Plan to develop a successful blog
No one would plan to develop a failed blog. As the saying goes, however, many fail to plan. So, if you want to create a successful blog, plan you must.
“The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen.”
~ Sarah Brown
Crucial steps in planning for your successful blog
- Define what you mean by “success.” Though some factors will be constant, a blogger who wants to earn money directly from blogging will employ a different strategy and style than a blogger whose primary aim is to develop enough material to write a book. Know your goal(s) before you begin the blogging journey or you’ll end up meandering and clueless.
- Learn what’s required of you. Many people, lured by the promised riches and rewards of blogging, jump in without any idea of what skills, habits, and traits will be needed to attain the benefits. Check out my five essential skills for blogging success and see what talents your already possess and which skills you might need to sharpen. If none of the skills needed for blogging interest you, better to change course now than after you’ve invested lots of time, energy, and money.
- Determine if you’ll “do what it takes.” In my introductory blogging teleclasses I have many people who want to know how to blog successfully without reading others’ blogs and without spending much time on their own blog. My answer: “You can’t.” You can build a readership, promote your business, and champion your cause without blogging becoming a full-time profession. Yet generally speaking, the more time–effectively spent, of course–and energy you put into blogging, the greater rewards you’ll receive back.
- Commit yourself. Once you’ve made it this far, it’s time to launch yourself fully into your blogging adventure. I don’t encourage you to give up relationships, hobbies, or other important parts of your life. However, you do need to make a clear commitment to blogging, by doing things such as allotting a specific amount of time to the practice, gathering the resources you’ll need, and beginning new habits to foster your success.
- Invest in your success. If you’re doing any kind of professional or business blog, invest your money as well as your time. You need not spend much, yet using Blogger or LiveJournal or picking a standard, non-branded template/theme are choices suited only to personal blogs and should therefore be avoided. Useful ways to invest include: buying your own domain name; having a blog theme customized to reflect your business brand; getting professional portraits made; securing reliable web hosting; consulting with a blog coach; purchasing (and reading) a few blogging books (three I recommend are: Visual Quickstart Guide: WordPress 2 by Maria Langer and Miraz Jordan; Blogging Tips by Lorelle VanFossen; and Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business by DL Byron and Steve Broback.
With these five steps meticulously followed can I guarantee blogging success? I could, but I won’t because there are many “x factors” that influence the outcome. However, I can assure you than if you take the time to develop a plan for blogging success, you will be more much more much, much more likely to achieve success than if you fail to plan. If you decide not to take my advice, however, listen to this.
“Success is blocked by concentrating on it and planning for it. . . . Success is shy - it won’t come out while you’re watching.”
~ Tennessee Williams
So what route will you travel to success? (A) Have a plan. Or (B) Plans, who needs ‘em.
If you’re already successful, what sage counsel do you have to offer?
Related posts which may interest you
No Comments yet. Want to start the conversation? »
RSS feed for comments on this post.
| TrackBack URI
You can also bookmark
this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos
