At times you could be forgiven for thinking it is – if you read a lot of blogs on ‘how to blog’ that is.
One of the first thing that most of us who write about blogging advise those starting out is to work on writing useful and unique content.
Certainly at the core of most great blogs is useful and unique content that draws readers in and generates links from other blogs, builds the profile and reputation of the blog – however sometimes great content is simply not enough.
The reality is that many bloggers write excellent content – however not all of them break through the clutter and rise to the top of their niche.
This is frustrating – there’s no two ways about it.
I’ve felt the frustration myself and hear the frustration of others on a daily basis via emails and IMs from bloggers wanting to know how to take their blogging to the next level.
- How do I find readers?
- How do I get my first “break”?
- How did you get your first incoming links to my great content if nobody is reading it?
These are the type of questions I see more and more.
Do you want the “right” answer or the “real” answer?
As I sit down to answer some of these questions on how to build a successful blog I’m increasingly feeling that there are certain answers which are “right” and some more that are “real”.
The “Right” Answers
“Write unique and useful content for your readers.” – this has been one of the catch cries at ProBlogger over the last couple of years as I’ve attempted to show bloggers how to build quality blogs. It’s a principle that I strongly believe in – it’s something that does work and I don’t know too many successful bloggers who wouldn’t agree with it and/or apply it. It is ‘right’.
Other “right” answers include things like:
- Interact with your readers – the more you interact with readers in a genuine way the more likely they are to stay around and spread the word about you.
- Use Quality Titles – a lot is written about the effectiveness of quality post titles at getting attention and drawing in readers to your blog. In my mind there is little doubt about how important it is to invest time into smart title generation.
- Promote yourself – while some of us feel a little awkward about self promotion – there’s little doubt in my mind that it is a necessary part of launching a new blog. While it’s also important to let your readers spread the news about you – without some self promotion you may never find those first readers to help you spread the virus.
- Know and Use basic SEO principles – it is well worth learning the basic principles on how search engines index and rank online content. While some bloggers become a little obsessed by SEO – setting up your blog smartly and keeping some of the basics in mind as you write is a common sense way of building a blog that will bring in significant SE traffic over the long term.
- Inviting Design – I don’t believe that to be successful a blog needs to have professional designs that cost mega-bucks. However inviting design that communicates what a blog is about, that enables good navigation and that draws readers into the content can really take a blog to the next level.
In my mind – these sorts of tips (and there are many more of them) are “right“. They make sense – they work (to varying degrees) and many bloggers talk about them as keys to successful blogs – because they are.
Much has been written about these “right” answers. ProBlogger’s archives are full of them.
However there’s a problem – as “right” as these tips are – they are quite often not enough for many bloggers.
In fact I’ve talked to many bloggers who have done all the right stuff (they’ve executed everything mentioned above perfectly) yet they still fail to find readers, build community and reach their goals.
The “Real” Answers
In addition to the “right” answers above – I’ve been pondering some other keys to successful blogs that I don’t see many of us writing about. The reason they don’t get spoken about much is that they are hard to define, they are subjective and some might even say that they’re things that might apply to some but not others.
However I think some of it is worth saying – as difficult as it might be to put them into words (just don’t expect a list of tips that you can go away and apply to get these things):
Mojo
Austin Powers has it and so do many successful bloggers. What is it? Well I could define it using a dictionary (magic or some powerful force) – but mojo is one of those indefinable characteristics that some bloggers just seem to have which others don’t. It’s a quality that some bloggers have that intrigues, invites and inspires readers – not because they write grammatically perfect posts, not because they are the smartest people going around – but just because they do.
Perhaps finding your mojo is similar to “finding your voice” or “injecting your personality” into your writing or just “being yourself” – to be honest I’m not sure where it comes from – but for many successful bloggers, they’ve got mojo!
