Believe it or not, being successful as a blogger does not mean blogging is somehow easy. Sometimes it can be fun, while other times it can feel like a daunting chore.
The truth is that we often focus obsessively on failure, but don’t realize that success has its own cons as well.
Curious to know how it feels to be a successful blogger? Read on. Continue reading “A Glimpse Behind the Scenes of a Successful Blog”
Let’s say you’ve managed to set up your blog, decided on a niche, and now it’s time to write.
So… how long should your blog posts be?
Do you write long posts that cover pretty much an entire aspect of your niche, with lots of tips and tricks, or do you write lots of smaller posts?
Do you write the ultimate beginner’s guide? Or break it down into several guides on different aspects of your topic?
Hmm…
Admit it: this is something you’ve thought about. And you’d like to know, from a reader’s perspective, which kind of blog post is better.
Well, read on to find out.
There’s this exercise I keep recommending in my posts about networking, gaining an audience, and becoming better as a blogger.
And it’s quite simple: Continue reading “Who’s Your Competition?”
Ever did something like this? You forget to post new content for a variety of reasons (no time, no energy, no inspiration) and after a few weeks (months) you hastily write a blog post apologizing to your readers for not posting.
Well, the truth is that waiting for the right circumstances almost always ensures that you never get anything done.
And we all know that consistency is key.
So, how do you stay consistent?
Lucky you, here are five tips that will help you out. Continue reading “5 Tips to Staying Consistent With Your Blog”
Who are you? What defines you? What is it that sets you apart?
Why should anyone read your blog? What exactly do you bring to the table?
Do you write generic content filled with SEO-friendly keywords?
What about your personality? Your fears? Expectations? Desires?
What about what really grinds your gears?
I am asking you all these questions because whenever you write a blog post and release it into the world wide web, you are “selling yourself.”
If you do not know, care, or are aware of this, then no one else will know you, trust you, or be willing to interact with you.
Here are a few things to work hard at in order to build your personal brand:
Tell me. What is your blog all about? Can you define that in a simple sentence? Why are you blogging? Can you offer a six word answer to that?
Why do you write what you write?
What is your blog’s purpose?
How often do you blog? Do you stick to the same days, hours for publishing new content? Do you invest the same amount of time, day in and day out?
I am asking you all these questions because you need to plan. You need to write down lists of the topics you will write about.
You need clarity of purpose.
You need to know what you what, what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what are you going to get out of it.
If not, you’ll feel lost and confused, and you’ll be easily disappointed and defeated by the many obstacles that will inevitably come your way.
Why do you blog?
Simple question, right?
But…
What you choose to answer determines how successful a blogger you’ll be. And rather than reporting news, or covering a certain topic or two, or attempting to make money, sell products, I am going to tell you that you should focus on making your readers better at what they do, whether that skill is blogging, marketing, or gardening.
Believe it or not, blogging is all about adding value to other people’s lives, and in this post I am going to explain how powerful this model truly is. Continue reading “Blogging is All About Adding Value to People’s Lives”
It’s not because you’re not good enough as a blogger.
It’s not because of SEO, or because Google changed their algorithms.
It’s not because of your niche.
The real reason nobody cares about your blog is this:
You don’t care about who’s reading.
Here’s a neat experiment I did with this blog. When I first started it, I rarely responded to comments. I’d just approve them, and like the comments.
That was it.
I did, of course, do my best to provide the best content possible. I did my best to learn as much about blogging, to provide real value to my readers.
Then, a few months ago, I decided to change things: I’d respond to every comment, even if all I’d write was a “Thank you.”
You might say this is not impressive. It’s not this life changing idea, but the results were pretty amazing. Not only did my views increase, but also my revenue increased. By quite the margin.
Simply for replying to comments.
Now, ask yourself what would happen if you were to visit the profiles of the people who comment on your content, then read and comment on their posts too.
Hmmm…
Blogging is all about building relationships. And you cannot build a relationship with someone you don’t care about.
This is the best marketing strategy ever: care.
Care enough to respond to everyone back. Care enough to think on a daily basis what it is that your readers want to read. Care enough to edit and proofread your blog posts.
Care.
Just care.
Yes, you need to sacrifice writing time for this. You’ll spend hours replying to comments, answering to e-mails, but this will mean some of your readers will become more than just followers.
They become avid fans.
This is the way you build an actual audience. This is the way it has always been.
You cannot build an audience of thousands without first caring about the one.
You need to care about each and every single one of your readers. It needs to be one person at a time.
That’s it.
Care.
And your readers will care about you as well.
Being thoughtful is such a lost skill that it will instantly set you apart.
So care. Please, just care. Expect nothing in return.
And you’ll be surprised just how much you get back in return.
Admit it. You often wonder what’s that something successful bloggers have that others seem to lack.
The secret ingredient. Or that neat little trick that you are oblivious of, and obviously need it to get noticed in this gargantuan blogging world.
So, what is this secret ingredient?
What’s better: quality or quantity?
I know what you’re thinking. You probably think of quality and quantity as opposites. You also think quality is far more important than quantity.
But…
What is quality exactly?
Quality is almost impossible to define. Does it mean well crafted? Unique? Maybe.
But how do you get to create quality content? Stuff that’s better than just about anyone else is releasing on the world wide web?
When you’re just starting out and don’t know how to form a sentence correctly? Or edit a blog post?
Well… if you are curious, read on.
Continue reading “5 Deceptively Easy Steps To Writing a Phenomenal Blog Post”
