Various business owners published content designed solely to appease the “getting mechanism”.
Everyone is highly entitled to getting traffic and making money.
But if blogging becomes *all* about getting you usually struggle, fail and quit since *loving the blogging process* brings worldly rewards.
In rare cases, the getting mechanism yields great worldly success for folks clear on receiving money.
However, this crowd gradually learns that earning profits without passion is like consuming a diet consisting of bread and water. No matter how much bread and water you acquire and eat you will never feel satiated, fulfilled and flat out good.
Think through that analogy closely. Imagine hungering for more bread and water. First you do whatever you can to secure 100 loaves of bread. Chasing 100 jugs of water follows.
What do you have at the end of the day?
Bread and water for the next 50 days if you consume 2 loaves of bread and 2 jugs of water daily.
Does it feel good to subsist on bread and water, no matter how much you can get your hands on?
Nope.
Similarly, bloggers discover how acquiring more money without adding the passion component to the process does not elicit peace of mind, happiness, and freedom.
How can you live in peace if you feel empty each time you reach a new blogging income goal?
This is the getting mechanism in graphic action.
The Getting Mechanism
The getting mechanism knows one word: more.
Getters want to get no matter what.
The getting mechanism usually leads to failure since you need to love giving in order to lay a rock-solid foundation for your blogging campaign.
I listened to a mindset trainer a few weeks ago.
He noted how a few billionaires he spoke to initially tried to generate more billions before coming across his school of thought. Gradually, each of these getting mechanism folks learned how a deeper connection with spirit is the answer to their mental restlessness. Making more money to buy more yachts and more water skis is not the answer, this crowd eventually learned.
Blogging Review
I reviewed my blogging campaign recently.
Things moved along OK.
But I also took my foot off of the cyber pedal in the giving department.
I also seemed to be a little too focused on taking.
Lesson learned.
Blogging gets easier when you give and a lot tougher when you take.
By this, I mean the basic idea of being generous frees you to succeed. Helping readers freely increases your skills, exposure, and credibility in a wonderful way. Success genuinely sprints towards free givers.
Unfortunately, most bloggers focus on getting or taking. This getting mechanism in the mind ruins any possibility of becoming successful because how can you succeed when focused on trying to get as much traffic and income with as little as giving as possible?
True; we are all entitled to leverage our time and talents on some level. Reaching a high number of targeted readers per act seems to make sense.
But when taking or getting becomes the sole object of blogging you missed the point. Never mind the fact that succeeding becomes impossible if you skip the skills development necessary in order to succeed.
How Can You Be Helpful?
How can you be truly helpful?
Ponder this question for a while.
Give it deep thought.
For me, being truly helpful means writing and publishing blog posts, guest posts, and genuine blog comments. I do that best. Writing is in my wheelhouse.
Perhaps other talents resonate deeply with you.
Do you love podcasting? Maybe you enjoy creating videos. Perhaps you want to publish some other form of content.
Or maybe you are a master networker who does your best work on the social media side of things.
Whatever feels soulful to you simply go for it.
Doing what you love doing blogging-wise is an easy but sometimes uncomfortable way to let go the taking-getting mechanism from your mind. I am learning this a little bit more daily. Doing what I love doing moves the focus away from what I get from the doings. I seem less concerned with taking if I am busy giving.
Does that make sense?
How to Apply in a Getting-Focused Blogging World
Reading this post may feel all hunky dory to you.
Giving feels fun.
Obsessing over getting does feel stressful when you really think about it.
But 10 seconds after feeling good about giving and focusing less on getting you may see a post about how to get 6 figures through blogging.
Temptation arises. The urge to get seems powerful once again.
The ego rears its head again.
The getting mechanism seems alive and well again.
The only way through the getting mechanism and its seeming stranglehold on the blogging world is facing it head on and forgiving it.
You will never convince most bloggers to stop blogging about money outcomes because they really want it and readers seem to really want to make large amounts of money.