Luck
I’ve written about being lucky on a couple of occasions previously and both times the response from readership was positive. I even tried to talk about “how to be lucky” once (I do like to try to define the undefinable) – however sometimes no matter what you do Lady Luck just comes calling in the most unexpected times and places.
Meeting the right person at the right time to collaborate with – picking up a scoop ahead of the competition – overhearing something in a conversation that triggers a thought process that people respond to – starting your blog on the day before something happens that draws attention to your niche – getting that link from an A-lister out of the blue… the list of ways you can get lucky as a blogger could go on.
Trust
Trust is one of those things that you can do things to build with your readers (and with other bloggers) but in some ways it is something that is not manufacturable or definable (you can’t come up with a list of 10 ways to absolutely guarantee it – as much as I’d like that).
Building Trust with readership takes time, it means putting actions behind your words and it means being a person of authenticity and character – in such a way that others both see and connect with it.
Expertise and Authority
I almost put expertise in the “right” answers list because on some levels it is something you can work on and to some degree define. However expertise can also be slippery thing to nail down also because it’s one of those things where there is a sliding scale and which readers can respond differently to. For example here at ProBlogger I don’t see myself as “the” expert or authority on the topic making money from blogs.
I do have expertise in some areas of blogging (or at least 5-6 years of experience) – but in other areas (like blog design or coding) I’m definitely no expert. However – I attempt to write this blog in a way that is transparent about what I do and don’t know about or have experiences in and for some reason the gaps in my expertise don’t seem to matter to readers.
I do think it’s important that you know something about your topic that you can share and help others with – however, what’s probably more important is the way you convey that expertise.
What seems to happen with some bloggers is that they become perceived as experts and authorities on their topics (whether they feel that they deserve it or not).
Charisma
I find that many successful bloggers seem to have an ability to draw people to them – to connect with their readers and to connect their readers with one another.
Community is one of those trigger points that people are gathering around online at the moment – and they often gather around a key person (or people) that have the gift of connecting with others.
While it’s possible to work on your relational skills the reason I put this in the “real answers” list is because it’s something that many bloggers seem to have without really trying. Everywhere they go they just seem to draw others around them. As I see it these bloggers seem to be able to do the following things:
- draw people around them (perhaps this is the “mojo” I’m talking about above)
- connect those people with one another to form community
- empower that community and it’s members to be self sustaining and not reliant upon that person
- continue to inspire and champion that community – but not need to continually drive it in a hands on way
These people are often humble and don’t let their egos get caught up in the community they develop. They know when to stand back and let others continue what they start.
What Would You Add?
Mojo, Luck, Trust, Expertise, Charisma – these are just some of the more slippery and hard to define characteristics that I find many successful bloggers have. On some levels they can be ‘worked on’ – but in many cases bloggers just seem to have them.
What other characteristics would you add – either to my ‘right’ or ‘real’ answers?
PS: Can I finish this post by saying that I feel a little weird about publishing it? I actually wrote this 12 months ago and have been coming back to it again and again over that time.
My hesitation comes mainly from this….
I don’t want people to get frustrated by not having some of these more indefinable characteristics.
I don’t think that lacking them disqualifies you from blogging well at all – but wanted to put ‘out there’ that sometimes it’s not just about doing all the ‘right’ things that we blogging advice givers might teach.
All I really want to add is that in my experience a lot of these qualities come with time. Out of experience comes relationships, experience, expertise, finding your voice etc. If you’re still finding your way – hang in there friends.
I think it’s a perfect list that doesn’t need improvement. Really, Mojo says it all. Content is important, but so is voice. The most memorable leaders in history had the right message at the right time, but they also had the voice to get it out there.
I’m trying to find my voice, and looking for ways to be more compelling. I’ve been told that for the quality of my writing, I should have more readers. Obviously, I am lacking something in the “real” area. I’m glad for this post, and will be sure to bookmark it and refer to it as I try to make my blog more interesting and accessible.
I think perseverance and discipline are key, mainly because I believe that people make their own luck.
