This is a guest post from Mike Collins and he is a blogger at Money Making Secrets. He started his blog to teach people like you how to make money online.
Every day thousands of new blogs are launched. Almost all of them will be complete failures and quickly fade into obscurity.
Will that happen to your blog? Or will you be one of the lucky few who actually succeed?
Do you have the qualities it takes to be a successful blogger? Let’s find out…
1. If you want to build a name for yourself as a blogger you have to be knowledgeable. You don’t need to know everything about your niche but you have to know a lot more than the average person. If people find your blog and it doesn’t offer them anything they don’t already know they’ll leave and never come back.
2. You need to be able to communicate your thoughts so others can understand them. I used to work with a guy who was really smart. He could take one look at a situation and immediately determine the best course of action. The problem was he was a lousy communicator so he couldn’t explain to others what needed to be done…so nothing ever got done.
3. Successful bloggers are innovative. They are usually early-adopters of new technology and that gives them a leg up on the competition. By the time everyone else jumped on board the social media bandwagon they had already established themselves as an authority.
4. A strong work ethic is essential to any blogger. Its not as simple as throwing up a half dozen posts and waiting for the cash to pour in. It takes a good deal of work to build a successful blog.
5. Blogging is tough if you try to go it alone. You need to network and make contacts with other bloggers in your niche. You’ll both find it easier to reach your goals if you work together. Just don’t be greedy. Concentrate on joint ventures in which everybody wins and you’ll build long-term relationships.
6. The most successful bloggers all have charisma in spades. They have a unique writing style or a fun way of explaining things that makes them stand out from the crowd. For one reason or another people are naturally drawn to them. Their posts are the ones people post on social media sites and email to their friends.
7. Finally, if you want your blog to succeed you need to be able to see the big picture. You need to have a goal in mind and a plan to get there. A blog without a plan is like a ship without a rudder…aimlessly sailing about without direction. Sure, you might get lucky and find a tropical island. But odds are you’ll sink long before you even catch a glimpse of your goal.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
You could repeat number 4 to some people a thousand times and they still wouldn’t get it. I laugh when I stumble across a blog whose last post was a few months ago and you can tell from the archives that the effort lasted just a few weeks- there are always going to be those who want the easy, couch potato way.
Nice list.
I agree with you. People do not get it. It does not come easy and you will not get rich fast. And that is the same for most things online.
You’re right Jen. I’ve been guilty of that in the past myself and I’ve seen a lot of bloggers with potential give up when they realized it took work.
I think two more traits that you need us confidence and patience. If you don’t have these two traits, you will never become a successful blogger.
Definitely. Patience is the key considering it will take a while to build up your blog.
The importance of innovation is one of the great things about blogging. It forces you to keep up with the latest developments and social networking tools. There are very few blogs that survive without moving with the current of the Internet. That would take a lot of charisma or a superstar name to get away with it.
Yes, you cannot stick to the old ways. You have to be very flexible so that when things change you can change also.
Number 6 and 2, are critical. Those would help any new blogger attract readers and build a network and as You (Franklin) have said, comment!
Comments are the key!
I agree with Danny’s additions, no doubt, but rule #4 could steal the lunch money from the rest. It’s all about the hard work.
And so many people think that it will be so easy. You have to be dedicated to work hard otherwise might as well not even start.
Re: Strong worth Ethic: sticking with the one topic you have chosen for the long run, and not dropping it after a couple months. I’m JUST starting to see results now, but I sure didn’t have any in the first 2 months. I’m probably going fast too.
The first couple months of the hardest because you aren’t going to see a lot of results. You just have to stick with it like you did.
I like point number 5. It tallies with the idea of “commenting profusely” on other blogs. Not seeing other bloggers (especially in your niche) as competitors. Yes working together always pays in the end. No one knows it all by himself.
Exactly. It’s going to be much more difficult if you just see people as competitors and you don’t want to work with them. You will become successful much faster if you work with other bloggers.
I need patience to do these.
You have to love to write. Not like it or think it all right. You have to love to write.
If you don’t have a passion for writing, nothing else matters.
Now, I didn’t say you have to be a great writer. I think if you love to write, greatness will follow.
Probably the mistake that most bloggers do, is they are to greedy.. Like all world, that why we are in financial crisis. Even I was to greedy. And it didn’t bring me any good thing at all.
And you have to see the bigger picture! This is my top 1! You have to be a visionary person..
The strong work ethic is SO important. It really takes dedication and a willingness to continue putting effort into things in order to see the results you’re looking for.
And to work hard. If you will not invest some “hard” time there won’t be results..
If your goal is to be a millionaire blogger, study all other millionaire bloggers to see how much time they put into their blogs and multiply it times two.
If your goal is to put out a blog for friends and family, life will be much easier for you.
Great post, I completely agree and especially how much hard work it takes to build a successful blog, unfortunately the hype of make a million overnight does not apply
Thanks
i am totally agree with your points, but my stand point is to keep our vision focus.
I tried to open up 5 websites in three months, but none of them success just because of i am losing my focus on each website.