You want to know a truth? Blogging isn’t easy. Blogging is one of those things where, unless you love to write or share your thoughts, you just might not like it all that much. That’s because it takes a lot of dedication to the craft; yes, I’m calling it a craft.
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I’ve always heard this statement that says if you do something often enough it’ll become a habit that you’ll continue doing for the rest of your life. We all know by now that’s pretty much inaccurate. I remember working out 63 straight days once, sometimes twice a day, and right now I’ve been to the gym once in the last 6 months.
The problem is that there are two types of habits; good and bad. Bad habits are easy to do because they require little effort and they make us feel good; or at least they don’t bother us at the time. Why do people continue smoking when they know it’s bad for them? Because dopamine makes them feel good. Why do people sit around and watch TV? Because it makes them feel comfortable and relaxed.
If you decide that blogging is going to be a business strategy you have to treat it with as much passion as you do the rest of your business. Business blogging’s purpose, after all, is to show your expertise and get people interested in what you do. Nothing says you have to write like Stephen King; that being how much he writes, not writing scary things. Truthfully, if you’re only capable of writing two posts a month, spacing them out, that’s a good thing. One post a month won’t help as much, but at least it’s something; consistency is a big deal in the world of blogging.
The main thing you have to do with your blogging is to be honest about it. This means you don’t steal content from anyone else. This means you don’t plagiarize; that if you use even portions of what someone else has written you give them attribution. This means you check your grammar and your spelling. This means you don’t make things up just to try to drive sales or business. This means you treat your reader with respect. And finally it means you offer some kind of consistency, and then if people respond to what you’ve written you comment on their comment.
All of these are business principles as well; isn’t that a nice tie-in to blogging? Along with the fact that as you’re reading this I’m in Orlando? 🙂
What stood out for me in this essay: “If you decide that blogging is going to be a business strategy you have to treat it with as much passion as you do the rest of your business.”
When you convinced me to begin blogging over three years ago, I wasn’t thrilled with writing. However I set up a personal contract to write something, anything, once a week. Surprisingly I’ve stayed with it for over 170 posts.
A chance virtual meeting with a Twitter follower put me into another gear. She said I wrote like a fifth grader however my content was great.
This is all the inspiration I needed to improve my writing skills albeit in small steps.
My passion for writing, at this point in time, is to be a better writer. Secondly, I hope readers find value in what I’m saying.
p.s. It’s a balmy 28 F here today in the Cuse. Not too bad at all.
Steve, truth be told there are some organizations, like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that can require writing for patients at a 3rd grade level. I think we write as we write and hopefully learn to be more proficient while figuring out our style. The readers who need us will find us.
I can’t say that I’ve been specifically using blogging as a business strategy, but in a distant sort of someday way I guess. I suppose it’s what we call platform building.
I agree that serious blogging requires dedication. For me posting has become almost obligatory like showing up for work everyday back when I was working. And if I’m going to post for everyone to read I want to put forth what I think is a decent effort if not my best. Definitely what I post should be my work (unless I have a guest and I insist that my guests are submitting their own original content as well).
Hopefully someday my dedication to my craft will pay off in a practical way, but in the meantime I’ve been having fun with it.
Hey, have a fun and a productive time in Orlando
Lee
Arlee, I don’t comment on your blog as much as I should because I haven’t participated in any of your writing challenges. You right, you treat it like a de facto business based on your dedication. Who knows, maybe one day it’ll make you rich. 🙂
I think I literally blew out my dopamine receptors for a while. I’m trying not to damage them as they heal. But seriously–there’s a strong connection there, and it’s in the likes and comments and shares. And the dopamine. If it’s part of your business strategy, it has to lead to leads, sales, good press -or, no dopamine for you!
True Holly. After a point we all want some kind of benefit from our efforts. I’ll take the commentary for now.
All these are good enough reasons are good enough for bloggers on a stand alone basis without having to compare with business practices. Where else do you get to meet and make friends with people like you and Holly?
You’re a good man Rummuser and your wisdom is going to have Holly boarding the next plane to come see you. lol It doesn’t have to be for business but if it is the person best be ready for the occasional grind.
I really salute you Mitch, blogging is never easy, I think dopamine activates when you really want something, and knowing that you love that something and you cant keep yourself craving for it. It is called “Addict”.
LOL! I can’t say I’ve ever gotten the same feeling from blogging that I get from chocolate, but lots of comments makes me feel pretty good.
Hi Mitch
After reading this post I need to modify a famous proverb about life by adding blogging into it as “Life and blogging are not beds of roses”.
It is so easy to start a blog and also declare oneself as blogger but to become a successful blogger is heck of the task.
You are very right that to be a great blogger one has to be very honest to his all kind of blogging chores and always uphold the flag of trust to win the hearts of his blog community.
Thanks a lot for sharing this very thought-provoking post.
Mi, so many people call themselves bloggers yet they rarely write and never promote themselves in any way. I think the promotion part, even if it’s just blog commenting, is the difference between someone who has a blog and someone who can be called a blogger. It can be fun but it also takes work and time.
Comments like that, right there, are what I’m talking about! 🙂 Thank you, Rummuser.
