I have seen quite a bit blogging-wise over the past 12 years.
Although I did not create my current blog until 2014, I began blogging in 2008. After ups, downs, and in-betweens I spotted a few rock-solid fundamentals all pros seem to follow.
Imagine your blog as a spectacular, 30 room mansion. Mansions need granite-like foundations to hold the weight of the massive dwelling. Otherwise, a collapse is imminent.
Bloggers need to build their blogs on rock-solid fundamentals to lay the foundation for a professional blogging career. Unfortunately, most bloggers ignore these fundamentals, watching their blogs collapse sooner than later.
Blogging does not need to be hard, painful, or outright difficult. Expect to face fears along the way. All growth occurs outside of your comfort zone. But also prepare to have fun, to free yourself, and to enjoy helping people as you follow these simple blogging fundamentals.
Blogging becomes easier if you follow basic steps for a long time.
Take these 5 steps to lay a rock-solid foundation for your professional blogging career.
1: Blog Mainly for Fun and Freedom
The great Steve Jobs explained how passionate entrepreneurs get ahead while everyone else quits. People who use logic alone observe poor results and quit because it makes sense to quit if you make no money.
Passionate, fun-loving, freedom-seeking visionaries see the journey through to become wildly successful. I never once considered quitting during my 15,000 blogging hours online because fun and freedom fueled me. What happened when three visitors a day visited my blog in 2008? I kept blogging because fun – not blog visitors – drove me to blog. What happened when I made peanuts through my blog for a long time? I kept blogging because freedom – not money – drove me to blog.
Skills, exposure, and credibility earn you money. Skills, exposure, and credibility eat up 1000s of blogging hours of creating and connecting. Blogging mainly for fun keeps you blogging when the money does not arrive. Make the work, the reward. Blog for fun and freedom primarily to get through the early blogging struggles we all face.
2: Invest Money in Resources from Pro Bloggers
Professional bloggers possess:
- 5000 to 10000 hours of experience
- Observational abilities far beyond amateur bloggers
- A vast storehouse of knowledge
Pro bloggers pack these absolute golden nuggets into their:
- Courses
- eBooks
- Coaching
I wrote and self-published 120 plus eBooks to give bloggers resources for getting through all the obstacles I faced on this long, fun, freeing and sometimes challenging journey. Investing money in pro bloggers resources lets you leapfrog the most painful blogging struggles because pros tell you NOT to do that stuff. Even better? Pros tell you what to do from day 1 as a blogger to position yourself to succeed.
Feel free to follow pro blogs but know this; pros publish their best work for pay because….that is why they are pros!
3: Create Helpful Content
Write and publish helpful content. Gain reader trust. Earn credibility. Help people for free to help people for pay, later.
Content serves as a qualifier. Imagine being a life coach. Readers who find your blog consider hiring you but need to see through your blog content that you are:
- Credible
- Trustworthy
- Experienced
- Skilled
….before investing money in your coaching services. Some life coaches only publish generic quotes on Instagram as the sole source of their digital footprint. Would I invest $3500 on someone who knows how to copy, paste, and gussy up an IG formatted photo?
Blogging generously builds your skills, exposure, and credibility. Skilled, credible bloggers with massive exposure become highly successful in their niche. Word counts and blog post frequencies vary; aim to publish one, 600-word post weekly at a minimum.
Solve common reader problems. Resonate with your audience.
4: Befriend Top Bloggers in Your Niche
Imagine yourself alone sharing your blog posts on:
Imagine 15 blogging buddies sharing your blog posts on:
- Their blogs
Blogging buddies sometimes email your posts to their email lists, too. Imagine blogging buddies inviting you to guest post on their blogs. Picture blogging buddies submitting valuable guest posts for your blog.
Connected bloggers succeed. Everybody else largely fails because lone wolf bloggers seem to be on the outside, looking in.
Comment genuinely on top blogs from your niche. Promote top bloggers from your niche on social media and through your blog. Ask for nothing in return. Earn their trust. Gain their respect. Build a large blogger buddy network. Amplify your reach by allowing your blogging buddies to grow your traffic and profits passively.
5: Open Multiple Income Streams
Income streams serve as profitable containers holding your:
- Skills
- Experience
- Know-how
- Problem-solving abilities
In essence, income streams are receiving vehicles. Readers trust you based on your content. Readers hire you and buy your stuff to access your premium products and services. You receive money in the exchange.
Income stream ideas include:
- Writing and self-publishing eBooks
- Offer coaching services
- Offer consulting services
- Offer freelancing services
- Create audiobooks
- Write and self-publish paperbacks
- Create courses
- Sell sponsored posts
- Sell advertising space
Note; money only flows through step #5 if you spend 1000s of hours following steps 1-4. Skipping even a single step adversely affects your income potential.
Conclusion
Blogging is a fun, freeing journey for bloggers who follow the fundamentals I noted above. Be ready to venture well outside of your comfort zone to go pro. Be generous, patient, persistent and trusting. Be hyper-aware of any stingy, impatient, non-persistent, doubting traits you picked up as an employee, or from the general public.
Blogging gives you what you give blogging.
About the Author
Ryan Biddulph can help you become a successful blogger at Blogging From Paradise.
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