Common Misconceptions About Becoming A Successful Blogger!

As mentioned in that last post about misused words, I said that I was undecided whether to do an extended section on the original post as I sometimes do if I feel there's something missing or a separate post on a similar topic, well, as you're here, you can see what I decided! Rather than writing more on commonly confused words, I wanted to continue the topic of misinterpretations, but also answer a question I get a lot...

13 Things Successful Blogs Have

"How do you become a successful blogger?"

I'm flattered some of you think I am successful, but what is success measured by? In the early days of Emily's World, I was overcome with joy at my very first follower, that was my success then, but now? My success is continuing to enjoy what I do and managing to post for you all at least once a month (sometimes more!) Although it's great to measure success, we all have different goals as individuals. Some who are just starting out want to see that view count go up, some want to aim to get content out more regularly and some just want to know a few tips and tricks to help them continue, so I'll try my very best to answer these for you with common misconceptions about becoming a successful blogger!


★ You Need To Have A Big Online Presence Before Making A Blog

You couldn't be more wrong! Some online celebrities have become famous because of their blog, not the other way around. Although I can understand why you may think this, being a big name does help with the success, but it absolutely isn't a must. If your dedication to your blog is high and you have some kind of interactivity with your audience, there's no reason at all why your blog can't be a success! When starting Emily's World, I was a seventeen-year-old college student with no idea where to begin, armed only with basic knowledge in web design. I'm far from a big name, but I still get enough viewing to motivate me to continue doing what I'm doing and that's what matters. So don't stress about building your status, it's likely to take the fun out of blogging, success comes with hard work and dedication, which is achievable by anyone!


★ You Must Write Every Day

Writing every day not only takes up a lot of time that not many people have, but it also becomes repetitive and not that enjoyable for the blogger or the reader. I spent a lot of time thinking up a blog schedule and decided a good amount for someone in my circumstance would be at least once a month, I tried posting every week on the same day, but even I found that challenging, I can't imagine what posting every single day would be like. Yes, readers like regularity, but every day can be too much. You firstly have the issue of your audience losing interest, much like using the same joke again and again, after the third time, it starts to get more of an irritant than anything else, so you may notice that your audience shrinks. Your content will also begin to drop in quality if you force yourself to write when you don't really want to. Part of what makes blogging so enjoyable is that it is completely under your control. You don't feel like writing today? That's fine, leave it until tomorrow. This is where I come to my second issue. Posting each day puts pressure on yourself to keep coming up with interesting content, which is hard to do at the best of times. Some brainstorming of ideas can last up to a week, with most of my ideas being crossed out or left for another time. Life isn't straightforward, sometimes we have more important matters to deal with, hospital appointments, dropping the kids off at school or a broken computer all make this a very hard schedule to keep up with. Some days I wake up and although I was going to write a post today before going to sleep the night before, I decide I much rather would take the day doing other things and that's okay because of my fairly flexible schedule. Writing every day is a big no-no for me and would say to any blogger to avoid doing so at all costs! If you are certain you want a blog that uploads every day, make sure you have a team of writers to take turns in writing so you don't burn out, this is not a schedule for a lone writer.

Small Business Management

★ You Need To Make Money From Your Blog

Money shouldn't be a factor when deciding to create a blog, if it is, you're in the wrong hobby. Blogging is hard to get started with, let alone earn money from, that takes months of work to bring your viewer count to a legitimate level where options like 'AdSense' or other services would even consider looking at your blog. Do you know how much I earn from Emily's World? Zilch, zero, nothing. In time I am hoping that it could become an option for me to earn a little income from my writing, but it isn't the reason why I started Emily's World at all and this shouldn't be the case for anyone. Money is great, but don't think sitting at home on a computer writing about your day will get the notes rolling in, it doesn't work like that and certainly won't lead to your success.


★ Good Writing Skills Are A Must

Yes, it's true that most bloggers have a good sense of words, how to make their writing stand out and have a presence but in my opinion, it isn't a determined factor whether a blog is successful or not. Some blogs are successful for their target audience, for example, younger audiences prefer simplistic language. If you want your blog tailored at young people, it's best to leave out the fancy talk. Readers can tell whether a piece of writing is by a specific person, it's in their tone, perhaps they have certain phrases only the writer would say, whatever it is, it certainly makes a writer stand out. I would say blogging is actually a brilliant way of developing your skills. It's embarrassing the amount of times I've misspelt, typed wrong or left out words by mistake, so much so you can read through one post and find a few mistakes in there. No matter how many times I proof-read, sometimes mistakes slip through, I am a human, I don't have an automatic spell-check in my head (as cool as that would be) and it doesn't prevent my blog from being viewed every day in the slightest! If you do struggle with writing, I would say to work on it a little more before you publish it, focus on one post at a time, once it is as perfect as can be, you're ready to go!


