Not everything you try for your online marketing is going to work. That’s a reality. Gurus and experts will tell you what to do and you’re still going to fail.

Have I cheered you up yet? Probably not. Perhaps you can smile at my honesty 🙂

Yes, you’re going to fail, but that’s alright as long as you take something positive from the experience. Here are a few ways you can suck at your blog and some ideas on what you can do.

Ways to Fail at Blogging

  • Being irrelevant
  • Being irregular
  • Not promoting content
  • Expecting too much too fast
  • Burning out

Blogging Failure: Being Irrelevant

It sort of goes without saying you have to be relevant to your audience. If you’re not, you’ll never succeed. The challenge is you need to know what your audience thinks is relevant. You can learn that through good old fashioned research. Irrelevance is no excuse.

Blogging Failure: Being Irregular

Irregular though – that’s a tough one. How regular do you need to be? Relevant content produced once per year is not going to be enough to get you the results you want. Daily might work, depending on your audience. Whatever you decide to do, stick to a schedule. If you’re going to build a reputation about being regular then you have to live up to that commitment.

Blogging Failure: Not Promoting Enough

Content needs promotion. Unless you’re a celebrity. A tweet from a Kardashian can get thousands of likes, retweets and comments. Chances are you’re not a celebrity so you’re going to have to work harder. How do you promote a blog post?

  • Social media
  • Email
  • Forums
  • Partnerships
  • Use Paid Advertising
  • Search Engine Optimization

Obviously there are techniques to use in every one of these methods, but honestly, there are many ways to get the word out that you have some great content.

Blogging Failure: Expecting too Much

Millions of blogs start every day. Millions also fail every day. You honestly think yours stands a chance? Think of your blog as a new business. Very few people’s businesses are overnight successes. They take hard work to start and run. Years can pass before the business is profitable.

If you’re thinking you’re going to start a blog and be able to quit your day job within six months, that’s fabulous. Chances are it won’t, so don’t let the lack of success get to you. You’re starting a new business and success takes time.

Expectations lead to disappointment. Disappointment can lead to . . .

Burning Out

You thought your blog was going to be a hit, but it’s still a dud after a year of hard work. That’s the reality for the vast majority of bloggers. They never hit the “big time” and probably haven’t made a dime from their blogging efforts. When that happens, the desire to blog fizzles and the blog meets its unnoticed demise.

Avoiding blogging burnout can be easy if you have a positive perspective on what you’re trying to accomplish. If you’re trying to change the world, change people’s minds, make people think, connect with people’s hearts, and you’re doing so without expectation of reward or fame you’ll probably be able to persevere with an under-achieving blog. When blogging becomes a labour of love it’s easier to keep moving forward.

Of course, when you’re blogging about something you love, that passion and excitement shines through. Your passion is probably the secret ingredient that keeps people coming back. You sharing your joy about a topic makes the world a better place and attracts people to you. They’ll become subscribers, sharers, referrers, and evangelists for you.

Starting a blog that has a chance of success means going forward with the right attitude. As someone once said, “Your attitude determines your altitude”. For all the ways to fail at blogging, that saying encapsulates how you can succeed. With passion, joy, determination, and some promotion, you’ll create a blog that’s loved and respected.

If you’re looking for some help creating a blog that will be loved by your target audience, we’d love to help you host it or promote it. Contact us and let’s talk about how we can work together to achieve your goals.