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How to Survive Blogging?

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Survive Blogging

How difficult is to start a blog today? Well, not really, all you need is a Gmail account. With your Gmail details you simply log in to blogger.com and voilà! Within couple of minute you are ready to start writing your first blog post. This simplicity is probably the main reason why we can see so many new blogs to arise and fall every day. But do you know what does “so many” mean in the real figures?

Recently I stumbled upon some interesting statistics about the Blogosphere’s development that brought me to an idea to write this article.

Please note that these stats could be outdated, however they still provide some interesting overview on blogging trends. Stats source

1. How many new blogs appear every minute?

There are nine new blogs created every 60 seconds. That means, every 7 seconds there is a blogger who is trying to make his blog dream to come true.

2. What is the number of blogs that will not make it?

On the other, there are three blogs that vanish every 2 minutes, which means one blog dies every 40 seconds.

3. How many bloggers give up on their blogs within the first month?

Although I expected very high number, I was still a bit surprised to find out that up to 8 blogs out of 10 will not survive the first month of their existence. That’s pretty bad, huh?

So, why only 2 out of 10?

There could be thousands of reasons why people give up on their blogs. To put it simple the main reason to stop blogging is probably the lost of interest.

But you don’t need to be a wise guy to come to this conclusion, do you? So, let’s take it further…What are the main reasons why people actually loose their interest in blogging so quickly?

My top 5 blog killers

1. Wrong intention

Lot of people still believe that blogging is an easy way to make a lot of money online. When they realize this is simply not truth or it is too hard, they leave their blogs looking for other earning opportunities.

There is no wonder that people behave like that. In the long-run it is very hard, and I would say almost impossible, to stay focused and motivated to write articles if you don’t believe this activity will get you to your goal, it this case making huge money.

So, what is your real reason to start blogging?

2. Lack of free time

Successful blogging is a full-time job. No matter how good you are in time management, you will have to sacrifice some other activities because of your blog.

Do you really want to spend your valuable free time this way?

3. Impatience

A blog without visitors is only an empty box. Many new blogging think they will get the attention within couple of days or weeks. But the cruel truth is that to create a blog, which will be able to attract lot of visitors every day, could easily take one year or even more. This is a lot of time without any noticeable benefits from your blogging (and I am not talking just about the money here).

Are you patient enough?

4. Impulsiveness

This is how my first blog was created. Back in the 2007 I stumbled upon one interesting blog about making money online and I decided: “Wow, this is so cool, I want my blog too!” So I opened my first blogger blog and started to write. Of course, I had no plan, no strategy no real ideas to write about. And as fast as I got fascinate about my fist blog that fast I left it.

Do you have a clear blogging plan?

5. Burning out

Burning out is a nightmare of every blogger and if you will be writing regularly for couple of months you will most likely have to face it. But if you are not ready for that and you don’t know how to get back on the track, it could bring your journey to the end.

There have been so many articles written on how to deal with burning out. But I don’t think there is a magic treatment that would work for everyone. Simply, you have to find out what works for you.

For example the thing that works for me is: I am trying to not develop my whole life just around the online world. I spend as much time as I can off-line. I am reading, developing my other hobbies, spending time with my girl and friends. My burning out cure is the diversity of activities.

Are you prepared to deal with burn out?

How to survive blogging?

I am sure there are hundreds of other reasons why that huge number of new bloggers give up on their writing so fast. But instead of focusing on the reasons to stop why not focus on the way how to stay active?

Be a reader! – This will help you to develop your skills and knowledge.

Be in the right niche! – Only if you are truly passionate about the topic, you will be able to sustain.

Be persistent! – Blogging is a long-run process and you will have to spend a lot of time and energy to develop your successful blog.

About

Adam is a developer of Moremoo.com He enjoys writing the most about blogging itself and social networks. To stay in touch with Adam, subscribe to his feeds.

