1. It’s easy to start but hard to maintain.
In fact, it is VERY hard to maintain. Since most bloggers are not depending on blogging for their living, it is walking an extra mile almost everyday. Plus, how do you motivate yourself to do something that does not have a short-term return?
2. People expect consistently good content or quality readers walk away.
You can write something stupid and get away for a while. People may even link to it and you may see an upsurge in traffic but that traffic is not what you want. Quality readers don’t have time to hunt for stupidity. If you don’t post good content consistently for a LONG time, there is no loyalty from quality readers. While how many people read your blog is an important measure, what is also important is WHO reads your blog.
3. You can’t be famous just by blogging.
Of course, there are exceptions but we all know that exceptions are not the rule. Take a look at all the A-list bloggers you know. I can bet that 99% of them will be involved in cool jobs other than blogging.
4. You can’t get rich blogging.
Again, there are exceptions. Then, you don’t include Las Vegas and Lottery in your growth strategy. Do you?
5. You can extend your brand via the blog but you can’t build a brand by blogging.
Whenever I talk about it, they throw a few names at me and say that if they can do it, we can do it too. That logic is flawed and is akin to saying there are some people who climbed Mount Everest so we can do it too. I am not saying you can’t but it is hard.
6. Blogging is an addiction and sometimes it can be serious.
If you don’t believe it, ask the family members of reasonably successful bloggers (the A-listers are a gone case, of course) and you will know. Sorry I don’t know of a cure other than to continue blogging. Any other tips are welcome 🙂
7. If you want to succeed, you HAVE to start making others succeed.
You want to succeed in your blogging initiatives. Others want to do the same. If everyone thinks that ONLY they want to succeed, it will be hard work for everyone. Please spread the word about other blogs. You don’t have to promote other blogs blatantly. A little bit of “link love” will go a long way. Don’t worry. People will reciprocate if you write “linkworthy” content.
8. You don’t climb up by pulling down other people.
If your strategy is mud-slinging at other bloggers to generate traffic, remember that you won’t be getting quality visitors to your blog. The only people who have time to read those things probably don’t have time for anything productive anyway.
9. It takes time to produce “Timeless Content.” But “timeless content” produces results (traffic included) in the long run
What percentage of your posts are “timeless”? If you stop blogging today, how long can your blog survive in the blogosphere? Most blogs will die within a few days or weeks as the content becomes irrelevant very quickly. How about on your blog? Would it last a few days? A few weeks? A few months or a few years? Creating timeless content is hard and that’s why most people don’t bother. You can
distinguish yourself (one of my favorite topics) by putting in that hard work and stand out from the crowd. As a bonus, you can increase the longevity of the blog.
10. Traffic is important but “Quality” traffic is more important
Fine, you have a lot of traffic on your blog but who are these readers? If you are playing a “power” game, quality readership is more important. Remember that quality readers mostly don’t have a lot of time and that means you can’t NOT focus on providing high Return on Investment for an Interaction (
ROII)
I know that this is a partial list but hopefully there is some food for thought.
If you are interested in a few other articles and tips on blogging, please visit my Squidoo lens on this topic.
Link – Blogging Starter Checklist
Have a great weekend.
PS: If you are still hungry to read more, here are “10 more things that they didn’t tell you about blogging“
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