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
~Seneca
Also, start small. If you’ve got 50 subscribers, that’s awesome. Now go for 100. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it takes time to find your voice and build an audience.
Don’t give up!
I do not think that building great content is good enough to build a successful blog. You have to be able to find people to read it and that is the main problem. There are many blogs out there that hardly talk about anything but yet they still have a faithful subscriber base not because they have great content but the author found out a way to get people to come to his blog. If you ask me, just some sort of content with a way of bringing traffic to build you a successful blog. Keep in mind though if you want to use social media that you will want to write great content. Or you just need to make awesome titles for your posts. The titles of your posts will always attract people from social media to your blog.
I think I have definitely started to find all of these ‘real’ things after blogging on my financial blog for about 6 months.
I have started to find my mojo and charisma definitely. Also my expertise is growing rapidly as I begin to have more success making money.
However, luck is yet to come my way and I am still building trust with my readers. But I think I am a ‘budding’ blogger still but I am definitely starting to find my feet.
One thing I would add though that is a ‘real’ thing is GENEROSITY.
This is the generosity from other larger bloggers, if they are willing to give you a go (like writing a guest post). If a larger blogger is generous to you when you are starting out this can mean a lot of exposure and a big break for you.
What do all the readers think about this?
All of these are excellent points are naturally included in the same 2 things that must inevitably bring great traffic: (1) what you love; and (2) what the public needs/wants — or, more correctly, the intersection between the two. Mojo is charm and everyone is eventually won over by someone who is genuinely enthused about whatever they’re selling/teaching/preaching AND what they actually want/need. So, you really can’t go wrong with this formula. It may take longer though if you only focus on content based on the intersection between these 2 things but it will happen I’m sure of it by 5 years at the latest with regular and consistent content based on this formula. I write more about this at “FBO: ‘Content Is King!’ What Does That Mean?” at http://shanelyang.com/2008/08/19/fbo-content-is-king-what-does-that-mean/
Sometimes the reality of it all stinks. Okay, I am having one of those weeks. I hit a plateau with my traffic recently and the “right” things have not been working for me lately. I want mojo! ;)
Timing is an important factor as well. Some might call it luck when someone launches his blog at the right time, but I think there`s something more behind that. ( see eee pc blogs)
A good example for the Mojo / Luck / Timing effect is http://icanhascheezburger.com That website has absolutely no written content. So the searchengine traffic should be near zero, thus it`s one of the most popular blogs. (according to technorati).
I wonder if it had been a success as well if it`s launch had missed the lolcat hype…
We’ve talked about this very thing, too. As more and more people blog, readers have more and more choices. It gets to the point where blogging becomes no different than any other social interaction..
A group of young men can go to a bar – they’re all dressed well, they’re all friendly, engaging – they all do everything you’re “supposed” to do, yet the pretty woman chooses one over the others. Why?
A homeowner interviews several Realtors before deciding which one to hire to sell his home. All the Realtors do what they’re supposed to do – they’re prepared, knowledgable, freindly, yet only one of them gets hired.
Multiple books get written about a given subject, yet one of them becomes a best seller.
I think blogging has gotten to the point where you have to do everything right just to have a chance at success. But doing everything right no longer guaranties success.
thank you this was useful for me
just when I thought I already knew what your going to say … pow a total new twist to my brain. I’m so glad everytime I read your posts man. You always find a way to put it and explain it any of us can understand.
I feel that its a mixed pot of content, mojo, luck, fengshui and bloggers personality to draw a crowd and repeated audience to a blog. It has taken me quite a while and only after 7mths do I see some repeated visitors to my blog. Slowly building it up at snail’s pace.
To some extent participating in the conversations with other blogs, commenting on other blogs helps to build trust with your own readers because it’s likely that people interested in your blog will read your competitors blogs too. If your readers see you entering the conversations on other blogs you’re less likely to be perceived as just “in it for the money.”
