One of the things that I have found the most rewarding is the habit of being consistent. First of all, I don’t start something unless I am sure I can finish it. And if I start something, I don’t quit. I stay the course till the end.
Blogging can be a hobby or a profession depending upon your understanding and perception about this concept. To me, I don’t have time to waste. If I am investing my time in writing blog posts, I prefer to do it seriously than playing at it like a hobby.
Why is that so?
It Is A Rule Of Thumb In Every Field
Growing up in India, I saw (and also participated) in playing cricket with friends on streets. We still play cricket on holidays whenever possible. If you enjoy any other sports such as soccer, football, tennis, basketball etc., you will find people who play it as a hobby and enjoy watching big games on TV.
On the other hand, there are those who got started just like you and me, took that game seriously, worked hard, stayed consistent with practice and went on to become a professional player. They are the ones who come on TV when hobbyist and other fans watch the big games.
What is the difference?
Professionals make money while others watch them make it happen!
This is what happens in every field, in every arena of life. Blogging is no different. People who take it seriously, people who stay consistent and persistent not only build a strong brand value, they make tons of money while others wonder how it happens.
Process And Consistency Creates Brand Value
I remember when I got started, I didn’t even know how to setup a simple website. I didn’t have any plans of writing blog posts. All I wanted was to put a few details about my new business and be done with it so I could have a web URL on my business card. That’s all.
Since I didn’t know the details, I approached a friend of mine in Bangalore who put me in touch with a web developer who was willing to help at a price. He asked my requirements such as how many web pages my site will have, how frequently I wanted to update information on those pages etc. Based on my needs he quoted me INR 15000 (About $350 at the time) for setting up that simple website.
Coming from an IT background, that quote made me upset and challenged me to find a way to get it done at a reasonable price. I made the decision to learn about setting up a website and it was then that I had my first encounter with wordpress.com and blogger.com like blogging platforms.
With that humble beginning, I learned how to setup a page, how to write blog posts, how to add sharing options to websites and eventually, I now offer managed WordPress hosting to my clients. It has been an amazing journey so far.
But, credit goes to the process and the consistency to which I never compromised, no matter how hard it seemed at times, to keep up. Now, that little activity of blogging for branding has turned into a business. Not just that, my blogging, now inspires souls across subcontinents on a daily basis.
If I didn’t follow the process, if I didn’t stay the course, if I treated blogging like a hobby like many bloggers do and fade away, I couldn’t have done what I have done. I couldn’t ever work on the projects I am working on now and life is absolutely exciting!
Nobody Starts As An Expert – It’s A Process
If you have been planning to start your own blog and you are not able to get it off the ground, it may be because you might be thinking that you don’t have the expertise. Or, it may be that you don’t feel motivated because you did it for some time and you couldn’t keep up.
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. ~ Wayne Gretzky [tweet this]
The good news is, nobody starts out as an expert. If you look around and see some of the top bloggers today, they look so great today. However, if you look into their history, they also started like you and me, stumbled many times but never gave up. They stayed consistent and persistent with their plan and eventually became the success you see today. You can also succeed, but the question is, can you stay consistent? Can you stay the course?
People who achieve the status of an ‘expert’ are those who followed the process, stayed the course in spite of feeling intimidation. They didn’t let fear or uncertainty cloud their dreams of becoming an expert and guess what, it paid them big time. Now they are known as ‘expert’ in their field.
Tips For Staying Consistent With Blogging
Here are a few tips to help you not only stay consistent with your blogging but also to help you gain confidence to become an expert, with time. I hope it helps you get organized and take control of your blogging for branding, business or online marketing (whatever your goals may be):
1. Keep Your Goals Close To You
You need motivation to reach your destination. But, no matter how motivated you feel, you won’t know if you are achieving your goal if you never set any. So, if you haven’t, write down your goals. You need to know why you need a blog in the first place. Do you want it for branding? Do you want it for making money? Do you want it for attracting more business? What are your goals? Why do you think a blog is important for you to have?
Once you have your goals, those will fuel your motivation to publish regularly. Your dreams are the fuel for your motivation. Therefore, keep those dreams close enough so you can see them and re-energize your spirit when you feel down. You need them more than anything else.
2. Don't Worry About ‘Expert’ Status
You don’t want to worry about what others may think of you. As long as you are publishing what you know with an intention to add value to your readers, you are doing great. When you start sharing what you know and stay consistent, you will discover your niche eventually. You will begin to realize that you do have some qualities in you that can get you the expert status in due time.
