2008-06-14 07:24:10
Seven Habits of Highly Successful Bloggers
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The world of "blogging" has always been fascinating to me.
People tucked away in all corners of the world developing huge followings (and massive income streams) by blogging about their day-to-day lives. People that make tens of thousands of dollars per month talking about their business and personal lives. People that started out with a single post, and have now become "famous on the Internet". People that used to have normal 9-5 jobs who are now suddenly being quoted in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. How can you not be fascinated with this world?
In my time following the "big" names in the personal development and "make money online" spaces (Steve Pavlina, John Chow, Shoemoney, etc) I have noticed certain philosophies that all of these bloggers seem to share. Considering that all of these bloggers that I noted make in excess of $30,000 per month from their personal blogs, it must be working for them.
1. Regular Posting Schedule.
A regular posting schedule is absolutely crucial when it comes to developing a popular blog. You simply can not build an audience for your site if you are only posting sporadically. Would you watch a show on television that showed new episodes every couple of months and at random times? I don't think so.
All of the ultra-successful and popular blogs that I follow have regular posting schedules. Some post multiple times per day, while others post every couple of days. Every blog has a posting routine though, which is critical to their success. I can not stress this enough.
2. Self-Promotion.
All of the successful bloggers that I read know how to promote themselves. Some have books (Darren Rowse at Problogger.net) while others have T-shirts (Shoemoney). Most of these successful bloggers take any opportunity that they can to appear on radio or television shows. They usually don't turn down interviews. They use every opportunity to get their names out there, and it works.
3. Interacting with Their Readers.
Twitter. Responding to comments. Question and answer sessions with their readers. Their own radio shows where readers and listening can call in. Answering emails. Bloggers benefit tremendously from being in touch with their readers. It creates an unbelievably loyal readership, and is crucial to the success of most blogs.
4. Posting Income Numbers.
People are fascinated with how much money these bloggers make. Most readers of these blogs likely have a blog themselves. Most readers see themselves operating blogs with large readership numbers one day, so they are naturally intensely curious about how much money these "big" bloggers are making. Most "big" blogs that I read on an ongoing basis take time out every month to talk about how much money they generated in the past month. This is a big marketing tool for the site - the more they make, the more readers that they will have.
5. Glimpses into their Personal Lives.
As well as wanting to know how much money they make, readers are also usually very curious about the ongoing personal lives of the bloggers. Are they vacationing? If so, where? What did they do before they started the blog? What is their family life like? How many hours per day do they work? What does their office setup look like? Do they have kids? Again, offering readers a glimpse into your personal life will usually result in even more readers. People love to read about the successful blogger who still has time for their family, because this is what most readers aspire to be one day as well.
6. Heavy promotion of their RSS feeds.
All of the bloggers that I read on a daily basis promote their RSS feeds heavily. And why not? A large number of people subscribed to their RSS feeds means more traffic for the site, which equals more money for the bloggers. Telling an advertiser that you have 40,000 people subscribed to your feed is a pretty powerful statement.
7. Interaction with Other Bloggers.
Most successful bloggers are not closed off to other bloggers, even if they are "competition". They can mean being interviewed on a "rival" blog, or appearing on a radio show that is hosting by another blogger. Whatever the case may be, I have noticed that the truly successful bloggers, as mentioned in #2, don't tend to turn down interview requests from other big sites, even if that means providing a "rival" blog with content. They will gladly take the extra promotion, which is the smart way to approach things in the end. You can only get so far by being closed off and introverted.
Filed under: Making Money Online | Motivational | General Knowledge
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