This is a guest post from Mike CJ whose main blog is www.mikeslife.org. Mike also runs two other blogs in niche markets and wants to share with readers his secret of keeping going when things get tough as a blogger.
If, like me, you’re a blogger in that “middle phase†of blogging, I’m sure you’ll identify with the following:
The newness and excitement of starting your blog has worn off, it’s just a little bit harder to think up new topics to write about, you’re making some money, but nowhere near enough to give up your day job, and for the first time you’re wondering if it’s all worth it.
You know John Chow has gone off travelling again and is still making loads of money, you calculate how much Frank Kern made from his last launch, and you just can’t see how you’re ever going to build up that kind of following. Is any of this familiar? If so, read on.
We need to find a way to recapture that motivation we had in the early days – we need to get through this part and onto the next, when some real money will start to flow. Here’s one way we can do that:
Start with your earnings objective for your blog this year. You do have one, don’t you? I’ll use one of mine as an example. The blog I’m thinking about was started in December and in 2009 the objective is to earn $10,000 from it. So far, it’s on target, although the income is obviously loaded towards the end of the year.
Now, what’s your posting schedule on your blog? In my case I post 6 times a week, so that will be 312 posts this year.
If I earn $10,000 by from that blog by posting 312 times, I’ll be happy. What that effectively means is that each post will pay me $32! Before you shout, I know the posts don’t earn the money and there’s a lot more activity behind the scenes that does, but ultimately it’s the posts which bring the readers, who convert into subscribers, who earn you the money, so the connection is genuine.
So I’m now armed with the knowledge that every post I write is going to pay me $32, and I mentally pay myself that money every time I write one. Ka-ching! Writing suddenly became easier and more rewarding!
Do you have some other ways to keep going when things get tough? If so, let us know in comments.