The other day one of my followers asked me “how do I create a successful blog?”
I don’t think ‘successful’ was really the right word. I mean what is success? Just a word sometimes. To really make something that you enjoy you need to make a satisfying blog. Not just to the readers, but to yourself as well.
But to help him/her out (never got a gender, ha) I told them to just remember three things to help you keep up with the blog. Inspiration, motivation, and dedication. These three points are the key to a ‘successful’ blog. Everyone wants millions of followers. Everyone wants a million likes and comments. Sometimes the reality of it is that just a few people will follow what is going on with what you decide to put out there.
I don’t really care too much for how many people choose to follow my blog. I do care about the readers and I know I have an obligation to get something out here, but really its mostly for my own benefit. If it makes me happy, then everything else to me is second. And I hope that’s the mentality everyone has about blogging. There is no point in creating something that will only please the crowd (at least to me there isn’t). As people can see, I really like to be open about a lot of things. It gets people to know who I am without actually knowing who I am (making any sense?). There’s a strong connection there that lets people know that I’m being as honest and real about what I need/want to talk about.
I would of never even thought of starting my blog if it wasn’t for my girl. She made it pretty clear that this is something that would help me. So there’s my inspiration. After I got started, I needed to be motivated about it. Just like everything in life it started out really slow. I had a few posts here and there. Mostly about my feelings and certain life events. Soon I started getting great feedback from people commenting on my ‘writing skills’ (still don’t know what they meant by that). That got me even more motivated to keep on going. I was excited to hop on to my computer and just type out whatever I was feeling at the moment.
After everything that I was told was wrong about me I finally started to figure out what I was doing right. It was a great relief. My fingers just pound the keyboard until they start to feel numb and sore. I never thought I could actually be good at something in a million years (sad… I know…).
Then there is the dedication. Obviously dedication is the glue that keeps everything together. I could be inspired and motivated all I want about making a post or updating certain things on my blog, but if I’m not consistent with it then whats the point? People need something to look forward to. If you leave too big of a gap, then no one is going to keep their interest. There are a million blogs out there that cover almost every subject you can imagine. Not saying every blog isn’t special, but sometimes, to the reader, a blog can just be a blog.
But I think the best advice I can give to any first time blogger is to just be yourself. You can Google search every pointer tip on how to make a successful or booming blog, but honestly the best tip anyone can get is to just be yourself. A blog is what you make of it. Don’t let anyone else put you down and tell you that you can’t do it. You never know unless you try. My thoughts on this is I would rather get up and try rather than sit on my butt wondering if I could.
If you have a great recipe to get out there, do it up!
If you have some inner thoughts that you feel like no one else can relate to, get it out there!
If you have some awesome neat little trick to fix something, share it!
You’ll be surprised with how many people are willing to talk to you or can relate to whatever you got going on. Just remember that making a blog can be intimidating but everyone has to start somewhere. Don’t be discouraged when you start it. It wont fly off the chain like rainbows on a jet. Sometimes to get things going it takes time.
Lastly, communication is key. Not only keeping the readers and followers interested in your content is important, but you also should let them know that you are an actual human being who is capable/able/willing to talk with them. Start a discussion on the comments section. Share and discuss certain topics. Sometimes the discussion can be more interesting than the actual content of the blog itself. It just lets people know you actually care.
All in all, success is really what you make of it. If making a blog just for the sake of getting followers and readers for you is your ultimate goal, then do it. If making a blog is something you want to share things with other people, then do it. If making a blog is something where you can vent without having a personal friend/family judge you, then do it.
Just remember to be yourself and don’t let anyone say that you can’t. You never know unless you try.
Anyone have any thoughts/stories/feedback would be great 🙂
Above and Below Average 