You want some blogging lessons? 
I’m having a glorious time with my blog, the traffic I need is coming, clients love my contents, money is rolling-in gradually and it seems my set time has come.
But believe me, it wasn’t always like this – I went through hurdles, failed six times while trying to choose a niche.
In fact, I was on the verge of giving up, when something struck my mind and screamed, “Don’t give up Mike!”
Today, it’s been a great journey and I enjoy every bit of it.
As my custom is, I want to share my 8-ultimate B.L.O.G.G.I.N.G. Lessons with you, and every lesson will be explained using each letters from what we already know (BLOGGING).
- B – Be encouraged
- L – Learn from mistakes
- O – Outsource to produce more
- G – Give generously
- G – Get noticed by media
- I – Innovate new concepts
- N – Never deceive readers
- G – Get to the top
B – Be Encouraged!
Are you facing some form of stress in your blogging career? The greatest counselor in your life is “YOU.” Encourage yourself and have the “thought” of success in your mind.
“Rome was not built in a day, and also, your blog won’t!”
You’ve got to stay, invest time, fail, rise up and move on. Be encouraged – there is nothing as pathetic as quitting – it’s not the best alternative – stay right there and keep doing the right things. Discouragement is for a ‘while.’ Only you can make a difference in this world!
L – Learn From Mistakes
Hmm, do you know anyone who hasn’t made mistakes in the past? Can I tell you something shocking? I made mistakes when I was researching this post – so, mistakes abound and it is part of living. Do you learn from it, or allow it to hinder the smooth sail of your ship?
And you don’t have to make every mistake before you learn. Other bloggers have failed before, so you don’t have to. I struggled to make my first $100, and so, you don’t have to struggle to earn yours.
I make money online today, from my blog, and so do other bloggers. What makes the difference is what you do with mistakes – thousands frown at it, a few bold ones learn from it and today, we reckon with them.
O – Outsource to produce more
I struggled to learn this particular lesson. One BIG problem with small business owners or sole proprietors is ‘selfishness.’ We want to do everything by ourselves. We believe we’re perfect – how pathetic?
Outsourcing is a ‘must’ if you must go forward in your blogging career. Everyone have been allotted 24 hours in a day – a lot of people waste this precious time trying to write articles, network on Facebook, build backlinks, connect with joint brokers, research keywords, write an e-book, attend a workshop, organize a seminar and so on.
Stop right there, you don’t have time for all these tasks. Concentrate on your passion and outsource other aspects of running a blog to skilled persons. You’ll move faster, build a better business and make more money (probably), just by outsourcing.
G – Give generously
What exactly do you give to readers? I’m not asking you to give your monthly earnings as a gift to the most active reader (you should, if you’ve no bills to pay), what I’m saying is that you should help those who visit your blog.
They’ve problems, needs and desires deep down in their hearts. What can you do to solve these problems and fill the need?
Start with your post – don’t write about your daily routine, find out the problem this people face. Write about it, ask intelligent questions – they’ll stick around, invite their friends and give your blog a meteoric growth.
G – Get noticed by media
You don’t have to beg anyone or the media to grow a blog, all you’ve to do is ‘earn’ it. Yes, I’m so confident of this statement. You can earn the trust of media and position your blog to the peak.
Who are the media?
I’m sure you’ve seen this word being thrown around online, especially on Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and now, Pinterest. Well, the media is a group of persons who scour the web for quality and ‘news worthy’ contents. Anybody can be media-person; you don’t need a degree to promote other people.
The best blogs were successful because people found the contents worthy, and willingly promoted it to social networks, news portals, and offline prints. To get noticed, keep abreast of hot trends and write about it. Backup your post with facts, data and analysis – the media may find you worthy very soon – can you do that?
I – Innovate new concepts
Innovation simply means a new way of doing something. In order to become relevant in this new age, where over 100,000 new blogs are being hosted on WordPress every single day, you need to innovate.
What can you do differently?
Whatever your niche, there are experts who have spent years researching and churning out better contents with proven data and proofs. Do you want to compete with the likes of CNN, BBC, Mashable, Techcrunch etc.?
When you innovate – the lines of success will fall in your favor. How do you innovate as a blogger? Begin with your voice – write to express, not to impress.
N – Never deceive readers
“Never deceive readers!”
This sounds like a slap on your face, isn’t it?
When you inflate figures, or recommend an affiliate product which you’ve not used, or tested, you’re deceiving readers. Also, when you write a post which does not solve the reader’s problem or that gets them closer to meeting their goals, you’re deceiving and wasting their time.
How to fix it: If you recommend any affiliate product, let the readers know you’ll earn commission when they purchase via your link. And if you’ve not used the product in any form, let the readers know also. Guess what, when you’re honest and transparent, readers will trust your words, and go the extra mile to encourage you – honesty increases conversion rate – I’ve seen the effect on my niche blogs.
When you deceive readers, no matter how little, you’re digging a hole in your pocket. Sooner than you expected, your tricks would be revealed and the audience you suffered to build will run for their lives – don’t deceive, be honest – success is for honest bloggers – are you honest?
G – Get to the top
The competition is too much down here. One newbie blogger is trying to outrank the other newbie blogger and the cycle continues. There is so much jealousy when your counterparts see your blog ranking on Google top 10. They’ll do everything possible to outrank the page.
But when you get to the top, you can fold your arms and cash-in. There is absolutely no struggle when you become a problogger. And as Zig Ziglar rightly said, “there is always room at the top!”
I can’t imagine Mashable competing with this blog (ian-belanger.com) – the former is an A-list blog and Google already has fallen in love with the tech blog. How do you get to the top?
Connect with top people and use their platforms to grow. Rather than staying in your blog and writing about your ‘best food,’ go out there and guest post on A-list blogs. It’s my greatest strategy, and it pays greater dividends than most shares. Read guest posting 101 for practical guide!
Over to you!
Did you enjoy this B.L.O.G.G.I.N.G. lessons? Would you like to share a lesson with me, or an experience you had? Let’s get the comment section active – I can’t wait to reply and throw lights on blurred issues. See you at the top!
Are you looking for a skilled freelance writer? Michael Chibuzor can help you with SEO contents and guest posts to grow your business. Connect with him today!
Image Credit: christo