Describing blogging to someone who isn’t a blogger is much like trying to explain String Theory to a 4 year old using a carrot and a half deflated balloon. Lets just say its a tough sell to say the least.

Posted from an internet cafe in Pattaya, Thailand

.

Why Read.

.

If you are a blogger you are going to want to read this before reaching for the hand gun. Everyone has a “How to be successful at blogging post” and so this is mine – but with a twist. For those of you who are not bloggers it is worth reading the section on “Removing Luck from the Equation”

.

Explanation of a Blog

.

Typing “What is blogging?” returns 51,400,000 results from google. Obviously it seems that some people have decided that, contrary to popular belief, string theory is in fact, best taught with a carrot.

“How to blog Successfully” returns 40,900,000 results and we can therefore conclude not only do one or two people know what blogging is, a fair few seem to know how to be successful at it as well. However I find it hard to believe that over 40 million people have financially successful blogs.

.

I managed to get through the first few pages of google before wanting to shoot myself in the head and so have decided to advocate a slightly different take on success for blogging.

.

For those of you interested, the top three “tips” from around the combined wisdom of the web appear to be:

.

1. Have a Personality:

.

There are millions of other blogs out there so the main competitive advantage you have is your personal touch and writing style.

.

2. Create Posts of Value:

.

Peoples attentions spans and availability of free time is forever in short supply and thus you must provide a compelling reason for a person to keep returning to your blog.

.

3. Get involved in community:

.

Community is key to gaining peoples interest and getting them involved in your blog in order to keep their readership.

All good stuff by and large, but nothing really that isn’t just common sense. I would add that,  like most things in life, luck has an extremely large part to play in the success  of a blog. You could be Gods gift to blogging as a writer, have regular posts of incredible value and be spending hours a day in the blogosphere community but without a bit of luck you still might not get far, and unfortunately the odds are stacked against you right now.

.

Luck, it seems, is the enemy. So lets look at a way of tactfully removing the dirty blighter that is luck from the equation in order to ensure success.

.

Removing Luck from the Equation

.

There is an incredible amount of talent out there; a depressing wealth of genius. It is a sobering thought to realise that wherever your gifts lie, chances are there will be thousands of people who are much better than you. Now I am not saying this to depress you or even that this is necessarily a bad thing. It is in fact quite freeing…it can give you a new perspective on why you do things…why you do anything.

I have only recently come to realise just how much talent there is around since starting this website – especially in the Blogosphere…and to be honest, one would have to be mad not to feel a little intimidated. I had read blog sites such as “Zen Habits”, “The Four Hour Workweek” and “The Art of Manliness” and have watched them find considerable success. All credit to the guys; they each have excellent sites and deserve the success they receive.

.

What was surprising however, at least to me, was the shear number of other sites that are out there which are also of an incredibly high standard.

.

I kid you not, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of high quality blog sites around, just that I have seen, each with excellent content and dedicated writers, all competing for their readers time. Websites of this quality take time, quite a lot of it and so the question has to be; why do people do it and what do they get out of it.

.

Why do anything?

.

Simple question but important. Why do we do anything in life? Without going into the bigger question of “What is the meaning of this thing called life?” let us look at this in terms of how to be successful.

.

Before embarking on anything you need to be sure you know why it is you are doing it and what the main driving force behind doing it is.

.

That is the only sure way to be truly successful in whatever you endeavor to do.

Bloggers have many reasons for spending their time writing articles and looking after their site; to make money, as a form of self expression, to improve their skills, to network, to be appreciated, to feel important, to be praised etc. These are all valid reasons for starting and investing time into a blog, as long as the individual is sure on what they wish to get out of that investment. It is an old cliché that you have to be passionate about what you do and then the success will come. By and large I agree with this but it depends on what you mean by “success”

.

Starting a blog these days with the sole goal of having a huge readership and thus making substantial money from it is not a recipe for success.

.

This is a very competitive marketplace filled with high quality and well established blogs. It is probably best akin to starting a fashion line with the aim of competing with companies such as Nike or Boss. It’s a nice goal but chances are, it is not going to happen. If you want to make money from your blog it is probably best to find a niche market that very few blogs are in and service that. I however, would not suggest this unless you are very passionate about the niche and it will benefit you outside of financial gain and readership gain. If however, you want to see “success” from your blog, well then, this is another ball game entirely.

.

Seeing success in your blog

.

Seeing success in your blog will depend on what the personal goals you have set for it are and, like I said, I would suggest you move away from financial and readership size goal.

.

Focus on why you want to spend time writing articles, how it will improve you and bring you happiness.

.

If you are investing time in reading and commenting on other peoples blogs, ensure it is because you wish to learn and improve yourself and not just to drag more readership to your own blog. I would suggest that better reasons, and thus benchmarks for success, for investing time into your blog would be to focus on things such as:

• Improving your writing and communication skills
• Help clarify your own thoughts, ideas and beliefs by getting them down on paper.
• Learn from reading other blogs and develop your own thoughts and ideas on the topics discussed.
• Advance your knowledge of anything your interested in.
• Enjoy joining into the conversation in the blogosphere
• Network

If you focus on the wrong reasons for starting a blog, like financial and readership success, ultimately the likelihood is that you will be very disappointed.

.

Instead why not focus on the reasons for self improvement and enjoyment – this way you will be guaranteed to find success. Then, if financial and readership success come, it is an added bonus.

.

If you are a blogger, good luck with your blog. Have fun and I wish you success. Leave a comment below if you wish on the success you have found from your blog or are planning to achieve – don’t worry about bigging yourself up, I invite it. If you are not you can still apply the above thoughts to your life.

.

Ensure you know why you are investing time into anything. If you do not find enjoyment or self improvement from it then I would suggest that, perhaps, you have the wrong reasons for doing it and you would be happier investing your time elsewhere.