I picked up some bad blogging habits over the years.
But re-learning blogging allowed me to replace the bad habits with good habits.
Letting go of what does not work makes room for what does work.
Admitting that you were wrong gives you space to blog the right way.
However, releasing bad habits to make way for good habits involves re-learning in most cases. I had to learn how to blog successfully from professional bloggers before developing successful habits. Re-learning felt highly uncomfortable. Who deeply enjoys letting go of comfortable strategies to begin engaging in highly uncomfortable blogging tactics?
For example, I suffered through a stretch of engaging on blog comment and post share threads. Even though bloggers may experience some success on these threads there is a good reason why top pros never seem to be spotted on such threads. Blogging, guest blogging, and driving Google traffic are far more powerful, dependable ways to drive highly targeted, quality blog traffic in hefty volumes.
My ego feared letting go of the comfortable but failing strategy of participating in threads for the fears, discomfort, and work involved in embracing a committed guest blogging strategy. Even though I love writing, the amount of time, attention, and energy involved in guest blogging far supersedes that of working threads.
But since guest blogging returns dwarf thread returns I let go of the failing strategy to make room for the successful strategy. I decided to write and publish guest posts versus working blogging threads and never looked back. However, learning the nuances of guest posting felt far different than tapping a retweet button and dropping thin blog comments.
I humbled myself, learned how to guest blog, worked diligently, and experienced greater blogging success.
Table of Contents
Be Humble
Re-learning blogging requires you to be humble.
I recall enjoying lunch with one of the top bloggers on earth. Humble me knew to shut my mouth, to open my ears, and to learn from the icon.
He mentioned guest blogging up to 14 times each week to share value and to drive a high volume of quality backlinks to his website. Each high-quality link pointing to his site improved his SERPs, added credibility to his blog, and drove targeted blog traffic for him.
I re-learned how to amplify my success by following his guest blogging strategy. But being humble enough to not act like a “know-it-all jerk” laid the foundation for me to learn and follow his guest posting strategy.
Instead of arrogantly blogging for links and scant traffic on unknown blogs, I learned how to build relationships with top bloggers, publish high-quality content, and I gained links from reputable sites in addition to driving steady blog traffic.
Humble yourself. Learn from professional bloggers. Listen closely to reader feedback to learn from your community. Successful bloggers learn, adapt, and thrive. Arrogant bloggers stop learning, resist change and fail.
Leave Your Comfort Zone
Learning blogging again involves facing fear.
The moment you leave your comfort zone fear awaits you.
Any time you learn a new skill facing discomfort seems to be part of the journey.
Hug discomfort. Expect to feel uncomfortable.
Imagine learning how to write and publish 1500-word, SEO-optimized blog posts after writing and publishing thin, 600-word blog posts for years. Your ego may whine or even scream the moment the post count passes 600 words. Prepare yourself to edge deeper into fear as you write in-depth content. Be ready to observe your ego’s desire to skill all-important SEO details suggested by plug-ins because adding critical details feels like a waste of time, too much work, and a pain in the rump.
Be with your fears. Proceed to publish the detailed, thorough, SEO-optimized blog post yielding targeted blog traffic passively from Google.
Blogging Warning Signs
Struggling with your blog campaign is a sure sign that you need to re-learn blogging.
Do you believe that you know it all as a seasoned blogger? Re-learn blogging; at least on some level. Arrogant bloggers need to eat humble pie along with re-learning aspects of the trade.
Did you lose your passion for blogging? Dive back into continuing your blog publishing education. Re-introduce yourself to basic fundamentals. Or perhaps you need to discover the fundamentals of successful blogging for the first time.
Stop hurrying. Rushing through your blogging workday reveals that you need to learn how to blog the right way since doing it the wrong way is the sole reason for hurrying. Learn how to blog slowly, confidently, and successfully as pro bloggers do. For example, top pros slowly, patiently, and deliberately write highly detailed, SEO-optimized blog posts to drive high-quality blog traffic. Learn how to calm your mind in order to publish Google-friendly content. Succeed by learning how to blog successfully, confidently, and peacefully.
No Blogger Knows it All
I have seen quite a bit during the prior 14 years of blogging.
But I know little about blogging compared to the collective knowledge base accumulated by millions of bloggers. Anthony knows a great deal about building a thriving online business with sound internet marketing techniques. I routinely learn how to be a diligent outreach dynamo from his shining example too.
I learn blogging, and sometimes re-learn it, in order to be more helpful for a larger group of people. No blogger knows it all. Everyone needs to re-learn some fundamentals at times because fear derails even the most successful bloggers from time to time.
The moment you believe that you know it all is the moment aspiring bloggers leapfrog you and your blog on the success ladder. Learned bloggers may appear to know much but voracious learners run laps around everyone else over the long haul.
My best blogging stretches align with when I am fully open to learning. Everything genuinely takes off in moments I re-learn blogging. Admitting how I do not know it all always preceded periods where I re-learned various blogging fundamentals.
Admit Your Blogging Struggles
Own blogging struggles.
Admit how you need to re-learn certain basics.
Maybe you need to re-learn how to do blogger outreach the right way after 1 blogger replied to your 1000 cold pitch emails from the week prior. Perhaps you need to re-learn how to monetize your blog after netting $5 in profits over the past year.
Own failure to move in a successful direction.
Re-learn blogging from professional bloggers to chart a successful path.
Ryan Biddulph is the founder of Blogging From Paradise where he helps you grow your blog and become a professional blogger.
6 Responses
Coming back to blogging (again) after a long layoff has been fun for me. But I definitely feel the limits of my comfort zone already. Posting daily is hard work, no matter how much you love creating content.
And it hasn’t even been a month yet.
Some great blogging tips here. I am constantly learning and relearning how to be a successful blogger. So I appreciate posts like these with advice that has stood the test of time.
Man, 14 years (now 15 years) of blogging! What a crazy ride.
Hi Chris, thanks for reading! As bloggers, we definitely need to be open to forgetting what we know and re-learning the trade every so often. Things in the digital world change regularly, and if we aren’t on top of things, we fall behind. I’ll drop by and check out your blog!
Hey, thank you. I appreciate that.
No blogger knows it all! That is absolutely true! Sometimes, I feel that I have come a long way in my 6-month blogging journey, and that I know a lot of things now. But I soon make myself realize that its just the tip of the iceberg, especially when I see what other successful bloggers have achieved.
And the other way around is also true. Sometimes I stumble upon a blog post by a pro and really think that I know more than what is written in the post. So never overestimate as well as underestimate yourself.
Continually strive to learn new things because no subject is definite. There’s always room for improvement. The more you learn, the more you grow.
Such a natural-sounding post by Ryan, as always! Thanks, Ryan for this one.
Ali from Infoverses
That’s a great way to put it. Never over or under estimate yourself. We all have a lot to learn, no matter how far we are along in our blogging journey. But on the flipside, there are some bloggers that claim to be amazing who are truly not that great. Always be learning and growing. Thats the key.
Learn, grow and get more comfortable with blogging, Ali. You are checking off all boxes. This is the long-haul blogging journey. Great comment.