Blogging challenges even the most diligent bloggers.
I face challenges now as a 10 year blogging veteran.
Today I drove 3 plus hours from one travel location to the next. Traffic added a good 40 minutes to the journey. Being busy with acclimating to my new location, I am delving into my blogging work day at 9 PM on a Saturday night.
Even though I seem challenged I simply learn how to adapt and get the work done. Perhaps I cannot put in a complete blogging work day but the challenge inspires me to be creative, open-minded and flexible to still be prolific despite today being a travel day.
You and I face all types of fears on this blogging journey. Do anything for thousands of hours; only enlightened beings glide seamlessly and gracefully through the ride. I did not. Nor do 100% of my fellow blogging buddies. The tough part? Facing, owning and solving blogging errors in the light of truth. Bloggers mean well. But most bloggers live in fantasy land, not seeing themselves honestly.
What is the downside of NOT facing challenges head on? Errors arise. In essence, you screw up by making big mistakes each time you shrink from challenges.
Blogging struggle and failure also grows out of making these mistakes.
Own these errors if you make these mistakes. The only way to make blogging easier if you own errors making blogging difficult.
1: Thinking Length Equals Value
Some bloggers believe only 2000 to 3000 word posts – or longer – yield value. Not true. Bloggers making 1 or all 3 of these errors find this post incredibly valuable, and it spans under 1000 words. Never equate blog post word length with value. Doing so creates oodles of bloat, wasted words and a less than fulfilling, airy, heavy blog post.
Hit your ideal word count to deliver on the title promise. Publish the post. Valuable posts are valuable posts whether 600 or 6000 words. All depends on your delivery. Deliver on the promise you made in the title. Publish a valuable blog post.
Pay close attention to bloggers who went pro by publishing helpful 600 to 800 word blog posts. None of these bloggers would have went pro if 600 to 800 word blog posts did not yield value. Observe how pros go pro following all different schools of thought. Value is value, independent of word count. Note; most bloggers agree 600 words seems to be the minimum count for a blog post.
2: Blogging Solo
Blogging solo kills your blogging campaign. No one succeeds solo. Bloggers depend on their friend networks, loyal readers and rabid fans to drive traffic and profits. But most bloggers need to learn this lesson the hard way. Let me guess; you likely thought being a blogger meant writing a post, hitting the publish button, then doing the same thing daily for a while before success finds you. Nope. Failure finds you.
People ignore bloggers who ignore connecting with humans. Imagine writing and publishing one post daily for weeks. Who cares? Who trusts you? Who promotes you, endorses you, vouches for you and expands your presence? You have no friends. You made no friends. Good luck with that. Bloggers gone solo experience failure, big-time, because connected, generous networkers run circles around these folks.
Network generously. Help bloggers.
- comment on their blogs
- promote bloggers on social media
- promote bloggers through your blog
- endorse bloggers
Ask for nothing in return. Expect nothing in return. Earn trust. Express a genuine interest in bloggers versus in what bloggers can do for you. This is how to get connected. Getting connected is not a passive process. Getting connected is a generous process dripping with patience, persistence and trust.
3: Giving Up at Tiny Obstacles
Do not give up too darn easily guys. Never cower at tiny obstacles. Bloggers often give up if they face 5 minutes of writer’s block. Perhaps you sit down to write and publish a blog post. No ideas seem to knock on your mind’s door for 5 minutes or so. You give up, get up and avoid writing a blog post today because you fear sitting with a little bit of discomfort.
How do you expect to become a professional blogger if you give up on facing the tiniest obstacle in 5 minutes? Pro bloggers are made of stern stuff. Sit with a wee bit of discomfort. Be with your fears. Write the darn blog post. Ideas will flood into your mind. But give it 5-10 minutes…..or maybe a little bit longer. Everything changes when you change. Everything grows through the renewal of your mind.
Blogging – like travel – feels scary sometimes. But cowering at fear only guarantees your failure. Pick a fun, freeing driver. Dream big dreams. Big dreamers find the energy to persist through thick, thin and everything in between in order to become a full time blogger.
I shared my prime blogging obstacle today; I spent hours traveling and adjusting to my new travel location in upstate New York, in the United States. Even though I have little time to work today I make that time count and get the job done because I work around and through obstacles.
You can and will succeed. Own your mistakes. Correct your errors. Get on the blogging straight and narrow toward success.
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Ryan Biddulph
A Blogging Geek from Paradise.
Ryan Biddulph inspires bloggers with his 100 plus eBooks, courses, audiobooks and blog at Blogging From Paradise.