To have a successful blog, grow it in an effective manner, and see profits or great attention we have to rock out in the small parts. Success is very subjective but the true success relies in on how others see you and what you are doing. We see some of the top 50 most influential bloggers having continued success. They certainly haven’t reached this big and influential stage overnight. They have rocked out in all the small areas to get their rocking initial community.
Today we focus on everything small in order to truly go big.
Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come. -Perry Paxton
I’ve truly struggled with this thought because I just want to go big!
Well, you are not going to get anywhere unless you focus on everything small (more than just simply looking at things like your content and your community). I always ask myself this one question: why do I want to rock out at this particular thing? The answer is typically because I see myself making a true impact on something that is not being done right, correctly, or just not happening.
These reasons are usually the ones that we have in wanting to start something new. But, we need to focus!
Start with Your Overall USP
Your USP or Unique Selling Proposition is what makes you truly stand out from the crowd and have people coming to you rather than anyone else.
- Listen to your own voice and look at it from an outside perspective
- Why should people come to you for help, advice, or entertainment?
- Relate back to your initial mission. Let them be aware of your mission in many ways
Rob Rammuny from Robswebtips believes strongly in having a strong USP and from my many failures on the web since 2008 I truly failed because I never really created or focused on my USP. I just wanted to go big. Your USP is just one of many details that you need to have established in order to go big.
Just read what many of these top entrepreneurs wished that would have done here.
Build One Dream
I have a dream. No I’m not Martin Luther King Jr. but I am a geek and blogger that has a dream for creating a network of sites. You’ve got to start somewhere with your USP so I’ve put 110% of my voice and passion into UniqueBlog.net.
Yes, its just one blog and it’s not even my personal blog, where I just tend to write random ideas or thoughts on things. What’s important is that you focus on one dream. As of right now I have three major dreams:
- Be in a relationship with someone special and grow that each and everyday we are together
- Help people understand the aspects of web to embrace for the next culture
- Consult and help people truly brand themselves
The Decision
I’ve decided to focus on dream number two. Now, that I’ve made my decision I can start rocking out in everything that is small because I’m focused. I know my USP. I know my dream. Now, I just need to do everything small until its “done” and have an initial community behind me.
Build Your Initial Community
Hustling at everything small is to truly build your initial community. In a couple of posts, here at Blogussion, there was a debate on whether to run one blog or run multiple blogs.
I would defiantly say to create and run multiple blogs if you have initial community. For instance, the company of Envato didn’t just make 10 successful sites at once. They were developed overtime and all were established because of one site that they truly focused on.
We need to build our initial community if we truly want to stand out from any crowd or to just rock out in anything currently or in the future.
I’m Not Big Yet. My Day is Coming Though
I’ve decided on my one dream. I’ve decided and continue to work on my unique selling proposition. Now, it’s all a matter of time to continue and create my initial community by interacting with others on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin and putting out quality content.
Yes, everything is truly a matter of time but it can be a rocking time that will push you to be big if you focus on:
- Creating and selling your USP
- Picking and building your one dream
- Building your initial community before you proceed with anything else
Everyone has the opportunity to go big. Begin the right way and expect many failures along the way.
I really want to rock out on the web. I’m making the promise that you’ll be hearing about me next year! 
Your day is almost here too!
Photo by Andrew Kuznetsov
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?I want to touch on a few things from this post – all things that really stuck out to me and hit home.
When it comes to success, I truly believe the only key ingredient is to hustle your ass off each and everyday and take no BS from anyone. Point blank.
I think it’s stupid to live in terms of “reality.” Think about it, people thought that it would be impossible to flip a switch and have light – yet, Thomas Edison did it.
People thought it would be impossible to fly people over water – Yet, the Wright Brothers made it possible.
Point being here is: If the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison lived in “Reality” terms, would we be where we are today? No.
What they did was took their vision and made it happened.
Community
When it comes to building a community, I think it’s impossible to form a site that fits everyone. That’s why networks are popular as they are today.
