The 7 Harsh Realities of Successful Blogging

This is a guest post by Onibalusi Bamidele.

There are some realities to being a successful blogger, and failure to realize them can affect the success of your blog. Even though blogging can be done by everybody, not all are successful at it because most people don’t know what it takes to succeed as a blogger. Below are 7 harsh realities of blogging.

1. There’s Nothing Called Overnight Success.

How can I make over $20,000 in my first 3 months blogging? How can I get 200,000 visitors to my blog in its first month? How can I be an A-list blogger in 6 months? These are some common, unrealistic questions asked by newbies.

As far as blogging is concerned there’s nothing called overnight success, and every successful blogger you see has been blogging for a long period of time before they could achieve something. There’s no doubt you can make money blogging, but you should realize that making money blogging doesn’t happen very fast. Don’t expect to start a blog and be making thousands of dollars in its first month – even though this can happen on rare occasions, it’s important not to have too high of expectations as they often result in disappointment.

You should also realize that successful blogging is a process and you can’t start a blog, build a name, reputation, connection, and all you need to succeed in a short period of time, you have to prove yourself over a long period of time and make people come to trust you.

2. 20% of Your Work Brings Results. The Remaining 80% Is Bullshit.

You might not want to believe this, but the truth is that only (or less than) 20% of your blogging efforts bring results and you might not get far until you start focusing on the 20% and leave the 80%.

We all do a lot of things we call blogging, which are not. If you spend 10 hours online every day you shouldn’t claim that you spent 10 hour/day blogging. Your major blogging effort is spent on writing quality content, promoting that content, and building solid relationships – every other thing is a waste of time.

Don’t capitalize on the 80% of your efforts that don’t bring results, but focus on the 20%. Work more on improving your content and promoting your site while at the same time stopping all unproductive measures.

Being successful as a blogger has a lot to do with time management. You won’t get results for checking your stats 10 times a day or looking to see how many new comments you have. You won’t get results for being on Twitter all day.

3. You Can’t Undermine Networking.

Believing you can succeed as a blogger without truly networking with other bloggers is a great mistake. There’s no way you can undermine networking when trying to build a successful blog.

Instead of trying to make the game yours alone, make it a duty to connect and build relationships with some of the top bloggers in your niche, also connect with upcoming bloggers who have a bright future – not those who will waste your time.

Networking is very important because it can help increase your status, traffic, and income. If you’re always networking with successful bloggers in your niche, people will begin to see you as one of them. Another reason why networking with influencers in your niche is important is if you decide to launch your own product, you’ll be able to get support from them thereby leading to more income.

4. Analytics Is a Must.

I’d rather say the science of analytics is a must. When we talk about analytics what comes first to the mind of some people is Google Analytics or checking their stats – there is more to analytics than that.

Analytics includes knowing more about your readers, optimizing your blog for search engines and visitors, and also improving your conversions rates.

Always analyze conversion and traffic on your blog. If you want to get more subscribers to your blog, try alternating the location of your blog subscription options and see which one is working best. Also make it a duty to know who your readers are and what their preferences are – know which type of content they love best, why they visit your blog, why they comment on your posts, why they subscribe to your blog, and how much they’re willing to pay for services.

Another thing to analyze is your website traffic. Make it a duty to know where your traffic is coming from, how your traffic is converting, and the bounce rate from various traffic sources. Improve on the traffic source that gives you the best result and stop using that which brings no result.

5. Realize the Power of Being Consistent.

You can also get more results from your blog by being consistent. I started my blog a few months back. I kept on blogging and promoting my blog as much as I can. It seemed like nobody is noticing me but I kept on trying my best – with time I started getting emails from big people and companies which resulted in me getting prizes worth several thousands of dollars. I also got featured as one of the top young entrepreneurs making money online. My point is that being consistent pays.

Don’t say that because you’re not yet getting results you’re going to quit. Know that you’ll ascend into the spotlight one day and word will spread about you. Focus on improving your blog and getting more results while being consistent with it – sooner or later, you’ll be compensated.

6. Move with Trends.

What is best today will be of little importance tomorrow. The web is improving every day and new technology keeps coming out. Don’t restrict yourself to the old technologies because if you do, your more technologically advanced readers might decide to stop reading your blog.

A great example is social media. Before, it used to be search engines only. With time, the web began to advance and now making effective use of social media is becoming increasingly important.

7. Build a Business.

Your blog is a business? I’ve heard that myth once or twice before. Your blog is not a business and you shouldn’t expect to make serious money by having banner ads on your blog.

You must realize that your blog is not an end but a means to an end. Your blog is a platform that can be leveraged to help improve your business and not the business itself. If you offer freelancing or consulting services your blog can be used as a platform to cash in more profits from your freelancing business.

Building a business around your blog requires you to have a good knowledge of your readers. Know what they want and how they’ll react to your offerings; tailor your business to meet their needs.

About the author: Onibalusi Bamidele is a 16-year-old entrepreneur living the internet lifestyle. Subscribe to his blog and get his guest blogging guide to get more from him.