95% is not a made up number. The overwhelming majority of blogs end up failing. Most of the time they end up failing because they don’t build up a solid foundation when they first start. This is especially true for Steemit blogs as the platform brings in more and more users.
Without a solid foundation, how will you build a strong blog in the long term, or even in the short term?
I’m writing this post because in order to learn from mistakes (or prevent them from happening), you first need to be aware of the problems you could be making and quickly fix them.
Without further ado, here are why 95% of Steemit blogs are doomed to fail before they even start.
1. They Don’t Set Goals.
You’ve heard it a million times. But it’s absolutely true. In order to build a solid foundation for anything you want to accomplish in life, setting goals is essential for success.
Goal setting is super simple, yet nobody wants to make goal setting a priority which is what makes it a commonly overlooked step.
Goals consist of two main types: long term and short term goals. Long term goals the major stepping stones to your overall mission. Short term goals are goals leading up to those major stepping stones.
Here is what you need to do right this second.
Write down your big overall vision/mission.
For example, your main goal could be to make $1,000 dollars on Steemit in 3 months. Of course you could go larger than that, but as an example it will do.
Write the steps to achieving that mission.
You have your mission, now what? Well, now it’s time to think about the smaller steps that will lead up to the larger goals. For example, if your mission is to make $1,000 dollars on Steemit in 3 months, your short term goals could be:
Week 1:
- Post introduceyourself article.
- Set up social media accounts.
- Build reputation by writing helpful comments.
- Begin brainstorming post ideas.
- Post and promote first blog post.
Week 2:
- Pre-write multiple posts
- Get involved in the community
- Etcetera…
Give the goals a deadline.
Every goal needs a deadline. Make sure to add the time and day in which you need to finish it.
If your goal is to post your introduceyourself in the first week, prioritize it by writing, “Post introduceyourself article by Monday at 11:00am”.
Without a deadline, you won’t have a clear point in which your goals need to be completed, and you will never get anything done.
Hold yourself accountable. (Optional)
If you want to force yourself to succeed, this is probably the best way to do it.
First, put yourself in a position where if you don’t achieve your goal, you’ll suffer pain. This pain can be embarrassment, humiliation, or physical pain (not recommended).
For example, to hold yourself accountable, tell everyone on Twitter that you will be posting on Monday at 11:00am.
If you don’t, your followers will lose trust in you and you’ll most likely feel guilty about it as your credibility slowly slips away.
2. They Choose the Wrong Niche.
Or even worse, not choosing a niche at all.
If you want to be successful on Steemit, you’re going to have to make it clear
to your readers exactly what subjects you talk about.
Many bloggers will randomly switch their niche and talk about something completely unrelated to what they were talking about to begin with.
If you switch your niche all of a sudden, you’ll get into the habit of always lacking consistency and consistency is key for following through on any goals you may have.
How to find your perfect niche:
Pick a topic that you love writing about.
If you chose something that you love writing about, you’re more likely to put in the time and effort to make it something you’re proud of.
You’re also less likely to abandon the topic along with running out of ideas.
Plus, if you love your topic, it will shine through in your writing and readers can feel that. This allows you to build connections with your readers for happier relationships.
For me, I love marketing. I’ve noticed there is a ton of high quality content just waiting to be found. So I share the marketing skills that I’ve come across and implemented to help content creators optimize and promote their content so it can be seen and loved all over the world.
It’s definitely a unique passion to have at 16 years old.
For you, it might be travel, economics, politics, business, writing, video games, art, heck, even construction working. Anything that you love to write about, just do it.
Find an uncompetitive niche and take advantage of it.
Since Steemit is brand spanking new, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to choose almost any topic you’d like.
The only niches I’ve found on Steemit to be somewhat competitive are talking about Steem/Steemit, Travel, Art, and personal stories. That’s it. And those niches aren’t even THAT competitive. (Except maybe the talking about Steemit niche that is flooded with whales.)
However, if you’re reading this post a few months after this post was created, make sure you look for niches that can easily be improved on.
