95% is not a made up number. The overwhelming majority of blogs end up failing. Most of the time they end up failing because they don’t build up a solid foundation when they first start. This is especially true for Steemit blogs as the platform brings in more and more users.
Without a solid foundation, how will you build a strong blog in the long term, or even in the short term?
I’m writing this post because in order to learn from mistakes (or prevent them from happening), you first need to be aware of the problems you could be making and quickly fix them.
Without further ado, here are why 95% of Steemit blogs are doomed to fail before they even start.
1. They Don’t Set Goals.
You’ve heard it a million times. But it’s absolutely true. In order to build a solid foundation for anything you want to accomplish in life, setting goals is essential for success.
Goal setting is super simple, yet nobody wants to make goal setting a priority which is what makes it a commonly overlooked step.
Goals consist of two main types: long term and short term goals. Long term goals the major stepping stones to your overall mission. Short term goals are goals leading up to those major stepping stones.
Here is what you need to do right this second.
Write down your big overall vision/mission.
For example, your main goal could be to make $1,000 dollars on Steemit in 3 months. Of course you could go larger than that, but as an example it will do.
Write the steps to achieving that mission.
You have your mission, now what? Well, now it’s time to think about the smaller steps that will lead up to the larger goals. For example, if your mission is to make $1,000 dollars on Steemit in 3 months, your short term goals could be:
Week 1:
- Post introduceyourself article.
- Set up social media accounts.
- Build reputation by writing helpful comments.
- Begin brainstorming post ideas.
- Post and promote first blog post.
Week 2:
- Pre-write multiple posts
- Get involved in the community
- Etcetera…
Give the goals a deadline.
Every goal needs a deadline. Make sure to add the time and day in which you need to finish it.
If your goal is to post your introduceyourself in the first week, prioritize it by writing, “Post introduceyourself article by Monday at 11:00am”.
Without a deadline, you won’t have a clear point in which your goals need to be completed, and you will never get anything done.
Hold yourself accountable. (Optional)
If you want to force yourself to succeed, this is probably the best way to do it.
First, put yourself in a position where if you don’t achieve your goal, you’ll suffer pain. This pain can be embarrassment, humiliation, or physical pain (not recommended).
For example, to hold yourself accountable, tell everyone on Twitter that you will be posting on Monday at 11:00am.
If you don’t, your followers will lose trust in you and you’ll most likely feel guilty about it as your credibility slowly slips away.
2. They Choose the Wrong Niche.
Or even worse, not choosing a niche at all.
If you want to be successful on Steemit, you’re going to have to make it clear
to your readers exactly what subjects you talk about.
Many bloggers will randomly switch their niche and talk about something completely unrelated to what they were talking about to begin with.
If you switch your niche all of a sudden, you’ll get into the habit of always lacking consistency and consistency is key for following through on any goals you may have.
How to find your perfect niche:
Pick a topic that you love writing about.
If you chose something that you love writing about, you’re more likely to put in the time and effort to make it something you’re proud of.
You’re also less likely to abandon the topic along with running out of ideas.
Plus, if you love your topic, it will shine through in your writing and readers can feel that. This allows you to build connections with your readers for happier relationships.
For me, I love marketing. I’ve noticed there is a ton of high quality content just waiting to be found. So I share the marketing skills that I’ve come across and implemented to help content creators optimize and promote their content so it can be seen and loved all over the world.
It’s definitely a unique passion to have at 16 years old.
For you, it might be travel, economics, politics, business, writing, video games, art, heck, even construction working. Anything that you love to write about, just do it.
Find an uncompetitive niche and take advantage of it.
Since Steemit is brand spanking new, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to choose almost any topic you’d like.
The only niches I’ve found on Steemit to be somewhat competitive are talking about Steem/Steemit, Travel, Art, and personal stories. That’s it. And those niches aren’t even THAT competitive. (Except maybe the talking about Steemit niche that is flooded with whales.)
However, if you’re reading this post a few months after this post was created, make sure you look for niches that can easily be improved on.
Personally, I haven’t seen a single blog on Steemit that’s main focus is on marketing. This leaves me with a wide open opportunity to dominate the topic.
Make sure the niche has an audience.
In other words, don’t enter a niche that’s too specific. (e.g. the Kung Fu Panda Master Shifu niche)
Now, if you’re goal is to help people in your niche, you need to make sure that people are actually searching for information on the topic.
