10 Critical Elements for Successful Blogging
Rules to successful blogging have obviously changed over the last few years but the basics still stand. As you all know and hopefully will continue to understand the web is a whirlwind of evolution. With this constant evolution your responsibilities also evolve and you’re expected to understand the basics of the game in order to continue to play, otherwise you’ll be watching from the bench and I know you’re probably cringing at the idea.
The first thing you have to grasp is the difference between a successful blog and one that dwindles on the equator between success and failure. It’s also important that you keep in mind that blogs alone have already been armed with success tools and it’s just a matter of how you drive that blog which will determine whether you move up from the equator or you move down.
Understanding Your Purpose
Your first goal in blogging is to create a purpose for your blog. In the same way that nonprofit organizations and corporations are responsible for creating a mission statement you are also responsible for creating one as well. Once you understand why your blogging and what’s your true purpose you’ll realize that everything will come easy. Why are you blogging? Who is your audience? What are you trying to achieve?
Understanding Success in Blogging
You understand your mission and your position, now it’s time to define success in blogging. Success can be defined in a 100 different ways. Some bloggers feel that success is getting to the first pages in the search engines for particular keywords and phrases. Other bloggers believe that success lies in how many subscribers you have and others will tell you that success equals to that large paycheck they receive at the end of the month. They are all right and I’m sure you know there are 100 other definitions. Success is measured upon your expectations of a particular project and how those expectations are met.
In understanding that last sentence, I would define success in blogging in the following way: A successful blog is one that meets the expectations you had when you launched it. It’s one that fulfills its mission statement and one that continues to meet those expectations as the market you’re in continues to grow.
After reading the last paragraph I hope you now undertand the importance of setting that mission statement.That purpose, the main goal or reason to continue is what will define your success and it may be the deciding factor in how far you will get.
Ten Critical Steps
Now you know what’s the difference between a successful blog and one that’s spiraling down the spiderweb towards failure. If you follow the next critical steps you will have moved a step further towards your blog goals.
I have a Dream
Do you? it’s important that you remember what I’ve already shared with you in regards to a successful blog. I also included the above in the ten critical steps to ensure that you understand the importance of establishing your mission. Remember that every successful blog has a powerful purpose and mission behind it. Embrace your mission and share it with the world.
Blogging System
Do you have a process in place? or are you blogging sporadically? It’s important that you take some time to create a schedule, a system that will work for you. I personally blog on a variety of different topics but when I do it I make sure that I create a to-do list. I have a notepad next to me to ensure that I write down ideas as they pop into my head. I set a schedule time to write and ensure that I keep my schedule and ultimately I try to remind myself of why I’m blogging in this particular market. The process and system will vary from blogger to blogger, however, it’s extremely important that you create your system as soon as possible and stick to it.
How you gonna?
How are you going to execute all of the things you need to make happen? The planning stages are vital in your blogging journey. You need to create a short term, medium and long term plan - without a map you will be lost so make sure that after you understand your mission you know how you’re going to find the X that marks the spot.
In addition to what I’ve already said most bloggers that fail to accomplish their goals fail because they’re missing their plan. They are missing the road map. Having a map/plan will set you apart from the large amount of bloggers that don’t perform well. Create your plan and keep it close, don’t file it away or fold it into small pieces to fit it in your wallet. Make sure you keep your road map near you in a place where you can always review it and be reminded of your goal and your steps to achieve it.
How much is your blog worth?
The question above does not imply dollar worth, it implies knowledge value.
Are you providing your audience with information that is useful to their needs? This is the main question you should be asking yourself if you’re trying to understand the value of your blog. Keep in mind that providing knowledge is the key. By Providing skills, methods and tactics your prospects readers will come. Your readers will perceive that value and you need to understand that ultimately your readers point of view is the most important and probably only important factor in assessing your blog worth. Give them something to care about, give them a reason to relate to you, and you’re a step in the right direction.
