Let us use a typical real life example as an analogy for creating a successful blog.
You move into a new flat in a different city.
You spend a great deal of time picking the right flat to move into.
After all, you don't want to move into a bad neighbourhood.
The outside of the flat is pretty and attractive, while you spend a great deal of time both finding and arranging the furniture to your taste.
So the big day comes and your new flat is ready.
You sit back and admire your new home.
Then you realise that as you've moved to a new city you haven't got any friends nearby.
So you sit in and wait for new friends to knock on the door.
Nobody comes.
You sit in night after night waiting for new friends to come and knock on the door.
But nobody comes.
Starting a blog is like this.
No matter how long you take on picking the right niche, working on the design and writing the articles, just launching it and expecting web users to come won't work.
Even established and internationally known digital companies such as Google and Facebook can't just launch a product or service and expect an audience to find it, keep coming back and refer it to their friends.
But yet, this "build it and they will come" attitude is prevalent and is often the downfall of many new bloggers, applications and campaign microsites.
There's much work involved in promoting a blog or other type of website in finding the right target audience, making sure it meets their needs and having them return.
It me be the case that you are already a celebrity in your own right and so your name is already a brand, but unfortunately for the rest of us there are no shortcuts and the work takes countless hours of often repetitious, dull tasks.
Going back to the analogy of moving into a new flat in a new city, I would say that it takes a good three years to build up a new network of friends.
The same too with building a blog as it takes a good three years to go from nowhere to creating a wide ranging network of visitors and fellow bloggers.
And as for making money, forget it.
You may end up being one of the 0.
001% of bloggers who can actually earn a living out of their writing, but otherwise don't expect an equal return for all the hours that you are going to put into making it a success.
Unfortunately, there seems to be prevailing attitude amongst many new bloggers that in this "gold rush" all it takes is to pick up the gold nuggets that are scattered around.
Most of these bloggers with this attitude give up disillusioned.
Blog for fun first, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't go about your business with determination and a sense of purpose.
The most vital part of aiming to be a successful blogger is reading others experience, and not just before you start but continuously throughout your blogging time.
Make sure you find other blogs, forums and social networking sites and subscribe to their RSS feed.
Learn from those that are already successful at it.
You move into a new flat in a different city.
You spend a great deal of time picking the right flat to move into.
After all, you don't want to move into a bad neighbourhood.
The outside of the flat is pretty and attractive, while you spend a great deal of time both finding and arranging the furniture to your taste.
So the big day comes and your new flat is ready.
You sit back and admire your new home.
Then you realise that as you've moved to a new city you haven't got any friends nearby.
So you sit in and wait for new friends to knock on the door.
Nobody comes.
You sit in night after night waiting for new friends to come and knock on the door.
But nobody comes.
Starting a blog is like this.
No matter how long you take on picking the right niche, working on the design and writing the articles, just launching it and expecting web users to come won't work.
Even established and internationally known digital companies such as Google and Facebook can't just launch a product or service and expect an audience to find it, keep coming back and refer it to their friends.
But yet, this "build it and they will come" attitude is prevalent and is often the downfall of many new bloggers, applications and campaign microsites.
There's much work involved in promoting a blog or other type of website in finding the right target audience, making sure it meets their needs and having them return.
It me be the case that you are already a celebrity in your own right and so your name is already a brand, but unfortunately for the rest of us there are no shortcuts and the work takes countless hours of often repetitious, dull tasks.
Going back to the analogy of moving into a new flat in a new city, I would say that it takes a good three years to build up a new network of friends.
The same too with building a blog as it takes a good three years to go from nowhere to creating a wide ranging network of visitors and fellow bloggers.
And as for making money, forget it.
You may end up being one of the 0.
001% of bloggers who can actually earn a living out of their writing, but otherwise don't expect an equal return for all the hours that you are going to put into making it a success.
Unfortunately, there seems to be prevailing attitude amongst many new bloggers that in this "gold rush" all it takes is to pick up the gold nuggets that are scattered around.
Most of these bloggers with this attitude give up disillusioned.
Blog for fun first, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't go about your business with determination and a sense of purpose.
The most vital part of aiming to be a successful blogger is reading others experience, and not just before you start but continuously throughout your blogging time.
Make sure you find other blogs, forums and social networking sites and subscribe to their RSS feed.
Learn from those that are already successful at it.
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