innerstrength 300x199 What separates successful bloggers from everyone elseDo you know what it really takes to run a successful site? The answers may surprise you. It’s not an uncanny technical skill or a tremendous wealth of internet knowledge or a marketing degree or a boatload of cash.

As a blogger who has been in the web space for over a decade, I’d like to think that I’ve gained valuable insights on what separates the truly successful site owners and the rest of the blogsphere. I currently run several sites, including four of them on WordPress. They are in very specific niches and are doing well in their own right. With hundreds of millions of blogs and 80-90% of them being abandoned, going 4-4 is something I’m pretty proud of.

That said, Free Blog Help will hit its first birthday later this month. Have I learned new things? Of course I have! However, the core lessons still remain. In the last year of running this site, I was able to reinforce what I already believe are the key ingredients of being successful.

What it takes to be a top blogger

The eagerness to learn

The eagerness to learn is more important than skill. I know so many technically sound people in web development, SEO, marketing, and so forth. Why can’t all of them make money online? Because many of them don’t have the willingness to pick up the parts that they don’t know well. Their core competency can only take them so far.

They have to be willing to be a student to fill any gaps in their skillset. Besides, regardless of what their expertise is actually in, there’s a good chance that they’d have to adapt over time within their own area.

The ability to apply lessons learned

The ability to apply lessons learned is more important than the eagerness to learn. Anyone who is willing to learn can accumulate knowledge. But what good is it if that person doesn’t have a knack for applying that knowledge? I believe one must be able to apply knowledge and learn from successes and failures. Then repeat.

I’ve trained many professionals to get their certifications. Only a small number of them are able to translate their learnings into real world applications. They know how to take something on paper and make it come to life. They also happen to the ones making the most money.

Passion

Passion is more important than the ability to apply lessons learned. You’ve heard me say it before. Passion is something that you must have for your niche, your site, and your writing. For instance, if you choose a niche you’re not passionate about, you’ll quickly lose interest.  Be passionate about the decisions you make and be passionate about following through.

You must be willing to build your site without making any money because that’s the way it’s going to be for a little while. Get used to it. Passion will help keep you going when things don’t look so hot.

Perseverance

Perseverance is more important than passion. You can be passionate about something but that can only take you so far when it seems like you’ve spent hundreds of hours on your site and are in the red from your small domain and hosting investment.

Successful people are often willing to grind away knowing that they will outlast the masses. They will look at problems as learning opportunities and are determined to hit their goals. Putting sweat equity into something makes them even more engaged. There is no stopping someone who is truly prepared to persevere through turbulent times. And you know what? There will be many of those when running a site or any business for that matter.


Do you have it in you to be great?

You see, many of the folks making money by blogging about making money online aren’t telling you the entire story. Their articles are usually geared toward the very tactical side. Those are topics that both newcomers and veterans can easily learn and apply. In spite of this, why do so many of their visitors still fail? More often than not, they are missing at least one if not all of the elements I listed above.

What I’m saying is that the biggest factors are those that are inherent in you. Use whatever words you want: hunger, drive, determination, resolve, fortitude, etc… The bottom line is that you need the essential internal makeup.

People with the eagerness to learn, the ability to apply lessons learned, passion, and perseverance will be successful in anything they touch, not just running a site.

Do you think you meet the criteria?

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