Here’s another question from webspear for some discussion:
“How do you keep yourself motivated, when your blog is not attracting much traffic.”
Staying motivated is a massive issue for bloggers. Without it a blog really suffers.
How do you keep yourself motivated? Do you have systems or practices that help you? I hope this discussion will be helpful to us all as blogger apathy, burnout or bloggers block is something most of us go through at one time or another!
My aim is to quit my full time job and earn my life from blogging. It feels like I am one of the characters in Prison Break TV series. Enough motivation, isn’t it? :)
I write about the thing that I am passionate of and so motivation is never a problem. But yeah, fatigue is a bane of blogging and regular breaks (sometimes even forced!) help me a lot.
Just compare your traffic stats from a few months ago to your current stats. If you are doing at least some work, there should be some difference between these stats. You’ll see that there is some progress and it will hopefully keep you going :)
My blog is fairly new…I set it up a while ago but started blogging regularly only for a month…
There are three guidelines that I am following at the moment:
1. Blog as often as I can (currently I am posting once every two days but I aim to increase it to one post a day very soon)
2. Don’t expect to earn anything much from the blog for the next 6 months…
3. Having said that the aim and the goal is to earn money – Otherwise there is no point putting in the hard yards…So I have put adsense and also do affiliate recommendations and I also tweak and alter the adsense by testing (to maximise earning potential).
I think its when you have a figure in mind and if you don’t reach that figure in the initial days you start to freak out and lose motivation….But after about 6 months, I will start having earnings goals…The ultimate aim is to be compensated for the work you put in…But have to keep reminding myself that in the initial days I need to work more than I earn.
I say to myself that I have gotten this far, I make money by doing what I love (writing about sports) and I don’t have to go to a crappy job that I hate for 40 hours a week.
Picturing myself sitting in a cubical is what keeps me motivated!
1. keep reading
2. keep thinking
3. keep writing
Push through until I find something that brings my motivation back. I seem to have it in waves. So I just keep on going, knowing that I’ll find the reason again.
Motivation is pretty easy for me – I am passionate about what I write. Rather than depend on revenue or fame for motivation, I simply love what I write, and would do so no matter what happens. I’ve been blogging for nearly 17 months without any real problems, so I should be doing something right ;)
Of course, I do get blogger’s block occasionally, but I tend to take that in stride and ride it out.
Best tip: Read Other Blogs!
By reading other blogs, you get inspiration. For content, for experiments on your blog, new plugins – everything blog related.
Besides seeing what others like you are writing about, staying up to date on your niche and so on, I think it helps if you can keep yourself interested in the blog as a medium. That includes growing an interest in the possibilities out there, from Adsense and Podcasts to Microblogs and visitor stats. Embrace the technical aspect and that alone will add to your motivation. But simply reading comparative blogs (and blogs that inspire you) is a good start, I’d say…
My boyfriend always reads my entries. No matter which niche they are from. That keeps me up when I’m down on hit-counter.
I also found it’s great to ask someone for a guestpost and don’t do everything by myself.
When I was just starting out, it seemed like I was talking to the wall. However, what kept me going was comparing to my own results instead of comparing to others. In addition, I’m a believer in keeping your eye on the big picture and long term gains.
I stay motivated by seeing progress in my work.
While I don’t have the most amount of users, I still care about the ones that I do have therefore I keep blogging, so I don’t let them down.
while above is just a summary I combined an entire list for you Darren after reading this post I thought It would be a great one to answer
http://www.balkhis.com/for-starters/how-do-you-stay-motivated-as-a-webmaster-orblogger/
Talking to other persons about my blog helps. I directly ask them what they think about the pics and the texts, and I usually get a good feedback. That is a big motivation for me, especially when I get bad results from google analytics (which was the cause just a few seconds ago).
This is a tough question and this might not go for everyone, but what really keeps me motivated is reading comments or e-mails from just that one person who loves the site. If I’m really getting down but one person leaves a comment that mentions how appreciative of your work they are, that’s enough to really bring me back. I know comments don’t always appear when a blog isn’t doing so great, but the fact that one person is reading and one person is affect by what you’ve written is truly motivating. Just realizing how vast the internet is and that someone out there is reading is so great to see.
