I wanted to share how not to fail at blogging. It took me awhile to get the right tools and mindset. I remember starting my first blog in my early 20’s. I thought it would be the coolest thing. It ended up being clunky, ugly and pointless. But that wasn’t going to stop me. A couple years later I forgot about that and started another one.
That time around it looked better, but after a few months, I abandoned ship. This vicious and horrible cycle has happened 5 times. You heard right…5 BLOGS!
You must be thinking, “Homegirl, let it go. Maybe blogging isn’t for you…” And that’s how I felt on the inside.
I was a blog failure. 5 unsuccessful blogs under the age of 32.
Inside of me, there was this thing about blogging that attracted me. I loved the idea of teaching and helping others out.
But I was going about it all the wrong ways.
So, this time I decided to do things right. I decided before I even attempt another blog I am gonna learn from my past and do my homework.
Once I started to learn and reflect. I found these 5 things that I did wrong. And I want to share them with you! My hope is that this will help your blog become more successful.
HOW TO NOT FAIL AT BLOGGING
1. Lack of Focus
When it comes to blogging being vague or unsure of your focus can head your blog into the failure zone.
If you can’t answer the three “W’s” of your blog, then you will never have any direction. Which means you will end up nowhere.
Here are the three “W’s” you need to ask yourself:
- WHO – Who am I writing too? Who is my audience? Try to create and avatar to help you pin the exact kind of person you are trying to reach out too.
- WHY – Why do I want to do this? Why do I want to reach out to my “who”? Why blogging?
- WHAT – What is my blog going to accomplish? What are the topics I want to write on?
Answering these will help you gain real clarity and vision.
2. Making It About Yourself
Wait, isn’t that what blogging is all about? Like don’t I share my life and process stuff I have been thinking about?
Well, yes but technically NO. I didn’t get this till I started, Think About Such Things. If your goal is to just share stuff with family and close friends then that will work.
But if your vision for blogging is a little broader. And you want to impact people and even monetize your blog. You are going to have to stop making your blog about yourself.
Sharing parts of your life in a blog is a great way to illustrate things. But your goal should be how you can better your “WHO.”
If a post doesn’t help your “WHO” then guess what….. DON’T WRITE IT!
3. No Game Plan
![How to not fail at blogging. Alan Lakein Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.](https://thinkaboutsuchthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Alan-Lakein-quote-300x300.png.webp)
Number 3 & 4 work hand in hand with each other. But we will look at #4 shortly.
When there is no game plan then the majority of the time you are doing things on a whim. That never works out well.
I love the quote from the businessman, Alan Lakein:
“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”
If you dream of an influential blog, that is impacting people and creating an income for you. Then you need to start to plan out a strategy.
This is when you start to answer the, “HOW.”
- How am I going to get from point A to point B?
- How many times will I be posting?
- How am I going to reach people?
- How can I learn more about the topics I am writing about?
Creating a game plan with action steps will help your blog grow tremendously.
4. Inconsistency
I can not tell you how many time I have failed in this area. In the past, I was never consistent with my blogging. It was basically whenever I felt like it or I had some kind of writing assignment. It was BAD.
If you want to build and grow your blog you have to be consistent with your posting and updating of your site.
This is where #3 plays an important role. When you have a game plan and action steps set it makes it easier to be consistent.
The second thing that is super helpful is having an editorial calendar. Now, don’t let that scare you. It’s a calendar or planner that you can use to create a schedule when you will post and change things on your site.
You can use either a paper planner/calendar or a digital version. Whatever fits you best. For me personally, I am a big fan of paper planners. I like using erasable pens because I tend to like to move things around. These are my favorite ones: Pilot FriXion Clicker Retractable Erasable Gel Pens
5. Unprepared
I never knew you could be unprepared for blogging. I figured you get a site and start writing. Once again I was very wrong.
There is a lot that goes into blogging. Trust me…I wrote a whole post on how to mentally prepare to start a blog! One of the biggest things that helped me was learning from other bloggers. I started following blogs I liked to see how they did stuff.
I started searching on Pinterest and Google about blogging. I read Ruth’s Book, How To Blog For Profit: Without Selling Your Soul. I found a wealth of information and resources. All of a sudden I felt way more equipped to do this.
Taking that time to prepare and learn about blogging before diving in helped me. I was able to go into blogging knowing exactly what was required of me if I wanted a successful blog.
So, take your time a prepare yourself. Take a week or a month before you launch and research blogging.
If you already have an established blog. Go and check out some books and articles to help you better your blogging. It’s never too late!
I hope these 5 things I have learned how not to fail at blogging and create a successful blog. Please, also share a comment on what is the biggest thing you learned from being a blogger.
![Picture of Melissa Tumino](https://thinkaboutsuchthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Melissa-Tumino.jpg.webp)
Melissa is a passionate minister, speaker and an ongoing learner of the Bible. She has been involved in church and vocational ministry for over 18 years. And is the founder of Think About Such Things. She has the heart to equip the saints by helping them get into the Word of God and fall more in love with Jesus. She also enjoys family, cooking, and reading.
She has spoken in churches in California, Oregon, Texas, and Mexico and has been featured in Guidepost Magazine and All Recipes Magazine. Read More…
Rachel
Wednesday 10th of October 2018
I'm interested in starting a blog. My main problem is trying to decide where I want to host my blog. I am on a limited budget now but hopefully in the near future I can afford more. Any suggestions? Also, do you need to purchase a domain name first or does it come with the purchase of the host site?
Susan Velez
Saturday 3rd of February 2018
Hi Melissa,
Loved reading about your past failures, I've been there and done that in the past. Like you, I've failed before in the past, so I can definitely relate to everything in your post.
One of my biggest problems in the past was that I was NOT patient. I would start a blog and then after a few months after not seeing results, I would jump to the next shiny object.
I never gave my blogs a chance to succeed. I laugh now because of how impatient I was. It's so easy to think that if you start a blog today, you'll see success in a few months.
Especially, if you read all those income reports online that say you can start earning money in a few weeks.
I now know that as long as I stay consistent with my blog, I will get the results I want. I've already seen huge improvements with this blog than I have with any of my other past failures.
We got this girl, we've learned from our past failures, so there's no stopping us now.
Thanks for sharing your failures, I have no doubt that they will help others who are just getting started.
Have a great day :)
Susan
Rachel
Tuesday 10th of October 2017
Every failure teaches you valuable lessons! Thank you for sharing, this is great. It helps to know I am not the only one who has failed too.
Anna nuttall
Friday 16th of June 2017
Melissa, i was in the same boat as you - 5 blogs failures under 32. But i soon learnt my lesson and moved on. If at first you don't succeed - try try again... That we both did and look where we are now...
Melissa Tumino
Tuesday 20th of June 2017
That is so true. Sometimes you have to hit a few bumps in the road before you learn!
Danielle
Friday 16th of June 2017
These things are soo important! I had another blog before i started danielleruppert.com and I failed at it. I just wasn't ready to put in the time and effort to learn what it really takes to be a blogger. I have learned so much since I started my new blog and am so happy with how it is doing♥ I love it! Great tips! These are all soo important for bloggers to focus on!
-Danielle Ruppert // http://danielleruppert.com