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{ 52 Responses }

  1. avantgaard says:
    I read your blog and found it both interesting and informative. I didn't realize the numbers of people giving up their blogs was so high in just the first month!! Tenacity is a "virtue" in many "realms" of life...and it certainly holds true for blogging. Great post!
  2. Vijayraj Reddy says:
    patience is very important in blogging and many people lack that....
  3. Walls Blank says:
    Oh these numbers are so fascinating on how many blogs die and are created. I am guilty of impatience. Almost guilty of impulsiveness. I have to remember to reel myself back in. I gave myself a two year goal starting this website and can't wait to see how it grows. I plan on surviving for a very long time. I just need a whip for to keep my impatience in check and impulsiveness at bay.
    • Adam says:
      Hi Walls, Impatience is really a blog killer, you just need to understand that blog will not become successful over the night and you will have to spend lot of energy and free time to move your blog somewhere. To stay motivated you can set short term goals, and their achieving will keep you motivated to continue. Thanks for sharing
  4. Hans says:
    What kept me blogging was the fact that slowly I started to notice some readers. As my audience grew, I enjoyed blogging more. Now I know that I write my content for people who actually read it. That makes me keep on going. The first month is the hardest, as you notice that almost nobody visits your blog.
    • Adam says:
      Hell Hans, yes seeing that people actually read your content and care to share their opinion through the comments is really a strong motivator for me as well. I think a big problem with first month is not only lack of visitors but also that you are not used to work on your blog. After couple of months you will get used to and you will take it naturally, you will be able to write faster and do all those blogging activates easier. But in the first month everything seems to be so hard.
  5. Anne says:
    I've been there before, the person who blogs to make money but I have no been successful through that. Not so much visitors so I just decided to continue and just think of it as a hobby to I won't get bored.
    • Adam says:
      Anne, taking blog as a hobby is a great strategy for the begging. You would not feel that pressure and you will be doing activities that you enjoy. But from the long-term perspective you will need to switch your attitude because there are so many blogs out there and only those which are taken as a serious business seems to be able to succeed.
  6. Lucian says:
    I think most people expect too much for the blogs at the begining. They prefer more dynamic type of online websites like selling something on a page and buy traffic from google. Blogging is a very long term investment, it is hard at the begining, but one you get you articles very well indexed that will bring you lot of traffic and then your subscriber count will reach fre thousands of people, then you are an authority and you don't have to worry that someday the competition on your keywords will raise and you won't be able to get a decent ROI, or that no one is still interested in what you are offering.
    • Adam says:
      Exactly Lucian, people still believe that blogging is easy job that could make you money in short-run. As you said blogging is long-term investment and I have to agree on that. Once you become an authority and create your personal brand people will follow you and it does not matter whether they will be able to find you on the Google or not, they will be following you because your personal brand. Thanks for sharing.
  7. Isabel Rodrigues - Pro Blogger Journey says:
    Some interesting and valid points about blogging. You indeed did an excellent job in pointing on the facts.
    • Adam says:
      Thanks Isabel, I was doing my best:)
  8. Ardorm says:
    Hey, Adam! I've just finished reading your article and it is bringing me right now several "very bad" days of my "blogging life" when I had to face all of these problems (it's not like I don't have any difficulty right now, but it is not st the same level). On the other hand, all of these obstacles are the best "teachers" for success. ;)
    • Adam says:
      Hi Ardorn, I hope the article did not cause you any depression:) Start blogging without knowing what the obstacles here are and how to overcome them is one of the best way how to fail.
      • Ardorm says:
        Don't worry, you didn't cause any depression :)
  9. rob mccance says:
    Well, it's a tough, detailed, highly competitive business. How many people in the world can compete under those terms? About the percentage that don't fail in a year, maybe!
    • Adam says:
      Exactly Rob, many people think they are able to become blogosphere starts without too much effort, but behind every success there is a lot of hard work.
  10. Michael says:
    Really great post, though I agree with the others that the numbers are pretty incredible. That so many blogs die and so quickly, still drives the message home. I think one big reason that many blogs die is that either the person writing the blog loses their "passion" or they never had it to begin with! I know I have to re-think mine often, but in the end I always find it. Sometimes all it takes is reading the struggles and successes of other bloggers to help me out! : ) Thanks for another great post! All the best! Michael
    • Adam says:
      Hey Michale, Yup, those numbers are pretty high. And as you pointed out one of the reasons is that people have no passion for the topic and blogging. So there is no wonder they will lose their interest when first struggles appear.
  11. Lennart Heleander says:
    Money doesn’t come easy – but so many people have read and heard that bloggers do big money easy by just write about anything. I think your statistic is correct to 100% and a similarly discussion was in Sweden for a couple of months ago and the question was; who many people can and are living on blogging? The answer was that only about 10-12 was professional bloggers.
