Do You Know Why You Blog? I Mean Really Know…
It seems kind of like a silly question, but I would guess that most bloggers don’t know the true reason why they blog. And because of that, they flounder and don’t earn as much as they’d hoped.
I’m hoping that our discussion today will help you dig really deep and help you find the answers, so you can move even closer to the success you’ve always dreamed of.
For many, the road to blogging starts with the thought, “Hey, I’d like to have my own blog.” They see another successful blogger and make all kinds of assumptions on how (and if) that blogger earns money and decides they’ll do it themselves too.
But the problem is, there is no plan.
There is no plan to create a focused online presence.
There is no plan to grow a faithful audience.
And worst of all, there is no financial plan.
Whether you’re just getting started or you’ve been blogging for a while, it pays (literally) to take a step back and really examine WHY you’re blogging to ensure you’re on the right track to achieve your goals.
While there are some examples of bloggers who blog their random daily thoughts and grow a large readership, it’s not the norm.
The most successful blogs have a focus and something unique to deliver to their audience. So even if you are a mom who blogs about their adventures in motherhood or you’re a student who writes about student life, finding a key focus and unique perspective is what will help you grow a faithful audience.
Have an edge, have a point of view and deliver something unique to your audience. It’s your uniqueness that will draw people to you.
Still, being unique isn’t going to magically make your audience grow. You can’t make a few blog posts this week and expect to be Dooce, Problogger or Techcrunch next week.
Growing your audience takes time, hard work and even some money. We’re going to be talking about growing your following in a later post, so we’ll be visiting this topic again. If you’re satisfied with a few hundred readers on your blog, that’s perfectly fine, but if you want to have an audience of thousands or tens of thousands, you have to have a plan to get there.
And finally, a lack of financial plan is the kiss of death when it comes to blogging for profit. Knowing your monetization plan before you start makes it easier to shape your blog around those plans.
For example, if you plan to sell advertising, designing your blog with this in mind makes it easier to add advertisers when you’re ready. You also need large traffic numbers to earn good money through advertising, so a traffic plan needs to be in place too.
In my next post, I’ll talk about monetization methods and this should help you carve out a financial plan for yourself.
If you’ve been blogging and you’re thinking to yourself that you haven’t really thought some or all of these things through below, don’t worry. All is not lost.
While it’s easier to start with a concrete plan from the outset, everything can be corrected. That’s the beauty of the Internet…everything can be changed and it doesn’t have to cost much to do it. If this describes you, start brainstorming now.
What makes you unique in your niche? Why do people come to read your stuff?
How will you grow your audience?
How will your blog make you money?
Just write as many ideas you can for each and don’t worry if the ideas don’t flow quickly right now. Keep those brainstorming sheets as we talk about these topics in more depth in the coming posts. You’ll have plenty more ideas by the time I’m finished here. 🙂