Both parties tend to suffer a rude awakening because even highly successful, top earners discover sooner than later that money does not make you permanently happy even if it appears to create permanent freedom.
Understand this concept and you will move on from the getting mechanism firmly and definitely.
Trying to make 6 figures does not give you lasting happiness.
Making 5 figures does not give you lasting happiness.
Lasting happiness occurs from within via mind training.
Sustained happiness is in giving not trying to get.
True giving never asks.
Before you fall prey to another 6 figure promise – legit or not – ask yourself if you want freedom, happiness, and liberation or to spend time trying to get a specific amount of an illusory means of exchange.
Thinking it through this way puts the getting mechanism in your rear window for good.
Believe it or not, becoming a professional blogger involves:
listening to your readers and solving their problems through your blog posts
building your blogger friend network by helping bloggers in your niche
monetizing your blog through multiple income channels
Follow those 3 steps for a while to go pro.
But most bloggers completely overthink blogging. Complex schemes, ridiculous strategies and difficult to execute techniques litter the minds of bloggers who overthink the process. Imagine reading the first step above and thinking:
“Can it really be that simple? The first step is just solving reader problems
through your blog content?”
YES!
However, simple does not mean easy because doing the simple thing of solving reader problems through blog content for 1000’s of hours spanning years feels highly uncomfortable in moments. No sane human being frames highly uncomfortable blogging activities as being easy.
For example, before I wrote this guest post for Cori I heard my ego chatter and its fears trying to convince me to take off the rest of the blogging day. I dislike dealing with the ego because it tries to use fear to scare me back inside of my comfort zone.
The simple act of writing and submitting this 600-700 word guest post became uncomfortable for a few moments. Guest blogging did not feel easy during those few moments. My neck hurts. My back hurts. I have blogged for 14 years; these types of days arise from time to time. Do not frame each observation I share as a complaint. Simply understand how doing simple, basic blogging things sometimes creates uncomfortable, unpleasant feeling emotions that make blogging appear to be:
hard
difficult
challenging
Of course, the ego in its delusion turns to complex, time-wasting blogging strategies heavily tied to imagined spectacular outcomes as absurd balms for these blogging pains. For example, if simple blogging strategies did not appear to quickly yield successful blogging results for me in the past I tried to write viral, in-depth, brilliant blog posts spitting out riches for me.
I envisioned myself writing a single post that would drive enough traffic and profits for me to go pro. Taking this complex, outcomes-attached approach led to failure every time. I barely made a dime through these posts because I overthought blogging while breaking the basic blogging success rule: create, connect and monetize in simple, generous fashion for a while.
Stop overthinking blogging.
Stop trying to add as many complex details as possible to one blog post you clearly intend to go viral for the purpose of getting rich. No blogger goes pro by publishing one complex blog post. Bloggers go pro by publishing a steady volume of simple, easy to understand and easy to execute blog posts filled with basic, practical blogging tips.
Think long term simple versus short term complex.
You do not need another proven blogging strategy to execute now. Stop looking to new bright, shiny blogging objects. Do not join the next emerging social network with the hopes of connecting with boatloads of readers on those sites. Keep blogging simple. Solve reader problems. Publish 1-2 helpful blog posts weekly. Read and comment on 5-10 blogs daily. Steadily open income channels. Write and self-publish eBooks and create courses like me. Offer coaching services or consulting services.
Do not overthink blogging.
Successful blogging seems to be simple blogging. Before making blogging a complex failure just see the simple, successful blogging journey through. Keeping things simple for a while yields slow but steady blogging success. Each comment you publish plants a blogging seed. Visualize each blog comment seed growing into a blooming blogging tree over the long haul.
Be patient. Observe the ego’s impatient urges to make blogging complex by overthinking basic, success-promoting concepts.
Successful blogging is simple blogging.
Remind yourself of this blogging success secret to blog effectively for the long, sometimes challenging blogging journey.
If you’ve started your blog congratulations! Beginning anything new is the hardest part.
