Dec
7
How To Start A Successful Blog
Filed Under Blogging | 10 Comments
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I just read an article from Webomatica that commented on how hard blogging is. Amongst other things, the author mentioned how he has the perception of being greeted by a blank page day after day, needing to come up with something by a certain deadline. When I read it, it seemed like such a grim view of blogging!
From my experience, rarely have I gotten such a feeling! In fact, I only started a blog because there were just so many ideas floating around in my head. I would think, “Hmmm, what a shame to think of these unique ideas and then forget them right afterwards without anyone hearing them?”
From time to time, I would walk around and suddenly think of a unique perspective on something and jot it down. Blogging is just my means of not losing these ideas, and also allowing other people to experience of benefits of an interesting perspective. As a result, I am never short on material nor do I ever set a deadline for myself. The ideas come up when they come up and happen when they happen! I didn’t start a blog to find content – I already have unique ideas and just need a place to write them down!
And that is why exactly some bloggers feel “dry”. You only experience the feeling of “blank page after blank page” if you have nothing to talk about! And if you have nothing to talk about, how can you succeed at a venture that is essentially talking to people?! It seems to me that people fail at blogging because they shouldn’t have started in the first place!
Let’s look at the difference between a person who blogs because he has something he needs to put down on paper vs. someone who’s blogging for say, profit, and just picks some random high CPM (the amount advertisers pay for 1000 impressions of an ad on the site) niche to write about.
Someone Who Needs To
- Naturally occurring ideas and topics; never runs “dry”
- Has an in depth (and often unique) understanding of the topic
- Takes only minutes to write an article because the idea is already there! For example, this article only took me about 40 minutes
- Will keep writing in the face of obstacles. For example, I chose to keep writing even when my pages got deindexed from Google.
- It’s fun and satisfying!
Someone Who Picks A High CPM Niche
- Needs to keep “researching for ideas”
- Just re-summarizing ideas that are out there for the most part
- Takes a really long time to write articles because he needs to research the topic first, understand it in his head, and then write it
- He is results driven because the writing itself gives him no satisfaction. Will easily give up when the money doesn’t come in a few months. Is it a wonder then why so many blogs go dormant?
This is yet another example of why knowing what you want in life is so important! If you cultivate long term interests, then those subjects will always be something that you can immerse yourself in. Most things in life take sustained interest to accomplish – your efforts compound and grow exponentially. By not having long term interest, you actually waste your initial efforts in setting up the foundation.
For example, one business venture that I’ve dabbed in is selling virtual currency in online rpgs. For a while, I established a decent reputation on ebay, sparter, etc. and gained some loyal customers. However, having discovered that this endeavor doesn’t create a lot of value (and as a result, have a lot of opposition), I’d decided to exit this business. Yet, even now, people still contact me asking if I have anything for sale! Had this been a good value generating business, these leads would have been the result of my previous efforts. Instead, because I stopped, these leads are now more of a source of annoyance!
Applied to blogging, if you feel that you have something to say that is important, then it’s worth starting a blog. If you feel that you would blog anyway even if there was no one reading it, then you should start a blog. If you feel that other people would really benefit by reading your blog and you would be proud to show it to everyone, then you should start a blog. Otherwise, your blog is just doomed to failure!
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i just feel to have a comment.
when i read your statement “will keep writing incase of obstacle” and “I chose to keep writing even when my pages got deindexed from Google.”
hahaha, i have this kind of attitude. i write everything that comes my mind even thought it’s useless sometimes.
Haha! I’m sure someone finds it interesting somewhere! Just a marketing issue
I really appreciated your input. I have so many ideas running through my head, but one imparticular I am passionate about.
I just started my blog for just the reason you have said here. Because I feel like my thoughts run around in my head and then become forgotten is such a waste. I kept a small notebook for awhile with random thoughts, but that became cumbersome and usually the thoughts were never fleshed out.
All in all, I just have to say that this article has comforted me a great deal about how to approach my own.
Warren,
A blog is interesting where people are able to
see “personality” in it. This is quite true in your case.
Nice and simple. I have a feeling you know what you are good at and are having fun in life
Iam just decideing on starting a Blog, I think that it will be a funny,and personal, intersting thing to do. In due respect some people just dont know what they want to do out of life. Just go ahead and start to succed in life making steps, goals and following them.
do you know any good blog site that I could start blogging on?
By the way, your article was really helpful.
thanks for inspiring me to start blogging. I planned years already but haven’t started still. anyway, any suggestions for a good blog site that I could use? thank you.
If you want to start blogging for free but don’t know how – read some Blogging ABCs here. It’s a good place to start for beginners –
http://ninjarabbits.blogspot.com/2010/06/blogging-blogs-for-free-abcs.html
A great blogging service that I’ve been using is called Blogger.com
Great article, by the way. I have had multiple blogs, but I ended up deleting them because mostly they were focused on temporary interests, or because I just blogged about meaningless things no one would want to read. I’ve got some advice to share- blog about your biggest passion(s). Example: If your major is photography, make a photo journal. See the world, and take a picture to capture those moments.
Well, bye