Bloggers Must Have These 3 Ducks in a Row
Editor’s Note: This article is guest posted by Hunter Nuttall
There are lots of people out there looking to make a career out of blogging. And there are blogs out there that teach all in the ins and outs. But while you’re learning all the intricacies of ad placement, plugins, and copywriting, make sure you don’t lose sight of the fundamentals. If you don’t get these three ducks in a row, nothing else will matter.
1. Understand how much work is required.
So many people see that somebody like Darren Rowse is making a lot of money blogging, so they decide they’d like to do it too. But they’re just looking at the upside. It’s like seeing that George Clooney makes a lot of money for doing movies, so they decide they’d like to do movies too. Can someone direct me to the nearest movie role that will pay $20 million to someone with no talent or experience?
People tend to overlook the years that Darren spent writing 20+ posts a day before two of his many blogs finally took off. Mehdi from Strong Lifts worked 70 hours a week for a year to get up to 13,000 subscribers, and he still wasn’t making a full time income. Steve Pavlina blogged full time for 19 months to get up to $200 a day ($73,000 a year).
These people (and most other successful bloggers) worked much harder than average for extended periods of time before they took off. So when a new blogger quits in frustration after a few months, it shows that they had unrealistic expectations. Blogging is much harder than you think.
2. Pick the right niche.
Given that blogging requires tons of work, you’d better enjoy doing the work or you won’t make it. Maybe you’re interested in unicorns today. But will you still be interested in them a year from now? If so, will you still have new things to write about them? Remember that you’ll need to write an indefinite number of posts over an indefinite length of time. You need to pick a topic that you could never get tired of writing about, no matter how long you live.
It’s risky to pick a topic that’s new to you. If you just started golfing today, then you probably shouldn’t be so quick to commit to blogging about golf for the rest of your life. Think about interests you’ve had for years. Is there something you know a lot about, that you spend a lot of time doing, that you never stop talking about? If so, consider blogging about it!
It might not be easy to decide on a niche. From the time I first learned what a blog is, it took me seven months before I knew I wanted to blog about personal development. Take your time to pick the right niche. Focus on picking something you can base a great blog on, but also consider whether there are enough readers and advertisers in that niche. If you love Jupiter but there aren’t any successful blogs about it, that might mean that it’s not going to work as a topic. Don’t be afraid of a little competition, because it’s proof that the niche has potential.
3. Treat your blog like a business.
A blog is not simply a job you do from home. You can’t just spend two hours writing a post and then expect to be paid for your efforts. That only works if you’re an employee or contractor.
When you have a job, everything you need to make money is in place. You have your assigned role, and there are other people who have their assigned roles. Maybe you’re a programmer, and you’re great at cranking out code that meets the requirements you’re given. But that by itself doesn’t make money, does it? The company also needs marketing people to find clients, business analysts to determine what they need, documentation specialists to write the user manuals, accountants to manage the finances, executives to work on strategy, and so forth. The company needs the combined efforts of all these people in order to function.
When you start any kind of business, including a blog, you’re giving up the support system you have with a job. You can’t just write posts and expect other people to do the rest. It’s all you!
You’re the VP of Marketing. You’re responsible for building traffic. Are you reading enough other blogs, leaving enough comments, writing enough guest posts, responding to comments and emails, etc?
You’re the Chief Financial Officer. You’re responsible for overseeing the cash flow. You need to decide on monetization strategies, implement them, and monitor them. Will you use AdSense? What size will the ads be, and where will they go? What products will you promote as an affiliate? How will you get people to buy them? How much will you charge for your products? Will you invest in a custom template, relevant ebooks, and paid advertising? How much can you afford to spend?
You’re the Director of Human Resources. You’re responsible for taking care of your staff (which happens to be just you). How much vacation time will they get? How will you keep them motivated? What policies will you put in place to guide their behavior?
You’re the Chief Executive Officer. You’re responsible for making sure your blog is headed in the right direction. Do you need to switch to another blogging platform? Do you need to change your posting frequency? Do you need to use guest bloggers? Do you need to do more research on your topic? Do you need to have a meeting with any of your subordinates?
Oh, and don’t forget about the actual blogging! That part is a job, belonging to the senior blogger, who of course is you.
Are all your ducks in a row?
