If you are thinking of making a living or simply making your name known through blogging, you will need to truly be extraordinary; and extraordinary results require above average effort. Unfortunately, The Pro Blogger status tends to cleverly elude a vast majority of bloggers who enthusiastically launch their blogs with the hope of hitting it big; only to be discouraged by a lack of accomplishment within a certain time line. Some give up just before they soar and some never got started in the beginning.
Now I’m not here to dwell upon those who may think they have failed but to encourage those who may feel like giving up or need that extra push to keep their engines going.
So here are some proven techniques that will work for the blogger who dares to be better than the average and truly excel towards the Pro Blogger title.
Focus On Clearly Defined Goals
As gentle and soft is the feel of water, it possesses the power to carve through hard rocks when it is focused and flows consistently onto a single spot. This is the same attitude one should have towards serious blogging. Spend the time to think and decide the best direction to go on your blogging journey. Look within yourself, think about your interests, your talents, skills and passion and launch your blog in that direction. Once you have decided which direction to go, I want you to have an undying focus and belief in the niche that you have chosen.
A focused and unwavering mind will produce excellent results as you become a better blogger. If you have the passion and yet without skill, your focus will lead you on a path of learning to acquire the skill set required to master your niche. Always think about ways to increase your knowledge, experience and expertise in your chosen field. Seek guest posting opportunities, engage and learn from the experts and challenge yourself in every possible way.
Never be complacent with being average and doing things the same way others do. Go the extra mile to do and be more and your rewards and accomplishments will be miles ahead of the average.
Study Like You’re In School!
For me, blogging is meant to be fun and not a task that is a pain. This is why I always preach and say, “Blog about what you’re passionate about!” So if you’re blogging about things you have a great passion for, when it comes to increasing your knowledge through daily study, it won’t end up being such a daunting task. Whichever niche you choose to blog about, you are sure to find thousands of resources online and offline that you can learn from and find inspiration. Always make the effort to increase your knowledge. Treat your blogging as part of your daily life. Aim to be the source for everything within your niche.
Respect Your Fellow Bloggers
With great power comes great responsibility; and as you become more of an expert in your field, the more other bloggers will seek your assistance and guidance to help them do better. Never forget that you were once new to blogging and you are where you are now because of others. Always be thankful for what you have achieved and the fact that others were willing to help and contribute.
Provided it is within your abilities, seek and accept opportunities to help and teach others. Provide a greater value than what is expected from you and your success will be multiplied beyond your wildest dreams. Never pride yourself too much in being better than others but be humble in all your comments and other interactions. A massive amount of bloggers will see you for the great person you are and become attracted to your online presence.
Be Consistent & Never Give Up
Consistency is key to accomplishing any goal. The task that is repeated and practiced becomes perfection; and blogging isn’t any different. You may be a newbie now but you will never be the same a couple months from now; if you consistently blog and increase knowledge that is. As you keep posting, your writing skills improve, speed improves, expertise develops, connections with other bloggers are made, traffic increases and your confidence soars. The main prerequisite is that you are consistent with what you do.
The biggest mistake many bloggers are making is giving up. Do yourself a favor and stick to it.
Discussion
Developing and practicing the right attitude towards blogging can help anyone achieve success. What techniques or lessons you have learned on your blogging journey that you would like to share? Was there any point in time that you felt like giving up? Tell us how you overcome by leaving us a comment below.
Hey Sam, this is a very inspirational post. I think it’s also important to be social because although blogging can sometimes feel lonely you have to reach out to others on Twitter, Facebook etc if you want to be known! Also being organized is very important. I remember reading about creating a master list of posts (on Problogger) and that has helped me personally to stay ahead of the game.
Thanks for reading Natalia
Those are some really good points. We can’t just write, sit back and relax and expect tons of traffic to flow. Bloggers need to be proactive and get themselves out there and market their ideas and sites as well as make solid connections with other bloggers.
I have a notepad where I keep all my future post ideas. It takes the hassle out of coming up with new ideas since everything that comes through my mind, I find a way to develop it into a blog post and write it down.
Thanks for sharing Natalia.
I have most of my ideas while sitting right here. At the moment I have 600+drafts. Content is not an issue.
Hey Dennis,
600 drafts!! That’s unbelievable. Do you go back through all those drafts once in a while to get ideas? I’m sure lots of those posts get lost in the bunch.
I know I’d be confused.
200 (ish) are fully formed posts brought over from the old DSWM blog to be republished. Other then that, yes, I look often to see what’s what.
I’ll have to go through it diligently though; clean it up a bit.
Another awesome post man!
I know personally that you can never learn everything about blogging and making money online just like you can never learn everything at school. And consistency is definitely huge. So many people just give up after a couple months, because things aren’t going as planned. That’s never a good idea! Once again, great post!
CJ
CJ’s last blog ..The Death of Summer Jobs and How 17 Year Olds Are Getting Rich
Thanks for reading CJ, glad you enjoyed it
There is no limit to what can be learned and there are hundreds of unique ways to achieve success. The key thing is that we need to be persistent and keep trying.
Brilliant points there Robyn
Love the last point, never gives up. That’s very important to me especially after my PR dropped from 2 to zero lol. I must not give up and won’t!
Hey Kimi
That’s what I always say, never give up! It will all pay off real soon.
Thanks for reading
Great points. I make Fridays my “study” day where I tackle my every growing list I call “research to do”. When I find a great tip or site I want to look into, it goes on the list. I also read business books constantly. Constantly learning, evolving, and improving is key. Great article as always.
Hey Melinda,
Thanks for taking the time to comment
That’s awesome that you’re dedicating so much time to research and advancing your knowledge and skills. Trust me, you will always be one step ahead of the game if you keep this up.
Choosing a specific day for these tasks is also an excellent strategy, it should help you to keep organized and consistent.
Thanks for reading
The part about being passionate about your blogging is so true!!! I just can’t write about anything other than my passion. I’ve been at my blog for 18 months now and just can’t see a way to monetize it but that almost doesn’t matter because I love doing it and I know eventually it will lead me to what I’m REALLY supposed to realize out of it.
Thanks for this post, great once again!
Thanks for reading Kristi and nicely said
Pursuing your passion will definitely lead you on the right path to ultimate fulfillment and it is the greatest way to blog and live. When it comes to monetization, just think about how you could provide and share your experiences as a service or info product in such a quality that people will be willing to pay for it.
Hi Sam,
You make some good points here especially the one about not giving up and sticking to it. I think that is key in anything that you do. Besides as long as you stay consistent and apply action than positive things start to happen. It makes it even better if you are passionate about something as it really comes across in your writing.
I have learned to write my ideas for posts on a notebook as I do have numerous ideas for topics. I am also a newbie and am finding my way as there is a lot to soak in. It’s been a fun ride though and posts like yours gives me motivation even more to move forward.
Take care!
Anna
Thanks for reading Anna and I’m really glad you found some inspiration here
Your comment shows that you understand what is required to be successful, the key is to just do it and be consistent.
I also visited your blog and see that you’re building quite an active community. Keep it up!
Thanks Sam I appreciate it! By the way my husband has family in Jamaica, it’s absolutely beautiful there just like it is here in the Philippines. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been there but definitely need to make it back over there:)
As for me, I have to get in at least 8 hours of sleep per day or I’ll be non-functional the next day, and end up staring at the screen like a zombie.