You’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a while now but you finally decide to get over your paralysis, set aside a few hours, and commit to starting it. So, you set up a blog and begin writing on your niche topic of choice. Within the first week or so, you average about a post per day and feel pretty good. Then you realize no one really knows that your blog exists. In the coming weeks, you learn that there’s more to blogging than just posting articles and get the sinking feeling that it’s more than you signed up for. You don’t want to give up on your blog yet but since you are your only regular reader, you start posting only two or three times a week. After a month’s time, your posts have already diminished to once a week, then once a month, then eventually you abandon your blog entirely.
More than half my readers already have blogs in one form or another. If you haven’t started a blog yet, I’m sure current bloggers can attest to the scenario I just described. Regardless, either you’ve been through it or know someone who has. Out of the 100 million plus blogs out there, only a handful survive. If only they knew what blogging really entails before they started.
The truth is, I don’t have hard stats to prove that only 10% of bloggers make it past six months. Based on personal experience, it’s probably closer to 5%. What can you do to make it in that elite group?
Here’s what I recommend to put yourself on a path to succeed.
- Set a goal on posting frequency and stick to it no matter what. Many top bloggers post every day but depending on your topic and your time, that might not be feasible. Just be realistic and consistent. I suggest at least three times a week and keep it up for a minimum of three months. Then re-evaluate and see if you need to increase frequency. Whatever you do, don’t skimp on quality just to meet your quantity goal.
- Find others in your niche and work together. The blog world is a little different from many other realms. Blog communities, even within the same niche, are often close knit and can offer an excellent support system. Your best bet is to find blogs around the same maturity stage and read each other’s articles. Leave comments along the way and hope to receive some in return. This should motivate you a bit since you now have an audience other than yourself.
- On non-post days or extra free time, learn about SEO and slowly apply some techniques. In the long run, this will be key for your blog. It may grow organically anyway because your content is good but a little bit of SEO could double your following. In some cases, an extra few minutes a week spent on SEO could be the difference between a blog read by 10 visitors a day or one read by 100 a day. If a bigger audience doesn’t drive you to chug away, then I’m not sure what will.
- Find a mentor. Many bloggers who have made it past the six month threshold had to have learned a lot. These folks can offer a lot of advice that is specific to your needs, which is a huge benefit especially during the first few weeks of your blog. They should be able to motivate you to post regularly, help you manage your time effectively, and fine-tune your blog. Having an idea of what to do next and having someone kick you in the butt once in a while is a great way keep that momentum going.
Of course, there are a ton of other things you could do. In fact, the longer your blog exists, the more there is to do. I didn’t even mention things like social bookmarking, directory submissions, social networking, advertising, affiliate marketing, email blasting, theme updates, design and usability considerations, plugins, and blog analytics.
The important thing is to just keep moving along at a pace that works for you. Blogging is very much like exercise or investing, consistency is the key to getting great results. So instead of running for 45 minutes, 3 times a week, you decide to do it once a month. Running once a month is about the same as not running at all. Same goes for blogging.
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I am a business professional
with an entrepreneurial spirit. Although I have an MBA and managed websites and IT departments
for several Fortune 500 companies ...
I have yet to start my blog but this gives me a good idea of what to expect. The road ahead looks to be quite a journey.
All I can say is that I *hope* that I will be part of the people who survive in 6 months. Although to be honest posting daily is more of a chore then you would think.
I hope i can pass the 6 month. I already did some of the tips that you mention above, and it is working great.
I have finished my 6 months and going to make 1 year next month
You’re right about posting frequency. I started at one per day, then dropped to 3 times a week because I wasn’t seeing a ton of traffic and I felt like most of my posts were going unread.
I started keeping to the 3 times a week posting schedule and spent more time promoting. I reached a point where I was getting enough repeat traffic that if I didn’t start posting more often, I would lose traffic.
Setting posting goals and sticking to them is probably the hardest part. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in promoting your blog and reading how to blog, and not actually blogging. Good stuff Gabe
It’s hard to strike a balance. I’m more the opposite, where I spend too much time posting and not enough time promoting!
Isn’t it funny how in this business, one year is such a huge milestone? Imagine if someone celebrated after their freshman year of college?
Anyway, congrats Harsh…one year really is a big step. I wonder how many blogs have come and gone in that time?
@everyone. No doubt it’s a challenge if you haven’t hit your 6 month mark yet. That’s why so many don’t make it. The great thing about blogging is that anyone can start one but only the most determined can maintain one.
Fantastic tips! starting a blog isnt hard, but running a successful one takes a lot of effort.
Thanks Gabe this is great advice! I hope I make it to the 6 month mark. I am beginning to find it a little easier to write about interesting topics in my niche and learning so much while doing so. I hope I can continue to keep up the pace.
Interesting fact based on Marketing analysis.
More than 6 months for me, and traffic has been exponential. Never bothered about geographical targeting, but 90% of the Traffic is from U.S.
Interesting fact is, I`ve been to U.S. once in my life.
I am about to finish the 6months. Wow!!! It feels great when I look into the past. Blogging is the best decision I have ever made
It’s been a good ride for me too. I’ll have to swing by and check out your blog!
It’s true when you just started, you get excited by having your own blog because you are the one who made it. It’s like you son. But it gets frustrating when there is no one come to your blog after a while. You will be like talking to yourself everyday.
All bloggers have that problem in the beginning. It’s usually a painful first month since you really are, as you stated, just writing for yourself.
One way to get over the hump is simply do a little each day. If it’s not a post, then try a new plugin, look for some blogs to comment on, or do some SEO research.
I just had a look here from the link at Problogger. This topic interests me. I feel happy with how my blog is going so far, even though I’ve got a long way to go.
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Keep up the good work on your blog!
P.S. I’ve got news for you, we all have a long way to go! You’ll find that your workload during those first few months will steadily increase!
My first blog is 9 months old. The second blog is just six months old. And I’m getting more white hair from blogging!
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Blogging is a lot of work. I juggle several sites and it’s extremely time consuming.
i would say stayng motivated is the hardest part. spoecially if you start blogging with a view of “oh its easy am just going to write once in a while and put some ads and …”. in the past 3 months i have been doing it and many times i wanted to just give up but then i have a really great passion for this wiche i never knew. i havn’t got a mentor yet in a sense that have a specific person helping you, but i do use some great forums like warrior forum and dp to learn and grew. which has helped me to learn alot in that past 2/3 months and its a good way to stay motivated since people are nice and try to cheer you up. any how i am starting to think your style of writing is one of a kind. there is something to it that stands out. great work and thank you.
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Yes. I am. Blog almost 3 years now.
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Congrats, Jayce! Three years is an amazing feat that 99% of bloggers won’t reach!
This is an article like no other. Not because there’s not a lot of information out there about this but because it’s one of the most important things any blogger on any topic could learn from. It’s takes time and consistency is key. There’s so many things to do and you really have to keep up with it all to succeed because it truly is a cruel world out there if you don’t.
Having a plan and keeping organised will also help very greatly with this as well.
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