I can still remember how excited I was to start a blog. The rush of adrenaline was unmatched. I was looking forward to sharing all my knowledge with the public. Although I have been in the marketing scene for a while, I didn’t start blogging until a few years ago. Blogging was born out of my passion for SEO, which is my niche, and to share all that I know and learn along the way with consumers through writing.
I started a blog called SEO sandwitch (dotcom) SEOsandwitch in 2012 and it’s still up and running in 2020, eight years going strong, now that’s a very long time on the internet. My blog has been named one of the top SEO blogs by several blogging authorities, and I have also been personally named one of the top digital marketing authors.
Since blogs are created daily, there are more than 600 million blogs, and many people want to blog full time. The number of bloggers in the USA is expected to grow to 31.7 million in 2020. I decided to share my personal insights from my experience as a full-time blogger.
Here are 8 lessons I learned from becoming a full-time blogger.
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Be passionate About Your Niche.
I didn’t start this blog because it will fetch me boatloads of money to travel around the world. Of course, that will be nice, but if I wouldn’t have come this far, that was my sole reason.
I started the SEOsandwitch blog because I am passionate about sharing my knowledge on SEO and helping people who are clueless about SEO. I love my niche, and I can continuously create quality content beneficial for people and establish my authority.
If my blogging motivation were for all the wrong reasons, it would reflect my blog content and strategy. I would have quit; that’s why you see so many bloggers quit after three years, one year, and even ridiculously at six months. It’s hard.
When you actually care for your audience, you build trust, and you become an established blogger.
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Create Relevant Content
It’s not enough to create content I care about; the real question is: is this piece of content relevant/valuable to my audience? If the answer is no, then I might as well not bother creating any content at all.
Just because you care about it doesn’t mean everyone should. Research what your audience is searching for? What are their current needs? Which current information do they need to be updated on?
You can use tools like Buzzsumo and Google trends to generate content ideas.
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Build Relationships in your Niche
You can’t go at it alone; you just can’t. To succeed in the blogging space, building relationships with fellow bloggers in your niche is significant.
Networking with fellow bloggers has helped me come a long way in this industry. It has made me evolve, improve my blog, and expanded my reach. It’s no secret that backlinks are potent for organic reach; these relationships will make it easy for sites to link to your website.
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Guest Posting is Powerful
I am an active contributor to many authoritative sites in my niche. This has undoubtedly put me in front of my target audience. According to OptinMonster, 60% of blogs write 1-5 guest posts per month. When you guest post, it establishes your authority and drives traffic to your blog.
When guest posting is done right, you are well on your way to making blogging your thing.
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Consistency is key
Urghh! Not again with the consistency thingy. But it’s the hard truth; if you are not consistent, nobody will take you seriously. You need to show up every day, put out quality content regularly, else your target audience will forget about you.
The thing is, you are not the only one blogging in your niche; you have to convince your target audience that this is your territory. Except if your blogging is a hobby for you, you need to make consistent efforts to build momentum over time.
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Prioritize SEO
Will this article be complete if I don’t remind you about the importance of search engine optimization? Here’s a bitter truth: A lot of content is generated daily; you have to convince the search engines that your content deserves to be seen.
Because what use is content if no one ever finds it? Nothing. And, you didn’t just create content to sit pretty, right? You created it for people; SEO will help you get it in front of people. So invest in SEO education and tools; it’s not optional; it’s mandatory for blogging success.
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You Have to be Organized
Blogging is more than just writing; there’s a whole lot that goes behind the scenes. From coming up with content ideas to analytics, marketing, writing emails, responding to comments, SEO, and the list goes on. The importance of organization. Invest in tools that will help you keep everything inflow and schedule content ahead of time.
Bloggers are consistent and in control when they are organized. Finally, no one has become a full-time blogger without an organization.
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Patience! Patience! Patience!
You see, many people expect their blogs to become the next Neil Patel after a couple of months. That’s absolutely unrealistic! Every seasonal blogger has put in a lot of years to get to where they are.
I have been running this blog for over eight years; it took me a while to experience some form of success. There’s no such thing as an overnight success; you have to consistently put in work and be patient for your blog to grow.
A lot of bloggers quit due to a lack of patience. To do this in the long run, you need to be patient.
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Email Marketing is Gold
You have probably heard the saying; the money is on the list. Even with social media marketing blowing up, email marketing hasn’t lost its relevance. It remains a powerful marketing strategy for entrepreneurs.
Because Instagram can decide to shut down tomorrow, but your email list is forever yours. An email list is the most reliable way to stay connected to your audience.
So start creating your email list from the get-go if you desire to become a full-time blogger.
Conclusion
Blogging can be very lucrative and rewarding; however, not without some challenges that will make you want to call it quits. It takes grit, patience, and a strong internal motivation to keep you going because when you have a great way, you will persevere.
Don’t jump into blogging because everyone is; the reality is blogging is not for everyone. It might take a while before your blogging career looks up or generate revenue, and that’s totally fine.
Just be consistent, creative, willing to learn, and patient. And before you know it, you are well on your way to becoming a full-time blogger.
Image Credit: ketut subiyanto; pexels
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