Today, Walter from LionSlinger.com goes over six important characteristics any blogger should show if they hope for any success. Want to write for us too?
Whatever reason we have in building our blogs we all have one end in mind — to succeed. But why do many bloggers fail in this respect? The answer lies on the fact that they don’t know the important areas on which they should work on. Also, they are not willing to make the necessary sacrifice of allowing time to do its work on each of these areas.
In building a successful blog, we need to focus our time and energy in developing the following pillars which will make our blogs stand out.
1. Community
Building a community around our blog is hard work requiring persistence and dedication. Patience is needed in our efforts to gain the attention and interest of our prospective audience.
One effective method we can use to this end is to connect with other bloggers in their respective community. Collaboration, interaction and presence must be worked upon regularly to gain the necessary followings for our blogs. If done right and with honest intention, time will be maximized; if done otherwise, it will take longer than required. But this is just one aspect of community building.
Other common methods of further expanding your community are:
- Increase social networking activity (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- A web forum (like Blogussion Talk)
- A newsletter
- Membership sites
- Contests with prizes
What are things you can add to your blog that will further build your community?
2. Trust & Authority
These two characteristics are delicate and will take much time to acquire — especially if we are ineffective at establishing ourselves as a major trusted source or authority.
Gaining trust and authority from our audience requires our persistent effort in establishing our brand. If we lack self esteem and ability on the niche we have chosen, it will manifest in our work. And we don’t want that to happen.
We have to make sure we have chosen the right niche on which we could satisfy the expectations of our audience. All of us have our unique ability. Still, there’s no reason to be complacent; we should make an effort to further our expertise through constant learning. The more our audience learns from us, the more we become an authority in their eyes. So make sure you have something to offer that will be of benefit to others.
3. Place of Learning
One important pillar of a successful blog is its ability to extend valuable information and knowledge to its community. The more learning a reader can get from your blog, the more they are likely to return for more.
There are many aspects in life that people long for knowledge and understanding; it could be business, personal development, motivation, productivity, family, love, pets and many, many more. Depending on you niche, it is imperative that you can provide valuable and interesting information to feed your readers.
4. Sources of Inspiration
Inspiration is a powerful motivator. How else could those motivational speakers get rich? Life is full of discouragements; finding inspiration, even on little things make us appreciative and never forget the object of its source.
Many look for inspirations on the internet and one of them are through blogs. If we are able to provide our readers with some inspiration, rest assured that they will spread the word. After all, it’s our nature to spread the goodness if we experienced it for ourselves.
5. Trendsetting
Have you observed why top bloggers always make a buzz? That’s how they perk the interest of their followers. Introducing something new, something unheard of, especially those that will give the opportunity of participation and the chance of gaining some benefits will likely attract the attention of many. So let your blog be an instrument to this end. But remember, be noble with you intentions.
6. Originality
This aspect is what differentiates your blog from others. Take time to look at your blog and ask this question: “How much of me is really in this blog?”
To answer the question, think of all the decisions you have made on your blog. Ask yourself why you did these things, and where you got the influence to do them. Once you have figured those things out, you can then answer the question I asked above.
One simple way to attain originality is to stop comparing your blog to others. We all have our quirks, if we capitalize on it, our works will be genuine. I have visited many blog and many of them are very similar in their approaches. It makes me think: “Hey, this is all too common.” Be unique in your approach, and certainly you will be distinguished.
How sturdy are your pillars?
There you have it, the pillars of a successful blog. By incorporating these to your blog(s), success will find its way. But be careful not to be quick; in every journey to success, we must be aware of the challenges we will be facing. We have to know the obstacles and be ready on overcoming each.
Building a successful blog is not an easy task. If you are not up with the challenge of building the pillars I have stated above, everything you do will just be a waste of time and energy.
32 Discussions
Good post, A successful blog needs to have substance! As a blogger, you should have passion for your chosen niche. If you don’t love your blog’s topic, your readers will detect when are just going through the motions rather than speaking from the heart!
Then patience is important blogging success does not happen overnight. Be prepared to stay dedicated to promoting your blog…
Quality matters a lot more than frequency!
Building a successful blog is not an easy task. One have to incorporate the virtues of patience, dedication and hard work to make it work. It is actually a test of character.
