Posted: 11:54 pm by tom in
Blog,
Blogging
After blogging for a little while it can become very easy to get stuck in a rut, or comfort zone. The simple reason for this is that you lose some of your original drive that you had after launching. When you launch a blog you have to work incredibly hard to get your first visitors trickling in. Whilst this can be hard work, it’s also great for showing people what they’re capable of. Think of how hard you worked to get your blog off the ground… are you working that hard today? Many people will answer ‘no’, when in fact you should be working just as hard, if not harder.
There are several reasons why you should be working harder. I’ve outlined these below:
You now have an audience with expectations. - Ok, so you’ve made your mark, proved that you’re for real? Well now it’s integral that you keep going! Your readers, no matter how loyal they are will not be sticking around to read poor quality content or wait for a week between blog posts. This is part of the pressure of blogging. Whereas before you were building up from zero, you can now either fall or keep moving upwards.
You’re in a better position to become successful. - There is no point in giving up now! You’ve worked hard and it’s paid off. You now have subscribers, commenters and an archive of posts. All of these factors will help to set you apart from all the terrible new blogs that exist. Now you must look for the next step up… If before you were moving out of the pool of failures and amateurs you now need to move out of the pool of your current contemporaries. This isn’t to say you must blank your existing blogging contacts, but at the same find new ones! It will be easier for you to grow now than it was to initially prove yourself. You have the foundations, now build on them!
You’ll get bored if you don’t continue to push yourselves. - Blogging is a tough business, as is motivation. Nobody will remain in their rut forever, they will eventually get bored and probably give up…
Now, with these things in mind, what exactly do I mean by being ’stuck in a rut’?
Just posting, nothing else. - This is something that many bloggers are guilty of. They have their audience, so they just post consistently and think that that’s enough. It’s NOT.
Ceasing promotion. - This relates to point 1. Promotion should be ongoing, no matter how large your blog is. You need to always be trying to reach new audiences, and to increase your blog’s exposure.
Never changing your visuals. - If you never change your blogs design, layout or functionality you will eventually get bored, and so will your visitors. A redesign can spark a new wave of interest in your blog, but little changes also help to demonstrate that you care about IMPROVEMENT. Improvement is key to being a good blogger. A great blogger will never have the mindset of ‘job done’. I’m personally planning on implementing several new features to Push Standards in the coming days/weeks and I’ve only been online for a month. Think of all the bloggers who leave their blog as it is for years.
Not exploring new topics. - It’s very easy to keep writing about the same things, especially if you’re particularly knowledgeable about them. However, scary as it may be it’s vital to explore new topics in your blogging. You don’t have to be an expert, but can in fact be learning as you post. New topics are an excellent way to broaden your learning through research. Who knows, you may find a new area of intrigue for yourself and your readers.
It is particularly useful to use your past blogging experiences to your advantage. I’ve learnt so much in a month of blogging, and so to not use this knowledge to my advantage would just be a waste. I hope that this post was helpful, and I urge you not to get into a comfort-zone mentality. ALWAYS work on improving your blog, it’s the only way to succeed.
Tom, you’ve read my mind again! I was just thinking about that. Actually, since I’ve started my blog I’ve changed quite a few things, from the design, to the widgets I use and to the topics I reach. But sometimes after working hard to get your blog up and running, you tend to step back, enjoy your “success”, and go easy with the work. When now’s the time to work even harder. Who would have thought that blogging is such hard work? Not me
A couple months ago I was posting everyday, maybe even twice a day, had posts lined up days ahead of time, but it all catches up to you. The ideas can dry up faster than you think of them, and then you’re left with a rut, like you said.
I’m lucky that I could not post a month and didn’t lose a lot of readers.
Anca: Haha this is getting freaky
I think you’re doing a great job of diversifying your topics and working on your design. And yes, blogging is MUCH harder work than I would have thought possible.
Connor: Wow, that’s quite a rut. I guess it’s good to come back with new found enthusiasm though, and you seem to be doing a great job posting right now. Impressive subscriber count by the way, I’m jealous
One of the options is to have “guest” posts. It takes the pressure off you and benefits your readers by providing a different perspective.
Yeah I completely agree. The only problems are growing your blog to a size where people will want to guest post. And also I don’t want to risk losing my personal, consistent voice in my posts.
Thanks, Tom. I am constantly trying to improve my topics, and work a bit on my design, I’m just learning codes and this whole CSS stuff… It was you who told me too, and I took your advice seriously.
I think that bloggers that have been around for a while can repost some of their older posts (maybe writen the same day, a year ago). That seemed a good idea.
And I love the idea of having guest posts.