On Valentine’s Day last year, Darren reminded us all that blogging won’t get you far if you’re not legitimately passionate about it. What you’ll have is a site you’re only half-hearted about and you won’t be able to sustain that for very long – nor will your readers come to enjoy and respect your work. If you’ve got passion, then you can channel it into the best blog you can create
Recently on Twitter I was asked for some tips on what sets ‘great’ blogs apart from the rest.
With millions of bloggers creating blog posts every day – how do you stand out?
It’s a big question, and the reality is that there are many ingredients to building a successful blog.
A variety of words came to mind as I struggled to come up with my 140-character guide to ‘standing out’.
I started to list them:
- Credibility
- Share Your Opinion
- Great Writing
- Ability to Connect
- Understanding Readers
- Injecting Personality
As I brainstormed, I realised 140 characters was not going to cut it:
- Great blog design
- Tell Stories
- Use Great Visuals
- Network with other bloggers
- Be prolific
- Be funny
- Be smart
- Be first
- Write great headlines
I started to think of the blogs I love and what makes them stand out:
- Be Useful
- Be Entertaining
- Take note of your readers
- Have a different spin on things
- Be Original
The list continued to grow and with it my heart sank a little.
“There’s no one way to stand out…”
But then I had two realizations:
Firstly – I love that there’s no one way to stand out! There are no rules. There is no blueprint – and that’s what is so simultaneously exciting and frustrating about blogging.
That’s why I love what I do. Constant experimentation, learning, testing and trying new things.
The second thing I realised is that there actually was a common feature about all of the blogs that came to mind as ‘stand out’ blogs.
Passion
There are plenty of bloggers that do the things in the lists above. There are bloggers sharing opinions, writing well, with a heart to connect, with great personalities…. bloggers who are smart, funny, prolific, original, entertaining and bundles of wonderful!
But something that seems present and that shines through in the blogs that I read and love is passion.
They are created by people with passion for the topics being covered, passion for the process of creating content, passion for their readers, passion for learning, and passion for pushing the boundaries of thinking and creating.
They love… they enthuse… they delight in what they do. By doing so they somehow draw others into their passion too, which is where the real magic seems to happen.
This isn’t to say that passion is the only ingredient needed for success – but maybe… just perhaps… it’s what binds it all together and helps a blog just click.
Are you passionate about your blog?
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Passion is the juice that makes everything go Stacey.
I built a fun blog by loving the journey. It’s like my energy attracts to me people with similar passions.
Be passionate about your blog or you’re wasting your time.
You may make a ton of money and you may become a fulltime blogger but if you’re not freeing yourself and your audience you’re on the wrong track.
Passionate people free themselves and they free their audiences as a force of habit.
Anybody who loves what they do is free from work.
I play.
Playing may be disguised as what some call “work” but I genuinely love commenting and writing and sharing inspired content.
If you fall in love with what you do by picking a niche you’re passionate about you’ll stand out from the online crowd.
Ryan
One thing I know is to love your work. In back it gives you every thing like money, honor and every thing you want. Blogging is a interested job. Here you find many things related to computer to learn. Non native English speakers improve their speaking and writing skills through blogging. Google has made SEO as a complicated subject. But due to their algorithm system we see useful information on internet. Of course google make seo system best.
I tend to have shiny object syndrome so I’ve started and have blogs in one state or another, though I’m dropping those blogs I have lost interest in and don’t have much passion for. That means when I start a new blog I lose the momentum I had going with blogs I’m more passionate about, so I’ve made it a goal this year to get back to the blogs where I had the initial passion.
Great article, give me something to think about.
LB
I think passion is the most important ingredient in succeeding in any field including blogging because if you are truly passionate about some thing, you would be super eager to know more and more about it and your blog will unravel most interesting and entertaining facts about that subject. Needless to say, content born out of lots of love, passion and curiosity is bound to be enjoyed by others.
I wonder how many of you had watched that TV series counting cars, which is a reality show covering the day to day life at Kount customs, who build custom cars. Success of the show and the shop lies in the infectious passion of Danny Koker, the owner, for the cars. The way he talks about cars, describe them, makes you fall in love with those cars. This is what passion does to you and others around you.
‘ and that’s what is so simultaneously exciting and frustrating about blogging.” That sums it up in a nutshell! It can drive you crazy, at the same time as being incredibly rewarding. That’s why so many of us stick with it, even when logically it doesn’t make sense!
Thank you for the list. I love the word “be first”. If you want to be unique and original, be first.
Thank you for reminding me about blogging with passion. That way, I will never blog mediocrity. I appreciate this post. I’ ve learned a lot.
I couldn’t agree more! As a full time blogger and award winning filmmaker, when it comes to creativity, whatever your field, it’s passion (and drive) that leads to creating exciting content that connects emotionally with your readers/viewers. Thanks for this! Happy New Year!
Hi Stacey, I heard a lot about passion, but how does one determine passion?
I had bloggers contacting me for help and advice, they always said they like blogging and they have passion about it, but when I ask them to do research and all that work, they seem to give a reaction of “ya… ya… ya… I know what you are getting, but do you have a faster way to do the work?”
It seems to me that passion is all about patient to do hard work, correct me if I’m wrong.
Don’t necessarily agree.
The blogs that stand out are the ones that market themselves the best.
For example, I’ve seen blogs with sub-par writing which dozens of comments and tons of social media interaction.
Of course, they do provide other things in the list, but what they did the most successfully was great promotion.
By standing out you mean in a search engine, then yes, the blogs that market themselves do stick out.
But that may not be sustainable, especially if you rely on SEO and Google for traffic.
Passion is the one thing that will keep you going. Without it, most quit well before they have any success. Passion leads to hard work and the desire to never give up until you accomplish your goals.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and the original post again. After six years of blogging, I know that if I weren’t passionate/keen about doing it on a regular basis, I would stop. Blogging feeds my creative spirit and has become a great way to connect with people around the world.
When I started blogging, Darren was one of the first bloggers I admired and I signed up for his 30 day challenge. I learned so much from him and never looked back. It was from this blog that I first learned that there are ups and downs on the blogging road and not to give up… I still find so many great tips and insights here.
I agree, it’s important to stay true to who we are as bloggers and do our work with passion. You are right, it shows. Thank you! :-)
Haha! I was referring to the 31 Days to Build A Better Blog when I mentioned the 30 day challenge. I stand corrected. :-)
I think you’re right. Passion is so essential, and it helps when to have plenty of it when things don’t seem to be going right. Passion lends you self-belief and tenacity and a drive to succeed which is so essential.
Love this article! Yep blogging without a passion for it is a recipe for failure. Blogging takes a huge commitment, many hours writing, and devotion. Only a few succeed :)
Are you passionate about your blog? Of course I have a great passion, when the first building a blog, as time goes by there is a kind of boredom that grew and grew. Now perhaps the most good is thought to be useful for others (in this case the reader), whether it is making money or not. There is advice for me?
Stacey I love this! I needed to read this today!! Thank you for the energy boost 🎉
Being passionate about blogging and building a business around it is something one must be passionate about? Why? Simply because blogging will not earn you good money for a while. You have to create lots and lots of content and keep doing the transformation work even on days you don’t feel like creating content. If you’re writing just the make money in the moment this is not the line of work for you, because blogging is something you have to be passionate about when it comes to connecting meaningfully with your readers.