Write to add value, write to solve a problem, write to share your findings about topics of your interest and you will start gaining momentum.
3. Research Your Topic
Do you have to write only about topics that you absolutely know everything about? Not really!
It is your blog and you have the freedom to share anything you like or have interest in. However, it is a good idea to do some research on the topic before you publish so that not only you write to educate your readers, you also learn a lot of great things in the process.
Researching before publishing is a great way of self-improvement. This is one of the best ways I’ve found to learn new things and get new insights about topics that I think I already know.
4. Write With Intention To Add Value
You may not feel like an expert in anything. But you know that you’ve got some skills, some knowledge to use by which you can add value to others. May be you are good at making friends. May be you are good at storytelling. May be you have skills in drawing cartoons. May be you have some awesome skills in problem solving. The possibilities are endless and you know what it is when you look within.
Write blogs to add value to your readers. Share some resources, techniques that you think will help others. When you write from that intention, your blog posts will begin to catch attention.
5. Give Opportunity To Others To Share
This is one aspect which most bloggers ignore and eventually it causes them to fade away. In fact, if you don’t feel like an expert, this is the greatest asset you have you have your hands on.
All you have to do is, write about the topic of your interest and then ask your readers to share their knowledge, their views and tips. When you do that, people feel included and they are more than willing to help you. They feel excited to contribute and that helps you connect with your readers and develop a bond.
6. Actively Network With Other Bloggers
One of the easiest ways to gain the ‘expert’ status is to connect with and be seen with other experts in the industry. I want to share this incredible talk by Derek Halpern on this topic. I would rather let you watch this video and get the point:
Networking with other established bloggers, commenting on their blogs, writing guest posts for them, inviting them to write for your blog as guest authors, is a great way to not just help you establish your credibility but also an incredible way to increase your own knowledge, and thus, self-confidence.
Conclusion
Gaining the status of an expert or a thought-leader will not happen overnight. It is not something that anybody can ever do in a day. Instead, it is an ongoing process and even the perceived experts are working to keep up.
The best way for you as an aspiring blogger or an entrepreneur is to always be in learning mode. Set your goals, keep them in front of you as often as possible and write to add value. Don’t worry about what others think or say. As long as you know you are doing the right thing, don’t worry, others will catch up to you in due time.
Over To You – Care To Share?
What are some of the challenges you face when you think about blogging? Is there anything you would like to add to this topic from your side? What is the biggest challenge when it comes to staying consistent? Please share your thoughts in the comments. Thank you kindly!
I remember how I felt when I started my blog back in 2009. I felt the same way but I didn’t claim to be an expert either. I simply shared what I learnt from the books I read. I also shared things I learnt through associations of a few people I respect and learn from. Simply by sharing those lessons, I started to feel more confident in writing and it also helped me gain more confidence day by day.
Blogging is not about being an expert for me. I think it’s like a journal to me. I write when I feel I should record something and keep it for myself for my own reference too. I didn’t focus on SEO or marketing of my blog ever. I enjoyed keeping things simple for me. But I highly recommend this concept and you should blog even when you don’t feel like an expert on the subject. Just adjust your tone and keep it genuine.
Yes, I know those days of 2009 🙂 We had a great learning curve and I’m so glad we did. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve the knowledge, the network and the achievements we have toay if we didn’t act on faith.
Brother, I don’t have my own blog because of many constraints and perhaps because I haven’t found my passion for it till now. But I learn a lot from your writing. And why only me, many warriors in our business development group refer to your posts and learn from them. We share those lessons from others and it helps us. Thank you for always writing to educate us.
Hey, Congratulations on all the success in business this month. I am very proud of you for your leadership and intensity. Don’t worry about your blog. We will get that done as well in due time 🙂
Hi Gauraw !
I just love this line –> People who stay consistent and persistent not only build a strong brand value, they make tons of money while others wonder how it happens. To be honest , i’ve never read such powerful and a meaningful line in my 5 month blogging career.Anyways, i agree with all the points you’ve mentioned . Alexa and Search engines love consistency on blogs ..they’ll rank our blog higher and higher when we’re consistently publishing articles on our blog . Thanks for sharing the information.
-Pramod
Hello Pramod,
Wow! You’ve been blogging for only 5 months? That’s incredible! Keep up the momentum and stay consistent. You will be amazed what is possible if you just don’t let anybody or anything steal your dream.