    • Adam says:
      Hi Lennart, you are right, there is no big money growing on the trees. You want to make money, than you have to work hard. And this applies for blogging as well. I think the main reason why people give up on their blogging career so early is because they suddenly realize it takes way too much work and way too much time to succeed.
  12. Tinh says:
    Nice stats and I have never noticed this before. However, most of blog dies every 40s seems to be autoblogs, right?
    • Adam says:
      Hi Tinh, I do not know about those autoblogs, but with so huge number of blogs created, I can easily imagine that also regular blogs could be the ones which are dieing every 40 secs.
  13. Karan says:
    I strongly believe that Blogging needs a lot of time, and most importantly when your blog is new. I being a student, find it really difficult to spare out time for blog, what do you suggest for me.(I don't wanna miss out on my grades as this is my final year of schooling.)
    • Adam says:
      Hi Karen, education should be on the first place. But I think if you really want to start bloggig there is always some free time available. Just give up on television;)
      • Lucian says:
        Writing 2 articles per week is not so hard, but don't think to get fast results, think that someday you will be an authority and a lot of people will listen to you.
  14. Lisa Irby says:
    Bravo! Bravo! This post couldn't be more truthful. I hope everyone who thinks about blogging for money reads this. I remember when I first started blogging in 2006, I did because everyone else was doing it but I didn't have a strategy. I already had a fairly popular static site so I thought people would just read my blog because they visit my site. Wrong. I was just paraphrasing content on my main site so of course no one was going to find that very interesting. Once I began creating original content and treated my blog as an extension of my brand, things started looking up.
    • Adam says:
      Lisa, most of us started the same way:) We just got excited about blogging and start without any plan or strategy, than suddenly realized that things are not going that smooth as we expected and lost the interest. Some of us return after a while and get into blogoshpere deeper and start second, maybe third blog until it finally start working. And I agree that you need really good original content if you want to get your visitors read it. Thanks for a nice comment!
  15. Patricia says:
    Hi Adam Good to see you guest posting here. How sad that so many blogs fail in such a short space of time. I knew the figure was high, but had no idea it was that high! One of the main problems I believe is that people want instant everything these days; including instant money! Not going to happen unless you win the lottery lol For me it's hard work, passion for my niche, perseverence when the going gets tough and patience to build traffic and then hopefully my customer base. I put in many more hours now than when I was working for an employer. But cos I am enjoying the journey, it doesn't often feel like work. It helps to have experienced bloggers/marketers around me who I can turn to for help and encouragement. Blogging can be lonely and being part of this amazing blogging community sure helps on the down days. Those who will succeed are those who don't give up. I intend to be one of those. Working towards that goal now. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here Adam. Much appreciated. Patricia Perth Australia
    • Adam says:
      Hi Patricia, I totally agree that in today’s world everyone just want to have fast results without too much effort and of course with lot of money coming along. But this is not the way how the things work. As you mentioned, if you want to sustain you have to be passionate, success is a long-run journey and not giving up is the key. And I also agree on your point about the blogging community, you can turn to it when you feel down, look for the new inspiration and information. It keeps you focused and motivated. Thank you Patricia for commenting!
  16. wasim ismail says:
    Nice stats. True say, blogging is not a Get rich Quick option, it requires allot of patience, and determination to succeeded. One other point i would add to be a Surveyor is: You need to love what your doing
    • Adam says:
      Yes Wasim, as you said, there is no money waiting for you just like that. You need to fall in love with your blog and to treat it accordingly.
    • Lucian says:
      The whole online is not about Get Rich Quick. Maybe you will get rich but with a lot of hard work.
  17. Murlu says:
    I think impatience is one of the things that really stump people when they start a blog - you can't expect to have overnight success because it all takes time; giving up immediately because you're impatient simply means you're not really set for blogging - just something to get through your head.
    • Adam says:
      Hello Murray, yes impatience is a big blog killer, as I already said people just want fast results now and do not want to spend their time blogging. They do not realize that blogging is about putting their hard to every activity related to blog.
  18. Rick LaPoint says:
    Hi Adam, In all seriousness, I think you have to be a little crazy if you are to survive for any length of time as a blogger. That strategy has worked for years for me :-) That's the only way you are going to be able to stay positive in the face of all the work with little reward. Months and months of it. I have another website that is 10 years old. Until recently, I never understood that what I was doing all these years even had a specific name. I simply had a website. To attract visitors I had to have things there that people would want to read and/or download. And I had to give them a reason to come back. Blogging seems so complicated in contrast. Back in the Day, when all my friends and I started websites, we all had our own products to sell. Blogging/Content revolved around the subject matter of the product. There weren't a lot of avenues for Affiliates back then. Personally, I don't see how much has really changed. Most people will never make much money blogging unless they have a unique product to sell. Or they have a huge Traffic flow that can make the low Affiliate conversion rate profitable. And so many people are giving away the store while attempting to build a list, that there won't be anything left from which to build a product once the list is built. Anyway, thanks for allowing me this opportunity to cheer everyone up :lol: I'll shut up now. Rick