They give the ability for different communities to form together with the option to come together as one.
However, I think it’s important to build one community before you branch off to another. You can’t build a network without first having a community. The people (your community) is what makes the network what it is!
Focusing on creating one community is important so you can put 100% of your focus in making sure this first community meets your needs and their needs are also satisfied.
This is one of my biggest problems. I tend to deviate my focus midway into a project. I’d be working on this great idea and half-way through, another great idea would strike me. That’s when I lose myself. Learning to focus on something, small or big, at a time is really important indeed.
i would suggest that you should go for outsourcing so that your assignment can be easily completed. Note down your all ideas as going for all at once is not at all a good idea.
Yes sometime we feel that this idea is worth millions and we left everything for that.
But i would suggest go one by one.
Outsourcing. Well, I’ve never tried it because I’m afraid I won’t find a good quality worker. Pros come in pretty expensive and that’s something I can’t afford, at least for now. Besides, I consider too many little details and if an outsourced job doesn’t meet all the standards I set, there goes wasted a job.
In any case, noting down one’s ideas and nibbling on it one at a time is definitely the way to go – something I have to learn.
Thanks for the reply ZK.
Focusing on one will help you to achieve your success much faster.
That’s what I have and many others have learned… the hard way.
if you know how to manage a team than believe me managing more than one blog or any kind of task is easy.
Simply you should know how to get job done.
Hi Derek,
Yes, define your goals to focus yourself, define your message to focus your audience.
I like it!
Rick
Hey Rick,
You would be surprised how many people online just have a goal to make money. Surely that is one of my goals but its currently not my number one in terms of immediate focus. If you focus on just making money you are not going to make any.
Best,
Derek
though the main aim of every blogger to make money, you should just wait when you should utilise it.
People do not come to your blog to click on your ads or to buy things, they come to gain something, in the form of knowledge or seeking for advice or right direction.
dude i am writing an article on blog USP tomorrow…i hope you do not mind it….
i am very passionate about my dream and your post has just encouraged me….
Awesome! More people need to know about USP.
why he is going to mind in fact this is compliments for him.
So very true. I’m in the process of reinventing myself as well, and zeroing in on what I do that you cannot get *anywhere* else – it’s been quite a journey (albeit a great one!) indeed.
I always love reinventing myself because it makes you go back and truly figure out who you are and what you want to do with your life and how you are going to help out the world.
Once you find yourself let the fun and work begin!
“Well, you are not going to get anywhere unless you focus on everything small…”
Absolutely right. If you can’t get the small things right, you’ll never reach “big,” and even if you do, you won’t know what to do with it when you get there.
Exactly! Too many people including myself always think big but if you put all your thinking in how you are going to make everything small be truly “big” your time is better spent.
small step is the base of every big journey so is the small thing for big thing.
I agree with you that we need to start simple and start small.
Start from the basic principles of marketing and sales. We cannot just jump into creating marketing campaigns if we don’t know our USP.
We also need to know our ‘core market.’ We can’t just go marketing to EVERYBODY and trying to win millions of followers without connecting first with the community in which our expertise, products, and services have the most relevance.
Why add to the noise of the BIG communities in which your service is only peripheral, when you can be clear and relevant to your small community of customers.
Time for selection! And time for truly defining your community with a set mission which will all happen if you focus on the small things.
this is also an important part of marketing that you should and you must know your market, your buyer. If you fail in this than believe me you will invest your huge time and money in reaching to those people who are not at all related to your business.
Well I think setting your goals high really helps you in the long run and the short run. I think it helps you rush to your standards and slowly work up and help you advance as a webmaster.
Also think about setting goals that are on a much shorter time basis such as daily or weekly.
i always set target for say 6 months and after that i divide them in months, in weeks and in days.
Through this way i can easily monitor my growth and also able to complete this within stipulated time.
Wow.. USP is really new to me.. and it’s very important to be implemented! Thanks for sharing this
Yep, it’s important to think as big and plan according to it as you can know what you want to do and where are you now.
