Do you believe that you can simply invest money in your blog and it will grow?
That’s one part of it for sure, but you need to understand that you have to do more introspect and put in more work to get the maximum out of your investments.
Yes, it’s essential to make regular investments on a blog to make it more professional and relevant. But, perhaps the most important investment you can make is time. If you are not investing your time, then you will never see the true potential return from your investments.
Instead of focusing on throwing money at your blog, focus more on defining and executing on your long-term goals.
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Difference Between A Successful Blogger and A Struggling Blogger
In a nutshell, successful bloggers never quit. They will continue to create content that solves problems and adds value for their readers, whether through blog articles, videos or other types of engaging content. And most importantly, they always focus on the long-term goal.
Can you be a successful blogger? Of course, you can. Why not? The only thing stopping you is you!
The sooner you are able to shift your focus from short-term goals to the bigger picture (the long-term goals), the better your blog will be, and the more well-positioned you’ll be to succeed.
Don’t write every post simply focused on pleasing the search engines. You’re better than that.
Of course, you need to work SEO considerations into your articles, but many more factors go into a successful blog post, so be sure not to write only for the search engines.
Let me share a real-time example here. I get in touch with Anthony (Anthony Gaenzle of AnthonyGaenzle.com that is) on Twitter. I hadn’t really been active on Twitter, but I decided to make it a part of my long-term goals for SimpleFactsOnline.com, the marketing blog that I run.
I connected with Anthony about an article he’d written for this blog, and now we are connected on LinkedIn and Facebook as well. We now are continuing to grow an extended network that helps one another share, gain comments on articles, drive traffic to one another’s websites, and more.
By working collaborative relationships like these into your long-term blogging goals, you aren’t spending money. You’re spending time, but the impact can be well worth it.
I do not have to tell you guys about the benefits of social media. Many of you likely came to find this article via a social media post, so you’re active and you understand the power of social media.
Work things like social media, collaborative relationships and other free tactics into your long-term strategy. It will take time and lots of effort, but you’ll thank me in the end.
Importance of Spending Time on Your Blog.
When I first started blogging, I had this new blogger fear. How can I possibly be successful? Will anyone want to read the content I create? Where will I find the time? The list goes on.
I had this fear as I am a part-time blogger. And like every other part-time blogger, I also have a dream to become a full-time blogger.
Blogging is beautiful, but at the same time, it invites a ton of unnecessary stress that we put on ourselves.
If you think blogging means writing one post and the money starts rolling in from day one, then I suggest you reconsider your decision to continue as a blogger. It takes a lot to be noticed as a blogger. You’ll lose sleep some nights, and you’ll want to give up many times, but just when that feeling hits you, you need to press on.
There is no easy way to achieve blogging success, but if you focus on the right types of content for your audience, you focus your energy and you stay motivated, success is just around the corner.
Make sure you are creating problem-solving blog posts and then promoting those posts on multiple channels. Think more and more. Your primary focus should not be the ranking. Yes, the classification does help a lot. But nobody in this world can give you a ranking guarantee.
Think more about the problems you can solve for your audience.
- What do they struggle with?
- What expertise do you possess that could benefit them?
- What content would you want to read if you were in their shoes?
It takes a lot to be noticed as a blogger. You’ll lose sleep some nights, and you’ll want to give up many times, but just when that feeling hits you, you need to press on.
Solving a real-world problem
Let’s look at a problem I was facing and how content that other bloggers produced help me solve my problem.
When I was new to blogging, my core intent was to monetize my blog. And I only had Google AdSense on my mind to monetize it and scale it further. So, I started researching articles and other content about Google AdSense approval. I read more than 45 blogs and watched around 150 videos on YouTube. The creators of that content had realized there was a need (and thankfully they had), so they created content to help people like me get setup quickly on AdSense.
That made me realize that there is a gap to fill, and now that I had all that new knowledge, I could start filling that gap for others.
So right after I got my AdSense approval in less than a day, I wrote a case study about how I got my AdSense approval in less than a day. And I also recorded a podcast on Anchor.Fm.
To this day, I am still ranking on page one of Google for that article.
