Six Blogging Myths and Fears, Dissected
Start a successful blog without fear
For every successful blogger living the dream, there is always someone questioning whether the journey is even worthwhile.
There are reasons why most blogs are ultimately abandoned, as our success is often hindered entirely by self-doubt and a lack of discipline.
In fact, do you remember a time when you accomplished something thanks to confidence alone? Whether this happened as a child or at some point in your career, you probably felt unstoppable without caring about the many roadblocks life had placed in your path.
Now let’s take that same attitude and apply it to your blogging or work-at-home dreams.
In order to do that, I’d like to examine common blogging fears and marketing myths that may be preventing you from reaching success. Once these are out of the way, you can effectively start a successful blog and slowly grow it beyond your wildest dreams.
Myth: I Have to Blog Every Day
Let me make something clear before going further: Blogging frequency is entirely subjective.
Some people enjoy publishing three times a week, while others do it every 4-5 weeks and still manage to stay relevant.
So, how does the latter group get away with it? It all boils down to multiple factors such as:
- Subject matter and industry
- The post’s usefulness
- The type of marketing and promotion implemented
Take SEO guru Brian Dean, for example. This guy’s articles are so thorough that it generally takes him several weeks to compose a new one.
He ensures that every single piece has everything the reader could possibly be looking for, including a wide range of statistics, A/B test results, and everything in between.
Other times a blog post may be much more casual in nature, but equally useful for the author’s target audience.
Simply put, blogging frequency is not as black & white as many would have you believe. Thus, the ability to start a successful blog does not necessarily depend on this alone.
Don’t let this common blogging fear stop you, even if it means publishing once per month depending on the overall approach.
Fear: I Don’t Know What to Talk About!
Unless your niche is unbelievably narrow, there will always be new things to discuss.
Let’s remember that you selected a blog niche based on experience (I hope). This immediately gives you access to a monumental amount of subjects from the get-go.
Ideas are all scrambled in your head until you finally sit and start taking notes. That’s when suddenly everything clears up and you become an unstoppable force.
I also suggest the following for developing new blog post ideas:
- Bookmark and visit other blogs in your niche. Read them on a regular basis.
- Read and participate in niche forums and social media groups. Reddit.com is split into thousands of groups (Subreddits). Pick one.
- Pay attention to your favorite TV shows, as they will often trigger an Aha! Moment when you least expect it.
- Pay attention to everyday conversations. People regularly reveal an ongoing problem or a nagging curiosity. Find a way to connect it to your chosen blog niche.
Even if your next blog topic doesn’t warrant a long and thorough article, go ahead and write something anyway. Why? Because length, too, is entirely subjective.
This now brings me to my next point…
Myth: I Don’t Have Time to Blog
I’ll just go ahead and call bullshit on this one… in most cases, at least.
Granted, there are people who genuinely don’t have the time required to blog. Take a single mom of three kids and two jobs, for example. Plus the fact that she may go to the gym whenever possible.
I get it…
Sadly, I have seen too many cases where “no time to blog” actually means “I choose to do something other than blogging.”
You see, it’s easy to confuse a lack of time with a lack of drive.
If you really, really think about it, most of us could use some help in the time management department. Here are some relatively painless things you should consider:
Do you normally watch four hours of TV per day? Let’s lower that to three hours – at least once per week.
Do you spend two hours playing Halo, Mario, or Zelda? Again, let’s sacrifice some time once or twice per week.
Do you enjoy sleeping in late? Me too, but I got in the habit of getting up 30-45 minutes earlier on some days.
Do you see a trend here? None of the above suggestions are asking you to sacrifice something to the fullest or every single day.
A little compromise goes a long, long way.
Prioritize
Prioriza
priorità
Unahin
Let me know if you need this translated into additional languages. But I’m sure you get the point…
That being said, I understand that everyone’s situation is different, so it’s not my intention to pretend that I know you or your personal struggles.
Needless to say, my point is for you to find a loophole in your life – no matter how small – and modify it accordingly.
That tiny amount of time could snowball to form real blogging success over time. Start a successful blog and feed it slowly, but surely.
Fear: I Don’t Have Anything Groundbreaking to Contribute
While you should always try to deliver great content, many people think they have to actually reinvent the wheel.
You don’t necessarily need to be the next sensation to make money from home. Just be helpful to your audience (you’ll instinctively know how).
And here’s something else, in case you haven’t yet noticed: The world revolves around rehashing ideas. It’s sad, but true.
