaveinHackensack]

Alex,

The potential clientele I see for this business isn't psychologists in private practice or academia, but high-end, highly-paid, "peak-performance" coaches to business executives. Folks like this (http://www.peakcoach.com/coaches/).

[supernaut76]

Dave I have to say you got me. The name was just something I tagged on without a thought. It does have the wrong associations, you are right. I'm going to change it pronto.

What I could probably do is rejig the blog until it becomes more professional. Then create spin off paid products once I have a bit of a following. I'm a psychiatrist by profession. I'm not really feeling up to de-anonymizing myself at the moment for reasons related to professional integrity, peer perception etc. Its a bit silly I know, but its how I feel at the moment.

I think the scientific self help paid product angle is a good one. But I'd prefer to have that snow-ball over time. Right now I'm just happy to work on this a couple of hours a week. Its fun and a good learning experience.

You do seriously have me thinking though. I've got one income generation project in the works. This could well be project no. 2.

[paulwbrowning]

I found the blog hard to read and wasn't clear what it was about or what was in it for me to continue to read. Why not try a tighter theme such as mistyflip?

You need to capture visitors details with a newsletter offer when the visit your site and as stated, get a snappier title which is shorter.

The blog lacks heart and personality.

Paul

(http://www.paulbrowning.com)

[DaveinHackensack]

Supernaut76,

If you create a legitimate business, one where you are acting ethically and adding real value, I don't see any problem with you using your real name. Really, that's the only kind of business you should want to build, particularly if you have are a licensed professional such as a psychiatrist.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss this or other ideas in more detail.

[supernaut76]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Paul I do think I need to inject more vigour and personality to the blog to make it less generic. You have to cut me a bit of slack though, the blog is in its infancy. I'm going to tweak things as I progress, using all of your comments to guide me.

Dave, I agree there is nothing wrong, but I am comfortable with the anonymity for the time-being. I have other reasons which I think are valid. I've seen other anonymous blogs on the net that actually work very well. I'm going to find ways to add more personality and authority. I can appreciate your point that this is a hindrance but my feeling is that this isn't fatal or an absolute necessity. I will "come out" at some stage. Thanks for the pm offer, will definitely take you up on that!