As a movie blogger, one way I always find motivation is to pop in one of my all-time favorite movies and watch it the full way through. By the end I have a smile on my face and I’m reminded of why I love movies so damn much. That experience never gets old and every time I do that, I’m reminded why I love doing what I’m doing. It’s enough encouragement to keep myself motivated and working towards the next day…
I write about things that I like too and have learnt to be patient about my posting being acknowledged (usually I see some traffic to my new posts after 1-2 days). I also keep notes about things I want to write in the future. If that doesn’t work I switch to my flickr album and have a look at pictures I’ve taken.
I.
I agree with Alex, for me, comments motivate me. They help me remember that not only am I doing this for myself, but I am doing it for them as well.
Because our blog is so niche, it’s difficult at times to get up in the morning and get my burners going. I feel like my thoughts are vacuous, my hands are lead and my heart is empty. But, if I think of what my readers are craving for, suddenly, I’m filled with life again, and motivation to give them information they might nor normally encounter outside of Spain.
Hence, my motivation is community.
I’m still new to blogging,but what keep me motivated are my target to really build my blog,to be a successful blogger and to keep on doing what I really love doing.I agree with Alex and Gabriella.Having positive comments for your article really can be a great motivator even if it was only from one reader,because through this you know that what you wrote manage to get attention from someone rather than no one.
As a LifeWorker = Psychologist I improve my and other people lifes. As a WebWorker I improve my and other people blogs:
“Alles Lebendigen Bestimmung ist Veredelung und Vervollkommnung – und wer kann sagen, wo da die Grenzen sind?” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Means: All living is improvement – and who can say where the borders are?
It’s that easy!
I take a week off from posting just let everyone know that I’m off for the week and they’re glad when i return and so am I :-)
Keep writing and keep your audience in mind nothing else.
Content Quality + Blogger interaction + SEO + Content Quantity = SUCCESS.
Cater to these and the motivation will eminate from your blogs success….
For those new at it, patience please….
I stay motivated by knowing I will have to go out and get a “real job” again if I don’t put in 12+hrs a day posting, optimizing, researching, learning from mistakes etc.
I let my gadget blog go “on autopilot” a couple of years back because I lost motivation and decided to focus on other money-making plans. The result of that was the revenue from that site quickly dropped off, I now see the second-tier gadget sites that were comparable to mine 2 years ago making very good money and that is a great incentive to get back up there.
Set realistic short-term goals for yourself: get X page views from google searches this week, increase return visitors by X%, do X posts a day this week, increase adsense eCPM and CTR by X%, etc
Extrapolate those short term goals out to 12-24 months and see where you can be if you just make yourself do the hard work day in day out.
Full-time blogging isn’t a way to make money without working hard, it is also a job where you don’t have a boss hassling you – it is easy to sit back and be lazy, but you are your own boss and it is up to you to succeed through both smart thinking and hard work.
I wouldn’t say motivation is the problem, I’ve got that most of the time, but I don’t have time. Being pulled in too many directions and no one else seeing the value and future ROI in what I’m doing now eventually lowers your own moral and motivation too. I’m also striving for the day I can give up my day job and be a full time Realtor/blogger and devote the time I’d like to into it.
I write a bunch of posts when the mood strikes me and then future post them. This gives me a lot of down time to enjoy life and keep on a blogging schedule. Prevents me from burnout and apathy.
Success stories inspire me a lot. When I lose motivation, I just go through successful blogs, visit problogger, etc, and I’m still full with thirst to blog.
I’ve only been going since March but I guess my whole theory is that I’ve chosen something that’s really important to me and will be important to others. I think something that I see as that important from the start will drive me onwards.
You’re on MSNBC!
I think the most important thing you need to do, quite often, is to re-ask yourself “why I’m blogging?”.
– Wakish –
Many of my friends and relatives tell me that they read my blog.My daughter just told me the other day that she likes to read it, But doesn’t like to comment.
Just knowing people are reading it is enough motivation for me.Also taking a day off once in a while helps
i do find it hard, when after an initial growth spurt, my traffic seems to have plateaued. but i’ve got a good support system of other blogger friends (especially a close real-life friend who started her blog at the same time i did) that keeps me optimistic!
