This guest post is by Moon from Experiments in Passive Income.
This post comes from someone who has made a ton of mistakes and is on her way to learn from those mistakes. You and I probably have a lot in common … after all, you’re here to learn about blogging and how to do it well and, well, I’m trying to do the same.
Being the owner and author of a blog that is in its first year of infancy, it’s been an emotional roller coaster ride—kind of like riding a car with a driver who makes you think of your impending death thanks to their inept braking skills and their random urges to switch lanes (without looking).
As a new blogger in a very crowded niche, I’ve found the year tough. It’s been tough finding my voice among so many others, producing content that is rich and teaches others a thing or two, attracting traffic that sticks (subscribers)—all while trying to establish a schedule.
Still, it helps to be prepared. Here are ten things that will crush your little heart in your first year of blogging:
1. You’re still waking up to low subscriber levels.
After eight months, only 100 subscribers are subscribing to your blog feed. Yeah, that will kill you inside. You might smile on the outside and tell yourself all’s well … but you’ll have to swallow your pride and evaluate how you’re hindering your blog’s growth. Are you presenting your readers with boring content? Or do you need to guest blog to bring exposure to your new blog?
2. You realize that attracting visitors is more than just good SEO.
Sooner or later, you’ll realize that attracting visitors to your blog is more than just good SEO (long-term strategy). At that point, it’s time to buckle down and learn how to use Twitter, su.pr, and Facebook properly to garner thousands of views a month.
This type of social media marketing needs to be done, and done well. And it will take you more than a few minutes to promote your content properly and on a daily basis. No one wants to simply hear noise on their media streams—give them that, and they’ll quickly stop paying attention to you.
3. You realize what SEO entails.
Eventually, it dawns on every budding blogger that SEO involves much more than just incorporating your keywords into your content excessively and using keyword rich links. If you want search traffic, you need to spend a few hours a month learning about SEO and actually executing it. It’s amazing how much time I’ve spent catching up on SEO, but I’m still not using it properly. I bet you’re not, either.
4. You fail to monetize your blog.
When you don’t earn even a measly $100 per month from your blog, despite trying hard, it hurts. But earning money through your blog is more than slapping ads on it. Keep trying!
5. You realize there are no easy ways to make money through your blog.
It’s absolutely essential that you write great, unique content and create a list of subscribers who love that content. It’s not 2001 anymore! People have become wary of the Internet, and they want proof of your success before they’ll trust you. Give it to them.
6. You understand that you need to do more for others.
You want subscribers? You need to do more. To get that list going, you should probably create a handy, free ebook or report that deals with a topic related to your blog, and helps your readers. Yes, you do have to help others in order to help yourself.
7. You recognize that good content can take more than an hour to create.
Great content will definitely take more than an hour, especially if you’re a beginner. Anyone can produce good content. You’ll need to write unique and in-depth content to give your readers something to talk about and impress other fellow bloggers—to get the buzz going, so to speak.
8. You realize that people want to read specifics and in-depth case studies.
Your readers can find generic crap anywhere. There are tons of blogs that talk about growing your traffic or making money online … and the majority are boring!
Instead, show readers how you’ve helped someone grow traffic or what strategies you’ve implemented to make money through your blog. This is precisely what I did when I showed my readers how exact domain names can kill the competition! This kind of content takes a bit of time and experience to develop. Keep plugging away!
9. You understand that networking is a necessity, not an option.
This doesn’t mean you re-tweet someone’s post occasionally. You need to converse with your followers, ask questions, and interact with other bloggers—successful ones as well as beginners in your niche and peer bloggers who started around the time you did. Create a group that helps promote each others’ posts. You never know who will get your hype snowball rolling.
10. You realize that you’ve been doing most things wrong!
Just because you knew all this stuff doesn’t mean you executed it at all, or executed it properly. At the time when I started my blog, I thought I knew something about blogs and making money online. But that learning is an ongoing process. Once you realize this, you might feel momentary despair. That’s okay—as long as you continue to take steps and improve your efforts.
