When it comes to so many things in life, we over-complicate. Wouldn’t you agree? Don’t you think we do this with blogging as well? We make it way too hard.
- We run too many plugins
- We push ourselves to post more often than we really want to
- We spend too much time on our blog
- We concentrate too much on our design
- We spend too much time trying to “get traffic” than in just “talking to people”
Look if your blog isn’t fun, you’re not going to stick with it. And that means you’re not going to be successful. Pick a simple topic that you love, and stick with it for the long haul. Here are some principles that will help you simplify and love every minute you spend building your blog.
- Plugins are a beautiful thing. That said, run a handful of them. After 10-15 plugins, give serious consideration to simply cutting yourself off. You don’t need more. You really, really don’t.
- Blogging should not take all day. In fact, it shouldn’t take too long at all. If you’re new, and you’re spending more than a couple hours a WEEK on your blog, you’re spending too much time on it.
- Design matters. It does. But it doesn’t make or break your site. If you think your blog needs to be snazzy to be successful…if you think the perfect layout matters to the point that it will affect the success of your blog…if you think readers really give a damn about ANYTHING other than content, take a look at this very successful blog and get back to me with your thoughts.
- Traffic matters. That said, it doesn’t matter nearly as much as you may think. I haven’t checked my analytics in weeks. I’m growing. That’s what matters. It may seem odd that I’ll spout the gospel of traffic not mattering and then later on launch a tutorial on how to get more traffic. Is this hypocrisy? I don’t think so. I just like to put things in perspective. You need traffic, but should you spend more than a few hours here and there on “traffic generating” techniques? I really don’t think so.
If all you want is traffic, just buy a bunch of pop-under hits for $100. Done. You’ll have a hundred thousand visitors a month overnight, and it will translate ZERO to your bottom line of course. Traffic matters, but we spend WAY too much time on SEO and traffic generation. We don’t need more traffic, we need GOOD traffic, and that comes via social networking. Just talk to people. Talk to people, and the traffic will come.
If you’re looking for your blog to blow your business up over night, you’re barking up the wrong tree. If you want to build a powerful community that supports you through thick and thin, that grows your base slow and steady over time, that opens up new income streams and gives you a considerable creative outlet, then blogging is your man. Do it, but take it for what it is. It’s really very simple. Let it be fun, and it will pay you handsomely in the long run 
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Hi Christian,
I agree with the fact that simply just talking to people makes much more sense than buying cheap traffic. It’s really about the relationships. The plan should be more about keeping people reading the blog than *geting* people to it.
Cheers,
Clinton Skakun
Always good to hear from you Clinton
Yes I think many people just over-complicate things. Blogging just doesn’t have to be any more techy than you want it to be.
Contemplating starting a new blog,
I hear to specialize, then hear follow your passion…next traffic is king, then traffic is nothing unless it’s relevant and buying…
You need to be passionate about your topic, but you need people that can spend money on your offerings..
As with anything I guess each path has it’s give/takes..
Think I’m going to do topic but have several other things going too, because I bore easily…want to talk about being older, but I do marketing for construction, done some simple videos and love doing that…think I have some tips for older people looking for job…there are a lot of things I’m reasonably passionate and adept at..
I always hear focus, but focus brings boredom soon for me…maybe that’s a reason of a lot of unfinished projects.
Good post, makes me think..thanks for listening..
Joe
Have fun with your new blog, Joe! You’re absolutely right…there’s a lot of conflicting information out there, which is one of the reasons I feel so compelled to share what I’ve learned. Let me say this…my personal approach is not the only way of doing things. I build small, powerful niche sites, and I use a highly personal approach to selling and marketing. It works very well for me.
Clients who work with me are typically small business owners and professionals who want to build a powerful niche presence in a specific market. If this is you, I’d love to work with you, and the content here will be helpful for your business. Let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to have you as a reader