If you follow these steps will your blog be wildly popular? As Jay Baer, the author of, "12 Most Imperative Must-Dos for the Serious Blogger," says, there's no guarantee, but you'll have decent shot at it. Here are three of Jay's imperatives for a successful blog:
1. Be patient. Every blogger starts with the exact same audience… zero. Eventually, relatives will read your blog, followed by sympathetic friends and neighbors. And then you’ll be on your way. But this notion that you start a blog and it becomes “a big deal” overnight is as rare as Keanu Reeves nailing a Victorian British accent.
2. Be specific. You have to have a clear sense of what your blog is about, and for whom you’re writing. There are no shortage of blogs out there, and if you’re going to successfully compete with a site like 12 Most, you better have a sharp understanding of what role you play in the educational or entertainment panoply of your audience.
3. Be consistent. Imagine if you subscribed to a magazine and it showed up at your house only whenever they “felt like” publishing an issue? The surprise factor might add a sprinkle of delight for a time, but the unpredictability would become irksome. We prefer to consume content in a disciplined and patterned way. Your blog should not contradict that circumstance.I encourage everyone interested in growing an audience for a blog to head on over to The 12 Most ... and read the rest of Jay Bear's article, 12 Most Imperative Must-Dos for the Serious Blogger.
The hard truth is that not every blog post you craft will be your best work. Nor is every meal you create, sentence you utter, hug you lavish, or bed you make. Nobody is at their best at all times. So this notion that some bloggers cling to of only writing when they “have something important to say” wrongly values inspiration over predictability.
As long as your quality doesn’t suffer markedly, recognize that more = more. Seven posts a week are better for your business than five. Five is better than three. And if you can’t write two posts a week, you’re probably kidding yourself if you think you can drive real business results from your blog.
Ah! Must we really begin with "be patient"? I'm failing, right out of the gate with that one. Patience can be such a dirty word.
ReplyDeleteI demand more success with less work and completed overnight.
(No.I know I have to be patient, but it is difficult sometimes.)
MT, I feel your pain. It can be a long uphill slog, but I try and take comfort in this: if it were easy then it probably wouldn't be worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Karen.
ReplyDelete(P.S.- enjoying Until Death. Again, well said.)
God give me patience lol! Its hard to be patient but I'm sure worth it! Thanks for the advice!
ReplyDeleteHi Tara! Thanks for the comment. I know it's hard. I've been puzzling over how it could be less difficult and then it hit me. That's part of the usefulness of goals. Even if it's something like I will keep writing X number of words a day, it can feel we've accomplished something over and above.
ReplyDeleteLol I haven't had my first cup of coffee yet, though, so I have no idea if what I just wrote is intelligible. :p