Since November of 2006, I have transitioned from an occasional blogger testing the waters to a part-time blogger focusing more time and energy into blogging. Don’t be fooled, being a “part-time” blogger doesn’t mean you work on your blog an hour or two a day. For me, being a part-time blogger means having two jobs. My day time job and my blogging job. It is not yet my primary means of sustainability; therefore, I can’t say I’m a full-time blogger. If we go by hours, I would consider myself a full-time blogger without a doubt because I easily spend over 8 hours a day working on or researching for my blogs.
I want to share with you some of the lessons I have learned throughout my blogging experience. Some of these should be common sense, yet for some reason people don’t do them or they fear doing them.
Lessons of blogging:
- Having a strong work ethic. Success in many areas of life comes from discipline and hard work. Anything worthwhile will require hard work. If blogging for income was easy, then everyone would do it. The truth is, not many people realize the dedication, consistency and determination needed to be successful online. A favorite quote of mine emphasizing this point is: “chance favors the prepared mind”. You prepare and fight to be at the right spot at the right time for the right opportunity to come your way.
- Having luck on your side. There are thousands of people out there that are more talented and knowledgeable than I am. But these people aren’t able to make money online. Some of the luck I am talking about is surrounding yourself with the right people and the right opportunities. I think me writing for this blog is part luck. Obviously, John wouldn’t have a random person that hasn’t established themselves writing for him, but there are other people that could have filled in for him.
- Be different. I began my first blog with a niche in mind. Not too many people start this way because there are so many uncertainties. You don’t know if people will like your site, what works, what doesn’t work, etc. If you want to build a blog that is a success, then you need to consider how your blog will differentiate itself from the 71 million others out there.
- Diversify. Most people have heard of the saying, “don’t put all of your eggs into one basket”. Just like John shows us in his monthly earnings, there is great upside to having multiple income streams. I tend to focus on one or two strong ones before starting more. The same can be said about the amount of blogs you have. While there is some sense in focusing your energy on one great blog, there is some risk involved in this approach. Having 2 or 3 decent blogs with decent income streams can eliminate this risk.
- Maintain quality. One of the most important things I have learned is to not spread myself out too thin! Taking diversification to the extreme can be a danger if developing so many blogs that none end up being good enough to develop a readership or income stream.
This post was guest blogged by Jane May. She teaches readers how to create and monetize blogs on Daily Web Ideas.