Here’s a little exercise:
- Go to Google and type “Internet marketing”
- Inspect a handful of blogs thoroughly
I’m sure you will notice a lot of similar subjects. From getting more traffic to promoting your Instagram to building a bigger mailing list. The list goes on and on. We have all talked about these things at some point (myself included).
And yet, bloggers keep publishing away and their articles are actually pretty damn useful…
Do you know why? It’s because each article has a unique perspective. These posts carry the author’s unique signature, which allows them to teach from personal experience.
This means that people will usually learn something new even if you cover the same exact subject.
Myth: My Blog Niche is Saturated
The case of market saturation is highly debatable and bloggers are often divided. This is perhaps one of the biggest blogging fears among many of us.
On one hand, competing in a particularly rough arena is usually an uphill battle. On the other hand, you can still make a splash with the right combination of marketing and connections.
The problem with the latter is that it requires extensive, ongoing work.
Let’s say, for example, that you start connecting with relevant players in your niche. These guys happily link back to your blog after you follow some proper outreach guidelines.
You also have the money for monthly advertising through Google AdWords and/or other networks (this is helpful, but only optional).
While success may still take a while, you could still come out a winner within a reasonable amount of time.
After all, nobody said this would be easy – just doable.
Fear and Myth: Reaching Mass Success is Unlikely
Finding success with your blog is as hard as:
a) Landing a job at McDonald’s
b) Becoming the President of the United States
In other words: It depends.
Reaching your blogging goals will largely depend on everything already explained above, including outreach efforts and the strategies involved on a regular basis.
Now, the Question is…
Are you willing to experience that kind of pain?
Monetary rewards like this one and this one might be worth all the blood, sweat and tears. What do you think?
Remember, you don’t need to dominate your blog niche or live like a Kardashian to be declared successful…
You only need a very small piece of the pie.
Whenever someone discourages you, remember that earning even 1% of a million-dollar industry is just fine and dandy.
So find yourself a suitable work environment, get comfortable, and embrace a great future as a blogger.
Side notes: There are many other reasons why people abandon their blogs (technical difficulties, not developing a habit, and so on). But that discussion should be saved for a future post, as it gives way to the benefits of outsourcing and other methods.
Your Turn
What kind of blogging fears used to hold you back? Are you still struggling with certain aspects of blogging? What measures have you taken to start a successful blog and keep it going strong?
Vicky Soni
April 13, 2017 @ 6:48 am
Hi Elvis,
yes, we don’t require to post a regular article and as you mentioned Brian Dean, he only focus on quality and not on the quantity that is why he is so popular.
Elvis Michael
April 13, 2017 @ 6:34 pm
This is maybe the biggest issue with some bloggers. Some feel so pressured to post regularly simply because “that’s what they heard from some Guru somewhere.” So they believe Google might not like a blog that only updates once every 5-6 weeks, when this is faaaaar from reality.
Thanks for bringing up such a great point.
Elvis
Pankaj Dhawan
April 14, 2017 @ 12:39 pm
Well, if you are confident enough to create unique and high quality content, regularly, everytime you type, yes you can wait that long but I must say – they dont sit just to wait and watch traffic growing. For those weeks they are not writing, they are busy promoting that one master-piece article.
Elvis Michael
April 14, 2017 @ 1:06 pm
Yes, and thats exactly the way to go — Spend time writing, but even more time on everything else.
Thanks!
Adam Leviness
April 16, 2017 @ 8:24 am
Thank you for this. I want to start a blog to hell my freelance business, but some of these exact thoughts have stopped me. I hope this was the push I needed to get started.
Loretta
April 22, 2017 @ 1:05 am
Thank you for saying this out loud. I see so many people hesitating to start because they think they have nothing to say, or they don’t have enough to say about a thing. Just start and put yourself out there. You never know until you try. Chances are someone somewhere in the world needs what you have to offer, needs to hear what you’re saying and they’re out there waiting for someone to say it in a way that makes sense to them. Get out there and blog, people!
Elvis Michael
April 24, 2017 @ 10:47 am
Just start it, and iron things out slowly over time 🙂
This very website is always a work in progress, for example, but it’s still here and available.
Keep us all posted on it,
Elvis
Elvis Michael
April 24, 2017 @ 10:52 am
Edit: Sorry Loretta, my initial response was for Adam, haha. But the same exact message applies. Thanks for your kind thoughts!
Adeel Sami
April 24, 2017 @ 2:27 am
Hello, Elvis!
Wonderfully put in all the good aspects which stop most to not do blogging!
