Just Started a Blog? 10 Tips to Stay Motivated
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There are millions of blogs that have been abandoned. And it is estimated that 95% of new bloggers give up their blogging ambitions after only a few posts. But that doesn’t mean that you must join the ranks of early quitters. On the contrary, if you put your mind to it and you stick to your guns, you could, in time, become one of the bloggers with a large and loyal following.
It is in the first few months of blogging that you are most likely to lose your enthusiasm. That is when you get so few visitors, it can feel like you are talking to yourself. So, if you are lost in the wilderness of a brand-new blog, read on. Here are ten tips on how to stay motivated when you first begin blogging.
1. Ignore Visitor Numbers
It is not unusual for new bloggers to become fixated by their traffic stats. But in the first few months, it is better to ignore the stats and focus all your efforts on writing new content.
It can take months for Google to index a new website. And it will take even longer to develop a following. So, the best advice is to avoid looking at your site analytics altogether because, unfortunately, in the short term, they will only disappoint you and probably demotivate you.
2. Don’t Make Comparisons to Other Bloggers
Comparing yourself to other bloggers is another mistake that will probably demotivate you. So, avoid searching for answers to questions like how many posts a blog needs to be successful. Stop worrying about things like how many visitors a blog should be getting. And don’t worry about how your writing style differs from other bloggers in your niche.
A blog should be personal and unique to you. Your writing style will develop in time, and your visitor numbers will improve as you post more content. And, most importantly, no one formula guarantees a successful blog. So, do it your way, and if people enjoy what you write, they will come back for more.
3. Set Achievable Goals
The best way to succeed as a blogger is to set yourself realistic goals. Because if you set your sights too high, it will most likely turn blogging into a nightmare that makes you give up trying. So, set out with a simple goal, like writing one blog post a day or week. And leave the long-term readership or money-earning goals to later. Slow and steady wins the day with blogging. So, set bitesize achievable targets until you find your feet and your blog is better established.
4. Make Blogging a Habit
It can be tricky to find time to write when you have a job and family. But you might find it easier if you set a specific time of day or day of the week to write new blog posts. And then, blogging can become a habit that forms a part of your regular schedule.
You will also quite often find that people recommend working with a schedule of blog posts. It can undoubtedly help thinking about post titles in advance. And working to a blogging schedule may help you post regularly. However, be warned that a schedule can also demotivate if you fail to keep to it. So, find what works for you and stick with it.
5. Don’t Stress If the Words Don’t Come
Any writer of any genre can get writers’ block sometimes. So, don’t beat yourself up if you sit down to write at your allotted time and nothing appears on the page. Instead, take a break or do some blog promotion work and some background research for future posts.
It is best to post new content regularly on a blog. And posting the same day every month is good because readers will know when new content is likely to be available. But your blog will not fade into obscurity overnight merely because you skipped one scheduled post. And, if you force yourself to write something, it probably won’t be anywhere near as good as what you could write when you are in the zone.
6. Be Proud of Your Achievements
If you have set up a blog and published your first post, you have already achieved more than most of the rest of the population. Sure, there are many blogs on the internet, but there are many more people than blogs! That means that you are now a member of an elite group of people who have their written work published in the public domain.
Before you know it, you will be celebrating your 10th and 100th blog posts. And, it will be 1,00 visitors a day and 1,00 subscribers. So, be proud of each of your achievements and celebrate each milestone reached.
7. Don’t Be a Perfectionist
It Is only natural that you will want your blog to look great. But, as you will no doubt discover for yourself, you can spend hours and hours tweaking colors, fonts, and images if you are not careful. And, meanwhile, you could have been writing some more awesome content.
The same applies to your writing. Of course, you should proofread your content, and you might want to run it through a grammar checker like Grammarly before publishing. Still, the occasional mistake in your writing only proves to readers that you are human, and it’s the human story that attracts readers to blogs.
8. Engage with Fellow Bloggers
Blogging can be a pretty lonely endeavor. But you can alleviate the isolation to some extent by reaching out to other bloggers in your niche. And, you might find that reading other people’s blogs will inspire you and motivate you. So, set aside some time to read and comment on other blogs. And join any forums that are relevant to your niche. This type of interaction will help to motivate you, and it will encourage more people to check out your blog.
9. Engage with Your Readers
It will be some time before you have a large following. Even so, getting the first few comments on a new blog is exciting and a superb motivation booster. And, if you respond to comments on your blog or messages on social media, you will encourage more people to engage with you. So, don’t ignore interactions with your readers, even the negative comments. Instead, engage with your audience, and you will gradually build a community around your blog.
10. Reevaluate Your Goals if Necessary
It Is not at all uncommon for new bloggers to underestimate the work involved in blogging. Even writing, formatting, and posting content will probably take longer than you had anticipated. And then, you have other tasks, like maintaining the site, dealing with messages, and researching new content, too. But, if you have taken on more than you can handle, you don’t have to quit blogging. Instead, reevaluate your goals, set more realistic targets, and continue at a more relaxed pace.
Conclusion
It is easy to become disillusioned with blogging when you set up your first blog. And, unless you are incredibly fortunate, it can be many months before you develop and readership and make any money. However, if you persevere, blogging can be incredibly rewarding, both personally and financially.
So, the message is, don’t quit blogging too soon.
Instead, consider the above tips, which will hopefully help get the blogging bug back again for you.
