Being successful isn’t easy, it rarely happens overnight and especially within blogging it is HARD WORK. Seriously HARD WORK.
I have read many comments recently from people wanting to start blogging to make instant money. This makes my blood boil, so I wanted to set the record straight. The thought of anyone blogging purely to make money makes me sad. Yes we all have to earn a living, but I believe our primary reason for blogging should be because we love to blog or like me ‘have’ to blog.
So how do you become successful? Well, first things first, you have to say it like you mean it. “I will be successful”, that’s it, stop there. No qualifier, just that, ‘I will be successful’. Then you MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Some of you might already be making excuses. You have X number of commitments, maybe a lack of support; but here’s the thing, it’s hard for everyone. No-one has the monopoly on the juggling balls, we are all doing it, every single day. I work until 1am almost every night, it doesn’t make me a better blogger than you if you don’t, it just means that I’m more committed.
Achieving your goals is hard work and takes a lot of dedication, commitment and focus. The reason many people fail is that they lack this focus and commitment. You can be the best writer and photographer, but if you aren’t prepared to make sacrifices you will not achieve the success you desire. This might sound harsh, maybe it is, but it is also the truth. You don’t get credit for having a tough time, you get credit for making things happen regardless of your circumstances.
Everyone has problems to overcome
Making a success of anything is tough and you have to make sacrifices. If you don’t want to make sacrifices, I would guess that means you don’t want it enough. Which is fine, but then you need to let go of the idea you will make a success of it and love it for what it is. There are so many reasons why making a success of your blog can be tough, maybe you work full-time, have a baby keeping you up all night or young kids running around. These are problems for sure, but they are not necessarily bigger or more difficult to overcome than anyone else’s problems.
If you want to succeed you will find a way, if you don’t you will find an excuse
Whatever your personal situation is and whatever you are striving for you have to push to make it happen. You have to push when you don’t feel like it, when you would rather be with your family, chilling with your partner, sleeping, anything but working. The fact is that these are the sacrifices you might have to make to make a success of your online dream. Sure you might not have to sacrifice anything and eventually over time, your blog might pick up and make money. However, to reach your goals quickly and achieve your success you need to push, graft and sacrifice.
I work late at night, grabbing time wherever I can. My way might not work for you. Your kids might be better sleepers than mine and so it might work for you to wake up before them to have a couple of hours to focus on work. Whatever makes it work for you. The thing is if you want your blog to be your full time job and your business, you have to treat it like a full time job and business NOW. We can do AMAZING things when we put our minds to it. You can always sign up to my FREE productivity challenge if you need more help.
You need to LOVE what you do
There’s no way you will have the strength to make this happen if you don’t absolutely love what you do. FACT. So if you think your blog is nothing more than a way to earn you money, I wouldn’t go down this road as it will never be the thing that makes you happy. You need to love your blog regardless of the money it does or doesn’t make you. That shines through to your readers and that keeps you going when you are burning the midnight oil.
Being successful takes a bucket load of commitment
The reality of making your blog work isn’t glamorous. If you are juggling a full time job as well, the reality is probably getting up an hour or two earlier and working before you leave for work. See, I told you it wasn’t glamorous. Then again running your own business isn’t 9-5 either… Creating the life you want takes all of these things, hard work, commitment and sacrifice, but it is worth it all.
Ditch perfection
Don’t over analyse every aspect of what you do, make progress. Get the posts written, not perfect. Chances are every time you read a post you could make small changes and adjust things, but publishing great engaging content is important. Perfection isn’t a useful state to be seeking. You will probably fail. Some things will work, other’s not so much. The key is to learn from the failures and KEEP GOING.
Visualise your dream future
When things go wrong don’t use it as an excuse to bail. Things will go wrong, collaborations may not go your way, but if you visualise your future, how you want it to be, these are just bumps in the road. Bumps you’re very capable of navigating. Be creative, add value, strive to do better and you will become better.
Make a decision about your future, give yourself a deadline and MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Comments 33
Wow, truly uplifting and inspiring words Aby. Motivational speaking is definitely your thing. And you speak the truth. Looking forward to your course starting in a couple of weeks 🙂
What an amazing post Aby. So true!!! You are an incredible blogger and it’s obvious you love it. Well done for putting this out there. Xx
I agree with a lot of this post, and I don’t mean to be negative. But I don’t think that however many hours someone works on their blog means they are more committed.
I spend as much of my time as I can on my blog. And on my work blog. And in my job. And as a mum. And all the other roles I have as we all do (which I know you pointed out).
I don’t think the amount of time someone spends on their blog means they are more committed or passionate about it.
I guess it also depends on what you consider as “successful”. We all have different ideas of success. So some need to spend more time on their blogs to get to what they consider as success, and to reach their expectations, whereas others don’t need to spend that much time or to blog as much to reach their level of success.
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Yes, I don’t mean to generalise to all the people in the world. Of course there will be people who just get lucky and their success happens quickly. I am not stating that there is always a direct correlation between number of hours invested and level of success. Success is a relative term, but in terms of this post I am talking about a profitable blog as the mark of success. I know this isn’t for everyone, but it is what I hear a lot of people want to achieve. My main point is that it takes graft (in most cases) and some people are invested enough to do what it takes and others aren’t when it comes down to it.
Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant post! I’ve been blogging for a year now, not made a penny but it doesn’t bother me. Writing is my passion; knowing I make people smile with my writing and being part of such a fantastic community! Thank you for this post it’s fantastic xx
I 100% agree. It’s a shame when people think overniht success is going to happen for them. Real life isn’t The X Factor, you’ve got to put in the work (possibly years of it) before your blog, or anything else for that matter, takes you from hobby to full time job. x
I love this – it’s really inspiring 🙂 I’m totally committed to making a success of my blog and I cannot wait for your productivity course! x x #TheList
Such an inspiring post! I started my blog to have something to focus my brain on and I love it, it’s so addictive. If I could eventually make money that would be amazing but it’s not what keeps me going with it. I think it’s the community that makes it so addictive! #thelist
Great post lovely and so true. #thelist
Lots of great advice! When I started blogging a few months ago, I didn’t even know that it was possible to make money from it! I just wanted a space to be me (I’m a full-time mummy the rest of the time). I just love to write and, in all my 29 years, joining blog linkies is the ONLY thing that has managed to get me out of bed early consistently! Haha! #TheList
Inspiring and full of advices. #thelist
Great post Abi. I love how honest you are about how much hard work actually goes in to your blog. x #TheList
A very inspiring post
You make me feel like ‘The Little Engine That Could’ Just written myself a 6 month plan of what i want to do with my blog & signed up for my 1st Blog Confrence in Manchester this month. Feeling excited #TheList
Making a blog profitable is very hard work, it does take hours and hours of time sat at a computer. For pro-bloggers it is a full-time job and then some. Your enthusiasm for blogging always shines through and you always try to pass on as much knowledge as you can, which is great. There’s no such thing as overnight success, it does take alot of grafting & I can tell you graft!
I love my blog, but I don’t put in lots of hours on it. It would be lovely to earn a living from writing, but I don’t work until 1am and I like to spend as much time away from a screen at the weekend and when my daughter is at home. I chose sleep, gardening and getting out & about over my blog! And because I don’t treat it like a full-time job, I don’t have a profitable blog, it’s simple really. If I wanted to make a living from it, I would have to dedicate many more hours to it…
Found your post via #TheList
A lot a great information here for a new blogger like me. I started mine as a sort of therapy – a way to work through how I was feeling about my kids growing up and leaving home. It has helped so much and energised me to find ways of us all spending time together – which I blog about. My teens roll their eyes a lot about my blog but I know that they’re just a bit impressed as well!! #TheList
Great affirmations and reminders in this post. It’s all too easy to let things slide #thelist
Great post! Blogging is a hell of a lot more work than most people think. I find people look at you like you’re crazy when you say that though!
‘Perfection isn’t a useful state to be seeking’ – boom you said it Aby! I struggle with this every day, but I’m quickly realising that I can’t spend hours tweaking. I need to learn when something is good enough. Brilliant post #TheList
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Thank you huni, I am so glad you liked it. Just get it done huni xx
on point and some valid points but definitely believe you have to love what you do to stay on track and keep going X #thelist
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Exactly, which was one of my points 🙂 x
I admire your commitment and honesty; I think I’ve always looked at each post as needing to be perfect, so taking so long to create. But reading your words has made me think differently.
Lovely to link up
#TheList
What a brilliant, honest and inspiring post, Aby! I love blogging and have worked my butt of the last few months to get paid work from brands. I will never earn enough to make it my full time job simply because I’m not willing to put in the hours and commitment you mentioned and that’s more than okay with me.
I’ve loved the brand work I’ve had so far, I love blogging in general, and if it’s just a hobby that makes me a bit of extra cash for treats and such then that is perfect for me 😀
I read the first bit and snorted – did anyone ever make instant money blogging?!! This is a labour of love! #thelist
Great point about not trying to be perfect! We all have to do the best we can with the time we have. Success can mean so many things when you have a blog. It could mean reaching your first 50 followers or 500 or 5000! Make sure you celebrate all of the little milestones too. They’re all down to your hard work #fortheloveofBLOG
Spot on Aby – as ever. I can’t imagine why anyone would start a blog because they thought it would be easy money. It IS hard work and If you aren’t passionate about it, you would soon get found out! I can see how much work you put into yours and you deserve all your success. Well done on the BritMums appointment! I love your generosity in helping others, particularly bloggers and thanks for keeping it real in this post. #thelist
I love this! I’ve come across some disappointing attitudes from other bloggers which I hadn’t expected; uber competitive and wanting the money and the freebies. It disappoints me because I feel it can make a mockery for those of us who write because it’s a passion. I am so dedicated to my blog and proud of what I’ve achieved in the short time I’ve been blogging. If I’m fortunate enough to be able to make a living off it that would be wonderful but right now I love that my writing entertains others and reassures them. xx #TheList
Some great honesty here and a bit of a wake- up call. I do whinge about no time – but you are right you have to love it too. And for 3.5 years I didn’t even think about earning as I LOVE it and got such a buzz from the comments saying I had helped and made a difference. That is worth a lot too but now I need to start paying the bills – so it would be amazing to blend the two!
I’ve just started to blog, purely to get those thoughts out, I call it personal counselling. Also it allows me to practice my writing. I think trying to earn money would pressurise any creative flow, so hats off to you for making it successful! Thanks for persevering! Pls don’t stop, but remember to take a little time off 😉
Great post. I definitely agree that you have to love what you do it makes everything so much easier x #TheList
Great post Aby my biggest challenge is working around illness but I am pushing to do it 🙂 I want to be a success and love blogging- in particular I love sharing photos and our fashion posts and fun adventures! I love that!
It’s like you wrote this just for me!