I noticed in many blogs that blogger talking to their visitors like they know each other from very long.
This kind of involvement spread positive energy.
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Many people find it very hard to build a blog on passion. Maybe it would be a good idea to start with something you would like to learn more about? Building a good blog is not easy and that might be surprising to many who have read about writers who make 100K a month from their blog. It only looks easy.
You’re right on your observation here. Blogging is no easy. It will test one’s character.
Setting a trend in the blogging world is huge. I have to agree with that, and I try to do this all the time on my blogs.
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Keep on doing that. Your break will come.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
I think first and most strongest pillar is your content, quality of content and how your content can help your readers.
If this is really helpful than believe us your task will be more easy.
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Quality speaks for itself. The rest will be easy.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
How sturdy are your pillars? That’s a very good question! After reading the 6 pillars of a successful blog, I throw the same question to myself. I am not refusing to answer but rather than delving further, I decided to focus on strengthening the foundation of my own blog. For one, I don’t have a very big online community since I have personal blogs but I agree to every listed method to expand one’s community. Let me just share you that my recent blog contest has been successful and had dramatically increased my blog traffic.
Some of my friends find my simple blog as a place of learning in terms of earning online so I believe my 3rd pillar (of course I’m not taking it literally, just for the sake of discussion) is strong enough to take me into places. Aside from that, I have already gain people’s trust and I intend to maintain my credibility.
The rest are pretty straightforward and serve as refresher course to all the readers. Thanks for sharing!
I happy for you Liezl. You have found what works for you. Working on our blogs also makes us learn. In my case, I have learned a lot.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
This is a really good piece of advice, I agree originality goes a long way. When I post something unusual, then I get a really good response. It is the niche and also the tone of writing. You may be writing about blogging tips but also adding humor to it.
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When you’re visiting blogs you can sense if its original or not. The blogosphere is full of imitations, unless you make a difference, you will never be distinguished.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
Most bloggers lack these six pillars in their blogging and that’s what differentiates them from the successful bloggers. Without the steps above your blog is like a living zombie.
Great tips, Walter
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I’d have to agree. I rarely see blogs that demonstrate these 6 pillars. I think that the community you build around your blog gives people a good gauge to whether your blog is successful or not.
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Knowledge is power. Without any preparations in fulfilling our endeavors, we are most likely to fail.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
You have forgot patience.
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Oh darn! How could I’ve forget. Patience is extremely powerful. I’m sure everyone will know about this. Thanks for this important addition.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
Building a community is very difficult to do. However, I agree that it totally changes the blogging experiences and sets your blog apart. Very, very few blogs have that type of community.
Building a community takes time, effort and patience. One effective way is to connect with others thru interaction or joining the conversation. It worked for me.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
A strong community is really important for a successful blog. Keep touch with social media and with other bloggers is the key point for learning new things about blogging.
Hope i will attain all these quality sooon
Everything can be achieved if we worked for it.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
Nice Reading. Thanks
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Nice post. I think I have make my blogging community bigger. It is currently small and needs expansion.
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Like what I’ve said, building a community takes time. We have to work our way patiently.
Walter´s last blog ..Success is nothing to be afraid of
Great post – and I didn’t even read the whole thing yet
I just skimmed it and I already find it helpful.
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I agree with all 6 points on having a successfuly blog. it’s tough though.. with so many millions of blogs out there, someone likely has already done what you want to do. Just keep trying I guess, huh?
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A bit surprised that you put Originality at the very last. But, after thinking about it, you are right. Many blog are talking same stuff, it’s how we diverse our blog from others to make it unique by writing unique posts.
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The first and foremost tip which I give to my reader is Build a community and brand for your self and for your blog. If you can do it in first 2-3 months, your life will be easy soon…
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I think everything you’ve said is very true!
You say “pillars”, I say “pogo sticks”.
Whenever I read posts like these, I always feel like I’m doing something wrong or that I lack somewhere. Maybe because mine is more of a personal blog……of the insane kind.
Anyway, what no one has been able to answer for me is what IS a successful blog. Can it be the number of views? The number of comments? The over-all feeling readers get from reading your drivel? What?
I’m dying to know because while I seem to be doing a good job so far (since Nov’09) I wonder if I can rightly claim “success”.
Crazy, however, I have no problem claiming.
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