Why your blogging needs to be consistent
After blogging for a while you start developing doubt in your ability to get visitors to your blog. That is normal because very few freelance bloggers will immediately start getting thousands of visitors to there blog.
Building your Blog from scratch takes a long time especially if you are the sole creator of content. Big hitters are those who are not shy to spend some money on promoting content or just have that one viral thing that spread like wildfire by accident.
Unfortunately, most of us must rely on our own skills and persistence. But there are certain things that will make it more likely that you are going to succeed. These are common factors that are being used by most successful bloggers and the only difference comes in the way you present it.
Another common factor is that bloggers get better the longer they do it. The learning curve of blogging depends on how much time you put into it. Obviously, if you spend 3 hours every Sunday you are going to take longer than the person sitting at home and spending 6 to 8 hours a day on their blog.
It does not mean they will be more successful but they will learn the pros and cons of blogging quicker.
How to blog with a purpose
A lot of time is wasted by newcomers on trying to imitate other bloggers hoping to be successful in a short period of time. That is why you need to plan your blog before you even start creating content.
Trying to learn the technical while trying to create content will delay your posting frequency and in some cases put you off blogging totally.
If you are blogging with the purpose of generating an income you have to know 3 things upfront.
Niche
Do all your research on the niche that you will be targeting upfront to avoid putting a lot of time and effort in just to find you have missed your true niche. This is the time you will make decisions on the following:
- What the main product will be as a driver for your niche.
- Do you have other products that can be used for attracting visitors?
- Who your audience or target market will be.
- What can you offer that will bring visitors to your site?
- Have a look at what others in the same niche are doing and how they promote.
- How competitive are keywords for this niche in case you need to revert to paid advertising?
- What strategy will you use to promote your blog?
- How crowded is your niche market?
- Do you have enough passion to sustain your blog for a very long time/
Only when you are certain what your niche is and you are confident that you can maintain it for at least a period of 3 years then you can consider continuing with your blog.
Content
Probably the most important aspect of your blog will be the content. By this, we mean "What do you have to offer your visitors that can help them with their research on the specific niche?"
We all know what we do when we need information and that is to find help on the web. Visitors will come to your site if they know that you have quality content that will assist them in the niche or topic that they are interested in.
The problem with content is that it becomes very difficult for a blogger to create content on a consistent basis without being repetitive. We all know that while we research content in our specific niche it soon becomes clear that everybody says the same but in a different way.
That is why the competition in blogging for certain niches can be very stiff and only your innovative thinking and imagination can make you stand up and above the rest. Visitors who see the same everywhere will follow the blog that provides the best user experience.
Lucky for us bloggers there are so many different types of media that can be used to bring the point home for our audience. Prepare as much content as you can before you start your blog as it requires focus and detail to provide quality.
Product Branding
The product that you are going to push through your blog is the most important and therefore you need to do proper research before you start. There are many websites that will give you information on product branding and have to build your brand specifically.
The branding of your product will affect everything that you do through your blogging career and it will help if you don't have to realize this halfway through trying to get visitors and marketing your brand.
The way you brand your product will affect the look of your blog, the content you need to create, the audience that you are targeting and finally how you are going to market the product.
Consistency in blogging is the key that many bloggers overlook when they start off and after a while, they find out they made the wrong choices and it is now becoming difficult to maintain what you started.
Decide upfront such critical elements as:
- The color scheme that will fit in with your brand
- The logo and product identification graphics
- What media you will use on your blog and what it will look like
Do your research well by looking at other bloggers in the same niche and find the one that attracts the most visitors. Have a look at how the brand is promoted consistently by means of visual content and imitate their consistency.
Marketing
Very few bloggers are lucky enough to just blog and are noticed therefore it is important that you also have a marketing plan in place. For people to know that you exist you have to tell them and the platform you use to do that on will decide how people perceive your blog.
When it comes to marketing it is ideal to choose the correct platform for the audience you are targeting. For example, don't advertise clothing on a platform like Linkedin in a group that focuses on Plant and Equipment.
Don't try to market on more than one platform as it will become too much work for too little return.
There are many different platforms that you can market your product and some of these are:
- Nice specific forms
- SEO marketing
- YouTube
- Article writing
- Guest blogging
If you are going to try and market on all of these platforms at the same time it will drive you crazy. Pick at most two of these platforms and become a master at utilizing its advantages
Make sure you are aware of the terms and conditions of these platforms so you don't put a lot of effort into it just to get banned.
Summary
I am trying to tell you blogging is not easy and it takes a lot of effort to establish yourself in a specific niche. Starting a Blog with the view of generating an income is no different than starting up a real-life business.
The success of your blog will also depend on the effort you put into your business plan and as with a normal business plan, it takes a lot of research to put it together in a way that will ensure positive results.
Without a plan, you will grab at ideas along the way but never actually be able to focus on the main goal and that is to be successful.
Be yourself and don't give up on your blogging career as sooner or later you will strike the balance between putting in the hard work and reaping the profits.
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