    • Adam says:
      Hi Rick, I think passionate is often just another word for crazy:) Yes it seems like blogging is a whole science today. You need to have all the knowledge and use it correctly. You need to be persistent and hoping one day you will reach your blogging goal. Although there is no guarantee it will happen and you might just wasting so much time on thing that will never work for you. But despite it all, I just can not resist!:)
  19. Adam says:
    Hello Gibson, finding the time, this is one of the biggest challenge in this world and blog demands a lot of time. And as you said it always comes back to the content, regular quality content that will attract your visitors and make them stay with you. Thanks for comment!
  20. TJ McDowell says:
    The other thing is that people may start blogs out of curiosity to see how it works. They may play around with the functionality of posting, changing themes, etc just to see what everyone is talking about. I could definitely see myself doing this - just to see what makes a blog tick. Then I wouldn't call the blog a failure, it would just have been a learning experience. What do you think? Are a lot of the people from the results just playing around with a blog a little like a science project?
    • Adam says:
      Hi TJ, I know what you mean, I think many of us been there, installed the first theme, change something add some plugins, change something messed it up to learn what went wrong. Definitely this is a valuable period of time, you will get to know your blogging platform better what you can utilize later. If you are able to get from this initial phase than it is surely not a waste of time but valuable lesson. Thanks for commenting!
  21. Ryan Biddulph says:
    Hi Adam, You hit on the key causes of blogging failure here, well done :) Your advice on how to become a blogging survivor is as important. Read other blogs each day; if you don't follow at least 10 blogs from your niche daily you will miss out. My growth as a blogger coincided with when I began to follow successful bloggers in my niche. I became inspired to succeed as they had and also picked up so many tidbits of information that I missed when I follow no blog but my own. You must have a strong desire to succeed to beat the statistics but it can be done. Thanks for sharing your advice Adam :) Have a powerful day! RB
    • Adam says:
      Hey Ryan, I think blogging is simply still more about the community and not about the individual bloggers. Maybe in the past it was enough to deliver content on regular base but today it is simply not. You have to follow others to be informed about the latest development and trends and you have to develop accordingly so you will be able to deliver the content that will catch the attention. Blogging community will educate you, push you further, keep you motivated, and give you energy to continue so why to miss out? Thanks for your great comment buddy.
  22. Nasrul Hanis says:
    Wow.. amazing statistics and we can see that it's not easy to achieve success in blogging! Not with a few clicks and then "Hooray! I make money blogging!" I agree with your suggestions - connect with others, put yourself in the right niche and be consistent! Then you'll enjoy your blogging journey I swear!
    • Adam says:
      Hi Nasrul, yeah this statistics make me think. Lot of people still believes that blogging is easy and it requires no extra effort. But this is wrong blogging is hard work you have to prepare your plan, strategy and think on hundreds of other things. If you are not prepared for that you will most likely fail. As you said you should enjoy your blogging and I would just add Only than you will be able to sustain. Thanks for stopping by:)
  23. Mani Viswanathan says:
    Loved the way u compiled the post. Really well written Adam. I agree with you, blogging is not a day/week/month/year process; but its a weeks/months & years process.
    • Adam says:
      Hello Mani, I am happy you liked the article. Yup, you put it well, blogging is a long process. During this process you will have to overcome many obstacles without knowing whether your effort will be paid off at the end. Anyway, is there any end in the blogging?:) Nice to seeing you here!
  24. Gera says:
    Hi Adam, How strong are those stats! I knew that appear and vanish quickly but not in that rate. Agree in all the points and I think they're a problem even for experienced bloggers, specially the burning out! A good help is receiving guest posters to open new airs :-) Cheers, Gera
    • Adam says:
      Hi Gera, yes although these stats are changing we are able to see the trend from here. It seems like still more people try to run their own blog and at the same time more of them fails. To me it looks like today's people are not patience about anything, everyone wants fast success, but there is nothing like that here. And I agre with you that although if you are a problogger you have to face lot of obstacles every day, you have to keep developing yourself all the time to be able to keep up with the world. Great comments, thanks!
  25. Gibson Goff says:
    I think you hit the nail on the head with this post. It seems that in a lot of businesses you must be a business person first, then a plumber, or truck driver, or pilot, or accountant or whatever . . . But with blogging you must be a writer first. Able to keep cranking out the material even when your wife, pocketbook and landlord tell you not to. Hey, we could be laying on scaffolding and painting church ceilings for weeks on end and surviving on french bread, wine and fromage. At least we get to sit up and endure!