It’s 1AM. You sit, tired, weary, defeated, staring at a pale blue computer monitor which just barely penetrates the darkness surrounding it. You’re on your blog, staring at wp-admin blankly. You know you have to write a post- after all, you’ve got readers and they’re waiting for you. But you just can’t do it, no matter how hard you try or how much you wrack your brain thinking of new and exciting topics to write about. It’s all stale, like that half-eaten bowl of cereal that’s been sitting on your desk for who knows how long (seriously, get that off of there). The weight of the universe is upon your shoulders as you wallow in existential despair.
It doesn’t have to be like this, of course. It’s all about the way you frame blogging in your head. If you see it as some kind of business, or a way to build your resume, or an ego-boost, you’re doing it wrong. It doesn’t mean that a blog can’t be all of those things. It just means that you need to set your priorities straight. First and foremost, a blog has to be driven by you. Extrinsic benefits like money, the satisfaction of knowing you have an audience, and so on – those all come second to the intrinsic benefit you get from writing posts. Blogging should be something that flows naturally. Like all good writing (and I hope you’re aiming for a well-written blog), it can’t be forced. You can’t blog well if you’re struggling up against a wall of artificial expectations. You’ll get writer’s block. You’ll lose your motivation. If you can’t write something well, don’t write it at all. To re-appropriate Wittgenstein, “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must pass over in silence.”
By how to make money on Sep 26, 2011 | Reply
Blogging might not make you money directly, unless you run ads on the blog (which is a bad idea anyway), but it can definitely lead to opportunities that will make you money in the long run. Blogging is a great way to prove that you “know your stuff” and can be considered a trusted resource of information. It takes time, but this often opens doors to new business relationships that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
By gonzales on Sep 27, 2011 | Reply
Hi! I just love the images you put in here. They fit so well with what you’re trying to say. I’m sure you’ll reach so many people with what you’ve got to say. Good luck!
By ThatsBlog.com on Oct 12, 2011 | Reply
Hi, thanks for your submission to Blog Carnival: Blogging: Hundredth edition . Your post is now published:
http://thatsblog.com/blog-carnival-blogging/blog-carnival-blogging-hundredth-edition
-ThatsBlog.com
By Daytona Beach Lawyers on Oct 18, 2011 | Reply
I have been there and done that. It IS all about motivation.
By alışveriş oyunları on Nov 1, 2011 | Reply
hello, i sing from turkey and allready i follow your site,but this often opens doors to new business relationships that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
By Living on Adsense on Nov 5, 2011 | Reply
I got to that point once, and then I just stopped writing for that blog for two years. I started up a ton of blogs since then, and of course ran out of steam and deleted them all.
For all the blogs that I created (aside from the first blog) they were all “framed in my head wrong.” I just wrote them to try and make some money, so really they all died, or I lost interest, but that first blog that started out as an attempt to make money actually turned into a fun site for me to rant and had a decent community (but made no real money).
I think your right in that you need to be in it for the right reasons. It just took my 2 years to figure that out.
By TV Rockstars on Nov 7, 2011 | Reply
I’m blogging because I need the money but I also enjoy it.
By Internet Marketing on Nov 8, 2011 | Reply
One thing I learned years ago when I was the editor for a travel magazine was to always have several articles in the queue, ready to publish. This way, you never need to worry about last minute motivation.