Great post Darren!
Having the right touch and patience help a lot too…
I truly believe you have to enjoy what you’re doing. You miss it when you can’t. You can’t wait to get going each day. Yes there are frustrating times and issues just being on line, but I am finding that since I found topics I enjoy writing about and decided to allow myself to be a writer, I enjoy it so much more.
I literally began to own being a writer and find the niche(s) I enjoy most. This way it doesn’t matter that I’m not the best. It is the vision, the journey and doing something I enjoy that counts.
SEO is something I enjoy writing about. I’m not an industry professional. My niche is writing about it. I have other interests but I keep gravitating back to SEO. I don’t fight it anymore. I like learning about it and finding out what particular areas of it I’m drawn to. It took awhile for me to get here. I’m still learning, but even the mistakes have become a part of it all.
I’m content and thankful for God giving me a talent to write and do something I enjoy. This is treasure in itself.
I believe blogging is like a kingdom. Content is the king and Traffic is the queen. In order to run a successful kingdom, the king and queen must be and agree together.
Fabulous post! Lots to ponder and to consider. I’m a new blogger and feel that I’ve been quite successful given the short time I’ve been at it. Reading this post helps me to know that I’m on the right track! Thanks for your candor on why you’ve held onto it for so long – just an example of why you’ve been so successful I guess.
I agree with Writer Dad on this one. I think the list is impecable. One thing that I have been working on over the last few weeks is developing a voice. It started slowly at first, but now I think I have it, or at least am headed in the right direction.
It is amazing what 12 months will do to insight though isn’t it!
Authenticity is intangible perhaps, but oh so important. It is something that you can’t just decide to do. You have to have a good sense of who you are. And you have to trust that sense enough to guide your writing and interaction, even if it means writing outside of the sweet spot of content for your niche.
Readers can tell if you write cloned content. They can see if you are trying to maneuver and manufacture their interest. Everyone responds well to honesty.
Cohesiveness is another good one. If everything on your site, including writing, structure, design, and color scheme, all speak the same message — then you have the combined power of all the elements working in the same direction. And that again, means knowing who you are, and infusing that in all aspects of your site. The whole site is then authentic.
John
I thank you for posting it and you shouldn’t feel strange about it at all. I think you hit the head on the nail, nothing in life is guaranteed and it’s crazy to think success can be totally defined by a strict set of rules and guidelines.
I would add determination and patience to the list as well. The bigger the blogosphere gets the longer I believe it takes to make it to the top.
I think we can toss all of those things under the heading of ‘Mojo’ – that indefinable ‘something extra’ that makes you want to hang around one person more than another.
Funny… if we could nail down what elements go into making it happen, someone would have synthesized the process, bottled it, marketed it, and be sipping chills on a beach somewhere now… while we all struggled to define and get whatever quality (Super Mojo?) would help us mount to the next level up!
How do you find your Mojo? I think it’s about being yourself, yes, but your *best* self – envision the kind of blogger you admire and want to spend time reading, and aim for those heights. “What would Darren do?” !! :-)
As usual, I can’t hardly finish your latest post over the anxiety of wanting to race to my site to either make some changes or a new post. Thanks again Darren for another great post!
http://thealternativeenergyinvestor.blogspot.com
SELF-CONFIDENCE is closely related to Mojo. It helps you to keep writing that great content week after week while your blog is building. It pushes you to get the word out about your blog. It carries you through those days when it all feels useless. And above all, it gives you PATIENCE to wait for all your effort to bear fruit.
My blog is young, and while its average readership is growing steadily, and I’ve had some pleasant spikes, it hasn’t taken off yet. I agree with all the items that Darren has written about, but I believe that I keep going because I have the SELF-CONFIDENCE that tells me I will make it.
I loved this post and am really glad you decided to share it. Sure we won’t all have charisma – in person or in our blogs, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying it out if we really want it anyway. I can only hope persistence plays its part in helping me establish an audience!
