My version of success is probably different than your version. But, success in a longshot can really be defined as the accomplishment of a set goal. You would probably agree with that, right? Of course, there’s more to it than that.
But what is the one trait or characteristic we must have in order to achieve our version of success? There are so many different things we need to realize about ourselves and be able to do in order to reach some of our goals that there may be more than one answer to this question.
But I want to discuss with you guys as to what you think the ONE most important trait of a successful blogger is. I am also interested in hearing what some of your definitions of success are as well. Can you define it as more than the way I did above, or is that all success is to you -the accomplishment of a set goal?
I Think Perseverance is Important
To me, this is the one thing that anyone needs for success. Success is not an easy thing to achieve, and there are many hardships on the road towards achieving it.
Let’s look at a few things about success that really depend on perseverance:
- Accomplishing Goals
- Finding the Courage
- Sticking with it
Any goal you set out for yourself is usually something that was designed to challenge your skills. So, achieving something like 10,000 RSS readers in 10 months would take a lot of work and call for a lot of long term goal setting. Long term goals are the hardest to achieve, because of how much it tests your perseverance.
It’s a little intimidating at first to go out there and try to achieve your success. One thing you can say about success is how much it depends on the people around you. You need to know how to communicate with those people, and that could be challenging to some for a variety of reasons. You’re shy, you’re nervous, you don’t want to say the wrong things, etc. etc.
Once you have started to carry out your plans and work towards your goals, it’s all about how you stick to it. There will be things that get in your way that could slow you down or even stop you from keeping with your process. It’s all about how you choose to get through those hardships, and persevere.
So really, I think you need perseverance the most because you need that willingness to keep pushing forward and never let anything slow you down.
Over to You
I’m interested in what you guys think now. Do you agree with me that perseverance is the most important trait of a successful blogger? Or do you see a trait that is far more valuable for anyone to find success?
And with success being talked about so much here, and by other bloggers – what is YOUR definition of success? See you in the comments!
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?I would have to agree with perseverence, but add that I also think that having your own unique voice is also important.
.-= Tom | Market Samurai Review´s last blog ..Market Samurai Review | Part 1 =-.
Yes I am agree with your unique voice factor and with that I would like to add few more words –
Your thought should be different. If three people are wearing black shirt and you are the only who is wearing white shirt than you will look different in those threee to four people.
He just wear white shirt nothing else but however that small change is making him different from other people.
Dedication and passion. I know it’s two, but they go together. And every blogger needs them to make it.
.-= Preston D Lee´s last blog ..What to do when a client wants you to copy other designs =-.
I would like to add … Dedication and passion with moving in right direction.
If you have dedication and passion but you are not able to move them in right direction than this is simply waste.
.-= Buy 2 Pay for 1 Offer´s last blog ..Rapidshare accounts on sale!!! Low prices =-.
Commitment and Perseverance and vital! But, I think it all boils down to Passion. If you are passionate about what you are doing, and believe in it, it will make a huge difference. Passion is the driving force behind everything else. It’s what makes bloggers blog for years on end. Just being passionate about something (a niche) shows in your in your style and in your writing. It becomes your voice. Passion can be felt! It’s the secret to blogging.
*are vital!
Passion is definitely important! I know that if I wasn’t so passionate about blogging, and if I didn’t believe it was something so revolutionary then I doubt I would have ever kept this blog for as long as I have.
If for even a moment you lose your passion for your topic, your blog starts circling the drain. Passion is a great answer, thanks for sharing!
This is a good sum up of all traits needed. However one thing is pro activeness and willingness to change with the change in ever changing trends online. Blogging is all about being current. Which needs continuous non stop for life effort.
.-= Best Mobiles´s last blog ..Google’s Android to capture iPhone market in 2012 =-.
That sort of ties into perseverance as well. No doubt, it is very important and just about any niche I can think of is constantly changing – so you’re right. Keeping up with your niche is important.
I also think that perseverance is the most important trait of a succesful blogger. If you lack that then you will never succeed.
.-= Palabuzz´s last blog ..Charice Pempengco Pyramid Remix =-.
What do you think is the second most important trait to have, under perseverance?
I personally believe Heart is the most important trait. Another word for heart could be passion, drive, love, and so on.
I believe perseverance is what needs to step in when heart just can’t cut it. When I don’t feel like writing this post, or answering all those comments.
For me success is having a community (or tribe) of people that really love what I do, and they get value from what I do.
.-= Chris Palmer´s last blog ..Aviator90 Episode 6 =-.
