Blogging – The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth

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  • Do you know what hyperbole is?
  • Do you know what being outlandish is?
  • Do you know what excessive hype is?

It’s everything that Wealthy Affiliate is not. No exaggeration. No spin. No wild assertions of you making millions while you sleep.

Wealthy Affiliate does not promise a secret formula that you can gain access to. They do not claim that if you implement a special system that you make insane amounts of money. Wealthy Affiliate promises simply to teach you the tools of affiliate marketing and blogging. After which and armed with the knowledge you can make your own pathways.

One of the foundation stones to your digital empire that WA stresses upon is creating content. From the very start, the platform asks you to share a profile, set out your goals and interact with the community with the posting of content. Clearly, all of this is to train us up as Bloggers.

So what are the key blogging ingredients that WA wants to give us?

I can identify 5.

1) You got to sweat for it.

Creating a successful online business takes a very robust plan, hard work and persistence.

    Without calling any names there is a common trait that runs through the WA bloggers that are successful. Most have been around for a long time and have toiled for thousands of hours at building their online business.

    Success did not come to them via luck or simply being given some form of privileged access. Quite frankly each and every one of them works their ass off. Training, learning new techniques, creating valuable content, driving traffic, building relationships and driving sales. You don’t have to be the sharpest pencil in the toolbox but you certainly have to put in the hard work to stand out above the rest. When you do and only when you do will you get a seat at the head table. And maybe that concierge ticket that Kyle promises you for super delegates.

    2) Blogging is not a quick path to riches.


      There will always be stars that will be the exception and earn money very early on. And when I say early, I am talking within the first 6-12 months. Achieving a constant money stream that could offer you a decent passive income, during this time frame, would be noteworthy and certainly something to celebrate.

      The reality however is that the majority of us will not be able to create a living income within the first few months. And when you think about all the training and building that you have to go through, to just get your head right how could you? So while it is very rewarding to be working in your passion don’t be despondent if you do not achieve overnight success

      3) You have to be a content creating machine


      To be brutally frank I would say that you should more give yourself a good 18-36 months before you are able to establish a full-time income from blogging. So if you are in debt and need instant cash than I would humbly suggest that you try to also find something else that could give you more immediate cashflow. To be a successful blogger, you have to like creating content and you have to stick with it.

        Content creation in one form or the other is likely to be the bedrock of your business. And if you have not been listening you are going to require tons of it to standout above the crowd to be noticed. Blogging requires creating a LOT of content.

        What does creating a lot of content really mean you ask? Well, it means that you either have to write a number of blog posts, articles, reviews, or you similarly have to create videos or podcasts.

        Whether it be writing blog posts or replying to comments, posts or responding to email campaigns and interacting with your social media community your word count can easily climb into the thousands every week.

        So if you have an aversion to writing or producing content than a blogger lifestyle will be challenging. However, not insurmountable.

        Blogging is certainly a skill that you can master with practice. If you are motivated to learn and succeed you will develop the type of mindset that will find a way to make blogging fun. And don’t feel that you have to exactly copy what someone else is doing. Find your own style. Use your unique experiences, community and surroundings to tell a story like no one else but you can.

        Slowly but surely you will get into a groove and before long will be belting out posts at a frequency that will make your former newbie self be proud.

        4) To be a successful blogger, you have to keep your audience at the front and centre of your mind


          One of the early lessons that you will learn is that you have to identify who you are speaking to. You must understand their needs, desires, challenges and triumphs. If you can appreciate your audience's mindset fully you will be able to speak to them like you are their best friend.

          So do not make the mistake of only writing about yourself and assuming that your challenges are universal. Certainly, use your own stories but turn them around in a way that makes them relatable. You will get mad kudos if at the end of it people learn something, laughed or were just simply by touched an emotion you sparked. For this, they will reward you with their support.

          5) Building a successful blog requires growing your network with other successful bloggers.

            I have come to quickly realize that many successful bloggers have a strong mentor or are part of some type of mastermind group or training that provides them with learning and inspiration. These relationships yield key support, introductions, access to not easily accessible learning, referrals and much more. (mentoring, support, links, mentions, referrals) from other bloggers if you want to build a blog that matters.

            In many instances trying to run the race on your own without help normally takes much longer and in many cases leads to very hard stumbles and falls.

            By making connections can lead to very valuable exchanges and importantly you avoiding significant pitfalls.

            I hope that I have provided you an honest look at how I see blogging. I know each and every one of you can make it if you try. The tools are right here in front of us. So let's get out there and make ourselves and those around us proud.

