There was a time when I used to get highly inspired as I came across yet another highly successful blog, with an astronomical number of subscribers – always in thousands – proudly displayed at a point where your eye is sure to go first.
They’ve got a great design, I’ll admit.
They have a compelling about me page that I can relate to. I can do that, I’ll reassure myself.
They have fantastic content that I can’t do without. Hmm – let’s see. I have been a writer for a number of years. Heck I was a marketer and lawyer in my past life. With these set of skills I am sure to produce some content worth reading and should persuade a few readers to subscribe.
So why is it that I am a few months in, and most ‘successful’ blogs are proving to be anything but inspirational. I look at them and it’s downright depressing.
Feeling crappy is not a good feeling, let me tell you. And I only feel that because I feel cheated.
I feel like I have been led on. I have been lied to and I do not like being made to feel like a loser who has 7 subscribers. In total.
Why is that most successful bloggers act like blogging is a piece of cake – that you can go from zero to hero with minimal effort, in a short amount of time.
If not, something is wrong with you. You are not good enough and your content is certainly not worth getting excited about.
What a load of crap.
Most successful bloggers are LYING – when they say that blogging is easy – or suggest this. And in the process, they are making me want to crawl under my covers and never come out.
If you have been made to feel like that, don’t sweat. You are not alone and know that you can do it – eventually - with tons of hard work.
Blogging Is Hard – With A Capital H
“It took me a few months to go from 4 subscribers to 4329.” This is the general message that most successful blogs are proudly saying, in your face.
“Learn how I got blah blah blah number of subscribers in under 12 months”. Insert an insanely high number here. Many seem to be shouting at us.
And poor newbies – like I was not too long ago – begin to question our sanity. What made me get into this?- we are scratching our heads. I must be doing something wrong. We think. Seems like I am the only one who can’t get more than 5 people to subscribe – mum, dad, my two children and the cat.
Blogging Success Takes Time
Have you a heard a story where a blogger launched a blog and got thousands of subscribers within a month?
What you don’t know is, before launching their blog, he began networking with other bloggers. He started commenting on their blogs, sent offers of help, and started building online connections even before he even touched a ’publish’ button. People knew him well and ‘helped him out’ . When he finally did launch his blog – it had been well over a year or so, and he was ready to go with all his networks firmly in place.
Great strategy yes – but don’t insult us by pretending that you had all the success within a month of publishing a few posts.
To me this is starting your blog, and then taking one year to reach the same stage. It amounts to exactly the same thing.
To say that it took you a month to become highly successful is just plain wrong. You are misleading new bloggers who give up within a year because they did not understand that the first year of blogging is – a killer.
It takes bucket loads of hard work and education to produce good content, make it look good, and then make sure other people know about it. Having a thick skin doesn’t hurt either.
Also read:How Does Blogging Increase Sales?
You Can’t Do It Alone
You cannot have a successful blog on content alone. Doesn’t matter if Shakespeare personally descended from the heavens to give you his blessing.
You need some marketing and lots of SEO.
You need people to be on your side.
If you have been led to believe that you just need to produce ‘killer’ content, and other people will link to … well …
Give me a second to finish my hysterical laugher as I try to stop rolling and screaming on the floor.
Now, where were we? Yes, marketing. You need to ‘somehow’ let people know that you have indeed awesome content on your blog.
Imagine your blog is a party and you are the new kid in town. You need to go to other parties first before people will come to yours.
Also read:Top 5 Terrible Blogging Tips
You also need to befriend other popular people throwing successful parties who will spread the word about your cool party.
If you don’t wanna join in, you might as well sit alone at your party and sing along to …
Care to dance to the tune?
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