To make sure that your niche has an audience, just search it up on Google. And if people are sharing content on that topic, it’s a good sign that there are people who can benefit from your content as well.
3. They Lack the Correct Mindset.
Having the right mindset is crucial for anybody who is hoping to have any success in any area in life. However, the majority of blogs fail because they lack in places that are important for reaching that success. Here are nine things you might be lacking that slow you down and hold you back from achieving your goals:
Lack of consistency.
You give up easily.
If you want to achieve that success that you’re craving so badly, you need to make working towards your goal a habit.
Lack of effort.
You don’t try hard enough.
If you want your work to add value to people’s lives, you’re going to have to put in a little bit of elbow grease.
People can tell whether you put 4 hours into your work versus 40 minutes.
Lack of results.
Results are what keep you moving forward. Results should be your motivation. If you’re not getting results, you need to do what Jeff Berwick of @DollarVigilante says, "Always do the most extreme thing to get out of a problem you can’t fix."
If you’re not getting results, change things up. Try new things.
Lack of focus.
You need to make Steemit a priority and take it seriously.
If you’re not concentrating, you won’t put in the time and effort that’s needed. And this is why it’s so important to choose a niche/topic that you love because you’ll want to put in the time and effort, which allows for enhanced focus.
Lack of promotion.
If you want people to see your post, you have to spread the word.
Nobody is going to come to your post if they don’t know about it. A Lot of people rely on only one source of traffic, the “new” category on Steemit. With this, you’ll be lucky to even get 3 upvotes.
You need to get the word out. And I’ve been saying this in all of my posts.
Lack of unique content.
Doing what everybody else is doing gets you nowhere.
Sometimes I’ll read posts that tell their readers to look at the trending page and write similar posts that the whales are doing.
Of course it may be good to look at the topics of what they’re writing about and what gets a lot of traffic and upvotes.
But if everyone is writing the about the same things, how will any readers be able to find information other than that same old content?
Lack of personality.
You have no voice.
Personality is what makes your posts exciting to read and what keeps your readers on the edge.
In order to do well on Steemit, you need to develop an engaging personality.
First off, embrace your own personality and stop trying to imitate others.
Another tip is to simply write how you talk. Avoid using “um” and “uh” in your writing. But definitely make sure to use your real life personality in your writing. This will make you sound genuinely authentic and your readers know when you’re being real versus being fake.
Lack of interest.
If you get bored often, you probably shouldn’t be writing.
Of course I’m not telling you to give up whenever you get tired or overwhelmed.
If you do find yourself getting bored, try to change things up such as your writing style, the time you write, and the place where you write.
Another reason you might be losing interest is because you set your expectations too high. For example, your goal might be to make $10,000 on Steemit in one week. That’s pretty unrealistic. And if you don’t reach that goal in one week, you’ll begin to feel defeated and lose motivation.
Lack of ideas.
You don’t innovate.
If you want to write long term, you’re going to need ideas. Here’s how to get them.
Use social media. Look at what kind of posts people are reading and sharing. A great tool for this is BuzzSumo. You just type in the keyword or niche of what you’re writing about and you’re able find great ideas based on how many shares certain posts got.
Another great way to find ideas is to ask your readers what they want to read about. Ask people in your comments after you post, “If you have any good ideas for future posts, please comment.”.
Finally, you can get ideas just by looking at what others in your niche are writing about. Sometimes I’ll go to Quicksprout, HubSpot, and CopyBlogger for ideas.
Conclusion
If you liked this post, make sure to upvote and follow for more awesome content. Also, please share this with anybody you know who is struggling to get their blog off the ground.
Make sure to express any questions, comments or feedback you may have down below.
Links:
Follow SteemRocket on…
Let’s talk business: [email protected]
Check out the new Steemit Forum!
Recommended Posts:
7 Simple Tips to Crafting the Perfect Steemit Headline
Supercharge Your Steemit Post Traffic Using These 9 Tactics
I love getting feedback on my posts to help me improve the quality that's tailored specifically to my followers. So make sure to comment what you think down below!
Clear and easy description. A lot of factors that you mentioned I actually take them into consideration before posting.
Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks, pinkisland
Nicely put.
It really increases the probabilities of sucess.