I’ve only been blogging for a couple of weeks and I’m finding it tough to keep up daily posts so…
@Ben I really like your idea of writing multiple posts when the mood hits to provide some over for the lean times.
Like many others, I am also trying to convert my blog into an additional source of income (no I don’t plan to quit my job anytime soon). Considering how expensive Dubai is getting with every passing day, the motivation comes from the thought of having to meet ever-growing expenditures.
When the traffic is down I work extra hard to attract some traffic. I leave comments on other blogs, submit my posts on social networks, and do whatever I can to make sure I get traffic.
What motivates me? Gosh, it’s been so many things over the years but now in my vast venerable age, I would say:
Being an example to my kids.
They know I’m available whenever needed due to my work lifestyle; if I had to return to corporateLand, I’d lose that ability.
So I suppose it’s my kids/family that keep me motivated. I even created my own motivator by my desk – it’s my BJJ gi that has all my Mother’s Day gifts clipped to it (you can learn the story behind that at http://tinyurl.com/5gcuw9 ). Every time I get down, I just turn my head to the right and it can’t help but make me smile.
Enjoy,
Barbara
I find that what steals my motivation the most is comparing my stats to those of other bloggers. It is always possible to find someone that is doing better in a particular area than you are. So, the first thing I do to try to stay motivated is avoid this type of comparison. Second, I reflect often on the progress I’ve made building my site. It is amazing to look back and see how far I’ve come. Third, I remember that what I write does help people. I get comments that confirm this, which means that there are others that are helped as well, but never comment.
To tell you the truth, comments keep me motivated. It makes me realize that someone is actually reading what I write . . . and finding it useful. That´s a great reason to press on when the going gets tough!
I remember my blog has already helped others, especially my own family, and that this hard-won insight in my head and heart is of value.
Well, since mine’s a hobby blog, I get motivated by regenerating my own interest in my hobby – by starting another project, or troubleshooting another aspect of my hobby… all of which I can then blog about in series. And as I learn or my interest is regenerated in what I’m doing, my enthusiasm grows, and my readers engage. I don’t give up, regardless of whether or not there’s a drop in numbers. Heck, my feedreader dropped by almost 150 over two days this past week. I figured I must be getting boring, so it’s time to launch into a new angle, a new project, some troubleshooting, launch a contest, and so forth.
I think I’ll do all of the above, actually!
“A Hobby Blogger is a Happy Blogger.” (…not always entirely true – but if you tell yourself that enough times, and if you don’t give up… it works!)
Just like Genesis, I’m surprised there were not many more saying this, but for me, the biggest thing that motivates me for blogging is comments both on my blog and from friends /colleagues that enjoy my articles. Knowing that I’m making a difference to people is MORE than enough motivation to keep blogging.
Also beating my traffic goals I’ve set is VERY motivating as well.
I use photography to keep me going, and try to tell the story behind the shot
Hey Darren,
This is one of those things that keeps me motivated:
Cheque from Commission Junction (23 April)
But that aside, I guess what keeps me really motivated is knowing that my Personal Development blog is helping and will continue to help all those people brought to it through the law of attraction…
Although my blog is less than 1 year old, I am fortunate enough to be enjoying a level of success that many aspire towards…
1) Google has just updated my page rank to PR4
2) I get occasional emails from other webmasters interested in advertising on my blog
3) Publishers send physical books and other products via overnight delivery from the US for me to review (I live in Singapore but majority of my traffic comes from the US)… I also get requests to review a variety of digital products
4) I am earning a full-time income online
5) I have been interviewed by other bloggers
Two useful tips I can offer to everyone here are:
1) Don’t wait for traffic to come… You have to go out and get it! For me, I spend 80% of the time on marketing and only 20% of the time on content but I make sure I produce quality content when it matters =)
2) Aim to provide value above all else. When you provide enough value to enough people, you will be greatly rewarded (I learned this from Eben Pagen)
Okok, I said 2 but I’m in a good mood today… some bonus tips…
3) Persevere! Most bloggers started off from nothing… They had to build up their sites, build up their credibility and all of that takes time. If you want to make it online, you need to be able to persevere and have a clear goal in mind… Set daily, weekly monthly and yearly targets for yourself… strive to meet them as best as you can… if you didn’t hit your goals, don’t beat yourself up too much… Do some reflection and ask yourself the right questions (such as “How can I do better next time” & “What can I learn from this?”)