Despite all these things that might have you sobbing under the blanket with a pint of scotch, hopefully you’ll realize that you should keep going. In fact, if you love what you’re blogging about, the pure thrill of having your content go viral or making your first few sales will probably have you giggling like a school girl and make you realize that it’s all worth it.
I’ve made all these mistakes and then some and I won’t be quitting any time soon! What mistakes have you made in your blogging experience? Share them with us!
Join Moon as she shares results of her passive income experiments at her website. You can check out her free ebook, To The Moon & Back, in which she details all her experiments in the span of a year
Feeling unappreciated? We’d like to thank you for casting your vote in today’s Obamateurism of the Week poll, and don’t worry; no one’s filming you casting a vote, except perhaps yourself. It’s so simple, there really is no excuse for skipping out on it.
Note: Big thanks to HA reader Pam S, who spent the day with us yesterday to give us a tour of the Biloxi-Gulfport area.
Previous 2010 “winners”:
- Notes 2nd anniversary of Mumbai massacre, forgets 1st anniversary of Ft. Hood massacre
- Obama signals no course correction in wake of electoral disaster
- “We’re gonna punish our enemies…”
- After shutting out Republicans in drafting legislation, Obama complains that GOP won’t share blame for failure
- He realized too late that “there’s no such thing as shovel-ready projects” when it comes to public works
- Cuts off microphone when questioner starts debating tax policies
- “I can’t let this be a war without end, and I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”
- Obama quotes Declaration, leaves out “endowed by their Creator”
- Obama trots out “feel your pain” attempt the day after WH releases his social calendar
- “They talk about me like a dog!”
- Obama takes credit for drawdown schedule Bush negotiated
- “We’re buying shrimp, guys.”
- Obama endorses Ground Zero mosque, then says he wasn’t “commenting on the wisdom” of building it at the site
- Slams GOP for focusing on elections — from a fundraiser in Austin, TX
- Obama scolds politicians with “We shouldn’t be campaigning all the time” … while on The View
- Obama says First Couple “not far removed” from economic pain in financial collapse despite making millions in 2008
- Obama expects to be held accountable on jobs, but it’s Bush’s fault
- New NASA mission objectives all about self-esteem, none about space
- Obama misquotes Statue of Liberty poem and screws up its history
- Obama golfs as BP’s CEO yachts
- Obama says Gulf disaster will have similar impact to 9/11, then goes golfing the next day
- “We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick“
- “Singularly focused” Obama’s golfing, fundraising, vacation, and sports events
- “Obviously, the loss of Daniel Pearl was one of those moments that captured the world’s imaginationbecause it reminded us of how valuable a free press is.”
- Criticizes AZ immigration enforcement for paper checking while Secret Service checks immigration statusof students at Obama event
- “Information becomes a distraction” with X-boxes, PlayStations, iPods, iPads
- “I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.”
- President who demands that Americans show health-insurance papers suddenly skittish about residency documents
- Playing golf instead of paying respects to the late Polish president
- “Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower”
- Gives 17-minute answer to question about being overtaxed
- Believes Tea Party core is Birthers
- Obama refused to be seen with Netanyahu
- “Your employer, it’s estimated, would see premiums fall by as much as 3000%!”
- Obama off by $868 billion on CBO deficit savings projection of ObamaCare
- Obama challenges GOP on tort reform, winds up proving GOP point on reconciliation
- Obama’s “Acme Insurance” anecdote proves he doesn’t understand insurance
- Obama claims 2 million jobs saved or created, website shows 590K
- Obama gripes about filibusters in a year with none … after having 60 seats in the Senate
- Obama says “corpse-man” for corpsman 3 times at Nat’l Prayer Breakfast
- Scolding the Supreme Court over ruling that he got completely wrong during SOTU
- People are unhappy with Obama’s performance because he didn’t get enough public face time to explain himself
- Suddenly jobs saved or created “never expected to be the public accounting of Obama’s goal to save or create 3.5 million jobs”
- Obama rushes home for minor injury to family friend, keeps golfing after EunuchBomber attack
Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.
Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!
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