Blogging is challenging — don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. But as they say, nothing worth having comes easy. If you’re going to take the time to launch and grow a blog, you can’t afford to give up prematurely.
Here are a few reasons why people give up — and what you can do to stay on track.
1. Uninterested in subject matter
“You need to enjoy your subject matter,” entrepreneur Neil Patel emphatically says in a blog post. “Nobody is forcing you to pick a topic that you loathe. Pick something that energizes you, excites you and keeps you going! Here’s why this is important: You’re going to be dealing with this topic a lot. You don’t want to be saddled with a topic that makes you want to punch someone. You want to dive into something that gives you joy.”
You may think you’re restricted to the business you run or industry you operate in, but there’s ample room for creativity. Just because you sell farming equipment doesn’t mean you have to write exclusively about farming equipment. You could also write about weather patterns, harvesting techniques and advice for keeping equipment properly tuned.
Find a topic that interests you and provides value to your readers. That’s the only way to stay on track.
2. Pressure to post daily
A lot of bloggers feel pressure to post on a daily basis. It’s not clear where this pressure comes from, but it probably has to do with the oversaturation of content on the web today.
Nearly two million blog posts are written and published each day. Hundreds of thousands of these posts are then shared on social media, where you see them and think to yourself, “I guess I need to write something, too.”
You don’t need to publish a blog post every day. If you are, then chances are that you aren’t investing enough time into quality writing and editing. Stop worrying about quantity and instead focus on quality. A massive burden will suddenly be lifted.
3. No plan of attack
A football team never goes into a game without a game plan. And while factors can change during the game that result in a need for the team to pivot, it’s always helpful to have an idea of what you want to do. The same is true for blogging.
If you don’t have a plan of attack, then you’ll probably fold when something shifts, changes or doesn’t go your way. Some specific ways you can plan include creating an editorial calendar, hiring writers to handle topics that you don’t want to write and using a tool to automate social sharing.
4. Nobody’s reading
A lot of bloggers throw in the towel because they don’t feel like anyone is reading — and most of the time, they’re right. After all, who wants to spend hours writing blog posts when nobody even knows they exist?
Well, here’s a piece of advice that successful blogger Jon Morrow believes will change your entire outlook on blogging: You should turn most of your attention to guest blogging.
Why? Well, if nobody is reading your blog posts, then you’re going to get frustrated and ultimately quit. It may take a few weeks or months, but you will eventually quit.
With guest blogging, you get to tap into someone else’s audience, get your name out there and establish networking connections. Then, once you’ve done all this, you can turn your focus back to blogging on your own website, and you’ll actually have an audience to work with.
Putting it all together
Blogging is hard — which is why thousands of people give up every month. If you can understand and avoid these four primary reasons for quitting, you stand a much better chance of staying the course.
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