You are more than welcome to analyze the post and create one that’s 10x better than me. I’d welcome it. I’m crazy about stats and tracking, so here’s a screenshot of Ahref’s stats regarding the article. I’m even happy to help provide you with advice to help you beat these stats, because it’s all about collaboration, as I mentioned earlier.
It took me four days to write that post. I still have some things to do to fully optimize it, but that’s part of the fun. Your work is never done. Even after you finish a post, you can go back to it again and again and improve.
So, you are more than welcome to work on this and create a better post than me, and if you leap over me in the rankings, hats off to you!
But, remember, it’s always not necessary to rank, it’s more about creating the best value.
Because of that single article, I generated interest from several paying clients who hired me for ongoing blogging work.
My point in saying all of this is that new bloggers can also make money if they are providing the best possible value. So do not rush into things, take a deep breath and introspect.
Invest Wisely on Your Blog
To date, I have invested just around $1000 on my blog, and because of that, I am getting the results. It doesn’t take a lot of money to get your blog moving along. In fact, a good percentage of that money went to waste, in my opinion, as I’ve seen better results organically and through investing time, rather than money.
I have realized one thing since I started blogging. Blogging is not for you if you are lazy. If you aren’t willing to put in time and effort, you will fail. That said, in a way laziness worked in my favor because I love to find easy ways to solve challenging problems. Then I pass along those solutions. But being lazy about the time you put into your blog isn’t an option.
Every online business needs some attention to start with. And things get more comfortable when you have resources.
Getting started with blogging took me a while because I was more focused on what people told me I should be doing, and I wasn’t thinking about what I really needed to do. So instead of listening to the noise (which was often contradictory), I started to research and tried to create my own strategies, based on insights from those who’d been there and been successful. Some attempts worked. Some failed miserably. But I am here now in spite of all those obstacles. It’s because I wanted to get into the bloggers’ lifestyle. That motivated me to start my blog, and I haven’t looked back.
Are you struggling with your blog or planning to start a new one? Unsure about where to start or what to aim for? Then this excellent guide may help you with your needs. It was written by my friend Sue-Ann Bubacz. We live in different parts of this world, but we’ve formed a connection via digital means, and we’ve helped one another grow in the blogging space. Bling Your Blog Now and Feed That HOG!
Final Words
It’s the mixture of investments and time gets your blog going. So, don’t get demoralized if something is not working. There will be a way to work through anything the blogging world can throw at you. Keep your eyes and ears open, and it will take you through.
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- Why the Most Important Thing You Can Invest in Your Blog is Time - January 30, 2020
Hi Chayan,
Excellent post bro. You introduced me to Anthony. What a cool way to see how being an active networker helps so many folks. As for the time element, I just watched a Gary Vee video on LinkedIn stressing the importance of putting in time and working for free until success finds you.
Everyone wants to make money through blogging fast before putting in time. But wise bloggers eventually wake up, work for free and persist until growing their blog to the pro level. Be patient. Help people. Keep at it. Invest real time into your blogging campaign.
Ryan
Hi Chayan,
Excellent post bro. You introduced me to Anthony. What a cool way to see how being an active networker helps so many folks. As for the time element, I just watched a Gary Vee video on LinkedIn stressing the importance of putting in time and working for free until success finds you.
Everyone wants to make money through blogging fast before putting in time. But wise bloggers eventually wake up, work for free and persist until growing their blog to the pro level. Be patient. Help people. Keep at it. Invest real time into your blogging campaign.
Ryan
Chayan did a great job with this. And that just goes to show the power of connections. Both you and Chayan are great at that and have built a huge tribe online. That’s a big part of why you’ve both grown, and you’ve done it patiently. That’s the key.
Amazing, I learned so many things from this post. Thank you sir for writing a value-pack post.
Hi Chayan,
the most important thing to invest in your blog is time. Simply because at the start you usually don’t have any money to invest, bu tyou do have time and if you invest it wisely, into learning and doing experience, then there will come a time when you’ll be able to delegate some of the stuff you’re dong all alone now.
Keep going! And excellent post buddy!