5 New Gold Blogs to Watch Out For in Cataclysm

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

I’m targeting two audiences with this post. The first is of course you and second are the bloggers throughout the gold blogging community who have appeared in the past six months or so and are looking for help in improving and/or growing their blogs. I’ll be outlining five blogs I predict will succeed in Cataclysm and then I’ll give advice for all blogs on how to expand their readership and keep things fun. If you are a subscriber to any of the social medias I participate in then you know that I love to constantly plug other valuable resources regardless of which site they come from. I'm a big fan of the idea that all ships rise with the tide or whatever that saying is.

I know that new blogs are a dangerous breed. Sure they may seem great but due in part to them being new you never know if the author is going to be in it for the long haul or just a flash in the pan. New blogs like Blinging Wow, le petit goblin and many others started off sensationally well and then just kind of tapered off. I hope those two come back btw, I really enjoyed their stuff.

Today I’m going to go through a list of blogs I am enjoying right now that I believe will be power houses of information in Cataclysm, well that’s if they stick around of course. I’m also going to give you (the person reading this, yeah YOU) each a quest today which will help not only yourselves but the gold blogging community as a whole. I want you to look at my blogroll for gold blogs, pick one you haven’t read that has a recent post (or one you have if you’re on top of your gold blog reading these days) and leave a comment. Not just any comment, engage the author in discussion by asking a question on the subject at hand or just asking a straight up question unrelated to the post. Maybe add your own two copper to the discussion with tips or pointers as well. The goal is to get you connected and engaged. You’ll keep the spark of writing fire alive in these new bloggers’ minds and you’ll also get great information coming to you every day. Subscriptions are the measurement of blogging success but comments are the currency used for judging the true worth of a blog. More commenting means more discussions and more discussions mean more blogger involvement and overall enjoyment by all parties involved. It’s a win, win.

Acadia’s Gold

Starting off with a bang and some great posts on getting eggs for winter’s veil, farming 1k gold from water elementals in plaguelands and how portal removal will increase the value of vendor pets. Acadia’s posts are well written and concise; I see great things in this blogger’s future. The blog could use some new features to create more interaction and bolster community involvement but that will come in time. In my humble and expert opinion Acadia’s Gold has all the initial ingredients necessary for a great reading experience in Cataclysm. Another reason this blog sticks out is because Acadia doesn't just tell you a spot or a trick but goes a bit further with answers to the how, why, what, when and where questions which arise when you see "Flip XXXXX Rare Item" in a post title on other blogs.

Cold’s Gold Factory

Post schedule and length are a little random as well as quality but there are still gems coming out of here on a near daily basis. Cold has been around a few months; I’ve seen him getting engaged on various forum boards and posting on other blogs. Because of Cold’s efforts to engage the community outside of his own blog he will see a lot of exposure and hopefully expansion in the months to come. He also has a very broad understanding of the economy which I like to see versus other bloggers who tend to focus on one or two professions they enjoy the most.

Miss Mediocre

I really like this blog. It’s fun, friendly, useful and creative. Like Acadia's Gold, this blog would benefit greatly from more ways to interact between readers and blogger. Perhaps a question form similar to what paladin schmaladin has would help Miss Mediocre encourage more communication in her community. Miss Mediocre combines thorough writing, a passion for gaming and a decent amount of in game knowledge to create great experience for her readeres.

The Gnomish Coin

This guy is starting off exactly how I did with niche strategies/items which anyone can flip or the associated profession can learn to make a lot of gold. Based on traffic I receive from him I estimate that he is getting the most new readership of the five blogs listed here. What I'd like to see the author do is branch out into cross profession markets and expand upon his articles. One way to do this is to go back and look at previous posts which are related and make connections, add new content or shed some light on the background behind the strategies. Basically, some timeless compilations of strategies would go a long way in cementing this blog as a resource and not just a place to get daily tips. All in all it's a good read and I expect great things from the author once cataclysm hits.

Follow the Gold Road


Good site with helpful information that focuses more on news and speculation than some of the other blogs listed here today. The owner is playing with some new layouts currently and I think his shoutbox is working great to create a community at his site. Does a good job of writing about gold making news in wow.

All the blogs on my blog roll that post regularly are worth reading so please check them out. For the sake of the length of this post I left out quite a few of them. I hope no one was offended by not being included in this ultra brief list.

Tips for New Bloggers on Expanding Readership

Nail down a posting schedule and stick to it for a month. You should also create posts in advance using blogger or wordpress posting features. If you want subscribers you will need to be on some sort of a predictable schedule for their convenience.

Content is king and an exposure channel is his queen (I'm so going to write a book with that title lol). Without exposure your content means nothing so be sure to focus on both building a brand with quality as well as building exposure with things like guest posts, commenting and forum posts. Provide quality content that is easy for new readers to reach and you’ll grow on a daily basis. Guest posting is great for generating a lot of hits but every reader subscribed to you is worth far more than a thousand random visitors. Build your brand and then your guest posts will turn into readership growers instead of just big hits and then nothing more.

If you’re looking for new channels of exposure outside of blogging try youtube, twitter, facebook, an IRC or even build a newsletter. I use Aweber and have found its support, toolset and user friendly setup to be absolutely necessary for handling a large list of subscribers. Newsletters are great because they attract new subscribers who don’t want to use an RSS feed (if you email your posts) or want new information from your blog which they can only get from the newsletter (if you offer additional content). Even something as simple as “My Top Ten Posts” would make a great draw for attracting new subscribers.

Stop thinking of your blog as a newspaper or soap box. It’s a community. Now go build one.

And for you, the reader, you have your assignment. Go comment on some blogs.

November 2nd Blogging Carnival

Speaking of getting out there and being a part of the community, the topic for the Carnival on November 2nd will be: "Mistakes You've Learned From While Playing the AH." Feel free to send me a link anytime between now and November 1st to a post you've written which answers this question.

Records Smashed at JMTC this Week

All sorts of records were broken during the 4.0 madness and JMTC saw an all time high (that's out of two years of posts) in visits on tuesday with 8,696 unique visitors and 18,939 pageviews. The following day there were 8,406 unique visitors and 17,876 pageviews. Thank you to everyone who tweeted and linked to help break the previous record of 7,200 uniques set when wow.com linked to a JMTC farming spot.