Mojo is a good word. The ability to interact with and genuinely care about the folks who take time out of their days to visit is very important, in my opinion. Great post.
An interesting post. I tend to like blogs that are well-written, straightforward, and stream-lined visually, not too fancy with gadgets and gimmicks. I imagine that persistence, consistency, and originality can help a blogger as well. I like knowing that a blogger can be counted for long, thoughtful posts that reward my attention.
Hi Darren and dear friends..
My personal experience says Writing Great Content ‘is NOT’ Enough to Build a Successful Blog. Infact great content is not really a key point, but definetly a plus when you arrive at a desired level.
– Wakish –
I think great content separates great blogs from good blogs. “Mojo” helps promote that great content, but even if you are successful and driving tons of traffic to your site, if there isn’t anything compelling to read then they won’t stick around. Successful bloggers have a unique combination of solid writing skills along with the ability to self-promote their work, and themselves.
PASSION
In some ways blogging is like a marriage – in the sense that you should be in love with your topic. People can spot it a mile away if you’re not madly in love and passionate about it. You’re going to be working on it day in and day out and there is no room for a boring ho-hum approach.
Passion attracts people to you and keeps them coming back for more
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
Your ‘right’ and ‘real’ answers are all good, and true, from my limited experience. But your admission at the end about your hesitation to post these answers was the best. That translates to ‘trust’ and ‘charisma,’ creating all kinds of mojo!
I like this post, doesn’t bother me that some things just can’t be definite, the fact is that your could write the best stuff and no would would ever read it if you don’t know how to strut your stuff. Two problems, I’m seeing a whole bunch of arbitrary links under the podPress link at the bottom of Problogger, a close link, a list of social bookmarking sites and a email form that don’t seam like they should be there. And Problogger has been up and down the last few days and wont always load. Some tech problems maybe.
Typing my comment to have to type it again because I get a “Failed to Connect message” is priceless.
I think there is another element at work here. The world is getting more dangerous and more corrupt. More and more websites are nothing but scams and email spam continues to be a problem. These things increase fear and mistrust with readers, making it harder to gain the trust of a consistent readership. This has also increased the value of the blogs that already have a large readership. They are able to run ahead and take advantage of the increase in online ad spending while new bloggers cannot seem to get out of the blocks.
Loved this post. I’m fairly new to blogging, a little over a year, but it’s just recently that I’ve really started to read a lot of blogs. You’ve hit the nail on the head. Some of my favorite blogs, or the ones that I keep coming back to, have a quality that’s hard to define. But you said it perfectly with your “real” answers. There are some great blogs that I never go back to. Everything is great — writing, design, etc., but there’s just not that zing to it that draws me back. Having said that, this is a blog I love coming to. I’m not a money-making blogger, but I do love to learn more about blogging and your style of writing and topics have been great even for a newer person like me.
I love the post, but made the mistake of reading it aloud to my hubby. When I got to the ‘Mojo’ part, my dog’s ears perked up. You see, my dog’s name is Mojo and knowing that he’s an important aspect of having a successful blog seems rather comical because I’m always shooing him away when I write.
He demands attention and nudges my wrists when I type. If I knew that all I had to do was include him in my blog writing, I would have set his doggie bed right next to my laptop a long time ago! ;)
Here’s to Mojo!
I think that having ‘Mojo’ can be defined as someone who blogs like they have 50,000 subscribers even if they really only have 50.
I think that having ‘Mojo’ can be defined as someone who blogs like they have 50,000 subscribers even if they really only have 50.
Another great post. Let me tell you my experience: I am a teacher and I write for teachers. I write about our problemas as teachers and have defined my own voice. I have been writing for teachers since 1980. In those old days I wrote books. Now I write ebooks and posts. Portuguese teachers know I write everyday 3 or 4 new posts about their problems. That is the reason why my blog is so popular among portuguese teachers.
