“I’m at a point in my blogging career where I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
Every blogger reaches a point in time where they find themselves struggling, it’s normal. However, the challenging part of that struggle is finding out what exactly are you doing wrong and how can you correct it. I’ve watched as thousands of bloggers throw away their blogging career, just because they were unable to answer this kind of question. After being in the blogging industry for about 19 months, I’ve studied blogs and bloggers as well as the points where they go wrong. In my 19 months of being in the industry, I’ve gathered 8 critical questions bloggers forgot to ask themselves.
1. Are you blogging about your passion?
The beauty of blogging is that you have the ability to talk about something you love. If you put hard work and effort into it, chances are you will succeed. But, if you’re not blogging about something you’re passionate about, what’s the point of your blog? Are you blogging with hopes to make money? You can do that with any niche that has people who are interested in what you have to say. So why not make it a niche your passionate about? People will be able to tell if you’re actually passionate about what you do. The desire to over deliver, and give your blog your all can only be done by someone who is truly passionate about what they’re doing.
2. Do you know your audience?
A critical part that will determine your blogs success is how well you know your audience. The better you know your audience, the higher the chances are you can cater to their needs and help solve their problem. Another problem with not being aware of your audience is, how do you really know what they want and don’t want? What about all the posts you’ve been writing, do you really know how many of them your readers find useful? Are you wasting your time writing posts that aren’t benefiting your community?
3. Are you building a community?
Having a strong community can either make or break your blog. If you’re serious about blogging and wanting to better yourself as a blogger (which I assume you do since your reading this post), you should be serious about building a community. A strong community is like having a family; through your ups and downs as a blogger, your community will be there for you. They will love you, support you, and spread the word about your blog.
4. Are you solving your reader’s problems?
When people arrive to your blog and read your posts, are they going to leave with knowing something new? Or are they going to leave your site the same way they entered – confused and wondering what to do next. Take Problogger for example, it’s the world’s most popular blog for blogs about helping others to become a better blogger. If Darren posted about what he ate for dinner, or what he had been doing his entire day, would Problogger be where it’s at today? Absolutely not. He was able to get where he is at today by providing help useful material to new bloggers by finding out what problems his readers were facing and wrote about them.
5. Are you instilling the urge for community response?
What kind of vibe do your posts give off? Do they give the “I don’t care about your input” vibe, or do they give the “This post won’t be complete without your input” vibe. Having a comment section does not instill an urge for community response, your posts are what instill the urge. Try ending your posts off with a “Group discussion” or a “What do you think” section at the end. Ask your readers what do they think about the topic or what would they add to it. Give them a reason to comment, and show them that you want to hear their input. You can also write posts that connect with your readers deeply which will bring will allow you to see a more heart-felt comment. When your readers leave a comment, respond to it. Spark a discussion and share your input on top of theirs.
6. Are you a “thinker” and “planner” instead of a “doer”?
You will always hear someone say “I have a million dollar idea”, but you never see it happen because they don’t take action. Maybe you “plan” for the big day where you will become a six-figure problogger, but are you actually taking the steps to make that happen? A quote I like to think of is “It’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know.” The quote has so much meaning behind it, because thinking about something isn’t going to make it happen. Find your idea, write it down and actually do it. If you struggle, don’t give up, learn from your mistake and try again.
7. Are you blogging with a backup plan?
Every blogger should blog with a backup plan in mind, point-blank.
Diversifying your income streams
Having multiple traffic sources
Making sure your blog is being backed up daily
These are all backup plans you need to have. What if you wake up one day and find out that your blog has been hacked and you lost all your files? Do you have a backup of your site? What happens when Twitter dies out and that was your main traffic source? You suddenly lost all your blog traffic. You need to be willing to plan for the unexpected, because it can happen and it can happen to you.
8. Are you striving to over deliver on each one of your posts?
I’ll be blunt here. Being a consistent blogger doesn’t mean anything if you’re not striving to deliver the best on every post you write. If you hit the stage where you’re facing bloggers burnout to the point where you are struggling to find a good post to write about, take a break and ask for guest post submissions. The quality of your posts define the quality of your blog, and most importantly defines the quality of you as a blogger. So make sure you over delivering, or don’t deliver at all.
Are you asking yourself these 8 questions?
I’ve watched thousands of bloggers fail, but I’ve watched only a handful succeed. Ask yourself these questions, and be truthful about your answers. They can only benefit you for the better, so make the most out of it. Are there any self reflecting questions you believe us bloggers should be asking ourselves?
About the Author: Rob Rammuny is a 16 year old Internet marketer/blogger who teaches other’s how to make money online at his blog Robswebtips.com. If you’re interested in learning how to make money online, check out his website for a free course.
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