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Blogging is exhilarating and challenging and fullfilling and frustrating and about a hundred other adjectives that barely scratch the surface in describing the adventure that is building a blog. Blogging gives every day people, the ability to put themselves into the limelight, and share their passions with the world. If you’ve done it for any period of time, we all know its a lot of work, but its also incredibly rewarding. And when you approach it with the right mindset and strategies, it can become an incredibly lucrative and successful career as well.
Recently I started a pretty kick-ass mastermind and mentorship group of both veteran and new bloggers. Its becoming an amazing place for sharing ideas, giving inspiration, and celebrating each other’s successes. (If you’re interested in becoming a free member of the Facebook group, you can request access here: www.ashleyrader.me)
This past week we were discussing a variety of topics and questions people had, and I noticed a trend starting to form. Many of the questions ultimately came down to a discussion about the traits of a successful blogger – things that they not only emphasize in their work, but things they avoid as well. There is so much mis-information about what it takes to become successful – so many people harping on irrelevant factors – as you build and grow your blog, these are the critical elements that will ultimately play a key role in the success or death of your blog.
So I present to you…
The 10 Commandments of Blogging Success
A Group Blog Post Curated By the Awesome bloggers at the Blog Genius Mastermind
1. Know Thyself
It is so important that you are honest and aware of your own abilities and your talents, and also where you might fall short. Blogging can be so consuming – you’re expected to create the content, write the copy, take great photos, produce graphics, handle the marketing, the social media, the outreach – its exhausting! And as talented as you may be, no one can be “awesome” at everything. If you want your blog and business to grow, its critical for you to be aware of where you may need help, or training or partnership. So that when opportunities come up to outsource or lean on the experience of someone who may be more qualified in a particular area – you will be able to leverage that expertise in order to grow your business.
2. Be Consistent
Be consistent. Be consistent with how often you post, your voice, your editorial style and your message. Readers want to know what to expect, and the best way to gain a good, loyal following is by being consistent.
2. Tune Thy Noise
If you know who you are and what your LONG-TERM goals are, then you don’t need to pay any attention to what others are “doing” and try and follow their bandwagons. Focus focus focus on your own final destination.
3. Thou Shalt Not Compare
Be true to you. Blog about your passions and don’t you dare compare. It’s your journey to experience.
5. Find Thy Voice
Be yourself. Find your writing voice and stick to it. Don’t write the way you think you “should” or try to sound like anyone else.
6. Thou Shalt Not “Get Rich Quick”
6b. Thou Must Useth WordPress 🙂
Blogging is not a get rick quick scheme. You will work longer hours than you ever thought possible. And you’ll love it! AND WordPress is King…start there.
7. Embraceth Change
Don’t be afraid to change direction, off shoot or start again. You may find that you have been misguided in evaluating what your true passion is.
8. Focuseth on Quality over Quantity
Write quality context that not only your readers will enjoy but what you enjoy yourself. It’s easy to get burnt out because it’s a lot more work than you’ll ever imagine. If you enjoy your content…you’ll enjoy doing the work!
9. Honor Thy Readers
Don’t shift your focus to monetizing until you have a minimum of 7,000 page views per week. It is ok to do some monetizing before this point, but your priority should be writing great content and building up your readership. When you divide your focus too soon, or put energy towards trying to make money before you have established your platform, you lose valuable momentum and it will take much longer to accomplish your financial goals with your blog.
10. Be Genuine and Be You
Be completely transparent. People feel when you are “faking” or trying to be something you are not. Stay true to yourself. Don’t worry about the ones that don’t understand. They are not your “ideal customer”. And NEVER underestimate the value of humor. When you can make someone smile, make their day better it could be the best thing that happened to them today.
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I'd be grateful if you would share it with others who may find it valuable. Thank you!
Number One and Six are my favorites. Thanks Ashley for putting this together. Fun and encouraging at the same time.
I love this!! Great advice from each of the contributors. Thanks for sharing!
I am a new blogger so this was a great read for me! I am still trying to find my way around the blogging world and figure things out! Love this!
So many valuable tips here! My blog will be one year next month and I’m still trying to figure out how things go in the blogging world. I have definitely learned a lot but since technology is constantly evolving, I feel like I’m always playing catch up to some new rules or search formats. It has been an awesome experience though and I look forward to what is to come!
So cute.