Archive for Development
Recognizing the Phases of Building Your Blog
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It is both interesting and challenging to watch the building of your blog. Much like the construction of a house, there is so much material to be assembled that the task seems daunting. You want to use the very best materials for the assembly, but you don’t quite understand how it all fits together, so you follow a blueprint provided by someone who had build one before you.
Even then, much of what’s on the list of materials may make little sense initially, but you continue to follow the instructions provided in hopes of finding success.
Like any house or structure, it all begins with the foundation. A strong foundation is a must if you want this house to stand up to the winds of blogging. You know these winds will arrive at some point and you cannot have your house begin to lose materials and take on an appearance of shabbiness. If this occurs, people with not want to visit and those that do will not stay very long.
So you continue to build in hopes that this will someday begin to take on the appearance laid out on the blueprint. Early on, you also recognize the fact that you cannot build this alone and that help will be required during the various phases of construction.
After the foundation phase has been completed you turn to the next phase, which is to erect some exterior walls. These are needed to protect what you hope will be your most valued assets, your content and the various systems required to protect it and keep it in good order.
You can now begin to see the formation of the house, as it has started to resemble the blueprint you’ve been working from. At this phase, you’ve allowed yourself a slight smile, feeling that perhaps you CAN actually pull off this construction project, but realizing that there remains so much work to do.
Pressing ahead and having gained a level of confidence, you turn your attention to the roof which will fully enclose the structure and keep out unwanted elements, thereby protecting what lies within. Again, the process is quite slow as you assemble this section piece by piece.
Perseverance and hard work eventually gets the job done and you have a structure that looks exactly like the blueprint. This brings a high level of satisfaction tempered by the fact that you must now turn the page and begin the infrastructure phase.
Once again you reach up to scratch your head as you look at the blueprint, seeing the many elements that will make up various systems to support your house and make it function efficiently. You may even wonder if you will ever complete this project as you realize that there are far more intricacies to this than you ever could have imagined.
Having come this far you press on, but you now realize that this project will never be finished because it is a living thing that requires the continual building of systems and the associated maintenance thereof. This realization however, brings a great sense of accomplishment because you now know that you can handle the job.
As you continue to work on this house of yours, visitors, through various means of feedback, will let you know how you are doing and whether you need to adjust your plan.
This is the great challenge of blogging, having a plan but not truly knowing with absolute certainty if your plan will require some adjustments along the way.
More than likely there will be adjustments which is why bloggers must be both receptive and flexible. Without these traits, your hard work up to this point may well go out the window.
In the end, it was the enjoyment of the challenge that drew us in. Reaching your goals and achieving that sought-after level of success is the reward for taking on the challenges and being nimble enough to conquer them.
Keep Blogging!
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The Blogging Life – When the Light Comes On
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Every day thousands upon thousands of new bloggers hit the trail in search of a successful online business launch that will eventually position them to lead the life of their dreams.
This enthusiasm is met by a long protracted uphill climb toward recognition and authority. We need not rehash the many challenges of building a brand and gaining the trust of your readership, we all know the drill. But somewhere along that journey, a light comes on. Suddenly the blogger has a clearer vision than ever before with regard to reaching his or her goals.
It’s funny how this transition occurs as it will likely happen during a low point in your blogging career. In the midst of your second and third-guessing your decisions to pursue this craft, a light comes on and suddenly you get it. The light represents a realization, a sudden consciousness of exactly what needs to occur during the remainder of your blogging journey.
When the light comes on
- You’ll realize that you don’t need to type 600 words to say nothing and call it a blog post.
- You’ll discover that less is more; meaning 3 good posts this week beats the heck out of 5 duds.
- It becomes apparent that no matter how pretty and colorful your blog is, no one really cares because that is not the reason they arrived there in the first place.
- You’ll then know that one of the most important things about blogging is to find out what people are struggling with and provide solutions to those problems.
- There will be no need to wonder what you can write about that has not already been written about before. You’ll know that you can expand upon and add to the topic.
- Suddenly you realize that your blog is not at all about you, it’s about your audience and it is their needs and wants that come first.
- The fact that you cannot blog on an island all alone will be made perfectly clear. The importance of relationship building comes sharply into focus.
- You’ll understand the importance of being yourself and allowing people to perceive you as a real, honest individual, which is critical to your acceptance and subsequent success.
- It becomes clear that not only will you have to become a better blogger, but a highly skilled marketer as well.
- You would have learned how to focus and avoid information overload, which is the crippling disease of paralysis on the internet.
- You will have emerged from the darkness of blogging in the blind, hoping that the correct path magically opens before you.
- The values of time management skills are fully understood.
- An awareness that blogging is a real business that must be taken seriously will come over you.
- You’ll also know when to wrap up a blog post, which is about now.
This concludes my inspirational post of the week and I hope that it served as a reminder to some and a guide for others to remain strong in your commitments and stay on point.
Keep Blogging!
Readers of this article may also find interest in:
The Blogging Life – Reinforcing the Commitment
The Future of Professional Blogging
The Difference Between Failure and Success
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