I got a question from one of my readers a few days ago on how to start a successful blog. It instantly dawned on me that many more readers may be clicking around with the same question on their minds.
Truth is, a lot of people who stop blogging along the line failed before even getting into the activity. Common sense teaches us that the way you start a race can determine how you end it.
For the most part, beginners come in with a lot of excitement, motivated by some misunderstood factors. Before they know it, they are hitting their heads on the wall.
Note that we are talking about how to start a successful blog. It’s all about the ‘start’ moment – that’s the foundation of your blogging business.
Well laid, will be able to sustain a thriving blogging business. That means if the foundation is weak, no matter the beauty of the structure, it will one day crumble.
Here first are some wrong reasons people start blogging
Some folks start today and next year, they are no more on the scene. I keep asking myself why are they hopping in and out. The only reasonable reason are the factors surrounding their start. Here are some reasons people start blogging that will surely not take them anywhere.
– > They started because someone told them they will soon start making money with their blog.
Here is a dirty reason to quickly push someone into starting a blog the next day. Just tell them there is so much money to be made as soon as you become a blogger.
blah blah blah…
You and I know this is not true. If you were told that, let me help eliminate that from your mind. You may not make any money for the next 1 year. It may turn out to be a very long journey and you must be ready for it.
So if you were told you will make money like John Chow or Pat Flynn after 1 month of blogging, guess what will really happen next …
or maybe you should ask the monkey 😉
Yeah I know some people can get it going real quick but the truth is, a majority is on the failing side.
-> They started because someone told them it’s easy!
what?
Blogging is easy? Well, maybe posting once per month may seem easy but if you want to treat is as a real business, never think it’s easy. If it really is, everyone would be blogging to make money.
First, you have to brainstorm to come up with blogging ideas. There are posts around to help in that but mind you, this is still a hard phase.
You may want to check out this Ultimate Guide by James McAllister on how to come up with blog post ideas. James really throws to the table some practical and result-driven tips
.
Secondly, developing the ideas into exciting content is another phase that requires hard work and of course smartness. Note that an idea is not enough. You need to build the skeleton and add flesh and skin to it.
Writing in a way as to encourage reading, proper formatting and adding attractive and meaningful graphics can never be easy.
Here comes the third and some-what most difficult part – Promotion
If you fail in promoting your blog, you and your family members and cousins may end up being the only readers on your blog.
In recent times, blog commenting, guest posting and social media have become common ways to promote your blog. But don’t even think this is easy. You can’t succeed on social media without a right sense of belonging – You’ll have to belong to the right groups and communities to drive traffic.
Commenting on other niche blogs is exciting because it helps build your community and drive traffic but who told you this is bread and butter ? If you want to make this easy, you are going to immediately fail.
I don’t want to talk about guest posting being easy. It never is because you have to give out your best to get desired results.
-> They started without proper niche research
The very foundation of success in blogging is choosing the right niche. People practically are blogging about any topic you can think of. But that doesn’t mean you too can jump into any niche and succeed.
If you make the wrong choice in the beginning, chances are that you’ll soon join the rest on the failing side.
I wrote this post in the past to help you choose a topic. It has the details and steps to follow so you don’t fall victim to choosing the wrong niche.
Now, I could keep on listing factors of poor foundation but that’s not the reason of this post. I just want to help someone start a successful blog so I’m not going to dwell on failure points.
So here’s How to start a successful blog!
The best way to start a successful blog is laying a solid foundation and that comes with being able to choose the right niche. If you list your reasons for blogging, it will be fairly easy to decide what to blog about.
Once you’ve found your topic and once you are very sure about it, you are off to starting a successful blog.
Don’t get me wrong!
Finding the right topic is no guarantee that you will succeed. It’s however a solid foundation because everything else revolves round you being able to publish content that is consumed by readers.
Choosing the wrong topic could be a terrible mistake in a very near point. For the most part, you are soon going to run short of ideas. That could push you into picking materials here and there and trying to join them into a full post. But for how long?
If you are in the right niche, you’ll always find yourself flowing. That doesn’t mean they won’t be moments of drought. But being in the right niche, the way out of any content wilderness is always very nearby.
How to start a successful blog – invest in premium tools
I know some folks out there are going to raise their fingers up to argue this point but being a stubborn believer in premium tools, I keep telling my followers that first impression matters.
I know there are free stuffs out there that will allow you impress your readers but for the most part, you will need some need premium tools to build a successful blog.
-> Get your personal or business domain name !
Some bloggers are doing good with blahblah.wordpress.com or something.blogspot.fr. Congratulations but I can assure you if you move to a personal top level domain, you’l do better. The reason is that this allows you full control offer your content and any other premium tool you would want to use
If you are on blahblah.blogspot.fr, let me quickly inform you that you are not the real owner of your content. Google can just decide to freeze your access and leave you with your hands on your head.
– > Don’t host anywhere!
Your blog is your business and you don’t want to confide it to tyros or some free hosting service with no success stories. While I totally recommend you do your research before buying your hosting, I can quickly point out Hostgator I have been working with since 2008. Use the coupon code ENSTINEMUKI to save 25%
There are lots of WordPress dedicated hosting services out there but for the most part, a humble beginning on shared server space will strike the deal.
What I want to discourage is the idea of looking for a free host for your blog. It could hurt your blogging anytime.
– > Professional themes!
I often advise you buy a premium theme. We know the cost has dropped so tremendously. Not only do you benefit from the professionalism and dedication of the developers, as a theme buyer, you get updates and technical support. These are all factors that affect your business and if you want to succeed, there is no way to neglect them.
– > Get the right plugins!
You can actually start a successful blog without a single additional plugin. But if there is an absolute necessity for any additional plugins, these must be well investigated.
Whether you are buying a plugin or activating a free option, make sure it’s of absolute requirement. Don’t get plugins for what their authors write about them. Investigate and approve plugins for what users say they are.
If I were you, I won’t depend on testimonials on sales pages simply. Go beyond that and investigate the credibility of anyone that says a product is this or that.
These days, people get paid to write fake testimonials just to pump sales. It’s however very easy to find out if a product is credible or not. Check out reviews on forums, social medial, etc
Don’t be Mr know all
If you really want to start a successful blog, you have to make sure every aspect of your blog is handled with the maximum level of perfection.
From your logo to theme modification, graphical designs, etc, you must know your strengths and outsource what’s without your limit of excellence.
Some bloggers want to do everything! Well, if you’ve got the talents, congratulations. However, I want to bring to your attention the fact that there is no room for anything near perfect. You are either great and be used or mediocre and be rejected.
This is some basic information I wanted to share with you on how to start a successful blog. Everything as I said above depends completely on the foundation you put down. A wrong foundation (choosing the wrong niche) definitely will see you struggling throughout and leaving no impact.
If you didn’t check, here again is the post that holds you by your hand and guides on how to choose the perfect topic to blog about.
As you read it, I want to hear from you in the comment box below. If you are already blogging, are you sure you have a successful blog?