Great answer Chris!
Perseverance definitely steps in for me when I need that extra little push to work. I always have loved blogging, but there are times where I don’t want to do it. So, I need that perseverance to get me through that slump and get me into gear.
You asked what the most important trait was and I do like “Perseverance”. You could argue it is the same as persistence and determination.
There are others like passion (as what others say here) but the most important? I don’t think so.
AND for me, success is being happy. If I m happy, I feel successful.
Andrew
.-= Andrew @ Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Seven of the Best Methods for List Building =-.
I definitely can agree with you about success. If what you have done has made you happy, then it’s successful. You can’t let anyone tell you otherwise, because it’s really up to you.
sure perseverance is very important aspect for people to be success in whatever they do even for blogging. bloggin in not easy thing.. you must fail many time before achieved what you want, you fail you stop you never improve.
talk about improve, other than be perseverance, you also need to know how to learn, you make mistake, but because you the quality of ‘perseverance’ so you persistent, and keep trying again and again… but even if you keep trying again and again without learn what the mistake.. it will be lead to nowhere.
so be perseverance and also learn from mistakes.
.-= izzat aziz´s last blog ..Blog redesign, and more =-.
Excellent saying there “you must fail before you succeed.” I wish it was something more bloggers heard, as many take “failures” a little too seriously.
First of all he should be blogging i.e sharing information with others. Encouraging readers. + a blogger need to have Passion and Patience.
All these add up to Success.
.-= Agent Deepak´s last blog ..Interview with Jim the Net Fool Guy =-.
Thanks for your comment Agent Deepak!
I think it all boils down to Passion. If you are passionate about what you are doing, and believe in it, it will make a huge difference. Passion is the driving force behind everything else, Thanks for sharing.
.-= Dr Hanookai´s last blog ..Hello world! =-.
If you aren’t passionate, then you won’t like what you are doing, and if you don’t even like it – well, you won’t find much success at all.
Yes, perseverance is number one, because if you don’t persevere, you don’t have blog.
But a close number two is writing quality content.
.-= John Soares´s last blog ..McGraw-Hill Has Increased Sales of Higher Education Textbooks and Digital Products =-.
Great way to look at it John, thanks for stopping by.
Blogging is like a Marathon it is hard work, loads of other people are doing it as well and it takes a while before you make an achievement.
So a good blogger will be able to stick out the rough patches and not give up when they dont instantly have a million followers!
.-= Loxlee´s last blog ..Can I Drive The London Marathon? =-.
That’s exactly why you need perseverance, to keep up with the others who are in the same niche as you.
To the above I’d add being authentic – there are so many copycat blogs out there, people trying to imitate the big guys. Sing your song with your voice.
I agree with you Nic! I do get inspired from the top bloggers in my niche, but I don’t think I have ever copied them. It will be a big mistake to your brand later on.
The first word that came to mind was ‘perseverance’. But I don’t want to use that word any more. Along those same lines I’m gonna go with, “Short-term Memory” because you can’t get discouraged by things that don’t go as planned. I don’t want to emphasize that you should forget those things, rather, you should learn from them.
Dang it! Perseverance is the perfect word… Thanks Alex.
.-= Nick Tart´s last blog ..Love Your Other 8 Hours: Interview with Robert Pagliarini =-.
Interesting way to look at it Nick. What are some of the things you have done that didn’t go according to plan, and what did you learn from it?
I believe it is passion too. Perseverance can only take you so far. If you don’t love what you do than it makes perseverance ten times harder. You can write with passion forever because it’s fun, and what you love. If you are writing with perseverance you are writing because it feels more like a job, and that you have to do it to reach success.
.-= Brian Inman´s last blog ..Putting Your Own Spin On Your Gaming Blog Articles =-.
That’s an interesting way to look at it Brian, but I disagree that just because you have passion you can keep writing.
I know I love to write about blogging, because of how deep I like to think about some things. I do love the topic, but I can’t just throw out the best content I can on the spot. It requires me to take time and really think. Sometimes when I can’t come up with the right idea, I can get frustrated and lose focus. It’s then that I need perseverance to get through those struggles and keep going.
I agree, passion is extremely important but sometimes you need perseverance to keep it alive.
Personally, I think a main trait of a good blogger is ‘loving it’. I never want to do anything in life I regret. I enjoy blogging, reading, writing and commenting. The day I do not ‘love it’ anymore, I won’t do it. Life is to short for regrets and I do not want to look back and ever have to wonder ‘why’ I did something.