You’re welcome Nasrul! I originally learned it from Rob Rammuny from Robswebtips.com
derek its nice of you that you gave credit to Rob. Otherwise people simply label it with their own name and brand.
I love the theme of this post. It reminds me of an interview I heard about with Steve Jobs. He dreams really big about changing the world. But part of his key to success is that he also sweats all the details and pays really close attention to all the small things to achieve his goal.
And just look how successful Apple has been. I currently own a few Apple products and can say that I’m not the only one that is really passionate towards loving the brand.
basically that is the same story of all successful person. Not only steve.
The key is to not ditch your initial, or any community you have built once you hit the big time…..some seem to have problems in that area.
It certainly is hard if you refocus on something else. These would be your supporters and so Dennis I hope I’ve not “disconnected” away from you. I’m always on twitter @byderekj
Hello Derek,
. Now that you have the years under your belt and your goals set it’s just a matter of time until the wheels of Universe will start turning for you!
You are on the verge of greatness
Once you know what you want and focus on that you will eventually succeed even if it takes time and the road is bumpy the key is to maintain your goal!
Alex,
I truly thank you for the comment!
You can do the same.
Best, Derek
These are great tips you’ve compiled! It wasn’t until the last few months that I recognized and started applying some of these techniques to my blogging and then there are still some I never even thought of. I really think that things are starting to look up for Me & Bad Monkey Free Press(aka:my blog). Thanks for this post ~:}
You’re welcome Jalessa! Just keep you mind on everything small and that matters at the moment and days/weeks to come. Before you know it what you imagined in the beginning (the big picture) will becoming more in focus.
The things you say Derek keep me motivated to do what I love to do and keep my mind on everything that is around me big or small. By the way I love your article on YouTube being the new American Idol I love it.
James, you truly make me happy by knowing that I keep motivating you! This is now motivating me to keep doing what I’m already doing. Glad you liked the article and hope to see you around more
yes indeed this one remind us basic again.
Read this post and said “Right on”. The unique selling proposition got me. Sometimes it is your knowledge and experience that sets you apart. After seeing so many in my niche try to appear as “experts”, I decided to throw down the gauntlet, start a blog, and “walk the walk”. It has paid huge dividends as the wanna bees can’t match it.
I love that you walked the walk! Right on!
I would say that it’s all about: practice makes perfect.
yeah practice in the right direction.
Time, content and consistent posting is the only way your blog can be successful.
yes if you will see many successful blogger than there is one thing commom and that is their consistency in posting.
One of the biggest motivational factors for anyone is knowing that someday, if you keep at it, if you’re persistent, dedicated and true to your idea, one day, if you want it bad enough, you will get it, what ever it is.
It’s this thought that keeps me going day in and day out!
Its a great thought to have Robert! Keep pressing forward man!
I’m with you.
In my mind the only way to build a success story is to start small. You need to plan things out and have a map to follow.
Having a USP is critical. Once you understand what sets you apart, you are in a good position to create initial high-level business goals. After that you can tie your plans around these goals including marketing and sales plan.
Anyway, thanks for the great post. I enjoy you work and you site is outstanding.
Thanks.
So many times I’ve started without thinking about a USP and being satisfied going out in all the small things because I just want to go big.
But, getting your mindset on a USP and then fully developing on it is much more beneficial.
You’re welcome and keep rockin at what your doing!
certainly if you know your destination than reaching at there will be quite easy.
ZK, I appreciate you adding to the discussion in many different areas. Take care.
Best, Derek
hey derek, we should give thanks to you for such a nice post.
Why thank you ZK! I just post things that would have helped me out.
This is common sense, in a way, that you need to start small and make sure you can do that right before “going corporate,” as I jokingly refer to it.
It’s the approach I’m taking to my blog about the Wii’s successor; at the moment, it only provides news stories, a lean sidebar, and a short “about me” page. Once the number of readers pick up, I’ll start adding more features and other things to it, most of which would fall apart without a sizeable community behind them.
