I’m writing today directly to a segment of my readers who are frustrated and/or worried about how their blog is doing. A lot of you are struggling to get the result you’re looking for with your blog. I hear you. First of all, I want to be very clear. If you’re one of the readers here who has expressed frustration to me in the last few months since I’ve been doing this blog, I want you to know a very important (#1) ninja secret…your blog is doing a lot more than you think it is…seriously.
Your Blog is Not a Short Term Engagement
A blog is not a short term endeavor. It’s not like placing an ad and then watching for the results immediately. Please don’t put that pressure on yourself. It’s just not realistic. A blog is a long term project that you will ideally maintain for a long time. The principle is quite simple actually…it takes a while to build a significant audience in most cases. Are there exceptions? Of course, and you could end up being one of them. But in most cases, it just takes a while to build a large readership, especially if you’re just doing it part-time and not spending a significant budget on marketing.
Building the result is a long term project that gradually builds up momentum. Before you know it, your blog will have momentum and it will eventually become a force to be reckoned with, but don’t expect that to happen in month one. If you approach blogging as a magic bullet, you’ll be disappointed. But if you approach it for what it is…a long term marketing and community-building endeavor, you’ll see the true value of what you’re doing in the short term.
For all you bloggers out there that have only 50 subscribers…guess what, 5 of those subscribers will likely end up buying something from you and tell their friends about you. Those first 5 advocates are where it all starts. If you write them off as insignificant, you’ll miss all the benefits to come. Yes, it starts small, but your first subscribers aren’t “insignificant” or “small”…they’re the most important subscribers you’ll EVER have.
Bottom line: your blog isn’t nearly as small as you think it is, and you’re doing a lot more right than you think you are!
Everyone Struggles…Struggling Rocks!
Here’s another (#2) ninja secret: I struggle also. No matter how awesome and strikingly fantastic you think I am (joking), I have a million things to learn about sales and marketing, and yes…blogging. 10 years in, and I’m just getting started. I’m a total noobe.
Here’s another (#3) ninja secret: Even A-listers struggle. Yes, even the guys and gals who you think have all the answers and have all their ducks in a row (seriously, who says that? I’m bringin it back!) look at their analytics sometimes and say “what the hell is THAT?” Everyone struggles to get the result. Everyone gets thrown for a loop sometimes. The problem is not the struggle…the struggle is the GOOD stuff. The problem is in thinking you’re the only one. The problem is in thinking you’re struggling alone and somehow not smart enough, lucky enough or talented enough to succeed. Please believe me for god’s sake, if I can make money and build a business around a blog, you can too.
Here’s a fourth and final secret for today: That’s how you get the result…struggling. Believe it or not, that’s the key. Struggling and doing the work, that’s your ticket out of this crummy joint and to the good life you hope to achieve after building your thriving blog community. It will be a beautiful thing, and it will be worth the work you put into it and then some. You will be glad you did it. You will look back and say “Wow, I’m really glad I stuck it out.”
But how do you know you’re on the WRONG path?
- When you feel like you have all the answers.
- When you call yourself a guru.
- When you have an “automated solution” or a “maintenance-free” blog. Haha. Yeah, right. Sucker.
- When you are NOT struggling.
The Key to Getting Results…
Is there such a thing as a beautiful place in business? Can you make it to easy street? Believe me, you can. But you cannot get there by worrying or doubting yourself, and here’s what you cannot achieve: You cannot get to a place where you’re finished. You’ll never be complete. You’ll never be perfect, so therefore there will always be work to do. There will always be something to focus on and improve, and that is a struggle. It requires digging in. It requires work. So dig in…struggle, and do it with confidence.
So when you’re struggling, how do you know what to do? You are already doing it. You read, and you ask around. You execute, make mistakes, learn from your mistakes are make corrections…and then go execute again. Here’s the problem: a lot of you are trying to “figure it out”, and it doesn’t work that way. A lot of you are looking for a blog post or a consultant or a book to instill some bit of knowledge in you that is going to make everything make sense. Ain’t gonna happen. Research is essential, but at the end of the day you have to DIVE IN. You solve one problem at a time. Then you move on to the next problem, and solve that. Then you move on to the next problem. That’s success…as mundane as it sounds, that’s how you do it.
Itâs quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. Youâre thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isnât at all. -Thomas Watson Sr.
Many of you feel bad because you’re at the beginning and not sure how to get big results from your blog. I just wanted to encourage you today, because you see…you’re doing it. You’re already doing it. You read this blog and others. You ask questions, and you apply that information to your business one piece at a time. That’s how it’s done. Is building a successful blog really this simple? Yes, it is. Keep going!
