Why Bloggers Set Unrealistic Expectations

Bloggers tend to set unrealistic expectations.

Blogging feels like an escape from a boring, dead end job. Blogging feels like a way out. Blogging seems to be the bridge from depression to happiness. Everything seems bright. The future forces you to wear shades; blinding potential waits around the cyber corner.

But blogging douses your dreams. Fast. At least, blogging grounds you. Unrealistic expectations dissolve fast. I visualized myself being interviewed by world famous media types on world renowned shows as a newbie back in 2008. Reality leveled me. I lived a neat life. I had a cool story. But I set unrealistic expectations. I believed my story could sell me. I did not believe I needed to work to develop:

• skills
• exposure
• credibility

I had no clue I needed skills, exposure or credibly to go pro. I figured publishing a few posts, letting my story ride and counting immense riches would be my success process. Reality set in quickly. I reigned in my expectations. Everything changed after I struggled for a little bit.

Blogging is not hard but simple and sometimes uncomfortable. Pro blogging is a long term journey. Blogging never spares the rod. I learned these lessons 12 years ago. Thank goodness I grew through lessons fast. Bloggers tend to never learn hard lessons. Struggle, failure and quitting follow.

Bloggers set unrealistic expectations for a few reasons:

• bloggers assume since blogging is easy to start that going pro must be easy, too
• bloggers envision blogging as a quick escape from a miserable, depressing job; fearing you need to escape a miserable experience clouds your judgement and deludes you into believing false ideas
• blogging seems easy because most newbies believe blogging is just writing and publishing posts to your blog

The #1 reason why bloggers set unrealistic expectations is this: most new bloggers never do the research, study and observation to understand the many moving parts of being a successful blogger.

Bloggers are:

• observers
• writers
• entrepreneurs
• networkers
• mental scientists

among other roles. Bloggers rarely consider being observers, entrepreneurs, networkers and mental scientists. Bloggers see themselves writing and publishing posts. Writing and publishing posts seems easy. Doing something easy likely leads to quick success. Bloggers usually believe writing and publishing a bunch of blog posts in a short period of time leads to big traffic and profits. Desperate, deluded bloggers see millions of dollars in writing and publishing a high volume of posts in months.

Reality hits like dunking your head into a bucket of ice water when, after writing and publishing posts for 6 months, you have yet to make a penny. Zero blogging profits greet you for writing and publishing hundreds of posts over 6 months. Pain sets in. Reality stings. Either you complain and quit or lick your wounds and learn blogging from pros.

Pros tell you to be an observer. Watch reader problems. Solve reader problems through your blog posts. Write helpful posts. Master the skill of formatting posts properly. Develop the skill of being an entrepreneur. Monetize your blog effectively. Blog with posture. Think like a business person. Network generously. Learn how to do blogger outreach correctly to develop yet another skill. Be a mental scientist to ride out the highs and lows of blogging.

Does it sound like an easy, quick journey to learn, practice and develop 5 different skills in order to go pro in 6-12 months? For most bloggers, mastering skills to go pro in 3-5 years is realistic. Expect to go pro 1000’s of hours spanning years into your blogging career. Success can and will be yours if you blog the right way, develop multiple skills and persist for years.

Dream big dreams but take your time because living your dreams through blogging consumes years of your life and 1000’s of blogging hours worth of effort.

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