Once you have launched your blog you’ll need to do certain things to help it grow.
I’m frequently asked by new bloggers how to get readers and increase blog traffic.
Many bloggers think eventually their ideal readers eventually find them.
They mistakenly believe that one day high volumes traffic will magically appear.
This isn’t true.
Doing this allows you to expand your reach to a larger audience.
In this post, I provide some helpful suggestions for attracting more readers and followers.
Ultimately generating more blog traffic.
Learn from influential bloggers
Experienced fellow bloggers can teach about how to effectively grow our blogs.
There are many writers and bloggers to learn from!
Those who have already paved a way to success for us.
Learn from them.
Show up where they are and express interest in what they do.
Join their course(s), read their books and blogs, leave comments and promote their work.
These bloggers will help you tremendously on your road to blogging success.
If you follow experienced bloggers lead you’ll grow a blog guaranteed to last.
One that will eventually grow to become a hopping blog on the web!
You’ll avoid making unnecessary mistakes that will save you lots of time and frustrations.
Community Connections
Utilize Social Media – The truth is not everyone visits, reads or subscribes to blogs.
Some people only use social media for online interactions.
It’s a great way to expand your reach.
Facebook groups are fantastic ways to connect with other bloggers in your niche.
You’ll make some blogging friends and help each other to succeed.
Blogging is about community and connections.
Share the works of other bloggers.
People will see your post and if it is of interest to them they’ll share and read it.
Get in the habit of describing a bit about each post.
Ask a question to encourage comments.
Build an email list
It isn’t enough to just write and set up a blog.
You need to build an email list right away.
Doing this will help you grow an audience of loyal followers.
Everyone loves getting something for free!
Offering a free eBook, newsletter, email course or something you can think of to offer your readers for free.
Doing this works amazing to grow your list.
Guest posting drives traffic to your blog
There is power in guest posting! For a long time after I started my blog,
I didn’t write anywhere else.
Once I began guest posting I noticed a difference in my blog traffic.
You’ll expand your reach to the audience of the blog owner you write for.
It helps you get known to readers and other blogger/writers.
Those who may not otherwise discover you.
Submitting guests posts in your niche enables you to reach a larger readership.
Comment on other blogs
When you read blog posts of interest to you and comment on those posts… you will also get noticed.
Engaging with other writers and bloggers helps you get noticed too!
You’ll generate more blog traffic by connecting with others.
We can’t succeed alone!
Here’s why;
They will remember you the more you show up.
You’ll develop the habit of connecting with other bloggers and writers.
Other doors of opportunity will open as you connect with other bloggers.
You show the founder of the blog you are interested in what they talk about and they’ll remember you.
Commenting on other blogs directs some of their audience to your blog.
Do this regularly and it may lead to a guest posting opportunity.
Your turn
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below…
What is something you’ve done that has increased your blog traffic?
Bloggers usually want to fit in as beginners. Stepping away from the crowd feels scary. But fitting in leads to a mediocre blogging career at best.
Standing out positions you to become highly successful. Successful bloggers step away from everyone else.
Do you fear the blogging competition?
Allowing your blog to stand out dissolves this illusory fear in a universe of abundance.
Blogging is neat because every blog stands out if you keep a few basic ideas in mind. Stop comparing yourself to other bloggers. Begin crafting a genuine blog guaranteed to wow readers and to step away from the blogging herd in your niche.
Bloggers who stand out keep a few ideas in mind to craft eye-popping blogs and brands.
Follow these tips to make your blog stand out.
Buy Your Domain and Hosting
Invest in your domain and hosting. No one can use the same domain name as you. I own Blogging From Paradise Dot Com. No one else can use that domain.
Never use free blogging platforms because your domain name is THEIR domain name. Free platform users fit in. Invest in a domain and hosting to stand out.
Buy a Premium Theme
Invest money in a premium theme. Be different.
Pay for a top shelf theme to create an eye-opening feel to your blogging user experience.