Personally, I haven’t seen a single blog on Steemit that’s main focus is on marketing. This leaves me with a wide open opportunity to dominate the topic.
Make sure the niche has an audience.
In other words, don’t enter a niche that’s too specific. (e.g. the Kung Fu Panda Master Shifu niche)
Now, if you’re goal is to help people in your niche, you need to make sure that people are actually searching for information on the topic.
To make sure that your niche has an audience, just search it up on Google. And if people are sharing content on that topic, it’s a good sign that there are people who can benefit from your content as well.
3. They Lack the Correct Mindset.
Having the right mindset is crucial for anybody who is hoping to have any success in any area in life. However, the majority of blogs fail because they lack in places that are important for reaching that success. Here are nine things you might be lacking that slow you down and hold you back from achieving your goals:
Lack of consistency.
You give up easily.
If you want to achieve that success that you’re craving so badly, you need to make working towards your goal a habit.
Lack of effort.
You don’t try hard enough.
If you want your work to add value to people’s lives, you’re going to have to put in a little bit of elbow grease.
People can tell whether you put 4 hours into your work versus 40 minutes.
Lack of results.
Results are what keep you moving forward. Results should be your motivation. If you’re not getting results, you need to do what Jeff Berwick of @DollarVigilante says, "Always do the most extreme thing to get out of a problem you can’t fix."
If you’re not getting results, change things up. Try new things.
Lack of focus.
You need to make Steemit a priority and take it seriously.
If you’re not concentrating, you won’t put in the time and effort that’s needed. And this is why it’s so important to choose a niche/topic that you love because you’ll want to put in the time and effort, which allows for enhanced focus.
Lack of promotion.
If you want people to see your post, you have to spread the word.
Nobody is going to come to your post if they don’t know about it. A Lot of people rely on only one source of traffic, the “new” category on Steemit. With this, you’ll be lucky to even get 3 upvotes.
You need to get the word out. And I’ve been saying this in all of my posts.
Lack of unique content.
Doing what everybody else is doing gets you nowhere.
Sometimes I’ll read posts that tell their readers to look at the trending page and write similar posts that the whales are doing.
Of course it may be good to look at the topics of what they’re writing about and what gets a lot of traffic and upvotes.
But if everyone is writing the about the same things, how will any readers be able to find information other than that same old content?
Lack of personality.
You have no voice.
Personality is what makes your posts exciting to read and what keeps your readers on the edge.
In order to do well on Steemit, you need to develop an engaging personality.
First off, embrace your own personality and stop trying to imitate others.
Another tip is to simply write how you talk. Avoid using “um” and “uh” in your writing. But definitely make sure to use your real life personality in your writing. This will make you sound genuinely authentic and your readers know when you’re being real versus being fake.
Lack of interest.
If you get bored often, you probably shouldn’t be writing.
Of course I’m not telling you to give up whenever you get tired or overwhelmed.
If you do find yourself getting bored, try to change things up such as your writing style, the time you write, and the place where you write.
Another reason you might be losing interest is because you set your expectations too high. For example, your goal might be to make $10,000 on Steemit in one week. That’s pretty unrealistic. And if you don’t reach that goal in one week, you’ll begin to feel defeated and lose motivation.
Lack of ideas.
You don’t innovate.
If you want to write long term, you’re going to need ideas. Here’s how to get them.
Use social media. Look at what kind of posts people are reading and sharing. A great tool for this is BuzzSumo. You just type in the keyword or niche of what you’re writing about and you’re able find great ideas based on how many shares certain posts got.
Another great way to find ideas is to ask your readers what they want to read about. Ask people in your comments after you post, “If you have any good ideas for future posts, please comment.”.
Finally, you can get ideas just by looking at what others in your niche are writing about. Sometimes I’ll go to Quicksprout, HubSpot, and CopyBlogger for ideas.
Conclusion
If you liked this post, make sure to upvote and follow for more awesome content. Also, please share this with anybody you know who is struggling to get their blog off the ground.
Make sure to express any questions, comments or feedback you may have down below.
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