3 Phases of the Blogger’s Evolution and How to Get Through Them Faster
After 8-9 months of doing this I’ve realized that just like the phases you go through in developing any skill bloggers go through an evolution of sorts.
The way I approach blogging today is very different than it was when I started. I wanted to write this post in the hopes that I can help you avoid going through some of the more useless parts of this evolution. Let’s break it down.
The Dabbler: If you started your blog in the last month, unless you are Henri Juntilla who skipped all these steps really fast, then this is you. You’ve been thinking about getting into blogging and you see that people are out there making money. So, why not give it a try. After all, how hard can it be? You’re about to find out.
The Writer: There’s a big difference between writers and bloggers. Writers write. Bloggers have a whole other set of challenges and problems to overcome. I’m not saying writers don’t (just to be clear), it’s just that there’s more to blogging than just good writing. If you’re a great writer and nobody is reading what you write, then it doesn’t matter if you’re writing articles that could win a Pulitzer.
The Promoter: By about the end of the first month you might be wondering why nobody is reading your blog so you’ll go and start promoting. It’s the “listen to me, listen to me. I have something to say” mind set. You tweet the hell out of everything, share it on Facebook, put it on forums, etc, etc. Nobody seems to care what you have to say and for the most part we probably don’t.
Phase II
The Learner: After quite a bit of trial and error you start to pay more attention to what people are doing. You identify patterns, you read about best practices and you start to implement them into your blogging efforts. You get rewarded with slight bumps in traffic and you figure that’s it, you’re on to something. This works until the time comes when you have to adapt. After a while it’s just not enough, which take us the next phase.
The Listener: I have said it before and I will say it again. Relationships will make you grow faster and help you build a more loyal following than any other tactic or technique out there. As I started connecting with more people through the interviews over at BlogcastFM, I’ve evolved much more in record time than I did in the early days of my personal blog The Skool of Life.
Be real, be authentic, and if you ask for help, most people will provide it. The other day I was approached by an aspiring blogger who said he liked my blog and was wondering if I would mentor him through the process of getting started. I said yes because it was a win-win. I would imagine that won’t be as easy as a blog gets bigger, but these kinds of things lay the groundwork. Help people and they will return the favor many times over without even knowing it.
The blogger: Welcome to the club. You’ve survived the first 8 months. Now we’ll take what you have to say a bit more seriously. Given that so many blogs don’t last past a certain time period, credibility tends to go the ones who’ve been around (with the occasional exception).
You’ve realized relationships are key, and now your writing great content, you’re submitting guest posts, you’re traffic is growing and things are great. One slight problem: it’s all kind of meaningless because it doesn’t translate to revenue. That’s when you finally realize blogs don’t make money, businesses do and that takes you to phase 3.
Phase III
The marketer: Any good business has to market itself and get its name out there. At this point you realize the blog is just a platform for marketing your business. Traffic growth is nothing more than a marketing tactic. Building a community and relationships are part of a business strategy. You’re getting your name out there, making friends, and it’s all going well. The problem still is that you haven’t thought about revenue.
The entrepreneur: At last you evolve. You realize that your blog will never be the thing that makes you money directly. Maybe if you have a shitload of traffic you can sell advertising for chump change. That doesn’t seem to be very effective. You realize that products, services, and passive income streams are going to be necessary. Fortunately by the time you arrive here you’ve had 8 months of experience to figure out what you might be able to turn into a product.
Personally, I think this evolution sucks. It’s an inefficient use of time and you can avoid it by doing a few things.
1) Think of it as a business from day 1
2) Keep an idea log (write down ideas for making money every time you have them)
3) Skip Phase 1 entirely and start in Phase 2
4) Write your best content for other blogs that are more well known
5) Stick around for the party because there will be one if you stay long enough.
Srinivas Rao is a personal development blogger and avid surfer at The Skool of Life where obsesses over riding waves and finding life lessons in the ocean. He also is the host and co-founder of BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers.
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