★ The Blog Must Be Your Full-Time Job

Absolutely not. I have a job outside of Emily's World and as I already mentioned, I make no profit from writing! Blogging is more of a hobby, or secondary work if you are lucky enough to earn a decent amount from it. It is very rare that bloggers make enough money from their writing to quit their day job and be able to focus entirely on writing, as amazing that would be for us all! Success first, blog becoming a full-time job, second. It is a great goal to have in mind for the future and certainly one I share with you, but not necessary to become successful in the slightest.


★ Social Media Is Important

Computer Science Misconceptions

Social media is indeed a good place to start when opening a blog, it allows your name to get out there and stretches your audience far further than friends and family, but is it the key to success? It's largely up for debate, but from my experiences, I would say not. I have had an online presence on Instagram and it has raised my audience, but not significantly enough to say it's a must for being successful despite interacting with users every day. There is an unpleasant side to Instagram, private messages of inappropriate requests, trolls and people asking for followers all are things I've experienced multiple times and they certainly don't look at my blog at all, they only interact with me for their own good. Most of my success has come from friends and family, even colleagues reading my posts and sharing it (at their own will!) with their friends and so on. Instagram does bring a more diverse viewer count to my blog, that is true, but I wouldn't say it's important enough to definitely have. Not everyone likes social media and that's fine, just make sure you have a reliable set of followers you know will share your content!


★ If The Audience Isn't There, Your Content Needs To Change

It's completely fine to have days where it seems your viewer count has dropped significantly, or if certain posts don't get the love they deserve. This is specifically upsetting when you feel like you've written a really good post that day, but gets less recognition than you expect - it happens all the time! Most of the time it isn't the content of the blog that is the issue if you've had a good following before, but many, many other factors. The time you post is a big one, I chose midday as my posting time as it is a good time to reach as many countries as possible with their varying timezones but you can choose any time you like, just be aware that choosing a time like 3:00am will get fewer viewers from your own country and more from around the world, you can work out what is best for you! Some days, like in reality are just, well, bad days for the blog. Amidst the lockdown, posting now is a great time to choose because everyone is at home, twiddling their thumbs and browsing the web in search of something to do, hence why I am here today. I too am sitting at home, wanting to do something more enjoyable than cleaning the bathroom and of course to help you at home. Maybe your target audience is wrong, or perhaps your branding isn't quite up to scratch. Whatever it is, don't be quick to downplay your content, a quick change of upload schedule or layout may improve things for you.


★ Successful Bloggers Became Successful Out Of Luck

That statement is partly true, like many things, being chosen or found is luck, not completely, but partially. Hard work pays best when it comes to blogging. Some posts take days to prepare, a few hours to write and then another hour to read through and make sure I'm happy with it. There is a huge

Common Misconceptions Of Success

misconception that those who have an online career whether that be streamers, bloggers or video creators to name but a few, are lazy and don't really do much. If you participate in any online activities, you know exactly how much hard work goes in. If blogging was easy, I wouldn't be here. I wanted a challenge, I knew some days would be better than others and that sometimes, even after writing a 2000 word post I was initially happy with, it would be deleted because I had changed my mind shortly after reading through. Bloggers that are successful are brilliant at what they do, they are hard-working and dedicated, like any successful person is, so don't rely on sitting back and waiting for opportunities to turn up at your door, you really need to work to get where you want to be.


★ You Don't Receive Any Negative Comments

Oh, how I wish this was true. It's hard to find one person who can honestly say that they've never been told they're terrible at writing, or have had to block a few people who find the comments section suitable for spam or trolling. This is the reason my comment filter is on for the time being. Negativity comes with the job, being online makes you even more of a target. People can hide behind a screen and say whatever they wish (many things I wouldn't dare to repeat because of how nasty they are!) without consequences. Negative comments aren't nice at all, but are a sign you're doing well. Trollers wouldn't bother commenting on a blog that is seemingly small and unsuccessful, they want to make the most impact, the most attention and to anger people, so they target more active blogs. If you ever receive negative comments, do your best to ignore them, block them or report them where necessary. Unfortunately it happens and there really is nothing you can do about it, but as I've said, as horrible as it is, the most popular blogs also get some of the most criticism, so don't see it as a red flag on your content.

So, here was a list of common misconceptions about becoming a successful blogger. Remember that there is no set ways to become successful, after all, success is what you define it as. I hope the content of this post will help your audience grow and for your blog to take bigger steps towards reaching your goals!