However, the reason I think that will work for that site is because it centers on a topic for which there is next to no competition at the moment. Once interest in the Wii’s successor begins to build up, people will start finding my site through Google and co. and will bookmark and remember it as “the site to go to for news about the Wii’s successor.” This is dependent on several factors, including moving to a dedicated domain, SEO, etc., but that’s beyond the scope of my comment.
But what do you do when you’re creating a site for which the community has already “found its home”? Meaning, a huge site already exists for the topic you want to start a site for, and it’s acting like a black hole for every potential user that would be interested in the topic?
There is one specific site I have in mind, and the only reason I’m even considering trying to outdo them at their own game is simply because the administration of the site is handled very clumsily, and there are quite a number of things that could be done better (and of course, I feel I’m in a position where I could do these things better); that, and I also feel extremely passionate about the topic. The site has a colourful history of ten years behind it, though, which has allowed it to build up an impressive number of backlinks and a surprisingly high Alexa ranking (considering how specialized the theme is), despite its shoddy SEO. The webmaster was also quite active since about a year or two ago, so there is still a sizeable amount of (exclusive, might I add) content there, which attracts new users at the forums all the time.
What I’m concerned about is that if I was to go up against this site, I would simply have no choice but to start big. The only way I see I could possibly compete with it for a bigger reader/user base would be to provide a greater amount of content and flashy site features – exactly what you’re not supposed to do with a fledgling, unknown site.
I don’t want to abandon the project because I truly do see several ways through which I can one-up that site, but I feel very doubtful about whether I’ll be able to build up a community of my own. While that site has no active webmaster behind it, the forums (which I am a regular user in) are, quite honestly, one of the nicest and most “civilized” communities I have ever seen, and I don’t see a way I could forge a community of my own that could possibly compete with it for size, post quality, or member dedication, short of starting a massive campaign of some kind to convince them that my site is better than the one they’ve been going to for years. Considering how narrow the general theme of the site is, it’s also highly unlikely that I’ll be able to rely on search engines to provide new users. That, and the site’s community has really grown on me, and I really don’t want to leave its users; they’re all great people, and it’s rare that you can consider almost every member you see on a site a friend.
Hoo, that was a long comment. I’m very thankful if you read this far; I’d be happy to clarify anything or provide more specific information if you need me to, Derek.
That was a long comment but you make your point.
Many times when you want to compete against some people that have already got the basics established you have to go big right away.
I bring up the idea of starting small and looking at all the small steps to make sure you are not take a big leap and going to end up in the Grand Caynon.
Thanks for reading the whole comment and taking the time to reply to it! You have no idea how much I appreciate it.
So it sounds like I’m right when I think I have no choice but to start big. I’m planning to launch my site in about ten months, with about a month to design it and the remaining nine to fill it with content before making the site go public (yes, there’s that much material that I’ll need to catch up on).
Now, for the real problem (I addressed this in my first comment, but it may have gotten a little lost; my bad): say I’ve gotten that far, and I’ve managed to put up a site that’s prettier, bigger, better, and more extensive than the one I’ll be competing with (not a problem if I’ve got ten months to work on it
). The next step is to get a community going; comments on my blog posts would be great, but what I really want to do is have a closely-knit forum-based community attached to the blog, which, in turn, is part of a much larger, almost encyclopedic site, that provides the actual content; the blog will be a means to keep my followers in the loop about updates to the rest of the site as well as to promote various competitions, individual users, and the like.
How will I get the actual readers/forum users to come to my site, particularly considering that the competing site seems to have already grabbed everyone that could possibly be interested in the topic?
I’m not starting quite from scratch – about three or four of the users I’m good friends with at that site are aware of my plan to overtake it, and are going to support my little endeavor, but they won’t be enough to keep it afloat, and may feel very split between my community and the competing one. As a result, they may choose to return there for the sake of nostalgia and familiarity, even if I offer superior site features and management. Unless I can somehow “move” everyone over from that site to mine, I will feel split between the communities myself, too; the competing site is really a one-of-a-kind place where the members are far more intelligent and respectful towards one another than most places on the Internet.
