Are you getting enough out of your blog?

• traffic?
• comments?
• subscribers?
• conversions?
• click-throughs?
• shares?
• exposure for your brand?

You get to define enough on your own terms, too, and avoid falling in the trap of comparing yourself and your blog or your content to someone else’s.

Reason #1 Bloggers Fail: Lack of Strategy

One of my favorite sayings of all time is, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Maybe it’s because with all the hats I wear, I need this constant reminder. You want to have a solid strategy in place for your blog . . . and I don’t mean perfect: done is better than perfect!

Any strategy will do because even if you start out with a “bad” strategy, you can learn and tweak, correcting your course while in motion. One thing must be true, though: your strategy must align with your biggest goals, your top passions, and your main priorities so that it is sustainable and you can develop the self-motivation to refuel along the journey.

Reason #2 Bloggers Fail:  Content Needs Focus

There is so much amazing content out there like blog posts, videos (vlogs), and articles, and there is only so much time in the day . . . not to mention, attention spans are getting shorter by the second.

In order to stand out, we must create original, valuable, well-written content that is focused on addressing specific issues, questions, and concerns of a very select niche and organized in three or five categories that we can use to guide our posting calendar and create balanced content in all the areas we specialize in.

This sounds really simple, yet I can see many people struggling with picking a niche, narrowing down topics, or choosing an overall theme. I tend to work with creative types, and structure is something they mostly resist. I once had a coaching client who hated the words “outline,” “intro,” or “template” because they caused her stress and made her feel confined.

Believe it or not, structure provides freedom! As you define your objectives and match your content to your chosen reader persona, you will create more, help more people, and see more results.

Reason #3 Bloggers Fail:  Poor (or No) Promotion

“Build it, and they will come . . .”

Umm . . . not really! A successful blogger is a marketer and is proactive in the marketing process. Remember my 5 stages to marketing:

Contact > Conversation > Connection > Community > Conversion

Getting the word out about your blog doesn’t happen overnight and requires daily actions to make progress toward the goal, according to plan (see reason #1).

Now you know that to achieve the results you want out of your blog, you must:

1. Design a road-map that defines where you’re going and how you will get there.
2. Define your ideal audience intimately and focus on providing relevant solutions.
3. Determine the daily actions you will take to achieve your dream – and do it!

I look forward to your feedback. Would you be willing to share some of your blogging goals and the actions you are using to achieve them?