If you’re looking to make it as a blogger, you have to take care of the basics. Most bloggers fail because they don’t have the fundamentals in place. There will be plenty of details to tend to along the way, but make sure you start by getting these three ducks in a row.
Hunter Nuttall wants you to stop sucking and live a life of abundance. Visit his blog to learn how to improve your life and your income.
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Posted by Alex Shalman in Blogging | July 29, 2008 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 17 comments
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This is a great post. I don’t comment often, i just read your feeds..but I agree with most starters don’t know how much work it takes. I’m glad you pointed that out.
Hi Eathan,
Thanks for joining the conversation here. I just read a post from your site, and I’m not gonna lie it was kinda funny. =)
Alex, thanks a lot for letting me do a guest post here! I’ll be back later to respond to all the comments.
Excellent post.
Your explanation of how to treat your blog like a business is one of the best I have heard.
Thank you!
Alex,
Thanks a million for simply stating how much work Darren, Steve and Mehdi put into creating their successful ventures. It is sometimes hard for people to see exactly how much work one needs to put into blogging or any business at that to be successful. Any success simply takes hard work, even George Clooney worked his behind off before ER, everyone pays their dues. Bill Gates had a successful business at 14 years old. Hard work is such a valuable commodity, you just have to remember to enjoy the ride. Great post.
Cheers,
Tabs
Tabs, I’m glad you like it. Just remember, this article is a guest post from Hunter! =)
@ Eathan, somehow a lot of people don’t know that everything worth doing takes a lot of work. And even if we know that, we tend to forget it when we’re frustrated with our results. Sometimes it’s good to look at examples set by other people to remember that it’s not supposed to be easy.
@ The Success Professor, thanks. I figured that to explain how to treat a blog like a business, it would be a good idea to think about it in business terms.
@ Tabs, a lot of the time people will just assume that what people currently have came naturally to them. But you need to look at what they did to get there, not necessarily what they’re doing now!
Hi Hunter,
Good to see you over here!
One thing I’d add is that writing every day is important, too. You can’t make excuses or put it off, or your blog will quickly stagnate. It’s extremely difficult to write every day. Just mastering this — even if you don’t post everything you write! — will make you a better blogger than 99% of the world.
-Erica
Hi Hunter,
This is a great guest post about a subject near and dear to my heart. You are so right. Blogging is not easy, although getting a blog is.
I love how you said we’re VP, the CEO, the CFO and HR Director. Yes, we do wear many hats. There is often no one to bail us out. To succeed in blogging takes time, dedication and lots of patience. The well known bloggers didn’t have a cake walk. They too, paid their dues.
Awesome. To the point and so true.
Especially the “treat your blog like a business” part.
Even with my highly personal blogging, I am taking my blog VERY seriously and certainly see it as a business. It goes without saying that it requires work and effort, but since I do enjoy what I write about, I don’t mind.
Nice post Hunter! Thanks, very useful advice for those like myself who are new to the blogging community.
Well stated!
I guess since blogging has such a low cost of entry a lot of people jump on board without giving much thought to just how much work it takes. I definitely agree that a blogger has to wear many different hats. In addition, you have to be very disciplined because you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder. I’m working on my business plan for my blog right now. Great post Hunter.
Hello Hunter, it is great that you are spelling out how much work blogging takes. Come to think of it…my girlfriend just called me about starting a blog on her own. I may as well direct her to your article. It saves me time having to explain to her on what it takes. Thanks!
Evelyn
@ Erica, I agree that consistent, daily action is essential. I don’t post every day, but I do write comments, read relevant books, and/or plan future posts every day. If you step away from your blog just for a little bit, you take the risk that you won’t return at the same level.
@ Barbara, I know you wear many hats in your business, so I can see how you related to that part. There’s no one to bail us out, and yet we still have plenty of moral support in the blogosphere.
@ Vered, I definitely see how you’re treating your blog like a business. Even though it’s a personal blog, I don’t think that makes you any less serious about it. Work doesn’t really feel like work when you enjoy what you’re doing, right?
@ Derek, thanks, I’m glad you found it useful. Although this should be especially pertinent to new bloggers, many non-newbies have overlooked these points.
@ Marc and Angel, ditto!
@ Marelisa, a business plan for your blog? That’s so cool! In fact, it sounds like a good post topic.
@ Evelyn, yes, refer your friend here! We don’t want to scare her off blogging, but I think it’s always a good idea to know what you’re getting into up front.