Guest post by Alex
Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you aspire to “make it” as a blogger, and dream of being able to fully support yourself and your family from your blogs income.
I’d like to start off this article by reminding everyone of what I’m sure you’ve heard countless times before:
It is incredibly difficult to “make it” as a blogger.
Consider this, according to a 2008 Technorati survey, only 7.4 million of their 133 million registered blogs had been updated within the past 120 days. This means that 95% of blogs registered on Technorati are abandoned by their creators.
So what’s the cause of this high rate of abandonment? A lot of people will tell you that most people don’t have the determination needed to become a successful blogger, or that most people lack the resources needed to propel a blog to superstar status, but I disagree.
While I agree that determination / knowledge of available resources is necessary to becoming a successful blogger, the quintessential reason that most blogs fail is that the bloggers behind them fail to understand the role they need to fulfill as bloggers.
I know what you’re saying: “I have a clear mission statement for my blog”, “I’ve planned out my blog”, “I know exactly what my goal is”, blah blah blah, that’s not what I’m talking about.
What I’m talking about isn’t the specific role you are fulfilling, nor the goal that you are trying to achieve with your blog. What I’m talking about is the role of a blogger in the grand scheme of this series of tubes we call the internet.
Most bloggers see themselves as providers of information. After all, a blog essentially gives you the power to showcase your thoughts and opinions to anyone willing to read it.
However, this perception is fundamentally wrong, and detaching yourself from it can dramatically improve your blogging. Let’s talk about why.
Google currently has (an estimated) 10 billion+ websites in its index; that’s well over 1 website for every person on the planet. Consider that the average site has 10 or more webpages, and you’re looking at at least 10 webpages for every person on the planet. That’s a lot of information!
So what does this mean for you? Well, it means that, chances are, no matter what you are writing about, someone has already written about it. Essentially, unless you are a recognized expert in your field, or have magically gained an enormous amount of credibility, you are not “providing” any information that isn’t already available to everyone through google / bing / yahoo etc.
However, what you are doing is both consolidating and selecting information that you think is useful to your readers.
The 1 thing you must internalize to succeed as a blogger:
Think of yourself as a shepherd of information.
Your job is to find interesting things for your readers, and then share it with them. If you can break free of the mentality of being a provider of information, and internalize the mentality of being a sharer information, you should notice a sizable increase in both the quality of your posts and the readers that you retain.
Alex is the owner of Blogetize, an experiment chronicling his journey from a know-nothing average chump to becoming a knowledgeable and successful blogger. The idea is for people to read his blog, and to be able to follow in his footsteps themselves.
About Kiesha Easley
Words of wisdom.
Listening to your readers plays such a large role if you plan to keep your blog going.
When you first start out, you kind of need a shotgun approach because you’re starting off with topics you want to write about.
After you get that first comment or two, that first great feedback, you can begin to mold your writing around your readers.
Listen to what they have to say in their comments, check your analytics to see how they found you, then write something amazing to touch on these subjects they want to read.
.-= Murlu´s last blog ..How To Make Money Online With ArticleMe =-.
Wow I’m speechless for the most part of this article. I didn’t know that the stats for becoming a pro blogger is that staggering. I definitely learned something new today. But do I want to be a pro blogger no I usually blog for fun if it happens it happens if not so be it that’s my motto anyway.
.-= Mario @ halloween_Super_Affiliate_Review´s last blog ..Halloween Super Affiliate – How To Make Money With Halloween Niche =-.
should i assume that as i am blogging regularly, there is a bright chance of mine being very successful….
.-= Tushar´s last blog ..What a Bad Niche Can Do to Your Blog? =-.
Bravo, one of the better posts I’ve read because it has cool statistics that I don’t personally know and I find it interesting.
But I don’t think it is THE 1 thing you must ask people to internalize to succeed a blogger. I mean, wouldn’t you feel discouraged to blog if you feel that you are not bringing anything new to the table?
Hi Alex and Keisha,
Those are some huge numbers! I knew that there were millions of blogs out there, but the numbers are staggering.
I really like your idea that we are ‘shepherds of information’ because as you say, it’s all been said before. But, I do believe that we all have our own unique voices and can relate information to our readers differently so that it’s not one great big echo chambers with bloggers all saying basically the same thing.
There are some really unique writers out there who make me stop and think. It’s our duty as ‘shepherds” to let others know about them and enjoy them, too.
Karen
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Major Benchmark Today – My 100th Post =-.
This notion of being a shepherd as the only viable role a blogger has to offer is difficult to refute in a comment.
So I won’t try.
I do, however, entertain the notion that’s there more available than collection, curation and dissemination.
Someone, after all, has to invent the keywords.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Definitely up to no good (no blog post today) =-.
You bring up a good point. There are so many bloggers trying to deliver the same limited amount of info. In order to keep getting readers, bloggers have to be able to present the same info in a new light.
After all meatballs are the same as meatloaf, but meatloaf gets such a bad wrap, but spaghetti and meatballs are loved by everyone. hmmmm ;) It all depends on how you serve it up!
.-= Ms. Freeman@Baby Steps of an Internet Entrepreneur´s last blog ..Market your product for free =-.
Don’t know why meatloaf gets such a bad name. I love some meatloaf. Plus I never thought about it like that meatballs and meatloaf is the same thing.
There you go! I just learn something new. I’m sure that is some where in Google land but I learned it from you. :)
.-= Josh Garcia´s last blog ..Are You Making This Blogging Mistake in Your Business Blog? =-.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Ms. Freeman!
That’s like the most insightful thing I’ve read all day! I love it!
I’m gonna keep trying to serve up some nice meatballs here (all though I can appreciate a good meatloaf – throw some ketchup and spices on top, let it bake for a few more minutes, serve with some creamy mash potatoes – MY I’M HUNGRY!)
I like that shepherd of information concept. That’s a good way of summing up what I try to do. I knew next-to-nothing about blogging so started learning, experimenting, and ultimately sharing. It always gives people hope when they see someone who is even more clueless than they are can get out there and do things.
.-= Jean Sarauer´s last blog ..Top Blogging Mistakes Revealed =-.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Jean,
I liked that idea, too. It also takes some of the pressure off of us – if we can just share the information in an engaging and exciting way, then we’re doing our jobs as bloggers.
Hey Alex,
Those are some serious numbers there. That is so true that everything has already been written about. Unless your some scientist discovering something new.
It’s all about marketing. How you market yourself to you target audience. When you have a target audience that you are going after then it makes it some what easier. I’m not saying that it’s easy. Becuase you do have to drive your target market to your blog.
I visit blogs where I’m trying to figure out who are they targeting. This is a huge reason for people abandoning thei blogs. They don’t know who are they writing for or doing videos for. I say you must know your target market and then you provide for them. That is all I have been doing and having success with it.
Have a great weekend…
Josh
.-= Josh Garcia´s last blog ..Are You Making This Blogging Mistake in Your Business Blog? =-.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Josh!
Great points. People read what pertains to them, if you’re all over the place with your content, they’ll eventually disappear.