Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Blogging Tips: 4 Basic Things To Keep In Mind In Order To Have A Successful Blog



I have noticed so far that every beginner blogger goes through one particular phase which usually decides whether you are going to be a successful blogger or not. If you can overcome the phase, the rest of the path is smooth as silk. But here is the challenge, because statistics says, 95% of bloggers just give up because they cannot pass through this one single phase in the beginning line. Success neither pop out of the window, nor falls from the sky, that's what we all know, but just not ready to accept. What I have learned in this nine months of my blogging period is that it's only my patience, confidence and consistency which had led me so far. Otherwise I don't have a sponsor to promote me, or a SEO expert boosting my blog up everyday. So how did I do it? 

Answer is simple. I won the basic battle against the most depressing state where most of the bloggers fail just because they suffer from uncertainty. 
Do you remember the one incident of your life when you cannot find your key and have searched in every possible and impossible places, but all the time the key was on the table right under your nose?
Yeah, the key is right under your nose.


Sometimes the solutions are so basic and simple that we cannot believe how problems can be solved by so easy solutions and there we fail. Accept it, that complication is the nature of problems, but solutions are always the easier one. But when you try to implement, you would know that what's the difference between 'sounds easy' and 'easy to be done'. Suppose you have broken up with your boyfriend or girlfriend. The never-failing easy solution is to 'take time and move on'.
Sounds easy right? But all of you know that doing this is as hard as hell.

I have started writing this post just to help beginner bloggers like me to let them know that things are always simple, all you have to do is believe. I always wished if I have got someone to help me to find the solutions, but I learned in a hard way. This is a small attempt to make your journey a bit easier.
So here we go.

Overcoming State Of Depression: 4 Positive Reinforcement 

As Google says, 1st year is always the hardest year for bloggers. You have great content, outstanding writing capability, charming personality but still you get discouraged and depressed because you are not getting what you expected. As I mentioned in my previous post on blogging tips that we blog to share our ideas, our stories, our experiences with others, and we expect others to read and appreciate. If it's not happening then I am bound to get discouraged. Here I introduce the four Positive reinforcement that would help you get over with this depressing beginning phase of blogging.

Stop Thinking What Others Think: Be Confident


That's what happened to me exactly. I was so shy to promote my blog by creating a facebook page or to advertise about it. I thought people would laugh. It took me 8 months to get over with it and now I truly regret. You know why?
Because if I have had done it a few months earlier,I could have grown more readers by this time. What pulled me down from getting a quicker success? Yes, it's lack of confidence.  I was not confident enough to show people what I got. 

If you are writing or blogging, consider this as a part of you, and never you feel ashamed of showing what you are. What are you afraid of? What people would think? Is it even worth thinking? Let me tell you straight to the point that when you will be an established successful blogger, nothing would matter. And to be a successful blogger you have to start as soon as possible. The more time you lose by being hesitant, by thinking what others would think, the more you would lag behind from getting a successful blog. 

The main thing is, just be confident and be yourself. If you have to write, you write, no matter what. If you can continue this journey confidently, trust me, one day you will be appreciated by those people who you thought would criticize.

I Waited 6 Months To Receive The First Comment: Be Patient 


Patience is the nut of the biscuit.
I had no headache in the beginning that whether I am getting traffic or not, who's reading my blog or leaving comments. Because I knew nothing about blogging, and as I started writing regularly, I gradually grew the desire of having some readers who would read my blog, with who I can share my experience, my journey, all the interesting and ugly stuffs; I wanted to be heard, to be appreciated because I knew that I had great stuffs to share. But at that time I knew nothing. Not a clue.
Over period of time, I started to understand that what I have to do is networking, to enhance my circle. So I joined different blogger and blogging groups over social sites, Google+ communities, made healthy relationships with other fellow bloggers, appreciated them for being with me and also I learned from their writing, experiences and cooperation. I received my first comment on the blog after 6 months of blogging.
It did not happened over a night.
I was patient, all the time. Your traffic will grow.
For your better understanding I am repeating, "YOUR TRAFFIC WILL GROW", just not over a night, not even within 2 or 3 months (unless you got a sponsor or hired a SEO expert). Like a normal everyday blogger like you and me, the key is to be patient. Not to lose your hope, but to wait. This is the most crucial thing, to wait and here most of the bloggers fail. But you don't want to be a part of those 95% who could not make it, do you?


Temporary 'Why Am I Doing This' Crisis: Be Consistent



'Why I am doing this?' - is a frequently asked question of many bloggers. Another thing I want to say straightly, that without two things you should never start blogging in the first place.
1. Passion for blogging
2. Enthusiasm to share

It's very normal to jump into this kind of state where you think 'what's the point of it', even I have also faced this kind of phases when I did not write for a month. But I got through, because I had passion for writing. All I had to do is to push me a little harder, to generate self-motivation within me, and I was back. Sometimes while I was not writing, my traffic went down like 14 views per day or worse. But nothing made a difference because I had to write, I had to blog and this consistency made all the difference between what I was one year back, and what I am now. You have to be regular and consistent. Three things here you should keep in mind,
1. Update blog-post regularly
2. Share you posts regularly
3. Maintain relationship with other fellow bloggers on a regular basis

You might get distracted for a while not knowing what to write, or to the worst, why to write haha! but you have to come back and start it again, because once you have started the journey, turning back would fail you. You have to keep going, forward, and that's how you can have a successful blog and can win the race.

Write, Write & Write: Be Competent


Nothing can make you a better blogger than by knowing how to capture your readers through your writing. Always remember it's okay if you are not perfect, but you have to be competent. 

A great content is a mine of gold.

If you cannot shape and convey the greatness of your content through your writing, it would be a total failure. This gold mine is not for you, but for your readers, and to make your readers to drag into your gold-mine effectively you have to use the ladder of your writing skill. An excellent writer with great content, eventually becomes a successful blogger sooner or later if she is smart enough to overcome all the odds.
I remember one day I was lamenting for I thought I wrote only bunch of rubbish. Some one advised me, "Write everyday, does not matter what, just write, and one day you will write gold"

That is indeed true. Only writing can make you a competent writer, and I want to advise additionally to also read a lot. Read others blogs, articles, writing; See how they are making approach to their readers, how they are organizing and shaping their contents. You must know how to approach to your readers, and how to make bonding through your writing, this is the only way you can grow a loyal and large traffic and eventually make a successful blog.


P.S. Earlier I had received some questions regarding this very basic issues of blogging from my fellow bloggers, and I thought instead of giving them scattered and partial answers I should write all the issues in an organized way so that I can make my point clear. I would be really glad if you get some help from this post. Bloggers are the best! Keep Blogging!

I would be back with my next and last part of the journey to Australian Camp, with more interesting stories about trekking. To check out my previous posts, click here.
Thanks!  
  

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