The Blue Ocean Strategy – Ipod, Wii, and this Blog
I recently read a blog post that really got me thinking. The post was titled “Best Advice: Do Not Start A Make Money Online Blog!”. The point of this article is what I’ve only recently really become aware of. There are a ton of blogs out there in the ‘Make Money Online” niche. I mean, a ton. If you are starting a blog, Jay believes you are better off blogging on just about anything else online. After working on this blog for almost a month now, I’m coming around to the view that he’s right on the money (so to speak).
It reminds me of a strategy I heard about awhile ago called “The Blue Ocean Strategy” (at least I think that’s what it’s called). It basically says to do your own unique thing, rather than to compete directly with others doing the same thing. The Ipod and its enormous success is an example of this. When Apple released the Ipod, it was a completely new product. Digital music players just weren’t really around at all. As far as personal music players, Sony basically dominated the market with their Walkman line of players, followed by a host of imitators. Apple could have tried to do what Sony was doing, maybe do it a little better. If they had done this, they would have been jumping into the “Red Ocean”. The red ocean is an area already swimming with hungry sharks, all of them fighting for the same food source. It’s possible to win this way, by jumping and fighting in the bloody part of the ocean, but it’s very difficult (especially when one of those sharks is named Sony). Instead, however, Apple released an entirely new product that had never been seen before. They jumped into the blue ocean, and had the whole thing to themselves before the other sharks even knew what was going on.
A more recent example of this is the Nintendo Wii. When Nintendo was making their new game player, they could have done what Sony and Microsoft were doing. Make very powerful game machines that appeal to hard core male gamers. That was the model. That was the red ocean. Instead, Nintendo went back to the drawing board and decided to create a machine that was simple and fun. They wanted to create games that the whole family could enjoy, from little kids to grandparents. To do this, they created a much simpler controller which was much more intuitive. Few people want to learn how to press 12 different buttons to play a tennis game, but anyone can swing a controller to simulate the motion of a racquet. So what happened? While Sony and Microsoft were fighting it out tooth and nail for a narrow demographic, Nintendo brought in entirely new demographics to gaming, and the Wii has been an enormous success.
So, how does this affect this blog? Well, originally I was just going to chronicle my adventures in the online world. However, I now realize that I’m just following a well worn road that others have already gone down. Although I will still blog about internet marketing when it suits me, I think I’m going to expand my focus somewhat. It’s time for a slight course correction. To what, you ask? Well, tune in tomorrow to find out 
- Dave
May 1st, 2008 at 9:27 am
A close blogger friend of mine actually converted his site from MMO to a blog about anything really (video games, tv shows, wrestling, etc) and he’s actually making more now than he was with his MMO strategy… so that tells you something!
Jay
May 1st, 2008 at 9:50 am
Thanks for the reply Jay. I think one reason why your friends strategy worked is that, aside from the fact that he was blogging on things he liked, it was much more search engine friendly. I’m betting that it is much easier to rank higher for “wrestling” keywords than MMO keywords. Then, when people come to his sight, they see other things they like as well (people who like wrestling, like your friend, probably like video games and TV shows as well).
- Dave