The big fat reason some takes the money part. Yes, everyone’s goal is to earn but blogging is something that cannot earn you even the first dollar that easily.
It is completely the original business like how you take the physical one.
Prep up and get serious with the blogging first. Choose what you feel fun of AND not what others have as their blogging topic.
Treat it like a business and work on it, test out like A/B testing and evaluate the market’s need.
Take it serious, guys!
~ Adeel
Elvis Michael
April 25, 2017 @ 3:02 pm
I always tell people to find some passion in their niche, as opposed to following the money and nothing more. This alone can drive away 99% of your fears if you’re extraordinarily passionate about your chosen topic.
Thanks for the kind words, Adeel. Enjoy your week!
Ryan Biddulph
April 29, 2017 @ 10:03 pm
The saturated one is funny Elvis, in a Universe of abundance. Gotta think abundantly and creatively. I fell victim to all of these fears at one time or another. Happens to all of us. Key; doing the stuff you deep down, REALLY wanna do even though it fears scary to do so. This helps you uncover your writing voice. Which makes that saturated niche become your niche 😉 Awesome dissection of these fears, Dr. Elvis 🙂
Ryan
Elvis Michael
May 1, 2017 @ 3:50 pm
If only you knew how many times i’ve witnessed some form of success in the most saturated markets (gaming news, for example). Sigh, if only we had more than 24 hours in a day, though.
Thanks for your oh-so-great tips as usual, man
Elvis
ikechi
April 30, 2017 @ 10:15 pm
Hi Elvis
Love your thoughts on blogging fear as it is spot on. Thanks
Elvis Michael
May 1, 2017 @ 2:04 pm
Thanks! As a blogger, you know exactly what im referring to.
More often than not, our success is limited only by a nagging fear. Not by competition, not by the market itself or other external sources.
It’s all about recognizing that we’re usually our own worst enemy.
Elvis
Darlene League
May 1, 2017 @ 9:45 am
I created my blog eons ago when I started writing my novel. It took two almost three National Novel Writing Months to reach the 50,000 word goal plus having a beginning middle and end. In a draft! My characters are still flat, and I need more detail but the basic 50,000 words are there. So I’m writing again, working on the blog, and trying to expand toward retirement in two years. Thanks for the tips.
Elvis Michael
May 1, 2017 @ 1:56 pm
This is insane, haha — is the blog related to your book?
I always considered getting into NaNo, but the word count just seems painfully overwhelming for me. I have always been more of a short story type of guy 🙂
What you’re doing is hugely inspirational, managing all these things at once. One day at a time….
Keep it up!
Elvis
Arvind
May 15, 2017 @ 4:03 am
Hi Elvis,
Even I had a fear of surviving in blogging because my topic was fully saturated..also I was unable to give time for writing articles…really one should not give excuses in life…Blogging should not be a hobby…it should be done with passion…really you have share true facts…thanks a lot…!!
Arvind
SRP
June 6, 2017 @ 12:35 pm
Do need to have technical knowledge to create a blog
Adam Jackson
June 9, 2017 @ 3:09 am
Interesting article.
This post shows that everybody have a myth and fear about blogging.
Emenike Emmanuel
June 17, 2017 @ 8:29 pm
Hi Elvis,
Thanks for sharing this. You know, I used to have this feeling that my blogging niche (business and marketing) was already saturated until I rolled my sleeve and decided to give it a shot, believing that the worst thing that will happen is FAILURE. After all, it’s not gonna take someone’s life.
But hey, I was shocked. Yes, I was seriously shocked to see that they are so many areas of marketing people haven’t really paid much attention – if not in the whole world, at least in my country. Quickly, I took hold of that and my blogging passion began to grow, and as it did, recognition began to come.
Now, that fear is no more there. I wish all those Wannabe Bloggers will read this.
Keep it up.
Emenike
Elvis Michael
June 21, 2017 @ 12:23 am
You said it; there’s always an angle. The trick is finding that angle and making it your own…
Give it your own voice, add personality, inject new life into it, and provide new insights. Whether you interview a big blogger every week or write a monthly post to “bust a myth” in the world of business, there’s ALWAYS a way to carve some uniqueness out of the mundane 😉
Looking forward to keeping up with your blog — just added it to my growing RSS feeds.
Elvis
Patrick
August 8, 2017 @ 4:53 pm
These are all things I’m still working to overcome. I appreciate you making light of them though, it reminds me that I’m not the only one struggling with these same things.
Charisse Smith
October 12, 2017 @ 3:09 am
Exactly! Quantity is not important. Quality is the key.