And you are right, search engines do love regular updates and so do people (your readers). This is what builds your brand’s identity and eventually leads to the success in your endevour.
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar,
Wonderful post indeed 🙂
You are very right – things really don’t happen overnight – Rome wasn’t built in a day – they do take time and being a blogger, you need to have patience! This is one thing so many bloggers simply don’t follow because they are more or less in the rat race of making money and feel that they’d be left out if they don’t keep pace with others.
However, each person is different and so is their blogging experience. What works for one, might not work for another. But what matters most is that you keep writing – keep blogging as that itself makes you better each day. Being consistent is the key factor I’d say, and most bloggers would vouch for that. More over, it’s a commitment you make to yourself more than anything else, so you DO follow it up. Speaking of myself, I’ve yet to come across the so-called writer’s block! I guess I have loads of things to write on, so my list is endless there 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hello Harleena,
Thank you for dropping by and adding value through your thoughts on this topic. And yes, I do know your topic list is literally endless 🙂
But one thing I know since I have been following your blog is, you are one of those people who are consistently consistent. I have always seen you have kept on keeping on no matter what. In fact, I have motivated myself looking at your commitment. Thank you for setting a great example.
Regards,
Kumar
Well, thank you for saying that Kumar, though I wish I could better and be more regular and even have a set time for putting up my posts….I’m trying for that. 🙂
I guess sometimes you just get caught up with so much on your plate, especially being a full time mom and working from home that it just cannot be helped, though I always do try.
Ah…thanks for saying that…you inspire me to carry on as well. Thanks once again 🙂
For me sometimes it happens that I have so much to say, but to express it short and understandable is more difficult. Thanks for the post, Kumar! Staying consistent I learned from you!
Aistis,
May be, you don’t need to be short. I used to do that early on when I first starting blogging. But eventually I learnt that I can’t add value in 500 – 600 words only to my satisfaction each time. So, I started writing long articles. That means, I wrote until I was done saying what I had to say. It has only helped grow my community and it seems not to have hurt my SEO in anyway either. So, may be, you should get over that barrier and say what you want to say in your way 🙂
Regards,
Kumar
Hello; I followed you here from Adrienne’s blog. I loved reading about your process from knowing nothing to now offering website development. I have had to earn a lot myself in self defense. I still don’t have a budget for a webmaster, and there are a couple of pages on my site that I wish were better; but I’m proud of what i’ve learned along the way to here. I’m also proud of my site. I look forward to your future posts. Thanks and take care, Max
Hello Maxwell,
You’ve done an incredible job with your website and you definitely should be proud of that. I vividly remember the days I was learning bit by bit, taking help from friends, forums. I am sure you are going through your own phase of struggle. But I know for sure, if you keep on keeping on, things are here to only get better.
If you have any questions, or need help in anything, please feel free to ask. I will be glad to be of any assistance.
Regards,
Kumar
Hello; Thanks for the kind reply. I’m glad that you liked my site. I almost missed your reply. It was in my spam folder. This is a funny thing. If i use my aol account then replies can go to spam but my gravitar shows up. if i use my website email address then no spam but no gravitar either. I’m looking forward to learning a lot from your posts. Thanks again and take care, max
Hi Kumar,
Gosh I do hate that word expert. I guess I hate it more when people call me that because that couldn’t be further from the truth. To be an expert is someone that knows it all in a particular topic and that’s not me.
I started at the beginning just like everyone else and as you mentioned we didn’t start out knowing it all. Oh my goodness, I was so lost it’s embarrassing how long it too me to finally get out of my own way. I was intimidated by all these people that were known as experts because like in Derek’s video, to me they were the famous people of blogging.
The key though to this is being consistent. If you’re here to build a business and make something of yourself then you have to be consistent. Things happen and life gets in the way but the only way you’re ever going to make something of yourself is by being consistent and that’s putting yourself out there everyday in front of enough people.
Now I know we all might not have the same goals and that’s okay. That’s what I love about blogging. Whatever you are here for your tips are spot on. Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, be consistent with your posting, connect with other bloggers and share their content, build those relationships, help your readers learn from you.