Invest money to stand out. Build a genuine blogging brand. Buy a premium or custom theme to step away from the herd.
Practice Writing
Are you having difficulty finding your writing voice?
Keep writing. Practice persistently. Stand out from the blogging crowd.
Write 500-1000 words daily in a Word document. Hone your writing skills to step away from the blogging crowd with your genuine writing voice.
No two bloggers write alike if individuals iron out their writing voice. Practice writing daily to find your writing voice buried under layers of self-conscious fears.
Be Generous to Make Friends
Be kind. Promote fellow bloggers. Endorse fellow bloggers. Support fellow bloggers on social media. Comment genuinely on blogs. Stand out from the masses of desperate, greedy, self-centered bloggers by being kind, warm and generous.
Bloggers struggle to be seen for lacking generosity. Most have few blogging buddies for always trying to promote self versus promoting fellow bloggers freely. Generous bloggers magnetize themselves to blogging friends because people love givers.
Promote bloggers on social media. Link to bloggers through your blog. Invite bloggers to guest post on your blog. Guest post for bloggers. Stand out by helping people freely. Be seen through your generosity.
Be Prolific
Be generous, be prolific and you will be an influential commodity in your blogging niche of choice.
Publish blog posts frequently to distance yourself from the blogging crowd. Stand out by being prolific.
Create and publish at least one piece of content daily to gain exposure. Prolific bloggers stand out because few create content regularly. Edge outside of your comfort zone. Be a leader by giving freely of your time and talents.
Create:
blog posts
guest posts
videos
podcasts
to gain visibility in your niche.
Stop Parroting Other Bloggers
Some SEO bloggers who appear to be Neil Patel clones. How can you stand out if you are trying to be Neil Patel? Learn from that SEO genius but do not copy his style. Be you. Blog in your voice.
Stand out by letting go the need to mimic pros. Professionals carved out their place in the blogging world by being genuine. Be genuine to step away from everyone save yourself.
Conclusion
Be you.
Blog how you blog.
Embrace uncomfortable fears triggered as you step away from the blogging crowd. Let go ego urges to fit in.
Stand out to shine brightly in your blogging niche.
I prepared to write a guest post to publish on another blog a few moments ago.
However, the blogger seems to have written off the blog. I write and publish one guest post for the blogger infrequently. But the blogger who owns the blog:
never engages on social media
never checks in to scan comments
never seems to do anything related with the blog
I still happily publish the odd guest post for the blogger and their community but if they care little about the blog I will guest blog infrequently for the community.
Before typing one word for the blogger I logged out from that blog, logged in to Cori’s blog and wrote this guest post. She tirelessly promotes my work. Cori engages me on Twitter. She also promotes one eBook of mine at the end of every guest post I submit. Why in the heck would I NOT guest blog for Cori?
Joy Healey displays the same appreciative, engaging perspective any time I guest post on her blog. She even drops the guest post links into a group who promotes each post freely on Twitter.
Cori and Joy are guest blogging priorities because each warm blogger engages me and works with me for us to spread the word.
Sazzadul Bari has tirelessly engaged me for the years I have guest posted on his blog. I happily wrote and published 281 guest posts on Blog CD.
I have written and published 48 guest posts on Blogging Front because Apurva Vishwakarma engages me freely and promotes each blog post.
Sazzadul and Apurva appreciate me! I appreciate them! I freely help active bloggers who engage me, for all of us to succeed.
I go to where I am loved. In simple terms; guest blogging for live, active, engaging bloggers is the easiest way to co-create success for everyone involved. But guest blogging for bloggers asleep at the cyber wheel wastes your time. Guest blogging for bloggers who largely write off their blogs seems silly. Why should you care about their blog if they do not care about their blog?
I happily pick up the blogging slack to publish a high volume of genuinely helpful content for bloggers who promote the content and engage me across social channels. I love lending a helping blogging hand for folks who want to succeed.
But if I reach the point where readers believe I am the blogger who owns the domain I simply know; it may be time to move on because guest blogging works best as a joint venture and quite poorly as a solo venture.
