Back in March of 2007, I started a personal blog using the Blogger platform so that I could create a knowledge base for myself. Two and a half years later, I now run two blogs that generate more than double the income of my current job.
Over that time period, I’ve gone from never hearing of a blog before to managing several writers, switching between multiple hosts, interacting with lots of bloggers, etc, etc. Though it’s been a great experience, it has not been without its share of pains either.
Those pains, however, are what can either make you lots of money or make you frustrated and give up early. There were several times when I was sure that blogging was over for me, yet with some luck and helpful people, I managed to make it through.
Here are six lessons that I personally feel can make a difference for anyone who wants to become a successful blogger. If you feel differently, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.
1. Backup everything — Yes, before passion and content and everything else, make sure you back up anything and everything. That includes the database, the images, and any other files that comprise your website or blog.
Even if you get zero traffic, that content can still be valuable, you may just not know it yet. Make sure you have several backups and backups of the backups.
2. Learn SEO — I agree that great content will get you traffic, but it’s still essential to have basic knowledge of SEO. Permalinks, post titles, keywords, sitemaps, etc. You should know about these things and implement them.
SEO and content have a kind of symbiotic relationship in my mind, where both get benefits if the other is around. Also, you don’t have to know a ton here. Personally, I’ve never hired an SEO and probably won’t, but it may not be a bad idea to go to a SEO conference or take a class. For me, just reading online was good enough.
3. Write consistently and often — Unless you start making more money from consulting gigs, book deals, or selling your own products, then you should make sure you write consistently. I’ve written 1 to 2 posts on Online Tech Tips every single day for more than two years.
Granted, I now have writers, but this was after a year and a half of writing by myself. Matt Cutts of Google has publicly stated that it’s best to add content to your blog on a daily basis, if possible. This makes a difference, I promise.
4. Get good help — Another reason I believe I’ve been able to do well in blogging is because I can rely on some really good people to help me in areas I don’t have an expertise in.
Frankly, most people are not Linux or programming gods who can type commands away to configure their own servers or modify their themes. If you can’t do something yourself or don’t know how, it’s best to connect with someone who does, even if you have to pay.
Having a really good technical person you can rely on is very important. If you can do it yourself, great, but if not, reach out to other bloggers or friends and see if there is someone you can trust to help you.
5. Build links intelligently — Firstly, make sure you don’t buy links or do link exchanges or write posts for money. Now, if you have great content, you’ll probably not have to do any link building after a certain point.
However, in the beginning or if you’re not getting much traffic, you need to get people to notice your site and content. Write guest posts (like this one), submit your site to directories like DMOZ and Yahoo, share news on social networks, link out to other blogs in your niche, join blog carnivals, etc.
6. Relax & take breaks — Finally, try to keep yourself from becoming a miserable person. Blogging can do that, no matter how much money you make! It can be frustrating, annoying, tiring, and plain stressful.
Do not become obsessed or compulsive otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy. Take breaks with family or friends and try not to think about your blog for sometime. Of course, don’t neglect your content, but make sure your life is balanced.
That’s it from me! Maybe these were not the most mind-numbing new lessons you’ve heard of, but they were absolutely key for me. And I’ve learned that reading something and implementing something are two very different things. When you implement, you’ll see the benefits
7. Develop a ‘To Post’ list. Sometimes we spend so much time trying to decide what we should do that nothing at all gets done. Luckily, it’s not too hard to change that habit.
Designate a day where you set out your posting schedule: what you’re going to post about and when. You’ll know what posts you have to write and how long you have to get them done.
8. Keep a reserve of post ideas. Blogger’s block is the arch nemesis of productivity. There are two key things you can do to cope with blogger’s block: accept it and fall back on content you’ve saved, or delve into your reserves of ideas.
It’s essential that every blogger have a healthy supply of post ideas saved up. It will minimize the amount of creative work you have to do when you sit down to write a post. Rather than having to innovate and be original (which can be hard sometimes), you simply have to write.
9. Spend less time reading feeds. You don’t want to spend more time reading other people’s content than you do creating your own. Cutting down your feed subscriptions seems like the obvious answer to this problem, but it could mean that you miss out on important lessons and ideas.
You need to become skilled at quickly deciding which posts will be worth your time and which posts will not. Scanning is another habit that will help you here.
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