It’s this that I’m truly concerned about, and that I think may be the Achilles’ Heel of my site – that it’s simply too late to the party (five years too late) to make its mark and become -the- most popular community of its kind. Think you could provide a little guidance on that matter?
Hey, if you could email me at derek@uniqueblog.net and we can discuss more there.
Email me what you have above, maybe make it more concise.
Thanks!
I think setting up a goal is important for us to grow in blogging. Yes, i believe that you are going to be big in the short future. Your blog is nice and good. Wish you all the best!
Exactly! Thanks for the comment Kok.
There are few basic steps for internet world …
# Clear vision or Goal
# Passion
# Hard labour (No short cut)
# Consistency
# Keep update yourself
Those basic steps are very good to all think about and have for the online world. Another thing is to find the best ways to have a good working environment and lifestyle. This will also make things easier and enable to truly go big but also be healthy.
Lots of great information in that article.
Seeing big ideas or goals broken down into more manageable steps can go a long way in accomplishing what you’re after.
As a first-time blogger I am constantly ricocheting amongst tasks that I need to complete: new content, back-links, affiliate referrals, defining my voice, building a community, etc.
One of the concerns or frustrations that I have encountered regards the patience necessary to see results. And I’m not referring to profit or sales, but in being able to effectively measure whether “my voice” is effective, am I filling space or providing information that others find useful or entertaining, etc.
These articles do a great job of helping keep focus on the small things…until a time in which you can evaluate your impact on the bigger things.
Focus is surely something that is good to revisit. I’m glad this was useful for you, Chris.
Think big. Release all your potential on something you love and watch it grow and nourish right before your eyes. Nothing is impossible.
Big thing is to execute.
Hi Derek,
I guess it all comes down to focusing on your biggest passion. In order to have that amount of focus we need to have a vision and believe in it. The actions that we take are a consequence of our internal motivation. As you said, there are so many smaller factors that build the “big” dream. We need to be motivated to be able to make all those things happen. That’s why I spend a large amount of time in the motivation stage. It’s like the engine that propels our dreams.
All the best,
Eren
Eren, what I’ve begun to notice is so many people are in the motivation or inspiration stage but not the execution stage.
Thanks for coming by,
Derek
Hey Derek, Nice post. I enjoyed reading something written with passion. Check you Youngmoneytalk.com to help grow your business, we are a community of internet entrepreneurs all profiting from each other and i think your passion would be an asset to the community
Mark, everything I write has passion and a strong desire to help people.
Thanks for the comment.
Yes. Every one need to fix his goal about his work. Need to be responsible to his audince. These are one of the key to success.
Reflecting and focusing over and over again.
In near time i want to start a blog so i need to some more effective tips about that. Mainly i want to know a base about to start a blog.
You’ve chosen a good place but I highly going to copyblogger.com as well.
Derk i am agree to your matter but here i would say that if we are some weak and now aware about risk of market then we may fall down so we should gain and powerful mine then we can success.
Thanks
In my experience, success comes with having a plan and being consistent with it. For example, if you want to start 10 blogs and have success, have a goal of posting an article every three days on each one so that you will end up with at least 10 posts a month/120 a year. If you can do more than this, fine, but if you have 1200 (10 blogs x 120 posts) you will be way ahead of 99% of the people who try their hand at making money on the Internet.
Sticking with it and be consistent are what so many people mess up on. Probably the biggest and popular mistake made.
Thanks for your comment, Sandra.
I think building a community is the funnest and hardest part of starting a blog. It is great to see your community grow over time, but it doesn’t happen over night. Part of the fun is learning what works and doesn’t for your readers.
Shannon, I love building a community and if you just work at it everyday you will be surprised where that gets you. I have made mistakes in building my community as I have not stuck with something and executed long enough but the community I do have is very strong as they just know who I am as a person.
Thanks for coming by!
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