            Hit the like button if you are with me.

            Until next time.

            Hugh


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            Recent Comments

            49

            I am with you 💯Hugh! There is no way around as you say. It is conveyed through the training at WA. Content is king and an example of it is our ParthaB who has written some excellent posts about blogging and content.

            And the part of teaming up with others is crucial. It will be very difficult to succeed alone.

            Thank you for sharing, Hugh.
            Roy

            I also think you have to not only find content partners (e.g. guest writers or influencers) but we must also strive to repurpose our content. This way we can extend its useful life. A blog post can be reduced to a 'How-To' or a Guideline which can be converted to a vlog or podcast which can be shown as an image and so on. This way we also extend our footprint and come into contact with more publics.

            Hahaha. look at that tortoise- just like me as slow as a tor... and needing a skating board to speed up at times (VAs)

            The mentoring part is quite true, Hugh, unfortunately it costs a bit for many, I know this first hand. Great post, ambassador 👍

            Perhaps try to locate someone in virtual space that constantly feeds you good advice and training. Not quite mentoring but virtual coaching in a standardized format which also can be beneficial. I think as well that you can form relationships with YouTubers in an area that could almost act like have an Advisor. I am trying that now and it is working.

            That is good to know, much appreciated

            Thanks for your very insightful article Hugh.

            So much effort has to be put in. It's definitely blood and sweat. There's no short cut.

            May we be blessed with patience and strength to go through this online business.

            Success is measured not through what you achieved but rather how well you walk through the journey. (my thoughts not necessarily be others).

            Enjoy your weekend.

            Norleila

            You have certainly articulated the right formula Norlelia. Keep focused on your destination. Always fill up your tank with new learning and techniques so that you continue going forward. Success will come and I will be cheering you on all the way.

            A powerful 5 realizations. I think the fifth for me was a big door opener when I built MyViralBlog before my breakdown. It also leads to much of our success with Kooiii Social Media Search.

            Content partnerships may seem like you are giving and maybe stretching yourself thin at times but you gain clout by being seen in places that have the clout of their own. This helps grow the other blogger's content and make them immediate cash but it also helps grow your tribe and make your own content more effective at drawing readers.

            As you grow you will write for others less and others will write for you more so it comes full circle. Content is king, the more bloggers can help each other grow their content portfolio the better all of our odds of winning in affiliate marketing.

            Thanks again for provoking thought with timely advice.

            Andy
            Yes agreed guest blogging is well worth it in the long run. Have you ever used blog curation-type sites? Like Blogarama and Sapien.

            Appreciate your shout of support
            Hugh

            I have in the past, but they are less effective for SEO now, it is instead better to write micro-posts related to your content and put them on Web2.0 properties like Tumblr and eeek Blogger. They do build links and get the links indexed fast with no risk of duplicate content penalties.

            I also have used Press Releases in the past to syndicate an article on blogs and newspapers that links to resources on my blogs though it has been a while the Syndication on new sites does not seem to negatively affect your ranks despite duplicate content because of the nature of the sites.

            Definitely, WA is a great place to learn skills. They do not promise that you will succeed.

            That is on you (or us if you will).

            I have been here for a while, and I admit coasting. I built an eCom site for selling our products but did little else. Hey, that was what I wanted.

            Now I would like more and I have some serious effort to put in.

            WA has taught me that I am up to the challenge.

            Wish me luck.

            Alex

            Alex I know from your writing that you are focused and that can only lead one way - Up. Are you going to revive your e-commerce store? Is it based on Shopify type model? Have you ever done dropshipping?

            The Ecom store is based in Thailand and was built to enhance our brick-and-mortar business there. So, it does not need revival as I have been keeping it up and it is still working (2 sales today).

            Unfortunately, we imported products into Thailand that arrived in May of 2020 - just in time for the lockdowns to start and it has been a hard slog to this point. A couple of months ago we made the decision not to bring in a fourth shipment as we cannot move all of the first three shipments. Also, because the products have a BBE date, we are running out of time.

            We got hit by our major distributers with new rules where they would not accept products that had less than 6 months of shelf life. So that took away ~40% of our shelf life in their stores. These were the major chain stores that we had to pay to get shelf space.

            Everyone loves the products, but here in Thailand the majority of the population now does not have money for more than just the basics.

            It has been a steep learning curve, and most likely the one bright spot has been WA and what I learned in order to set up the woocommerce store.

            Now I would like to pivot to something else and utilize more of the training that is available here in WA.

            Apologies for the long explanation.

            Alex

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