Category: motivation

How to be a Rockstar (of Blogging)

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 16 Comments

Want to be a rock star of the blogging world?

You can be.

You can be the go-to individual for your particular niche, especially when a citation, quote, or interview is necessary for the media (social and traditional).

Having a strong Internet presence goes a very long way thanks to the ever-increasing use of search engines and the power of social media, but to truly become a rockstar of blogging, you need to do a few more things. Continue reading “How to be a Rockstar (of Blogging)” →

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[Blogging Mindset] Your First Thousand Blog Posts (Are Your Worst)

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 48 Comments

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Okay, maybe ten thousand blog posts is a more difficult milestone than taking ten thousand photographs, so let’s say that your first thousand blog posts are going to be your worst.

Write this down, read it out loud until you internalize it. Why? Because odds are that you are not as patient as you should be, that you have some unrealistic expectations that might end up breaking your own heart. Continue reading “[Blogging Mindset] Your First Thousand Blog Posts (Are Your Worst)” →

[Blogging Mindset] Forget about Numbers for a Moment

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 12 Comments

“It’s not the number of followers you have or “likes” you get, it’s the strength of your bond with your followers that indicates how much anyone cares about what you have to say.

In this game, the one with the most real relationships wins.” – Gary Vaynerchuck, The Thank You Economy

Numbers are funny. We, as adults, are kind of obsessed with them. A “ten million dollar home” is easy to imagine, easier than actually investing the time to describe how the house looks like.

And the blogging world is also plagued by this obsession with numbers. It’s all about traffic, stats, and followers. Views, unique visitors, hits, clicks, likes, and comments.

Lots and lots of numbers offering you the cold perspective of your success (or lack of it.)

Here’s the kind of truth that few will ever share with you: it’s not just about numbers.

I once read an article that blogging should feel like this awesome house party. Everyone wants to be invited. All those who stumble upon your blog can’t help but subscribe, feeling a bit jealous on you. Continue reading “[Blogging Mindset] Forget about Numbers for a Moment” →

This Long-Forgotten Technique Will Vastly Improve Your Blog

~ Jordan Peters ~ 54 Comments

If you’ve been blogging for at least a few months, you’ve probably noticed by now that most of your success as a blogger comes from being able to sit down and punch those damn keys.

That is it.

Writing blog posts, editing them, selecting images, pitching guest posts, answering comments, and all the other tasks that require you to punch some keys on a keyboard or tap your fingers on a touchscreen.

And this thing does not change. In fact, the most successful bloggers just want it a bit more than just about everyone else, so they put a bit more time and effort into punching the damn keys.

But there’s another element to your success that you may have be neglecting with all that work and focus.

Every once in awhile, you might consider stepping out of the house and doing your best to find another human being.

I know this is a bizarre, arcane practice, but bear with me. Continue reading “This Long-Forgotten Technique Will Vastly Improve Your Blog” →

How to Be a Blogger Everyone Listens To

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 10 Comments

Although I’m a big fan of original content, I also recognize that joining the conversation that other bloggers have started is one of the most important aspects of blogging.

But that requires one skill: the ability to add to the conversation.

While you may not be a rhetorical master, there’s an easy way for anyone to become a persuasive conversational blogger. The key is to offer more than just your opinion, since everyone seems to have one of those. You’ll get better results if you give people something they can relate to at a personal level.

How? Continue reading “How to Be a Blogger Everyone Listens To” →

Are You a Blogger or Just Blogging?

~ Jordan Peters ~ 110 Comments

Here’s a harsh truth for you: blogging is a bit like sports. Anyone can do it, but few can do it at a professional level.

And while hardly anybody with an ounce of sanity who takes up tennis or golf thinks they’ll eventually turn pro at it, just about everyone who starts a blog, or is secretly writing a novel, all of them are dreaming of hitting it big somehow.

This is a brave new world: anyone can do it, just push a button and you’re out there. Suddenly everybody is blogging, and they all wish this was what they’d be doing as a job.

But there’s a big difference between blogging and being a blogger.

Continue reading “Are You a Blogger or Just Blogging?” →

Are You Sabotaging Your Blog?

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 38 Comments

Correct me if I’m wrong: you know you should write a blog post. After all, it’s been a while since you last hit that publish button. Yet, somehow, without you realizing it, you spend hours on Twitter and Facebook “working,” only to wonder later what happened…

You comment on other blogs, telling yourself you’re “networking,” never mind that none of those comments actually lead to anything.

You have a growing collection of books and courses promising to teach you all the secrets in the universe, but they have been labeled “to be read” indefinitely.

In the back of your mind, you know you can do better. Technically, you even know what to do.

But something inside you refuses to let you, and every day you struggle with whether or not you should just give up or find some other shortcut.

You know how I know this?

Because I’m just like you. Continue reading “Are You Sabotaging Your Blog?” →

[Blogging Mindset] One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 10 Comments

It was a struggle. Crazy Romanian kid, doing his best to write in a foreign language. A post every two or so days, maybe it wasn’t a lot, but it was taking me hours and hours of work, of editing, of doing my best and yet still feeling as if there was more.

I could do more, I could do better.

A few months later, I was blogging on a daily basis. This was the dream; what I thought of as the pinnacle of blogging: one new blog post every single day. No days off. No time to celebrate, to act lazy, to grow complacent.

But then I decided that I wanted to do more. I wanted to start a new blog, an online magazine dedicated to promoting aspiring artists.

I raised money, started a new website, learned all sorts of new things, wrote a few blog posts, said this was impossible, and quit. Continue reading “[Blogging Mindset] One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor” →

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

~ Cristian Mihai ~ 653 Comments

Do you want to be a successful blogger? Do ideas for posts randomly pop into your head whenever, wherever? Do you think about ways to improve your blog?

How to write more? Better? Faster?

Do you study what the most successful bloggers have done to get to where they are right now?

You are not alone. I do this too. It’s one of my passions. To see what makes the difference. What works, what doesn’t, and to understand the why. Because of this, I can write cute posts like this one.

Here are the seven best habits to have as a blogger.

Continue reading “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers” →