You Can’t always do it alone
There will come a point in time where you will need help, and you have to be okay with this. If you notice and take a look at the most popular or successful bloggers out there you will notice a pattern. They all are consistent but they all have needed help from other bloggers at one point or another during their blogging careers. Maybe this help means that another blogger submits a guest post for your readers and he or she may include links to his/her blog, this is okay. Another reason why you may need help would be in asking another blogger for his opinion or knowledge on something you may not be too knowledgeable about. There can be a hundred different ways where others can lend a hand, but you have to be okay with this. The moment you get overly protective over your blog it’s the moment where you can fail. Share your blog with others, as long as they have something worth sharing for your audience. It’s not about you, it’s about providing the value to the readers.
What’s the difference?
Successful bloggers can probably explain the differences between their blogs and someone elses. If I were to ask Daniel Scocco from dailyblogtips.com the difference between his blog and Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger.net blog he will probably answer in a seconds notice. Same thing would go for Jeremy Schoemaker from Shoemoney.com and Gyuate Park of Winningtheweb. The key here is that you need to analyze your market, your competition and figure out how you’re different from others within your field. What are you providing that’s different, what angle have you taken? Your homework is to figure this out immediately and if I were to ask you tomorrow the difference between your blog and another I hope you can answer in a seconds notice.
How are you going to win the game?
You’re probably thinking that what i’m going to share with you in this paragraph is something unheard of. A strategy so new that it will blow the keys off your keyboard. Are you ready? It’s not that serious. Believe it or not the most important parts of blogging are the simplest parts of blogging. The way to win the game is to engage your audience,pull your readers in. Develop a relationship with them, interact with them, make it exciting. It’s important to reward them for being here and supporting your blog. In blogging a simple but effective reward may be a prominent link position to their blogs somewhere on yours- this can be easily done by installing the Top Commentator Plug-in on your blog. You could also run contest and offer prizes that may interest your readers - remember that people respond well to recognition. Recognize their support and “incentivize” it.
Who’s got your back?
Every successful blogger will tell you that he/she is not perfect at everything, regardless of popular belief. Everybody needs help from the richest to the poorest and the successful to the unsuccessful. What does this mean? it means that if you’re a successful blogger and your strongest skill is writing or marketing you probably need help in designing. This is why bloggers may use resources like Design Guru Ryan or Unique Blog Designs to design their blog interface. They may also employ the resources of a programmer if they hope to launch software related to their niche and they lack programming skills.
The key here, is to understand where your strengths lie and where you’re weakness are. Once you do this start to create a list of resources you need to establish relationships with and put your blog networking abilities to good use.
Are you a provider?
The blog-o-sphere is constantly changing, and with change the opportunity for new products or services are given life. It’s important that you stay tuned to the newest and most recent changes and additions within the blog-o-sphere or marketing-sphere and start to cook up ideas that you will turn into products.
Think of twitter, how many product and service sites have popped up since the launch of twitter. Some will fail, some will succeed but it’s important that you join the bandwagon in product creating because if you don’t create you will flake. Your competition will get ahead of you and take away the lead. (Few examples: http://www.twitthis.com, http://hootsuite.com, http://www.tweetmeme.com)
Are you comfortable?
If you are, then get up and leave the comfort zone! It’s important that you step out of the comfort zone because it will set you back. If you think about every successful blogger or business person you will notice a pattern. They try different things, they take calculated risks and perform different strategies. When something is not working, you need to be the first to realize it and although it may be somewhat scary, you need to start performing new tactics. If the way you’re advertising is not working, then try something new. If you’re failing at networking, figure out a new way and reach out to new folks. The key here in leaving the comfort zone is making yourself do new things.
The following quote is a clear example of the above:
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”.
Have you been performing the above in your blogging? if not have you seen why you may not being doing as well? What do you think is missing from the above list? Let me hear your thoughts, I welcome them and welcome the opportunity…..
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Man, I always forget that what goes between gets eaten by the comment system.
“It’s one that fulfills it’s mission statement” should actually read
“It’s one that fulfills its mission statement.”
I overlooked that grammar error…thank you for letting me know…just fixed it.
Great post. You hit the nail on the head with every point you made.
There is nothing wrong with someone who wants to blog without a goal in mind or a system in place. They just shouldn’t be surprised when they don’t make money.
Thanks Brian, I appreciate your comment! It’s like I say no goals, no aim, it’s an endless road…if you don’t know where you’re going with something you’re not going to get anywhere, unless you’re really lucky.