A great way to pay for some extra lifestyle, or even become a full time part timer, is to start a blog and generate income from it. Although blogs have been rated as the 5th most reliable source for getting information online, the majority of blogs fail. If you have considered letting your creative juices flow, and starting to gain a blog following, this article is for you. It will highlight some of the top reasons blogs fail, and how to avoid them.
A lot of people are daunted by the thought of setting up a blog, but it really isn’t difficult to get a blog running. If you are dedicated to your blog and have a smart plan, you can start a blog and make substantial passive income. There are no risks involved, and the rewards can be amazing.
The profit margin can be tremendous, and people have accomplished so much from blogging alone. Now you are even more enthused about blogging let me bring you back down to earth. Before you jet off to set up your own blog, here are some mistakes you must avoid.
1. Lacking an objective
No doubt, this is the most important one, as the main idea of blogging is to address your audience with an objective. For instance, if your blogging is meant to help job seekers secure a position, then everything on your blog must be associated with that subject.
If you suddenly decide to post pictures of cupcakes or fast cars, your readers will ditch your blog faster than those fast cars.
Before you begin, identify a niche that you are passionate and knowledgeable about. After that, ensure that every blog post is related to that niche topic. It is important to establish the goal of your blog before setting up a website.
2. Thinking that blogging is easy
Many people have the erroneous notion that blogging is easy, (quite like people who believe the same about writing), but if your idea of easy is spending more than 40 hours a week on your website, wracking your brain for ideas, and doing endless self promotion, then you are correct, blogging is easy.
Blogging involves consistent effort on your part, from creating high-quality content to following through with the marketing of that content. This can be very demanding. More significantly, blogging is growing at an astonishing rate, so the standards are high for new bloggers. There are over 2 million blog posts published daily. This means, in order to stand out, you must post unique content regularly, at least 3-4 times a week.
3. Letting income decide your niche
Blogging can be very demanding, sometimes as much as having a regular job, so before you start, make sure you choose something you are extremely passionate about.
If you aren’t a good cook or know nothing about pastries, don’t bother writing about exotic recipes, thinking it might earn you a considerable income. Same with fitness; don’t blog about bench pressing or cardio exercise if you aren’t a fitness instructor.
Every niche is lucrative, as long as you know how to monetise it. If you decide to write about things you don’t enjoy, you will tire yourself out soon enough and your blog will fail.
Select your niche wisely. If you love bird watching, start a bird watcher’s blog that educates people on different birds in a particular area.
4. Not having your own domain
This is one of the most common mistakes many bloggers make. To have a successful blog, you must own your domain. Yet every day, people set up blogs without their domain. Your domain is simply the name of your website. If your blog domain looks like this:
- www.websitename.wordpress.com
- www.websitename.blogger.com
- Or on Tumblr
Brendan from OpenHost explains it well, “When you choose a free blog domain name you you let your readers know that your site is not professional. There are many bloggers who have been successful without their own domain name, but why risk the chance? By getting a name for your blogging business you start to build the brand, and make your content far more shareable.”
Make sure you register your blog’s domain name that fits what you are blogging about. There are a number of registrars who offer this service for a token fee. Eventually, the rewards outweigh the cost.
5. No promotion efforts
High-quality content is very important, but if your audience doesn’t know where to find it, or that it exists, it’s useless. When you put all that effort into a carefully researched piece, and enhance it with quality graphics, don’t stop there! Otherwise you may be writing it for yourself.
Blogging is 30 percent creating content, and 70 percent promoting it.
Put some effort into marketing your content for potential readers to see and visit your website. Some effective ways to promote your content include SEO, guest posting on more popular websites (and redirecting readers to yours) and engaging social media networks. There are various online tools that have been developed for this purpose.
6. Thinking you will cash in immediately
This sort of mind-set can leave you disappointed if you don’t curb it. While there are blogs that make up to £50,000 per month, you should know that it takes a considerable amount of time, effort and (sometimes) money to build that sort of credibility and authority. For some, it may take a long as 5 years of committed hard-work.
Take Becky Wiggins, for example. She started blogging 10 years ago after her husband got a job in Ireland. For her, blogging was just a way to keep in touch with family and friends without contacting them individually. Today, her blog is an award-winning food, travel and lifestyle national sensation. What started off as a simple means of communication developed overtime into a valuable commodity.
Don’t expect too much immediately from your blog. Give it some time to grow.
7. Being an inconsistent blogger
In order to be a successful blogger, you must have a well-defined and consistent schedule. You shouldn’t write blog posts when you are “in the mood”. It is a job and you should see it as one. If you don’t, it will ultimately fail.
Reports have shown that consistently updating your blog with new content can drive up traffic by double digits. People love fresh content and if your blog is stale each time they visit, they will stop coming back and seek alternatives elsewhere.
You could decide to write at least a specific number of posts weekly (ideally 3 – 4 posts), and make sure you stick to it, or you could go a step further to adopt an online editorial calendar and commit to your own schedule.
Blogging is a great way to generate passive income. If you set your goals right, stay dedicated and promote quality content regularly, your blog will become lucrative and sustainable.