Thanks for sharing this Kumar and I did enjoy Derek’s message. That’s funny, whenever someone of any authority shares my content or says anything about me people just assume that I’m of their same level. I find that funny but at the same time it’s a lot of fun too! 😉
Enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne,
If we don’t call you an expert at relationship building, who should we call you that? 🙂 I know you are humble, but as a matter of fact, you’ve mastered that art and there is nothing wrong if I see you as an expert in that arena 🙂
And about consistency, there can’t be anything more important than that when it comes to succeeding in anything. People who aren’t consistent, always struggle.
And yes, regarding Derek’s video, I admire his research based insightful content every time. He always comes up with some incredile lesson in every post/video he publishes and this one, is really awesome. I am glad you enjoyed it as well. Thank you!
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar!
Good stuff!
If you do your homework (and are persistent enough), you’ll become an expert.
What I realized that if you researching enough the topics you are about to write, that’s a great start on your path to an expert. The next obvious step is teaching others what you have learned.
No matter if you start out small, you will grow big if you keep at it 🙂
Cheers,
Timo
Absolutely Timo. Thank you for your concise commentary. You really made it very simple by suggesting that all we need to do is, learn first and then share what we learn. Eventually we begin to gain expertise in the subject. Wow! Awesome!
Cheers!
Kumar
I have been blogging for about nine months, and I’ve been loving it. The more I do it, the more I learn, too.
Having a set schedule never seemed important to me, but I now realize that it’s not always about me, it’s about having the reader’s expectations in mind. Of course, when I started, I had no readers, so I didn’t know this; I now post twice a week, every week, and have been doing this for months. I recently started a theme, too, on my blog: True Tales Tuesdays and Featured Fridays. That way, my content is mixed, and readers can read what they want. I also know that each week, I’m posting something for everyone!
It’s nice to meet you, by the way. I came here from Adrienne’s blog, which just goes to show you that commenting DOES bring you traffic! 🙂
Yes Lorraine, commenting does bring traffic indeed and not just that, it also bring an opportunity for us to get to know one another a bit more and network. Isn’t that a huge gain? 🙂
Thank you for dropping by and adding value with your experience on blogging.
“True Tales Tuesdays” seems like a very interesting concept. I am going to check that out today having known that today is Tuesday 🙂
Regards,
Kumar
Kumar,
I think one of the hardest things to do is blog consistently. You give great simple tips to get the job done. I remember when I first started everyone told me to blog consistently but to them that meant ‘everyday’ and unfortunately I felt overwhelmed by that, trying to blog everyday.
What I had to learn was consistency does not mean everyday. It means developing a routine or schedule that will provide regular information to our readers so that they know when to come to see you and when not.
Your tips are dead on in regards to goal setting. This is what I think we should lead with and things naturally fall into place.
Thanks. Great info.
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Again, thank you for your words of appreciation. I truly believe in power of having a goal. I feel nothing matter if we don’t know why we do what we do. On the other hand, if we do know our “WHY”, staying consistent, facing challenges and being able to keep in keeping on, becomes much comfortable. So, yes, goal setting is absolutely critical for success. And thank you for dropping by again!
Regards,
Kumar
I am fairly new to blogging but I would have to agree with everything said here. After about a year of owning my own domain I am pulling in at least $2 a day from one blog with less than 50 posts. I am not sure how well this stacks up to similar blogs with a similar amount of domain life but I am happy now. I am really starting to see how blogging regularly can drastically increase traffic and revenue.
Awesome Paul. That sounds like a great testimonial. Thank you for sharing.
I came back to reply to you, but it seems like my previous comment has disappeared. Was is accidentally deleted?
Hello Lorraine,
Your previous comment is also visible and actually, I responded to that as well. I’m kind of puzzled that you aren’t able to see it. May be doing a page refresh in your browser or clearing cache will do the trick?
Regards,
Kumar
Hi, I just wanted to say that I can see both of my comments now. I did refresh the page last Tuesday, actually, so I don’t know what happened. That’s the thing with technology – sometimes it doesn’t always work!
I’m trying to figure out a commenting strategy. Usually I just comment whenever I can.
Just seeing your title tonight Kumar stressed me out – briefly. I don’t always get to post on the same days each week, I do try for 2x weekly but sometimes I go only 1x weekly. I’d rather post something of quality than just quantity. I guess keeping up at least once a week is regular too, right? I like Adrienne am not happy with the word expert – especially on social media, seo and blogging as it changes so much. How can we be experts with the changes daily? I I think more of scientists as “experts.”