Hi Mitch,
I agree with you, blogging isn’t easy at least for me. I’m not a writer and writing blog posts is a difficult task.
On the other hand it can be enjoyable and it’s so worth all the time and effort you put into it.
Nice to meet you Mitch and thanks for sharing this nice piece of content.
~ Dragan
Nice to meet you Dragan. I guess I’m lucky than most in that once I have a topic I can pretty much write my article until it’s completed without tons of effort. It’s getting that topic sometimes that’s problematic, not so much on this blog but on others definitely. Still, it’s a lot of fun.
Damien, I think people who get into blogging find their voice, and when that happens their writing gets better. Course there are some folks who have been writing for a long time whose grammar is horrible, but I’ve noticed those are mainly people whose first language isn’t English so they’re forgiven. I still wonder about people who misspell words since that red squiggly line comes up on most browsers. lol Mine issue is sometimes typing the wrong word but spelling it right; I tend to think way faster than I type, which didn’t used to be an issue but as I get older I find it more problematic; sigh… lol
You’re also right in its being fun & making good connections with others. I need to find more time to visit more people more often like I did in the past. Where’s the lottery ticket?
You are so right, I am going through one of the toughest moment in blogging. It’s been around six months since i started a fashion blog and I am getting almost nil traffic or I may say much lesser than expected. Hence it’s testing me and keeping me on my toes.
Everyday I wake up with a new spirit, do blogging and then at the end of the day I am faced with disappointment. My point being, what would u suggest for blogs within age of 6 months to 1 year, when they are still struggling and not making enough how do we keep up with that? What would you suggest?
I feel for you Sophia. I’ll have to stop by to take a look, although your topic showing via CommentLuv definitely doesn’t apply to me. lol Still, we write and we promote in our different ways to see if we can get people to visit us. Sometimes it works wonders, but never give up unless you just can’t keep up with it. Good luck to you.
My day job is extremely demanding and my blogging is my fun escape, but during weeks when work takes priority I’m like don’t worry it’s not open heart surgery and you’re not saving lives, so it doesn’t matter if you miss a post. Thanks for sharing your insight anyway. Cheers!
Thanks Diane. I’m with you, missing a day here and there isn’t the end of the world… or is it? 🙂
Hi, i definatley agree blogging is hard… I have started to do it for our brand and the first post was hard, very hard. To think of subject and relevance etc really takes up the most time. I have now started to pick the jist of it up but it will take me a while to right long(er) pages like yours. Thanks for the read though i will be sure to visit again. P.s any tips on a structure to post?
Thanks again
For tips on how to structure a post, look through this site, which has nearly 1,600 articles; I’m sure you’ll find something that works for you. As to the other, I have an anti-smoking site also and I was able to create about 23 articles or so before I gave it up. So I know what you mean; some niches are tough to write about when it’s not a passion you have.
Hope you love Orlando. I am writing from Mexico. I’m just commenting because although I don’t blog for business, and do not always follow your rules of consistency; I am consistent in appreciating your “shares”. You are a virtual mentor and you should get some love for all you do. After several years of writing on several blogs, I sometimes hit snags but eventually work my way through them. Sometimes with your advice. Thanks.
Thanks to you for continuing to read these little bits of advice I share. Mexico eh? Nope, not a place I ever see myself volunteering to visit. lol Still, you’re written long enough to know it’s not easy, so there’s some sense of dedication to it.
Hey Mitch,
There is a lot I agree with you about this post. Just because you do something for 30 days or more doesn’t instantly mean it will become a habit (we wish most of the time) and blogging is not easy. The writing part to me is but it’s everything else that goes with it that’s not so easy.
If you’re using your blog for a business you better have your mind in the game. You have to be consistent and you have to stick with it because it’s really worth it when you start seeing those results. That’s a rush in itself to me. I love the people, the comments, the content, you name it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here Mitch and keep up the excellent work my friend.
~Adrienne
Thanks Adrienne. You know, I wish I could think of blogging for business as far as making money online but I didn’t have that mindset years ago and at this juncture I’m not sure it could handle my lifestyle, although it might be intriguing to see if I could generate enough to at least pay all bills and feed me. Still, I do have the dedication to write and the dedication to respond to comment, even cleaning out bad and spam comments so things work better around here. I figure that’s really the best we can hope for from most people.
Hi Mitch,
I’ve been telling my friends just how much time it takes to produce a good blog post. We try our best and still often find errors after the post is published.
I write about what I’m passionate about and that helps, but sometimes coming up with new ways to ‘grab’ the attention of readers is difficult. On an average, it takes me several hours to write a post from start to finish. I don’t know how others write two and three posts a day or even one everyday. Great post, Mitch. Thanks for reminding us the time and dedication it takes to write well! Sally
Sally, you’ll probably hate knowing this but Monday I wrote 9 blog posts for 4 different blogs. How’d I do it? I hit a few hours of inspiration and I just went at it. Not everyone can do that but it’s neat when it hits you like that. However, that doesn’t make it so easy that it doesn’t take dedication; if I add links or backlinks then it takes time. And even with all that, even with all the years I’ve been blogging, for the most part I’m an underground blogger because few people know I exist. If it wasn’t for the love of blogging… well, you know. 😉