So, you think passion is the top trait?
I totally agree, why waste time doing things you don’t love? It’s never worth it in the longrun, and it hurts to look back and wonder why you did something you hated for so long.
Having a clear goal or goals is number one for me. You can persevere on the wrong goals will just soak up all your enthusiasm and energy. All traits are seriously important but I like to have my goals firmly defined before I go after them with my perseverance, enthusiasm, unique voice and all my heart.
Karl
.-= Karl Foxley´s last blog ..Google Page Rank Score Too Low? Keep Your Links Thank You =-.
That’s a cool way to look at it Karl. I personally don’t like to approach anything serious without any goals in mind or some sort of plan to work from.
patience is also an important quality
Success is simply a choice. Everything else follows.
.-= Walter´s last blog ..Love eternal =-.
It’s hard to say what the single most important trait is, as good blogger’s need more than just perseverance when writing and running a blog. I do agree, though, that truly successful one’s will stick it out through good times and bad, because they know their blog is gonna go far
.-= Blogger Den´s last blog ..Online Email Marketing Software To Automate Your Marketing EffortS =-.
I think it’s hard as well, but there are just some traits you need to have more than others.
Hi Alex,
Desire – If you don’t want to do something, it ain’t getting done. A strong desire to be really good at something is the main driver in all achievement. You have to want to be a great blogger, you have to want to spread you message, you must have a passion for blogging. I mean *really* want to blog because it’s so easy to get sidetracked with other activities unless you have a burning desire to do this.
Belief – Like you said, blogging takes courage. People will dislike you for what you do. You’ll be criticized. Your belief system will be challenged. To handle this you must belief deeply in yourself so that you don’t care what others think, say, or do in response to you being you.
Persistence – Persistence is trying at the point when unsuccessful people give up. Blogging for months without a single comment. Receving spam after spam comment, wondering if anyone out there is actually reading. Yep, I experienced these frustrations until my readership started to grow. I continued to post at least every day or every few days and the readers arrived. But it took persistence.
Great post buddy. I look forward to your insight.
.-= Ryan´s last blog ..Super Quick Lesson in SEO =-.
Great stuff Ryan, thanks for sharing!
So, out of all three of those things – which would you say is the most important for a blogger to get a hold of?
I would have to agree Alex, when it comes down to it there are too many branches that come off of the main perseverance trunk. It’s a must have.
Have a great weekend Alex.
.-= Extreme John´s last blog ..A Day in the Life of.. Episode 2 [video] =-.
Thanks for dropping by John, glad we’re on the same page about this.
I feel the same, without persistence, none of the rest matters.
Persistence is necessary. It’s not sufficient, but it’s definitely necessary.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Consistency – A 7th Characteristic of Trust Building (Everyone can do this) =-.
Persistence at the start. That’s where I am now. Keep learning and fine tuning your writing skills, your voice and creating value for your readers. Staying ‘out of my own way and continuing to stick with it. Sometimes you don’t feel like writing, other times the challenge is just “to get the keys moving” and I realize this is too long. Suddenly I have a series of 3 shingled posts of pillar content potential!
Just keep showing up, when it’s all you can do, and when you can do better do so!
.-= marshall | genverters.com´s last blog ..5 Tips Before You Buy Remote Property =-.
It’s an interesting question… I think there are many things that a successful blogger needs… consistency, persistence, passion and authenticity are just a few!
It’s really an interesting question and i would love to share my opinion. Alex wrote quite good and my aura of success is passion in the right direction, updated and current knowledge, your love for writing, the way you write and how much authentic that write-up is.
.-= American Wholesale Blog´s last blog ..Tips for Choosing a Good MP3 Player for Retailers =-.
The most important of all? Maybe its the ability to never specialize, but rather draw on a diverse set of talents. A good blogger has to be a writer, a graphic designer, a marketer, an ad salesman, and a search analyst. Each role has its own vital traits – and getting sidetracked by any single one can lead to disaster.
.-= John´s last blog ..Australia vs Anonymous in Internet Censorship War =-.
Easy – its writing a blog that has an established group of core repeat readers – not just ones off who happen to stumble upon it.
I agree that perseverance is critical. I love this post! I had that I also noted a while back.
Like others who’ve commented, I believe passion is definitely a must…but I think that’s what fuels our perseverance, right?!
.-= Deana Goldasich´s last blog ..Website Wellness This Tuesday in Tampa! =-.
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