I believe many creative writers find it hard to stick to a schedule and be pinned down to a deadline. They like to go with the flow 🙂
Hi Kumar,
First of all I don’t consider myself an expert by no means. I started my blog about 4 months ago and am sharing my journey to a full-time income.
However as I’ve noticed that as I continue to post new content and read other people’s blogs I am learning new things. So consistency definitely plays a huge role in success.
While I have to admit that sometimes life wants to get in the way with everything that’s going on. I have my goals written down and I know what needs to be accomplished…so I find the motivation and time to do it. Thanks for writing this post and sharing the video…have a great day.
Hello Susan,
Wow! It’s incredible to also have a full-time income while living your passion. It is indeed very impressive of you to march to a full-time income through a blogging career as short as 4 months. How did you do that?
May be your testimonial can motivate a few more souls. Would you like to share some insights?
Thank you for dropping by and adding value to this post with your personal testimonial and a teaser on your success journey!
Regards,
Kumar
Hello Kumar,
I agree with your post. Everyone has something worth sharing.
I am grateful that you encouraged me to take up blogging. We have just passed the one year mark, and coming up to 300 posts. I still have plenty to learn, and glad that you are so helpful.
As you know, up until recently, I was blogging every day, and I found that very hectic.
I have developed the discipline to blog each Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday every week.
Best Regards,
Bill
Bill,
Thank you for your kind appreciation. You are a great friend and whatever I can do to help you, I feel it’s my responsibility. 300 posts in one year? That’s incredible! You’ve really moved with jet speed. Wow!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and adding value. Appreciate your friendship.
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar,
WOW, what an incredibly valuable post! Thank you for bring in Derek, What he said makes perfect sense in this date and age when the internet is crowded with messages and images. I am glad that he backs up with research too.
I believe that not a lot of people have put in much thoughts and strategies about how to become famous. Famous by association is something relatively easy to achieve as most world class experts hold live events. Taking a photo is so much easier now that we can simply use our mobile phone.
Great insights! Loving Wayne Gretzky’s quote as well. It applies particularly well in the Network Marketing profession. Many people choose not to get involved because of the stigma attached. Sad. I am glad that there is a wave of professionalism as more leaders are sharing their fame online!
Thanks, Kumar!
Viola Tam – The Business Mum
Hi Kumar,
I really like the way you laid out your points, Actively connecting with other bloggers really does help build a better network and exposes you to a very great extent in the blogosphere. Rome wasnt built in a day so consistency is the key And making a proper research on the subject topic you are writing on is really a great way to gain more knowledge and add values to others.
Thanks for sharing this and do have a great week ahead.
Hello Olili,
Yes, Rome wasn’t built in a day 🙂 Thank you for adding that.
Also, I see that you are already doing a great work and you coming here to add your comment is a great example of starting out to build a new relationship with one more blogger. Thank you for dropping by and adding your comments.
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar, I gradually I’m falling in love with your blog. I know if I stick my butt around here, it will sure earn me an expert status in the blogosphere.
I’m not sure you know me or have read my blog before or maybe my comments. That’s because recently have not been consistent but when I came back to blogging in 2013, I was ready to give it all it takes and armed with information from Adrienne Smith on ways to build quality relationships with other bloggers, Harleena’s lessons on how to comment from the heart and Sue Neal’s educations on how to write, proofread and edit my works for quality sake, I was ready to forge ahead and incubate my readers on how best to achieve a lifelong success.
And yeah…I was pretty consistent at it that I started getting mentions from across the blogosphere, was getting guest posting opportunities and even got my first interview. Plus a blogger also wrote a post about me tagged, “How to Comment Like Sam Adeyinka”, at least the tile I gave it.
All that was a result of consistency but as soon as I lost guard, I lost all the reputations and expert status I was already getting, though there were tons of reasons anyways, but I don’t think they are worth stopping me if not that I became lazy myself.
I’ve got lot to say but i”d just stop here but I feel achieving that status isn’t a day’s job and you can’t achieve it overnight, that’ what I am trying to say.
Thanks for sharing this great piece with us anyways….
Sam
Hello there,
I also blog regularly. Now it becomes my habit. The day when I don’t blog, I feel like I have wasted whole day. But there is one difficult thing in blogging which is what to publish. Isn’t it???
Thanks Regards
Nikita Arora
As always, Thanks for the informative article. Really appreciate your hard work, you have covered all the topics & points that people would be interested to know. 🙂