Blogging for Profit: Tips for Working Through a Discouragement Phase

The early stage of any serious business effort is often fraught with anxiety. You start out at a caffeine-overload level, and then the realities of the work involved hit you like a ton of bricks and you start to crash and burn. The crash can prove fatal, or merely be a point of correction leading to subsequent revitalization.

Blogging is a business enterprise, even though it might be done just for fun with no intent of profit. A blogger owns a media property and can make of it whatever seems desirable. There are probably thousands of inactive or seldom updated blogs. Why do some blogs blossom and flourish, while others don't? I believe the answer lies in the depth of commitment that the blogger brings to the enterprise.

Unless the blogger has help and support available from others with technical knowledge and experience in the field of blogging, discouragement does come easily in the early stages of blogging. The novice blogger is designing the site, trying to add the appropriate widgets and whatnots to add subscribers and make everything work right, doing the writing, figuring out how to eventually monetize, sharpening the focus, figuring out analytical data, setting goals - in general, burning the candle at both ends.

If you are blogging for fun and it is no longer fun, then letting the blog go by the wayside is probably the practical thing to do. You can table it or completely dump it, and be none the worse for wear in the process.

If you are blogging for income, however, discarding the blog is something you want to avoid if you can possibly do so. Money earned at first? Zip. Effort expended at first? Tons. That's why there is a need for commitment. When the candle you are burning at both ends starts flickering and your energy lags, then discouragement is right around the corner.

If you are blogging for income and you've entered a discouragement phase, here are some tips to help you overcome that discouragement:

1. Never, ever consider giving up if, deep in your heart of hearts, you truly want the blog to succeed. Be steadfast in your commitment to succeed.

2. Take a step back and look at your blog objectively. Don't compare it to the other masterful blogs on the internet. Just focus on your own blog.

3. Think back to the very roots of its origin and what it looked like then. Now look at all of the improvements that you've made, which are sure to be many. Pat yourself on the back - you deserve it.

4. Analyze why you are discouraged. What are the current sticking points? Can you solve those on your own, or do you need to seek help or advice from someone?

5. Prioritize. Commit to working on only one problem at a time. Get that problem solved to your own satisfaction before moving on to the next one. Success breeds success.

6. When the problems are solved, work on one new improvement goal at a time.

7. Cut yourself some slack. Rome wasn't built in a day, and a successful blog won't be up and running in a short period of time, either. You slog, tweak, slog, tweak, and so on until you build up page views, eventually monetize and bring in some income, and then begin to really enjoy the full fruits of your labor. I'm not there yet, but I'm on my way!

8. If you don't quit, you will win.

I'm writing from experience, having hit a discouragement phase myself with my own blog, and then applying these tips to work through it. My enthusiasm still waxes and wanes depending on how things shape up each day, but I'm determined to stay especially focused on tips #1 and #8 until I really enjoy the full fruits of my labor.

I remember this from my professional management days: No guts, no glory! Stay tuned for more from me regarding blogging - I'm in it for the long haul.

See also: Finding a Focus for Your Blog

Source: Personal experience from R.C.'s Twin Cities Beat
http://rcjohnsonwriter.com/