What exactly is the make up of a successful blogger? More and more people today are earning a full-time living through blogging. Some have pretty amazing stories as to how they arrived as a full-time blogger. Still others took more traditional paths over a long period of time to produce the kind of income they enjoy today. I have had the opportunity to sit down and talk with many successful bloggers and while each story is unique, they all share the same essential qualities that led to their success. I want to share with you what I believe to be 5 of those essential qualities. While there are many more to share with you, these are the foundational principles that any aspiring blogger can develop over time.
1. Passion.
More often than not, many of the successful bloggers today followed a passion that they held close in their hearts. They felt like they had a message to exhort, a cause to promote, or a journey to share. Man vs. Debt and Zen Habits are both great examples of bloggers who started writing about their passions online. In the beginning it was much like an online journal for these two as they were not all that happy with where they currently were in life. Over time they kept adding to their passion by sharing their victories and challenges with others.
2. Commitment.
Remember, just like many of you, successful bloggers started writing way before they began to see traffic to their blog. I call this the “pre-profit” stage of blogging. You write as if your audience is already there and you commit to it 100%. Many people struggle with the commitment of what it takes to build a successful blog. Of course it is not as easy as writing the content and gaining thousands of readers overnight. Yet, I have seen many bloggers give up too soon. It reminds me of the quote by Thomas Edison: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
3. Patience.
If you recently lost your job and are looking to start a blog that can make you a few thousand dollars over the next 30 days, you are in the wrong vehicle. There is no question that blogging is a legitimate way to earn a low maintenance income, but it will require patience on your part. Sure you need the daily commitment to the process, but you also need to have patience in the process. Blogging is like starting at the top of the hill with a tiny snowball and each new blog post begins to grow that snowball as it rolls down the hill. Successful bloggers today had to be patient and allow their blogging business to grow over time.
4. Focus.
There are many “shiny objects” out there today that can easily distract those looking to earn an income online. Easy new “push button” software comes out every month and can distract you with staying focused. There are also many ways to earn income online and that can present a challenge in and of itself. Anytime you read a new income strategy that makes sense you are off on a rabbit’s trail. I know because I have been there. Finally, I could not keep up with all the “experiments” that I had started. I was spreading myself way too thin. I then challenged myself to master one particular method before I was allowed to move on to anything new. Focus can do you a lot of good. Give it a try.
5. Consistency.
Probably one of the greatest qualities of a successful blogger is their consistency with maintaining their site day in and day out. Bob Lotich is a great example of the benefits that you can receive through consistency. He has a new blog post being published most every single day like clock work. This is no easy thing. It requires much discipline and focus to produce on a regular basis. To many potential bloggers get quickly discouraged early on if they do not see the traffic. Yet, the very thing they need to do (producing content) is what they inevitably stop doing. This is also why following your passion helps you through the dry times of your blog. Only the passion of what you want to share will help you to sit down and begin typing.
If you have recently started a blog or are thinking of creating one, then I encourage you to let these 5 essential qualities sink deep into your heart. They are the foundational principles of what it takes to develop a successful blog.
If you blog, what essential qualities have you had to learn?
Photo By Keith Williamson
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
These are great qualities. One of them I really need to work on is consistency. I’m working on a blogging schedule and looking forward to sticking to it.
I started blogging in October after my son was born. I wanted to stay at home and make some money to contribute to the family budget. Because the topic I chose (Counseling) was lacking in Puerto Rico, I began to get hits immediately. Currently I use WP plugin for Adsense to keep track of my blog’s progress. I haven’t made much money yet, but it has allowed me to get exposure among my colleagues. I still need to work at gaining consistency which can be very difficult when you take care of a six-month old full time. I also need to master the income earning tools.
I have to thank Christian PF for my blog, since I finally decided to engage in blogging after reading your blog. I have known what to expect and am stil blogging because of your articles on the subject. THANKS!
Great tips Jonathan. Consistency is definitely one of the most challenging, but important parts of blogging.
If I could add one thing, it’d be this:
- Be deliberate with your time. You can spend hours tweaking parts of your site that don’t really matter in the long run. You could have cranked out 2 awesome articles in the 2 hours you spent trying to mess with your CSS…
Tim
Related to Tim’s comment–you have to just start.
You can spend months planning but, at some point, you have to get writing and worry about perfecting things later.
Thank you this informational and inspirational piece. New to blogging, I can identify with each foundational principle. Thank you.
Don’t forget PERSEVERANCE! It’s a lot like consistency — but it has more of an aspect of working through challenges and not letting them stop you…and you can be sure that challenges will eventually come up, often in the form of other things in your life demanding more of your time.
I really believe that having patience is key. As a newbie blogger, I have to always keep in mind that success is not going to come overnight.
Thank you for quality content. I am new to blogging (6 weeks ago I new absolutely nothing about blogging) and I started a blog about a month ago – thanks to Christian PF – I googled and found the post- How to Make money with your blog. We are in the ministry and living by faith and I really felt the need to explore what I love (the Lord, computers and writing) and see if it can’t generate some form of additional income. Thanks for this article – I need to work on the Consistency aspect!
My wife and I have started a blog together. Knowing each others tendencies we have divided up some responsibilities. She is basically in charge of the content (which is more directed towards women/moms) and I have taken on the challenge of being the techie. I’ve already learned a lot thanks to this site.
love the quote from Edison – so true.
Hi,
I want to thank you for posting this information. My husband has recently started a blog about what we are doing to get out of debt. We are really hoping to encourage others to take up the challenge we are and follow us to debt-fee living. He’s been disappointed this last week about his numbers, but I think this article will encourage him to keep going!
I really appreciate your posts and your candidness about blogging. God Bless!
It takes all of that and more. I would add determination, desire and persistence to your list.
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