Where do you guest blog? Why do you guest blog on specific blogs?
I once stopped guest blogging for a 2 million member community because fundamental differences goaded me to part ways. I saw things differently than their editors. But I also suspected that the site owners slowly but steadily cared less and less about the blog.
Observing the blog Facebook Page along with other onsite clues including non-existent engagement and questionable ad placement notified me; guest blogging there no longer seemed to be a match for me.
I do promote old guest posts from that blog and from any blog whose owners seem less than active but I rarely if ever guest post where the owner has little or any interest in the blog.
Guest blogging works best as a team effort between 2 bloggers intent on co-creating success for one another. Two bloggers promoting guest posts for their tribes amplify each other’s success. Guest post for live blogging bodies. Guest post for engaging bloggers who actively work their blogs. Let go all other bloggers.
Even though I appreciate having admin rights on some blogs whose owners see blogging as a purely passive exploit I see the power in people, not in guest blogging for a passive blogger with a lukewarm or non-engaging community.
Guest post for live bodies. Remove featured image.
Unfortunately, the trend has been going strong for years.
Facebook crashed a few moments ago. Bloggers complained or simply noted the site being down. Some bloggers invited blogging buddies to connect on new social media websites. Others railed against Facebook. Some sat patiently, waiting out the outage.
But I guarantee a tiny percentage of these bloggers:
wrote and published a post on their blog today
read comments on their blog today
replied to comments on their blog today
improved the user experience on their blog today
While bloggers scramble to connect on new sites or bemoan not being able to connect on Facebook, they are not spending time and energy connecting on their blog. Ummmmmm…..you are a blogger, right? Bloggers blog. Bloggers spend most time writing and publishing blog posts and guest posts. Or bloggers spend most time writing and publishing blog posts and genuine blog comments.
I find it odd how most bloggers spend most time connecting through social media but have no time to blog. I also find it odd how these folks call themselves bloggers when they are amateur social media connectors for all the time spent on social versus their blog. I am a blogger. I spend many hours daily on Blogging From Paradise and other blogs in my niche. Since I am a blogger I spend only a few minutes connecting on social media.
Bloggers spend most time and energy connecting on blogs.
Bloggers struggle, fail and quit by spending most time and energy connecting on social media. Since where your attention and energy goes, grows, giving your focus to social allows your social followings to grow. But growing a large, loyal social following matters little if you spend little time creating and connecting on your blog because people will know you as a social media guy or gal versus being a blogging guy or gal.
Scrap social media for a bit.
Connect on your blog. Spend 30-60 minutes daily rendering some helpful service through your blog before doing anything else. Bloggers create a non-posturing crutch related to social media. Most believe you need social media to connect with readers. But social media is one way to connect with readers, not THE way. Genuine blog commenting connects you with readers. Guest blogging connects you with readers. SEO-optimizing blog posts connects you with readers. Publishing helpful content on your blog connects you with readers.
Why would you spend hours connecting on websites
you do not own?
Spend most time and energy connecting through your blog because you own your blog and set the rules. Frame social media as a secondary or even tertiary connecting medium behind your blog and email list. Never wait around to work because Facebook crashes. Stop migrating to new networks for connecting. Connect through your blog. Connect through a genuine blog commenting campaign.
Donna Merrill would still be connected with her tribe if social media disappeared overnight because her 1000’s of blog comments, 100’s of blog posts and loyal email list exist completely independent of social media. Facebook vanishing does not erase her 1000’s of genuine blog comments. Twitter disappearing does not erase 54,000 backlinks pointing to Blogging From Paradise. Donna and I spent years creating and connecting through online real estate we and our blogging buddies own. Our work vanishes only if our blogs vanish or if all of our buddies’ blogs vanish.
Connect primarily on your blog. Use social media sparingly. Build a rock solid foundation for your blogging business by spending most time creating and connecting on cyber real estate that you own.