My Mojo!!!!!!!
True that! This post is definitely very accurate in terms of their being more than a simple formula to having a successful blog. Obviously one could mechanically work, work, work, and eventually take off. However, most people would tire long before that.
The charisma and mojo are definitely two of the more important traits that are noticeable on the successful blogs today. Luck as well but less than others.
This is just my take on the subject.
I have no idea how to get people to read my blog or to comment. While I’m not necessarily making money from my blog, I don’t mind doing so. My main goal is to have a community full of people encouraging each other to go out and go things they dream of but never really have the courage or time or money to do. To just find a little chip of the dream and enjoy that little piece of their dream.
So I definitely agree with your post.
Awesome post, Darren, a winner – for sure! :)
Perhaps passion is what ties it altogether:
When you’re passionate about your subject and about blogging, it’s easy to promote yourself. I also have a feeling it helps you find your mojo, gives you charisma, and helps you persevere when your traffic, subscribers and motivation are low.
There are over 80 million blogs online with over 100k blogs being created daily if I had to pick one I would go with “Luck” I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. – Thomas Jefferson
Darren,
I definitely agree.
Really, great content isn’t enough.
You can provide accurate, extremely informative content, yet still get little or no response from your work.
I would say it’s all those things along with great networking.
Getting to know the right people; making good friends with them, and getting them to like you — and a little mojo and charisma goes a long way to getting that done.
In a way, blogging is like Hollywood; it’s not what you know, it’s who you know that’s going to give you that big “break”.
But still, they go hand in hand. You need the great content and the awesome networking.
Without the great content you won’t meet the “right” people, but without great social skills, charisma, and so forth, the right people won’t take a liking to you and awesome content will be overlooked.
So, it’s like you describe in this post, and it is so very true, sometimes great content isn’t enough to build a successful blog.
This was an awesome post! I can’t believe you had it sitting there for 12 months!
I tend to agree with John Rocheleau about authenticity and would emphasize consistency. We often fall in love with a product, a person, or a brand because we know what to expect every time. We delight in the consistency of a unique and authentic voice and want to be apart of that voice and share it with our friends.
There’s a ‘black swan’ factor. Check the book out, and you’ll realise its about maximizing the upside exposure to luck, and minimizing the downside.
Great post captures some of the essences of that.
Besides those qualities, good networking skills is a must. We bloggers know that all too well by now.
The mojo is really just “doing it all.” That’s where so many fail and I too am continually challenged to improve. It’s tough for a speedy person to do it all. It’s impossible for lazy people like me to do it all without a detailed checklist to follow. So, make a spreadsheet for yourself and put all the things you know, and all the promotional places you know about into a checklist and follow your checklist daily. The mojo will begin to floweth.
yes, actually good content and unique content plus nice person in behind own can powerful and successful blogging :D
I would say that to be successful, in any field, you need to provide a unique solution to a problem that occupies many people.
If it’s a blog and there’s 20 others writing the same things on the same topic – it takes a lot of luck and mojo to stand up.
But, if you’re writing unique contents (like your friend Yaro) about something that interests many and is not covered at all – the way to success is much simpler.
Problogger was a pioneer in professional blogging and became a brand. Take the same contents today and put on a different domain and it’s going to be very tough to compete.
At the moment I’m writing part 2 of 15 SEO tips starting from scratch, and now I see how difficult it can be for you Darren just coming up with ideas I just can’t understand how you do it :/
“right” answer or the “real” answer
I believe the first part [right answer] is more technique related, with time and effort, most people can achieve it [but not many people will do it].
Your second part [“real” answer – Mojo, Luck, Trust, Expertise, Charisma] is very difficult to catch the ideas. Difficult to define.
So, I will say forget about the second part because just achieve the first part – will make any blog to be a class “A” blog already.
I believe some of the successful bloggers used some kind of techniques to get the first break.
I don’t know how to call it. May be a loop hole in the system and they build from there.