You can check out my post on goal-setting here:
A Millionaire’s 9 Question Guide to Goal Setting
4) Lastly, feel free to check out my honours year thesis on the study of weblogs which will be included in “Economics, Information Systems and Electronic Commerce: Empirical Research” due to be published by end September.
All the best!
It’s not a question of motivation, I love my topic. The problem usually comes when the rest of life gets busy, and then I get burnt out, and because I write on a topic that changes weekly (comic books), if I haven’t had time to read the latest issues, I start to fall behind, and then have some troubled getting back into it. So, no motivational issues, just time and getting burnt out.
Love this post because I felt I was living in the whirlwind tornado piece or part of the “staying motivated” daily. UGH!
For me, that all changed when I sought out advice from a well respected fellow blogger that told me to “Get Organized”. She recommended that I write myself a sweet little schedule for the following week every Friday afternoon. That structure has changed everything for me.
Not to be a teacher’s pet here or anything, but this blog totally motivates me. It’s helped me from the very begging be realistic, and to know that my struggles are common, and to know that there are solutions to those problems.
So yeah, ProBlogger keeps me motivated.
I recently started blogging and my goal isn’t to make money. I blog because I enjoy writing. This is my motivation. Now if I could only have an audience to share it with *sigh*
I want to have something posted every few days at the most, but sometimes it is difficult when I don’t have an audience. I think once I have an audience it will be easier because their comments might just give me something else to write about along with what I already come up with.
Hey there, great topic. My main motivation is a personal one. My mom has been putting her heart and soul into her company, Soapier, and so I am trying to help her earn a living.
She’s invested so much time and energy and a serious amount of money that I started my blog and http://soapierblog.blogspot.com to try and raise brand awareness and get some internet traffic. She’s worth it, it’s motivation enough.
Plus, I’m having a blast with my retailhellish blog. Thanks for the topic, and I’ve read some of the other tips and motivations here, all great.
My motivation comes from reading other blogs :).
Hi,
First of all, blogging is my passion more than anything else. This is the main reason why I am still alive in blogging. Although I must admit, traffic is my problem but since I really love what I am doing, insecurities are minimal.
Incidentally, I made a similar post last May 1 which will answer your question – How to Fight Insecurities in Blogging, and I am the number one follower of my own tips. Please allow me to summarize them here.
1.0 Rest but not stop. It’s hard to motivate yourself when you’re tired.
2.0 Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers. After all, blogging is race where everybody alive will win.
3.0 Hide your emotions. You cannot motivate yourself if you will show them through your posts.
4.0 Stay focus. Even high profile like Darren will drop dead in blogging if you don’t focus.
5.0 Review yourself. This may be funny but true. if you fail on Plan A, then try Plan B, if you fail again, then try Plan C. I doubt if you still cannot make it before reaching Plan Z.
Hope I did my share well enough.
Thanks.
http://wherebloggersandhumansmeet.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-fight-your-insecurities-in.html
Darren, every time someone comment on my blogs and says that information have helped him to have a better health I feel the motivation for posting more.
You have to be passionate about your topic, for starters. Stick to a schedule and don’t let yourself get burnt out. And always think about the benefits that you and others are deriving from your blog, because your posts are helping other people.
If you are an established blogger, taking a look at your page stats every now and again can be motivating, because it shows you how many people are waiting to read what you have to say. And if your page is monetized, money is always a good motivator as well!
I agree with Abhinav that it helps to have a passion for your blog topic because if you are not interested enough with your topic even if your not going through a slow time it will show in your content. Readers can gleen even in the shortest of sentences the writers emotional state. I come from this from another standpoint as well. I am a blogger with a disability and therefore sometimes medical issues get in the way and require me to be inactive. When that happens even if I am unable to write much new content I still leave posts keeping readers on track with my status. The many well wishes I get in return and requests to provide help are very heartwarming often times and seeing how much my writing effects them, even in the smallest way makes me keep going.
Darren, thank you for posting my question.