Glad I could help :)
keep helping the community :)
I'm new to Steemit and having to confine myself to a niche is at direct odds with my personality. My interests are so diverse and scattered that I have yet to sum them up in an initial introduction article. Of course, this could just be a form of self-destructive behavior, or a means of procrastination, in order to avoid taking that initial step in making my writing visible to the public.
As far as picking a niche, the new blogger may want to pick a narrow niche (as you mentioned), but with the understanding that their short term rewards will be limited.
If there is not a large audience in your niche, then don't be disappointed that you aren't getting a lot of upvotes or commenting, as there just isnt a lot of people interested in what you are saying...
BUT
keep in mind that IF you love what you are writing about, and you are consistent in doing it, there will be rewards!
Good article!
Exactly. If you love writing about Kung Fu Panda's Master Shifu, then write about Master Shifu, and make it the best damn Steemit post about Master Shifu in the world! Thanks stevescoins :)
very nice post. definitely going to implement it @steemrocket
Thanks, funnyman
Another great informative post with useful tips :-)
Thanks, Kreativ :-)
I wouldn’t have found this article if it weren't for the social media platform "Medium".
This issue (visibility ) is the problem I am having trouble with here on steemit.
I know there are now promoted options, but do you have an article about this or can you?
Thanks
In my last post, I talk about promoting your content and using social media to your advantage. Here's the link: https://steemit.com/marketing/@steemrocket/supercharge-your-steemit-post-traffic-using-these-9-tactics
And one of my favorite posts about blog post promotion is Kim Roach's 101 Ways to Promote your Next Blog Post: https://www.buzzblogger.com/blog-promotion-checklist/
Thanks!
You continue to make such high quality posts with beautiful graphics. I'm really rooting for you to one day make the next x thousand SBD post! This is great advice! I hope you are rewarded well for your effort in the near future! Happy Steeming!
Thanks, steamit. I'm trying my best not to get discouraged. The best thing to do is stick with it for the long term, consistently improve, and learn from my mistakes. Happy Steeming :)
Really good post! keep it up @steemrocket :)
Thank you
well written post. One of the best I've seen on blogging and marketing. I don't focus on a niche since that is a part of who I am. I am interested in a range of topics and love to explore and talk about them. I guess my niche would 'generalist' which isn't something that can be searched on too readily. :)
I think that's okay for now. But as Steemit becomes more and more popular over time, people are going to want all the information about a certain topic in one place.
But for the short-term, just have fun :)
As someone who is new to blogging, this is a great piece. I'll be certainly taking some of your advice moving forward. Post is much appreciated!
Glad I could help, mlialen :)
Super drupa article !!
I go with my own flow , all over the place.
Sometimes very personal but most of the time I promote my work and passions .
Thanks mammasitta! And I was telling shadowpub, I think that not having a niche and just a personal blog is okay for right now. But as Steemit gains popularity, people are probably going to want a specific subject of information all in one place.
But as for now you're right, just have fun :)
A terrific post. I don't understand why it hasn't received more votes/earnings. Following you and looking forward to reading more of your marketing articles.
I just started two weeks ago so I haven't hit that certain threshhold of the momentum that I need to get off the ground yet. But I can sense that I'll be reaching it soon ;). Thanks for the compliment and I hope I can help you with even more content coming soon!
I was thinking the same as if why this post doesn't have enough earnings but @steemrocket answered it
thank you for your guidance and encouraging post.. its tempting to give up and having proper guidance is crucial for Steemit users.. thanks a million
I've reread this a few times and seeing how that advice has helped. Sometimes a niche and a voice will just develop with, as steemrocket says, enjoying the process!
Very good article! I'm doing most of your suggestions, but not a 100% no guest poster yet. I have to create my paintings, care for my gardens, cook meals from scratch and organic, document as I go, learn how to format web pages, brush up on grammar (My sentence structure sucks). I have years of blogging and social networks crammed full of ideas and long term friends. I need to get organized, this is an awesome challenge, I'm having fun too!
That's great to hear, reddust. Best of luck to you!
This is super useful! How come this post just made so few? It's really helpful. Maybe even too much what people want to hear! Thanks for these insights. Follow me and watch me grow thanks to your blog. :)
Well, my blog topic isn't exactly directed towards a whale audience but rather new Steemit users who don't have much voting power, which may explain why my posts don't earn much. But other that, it feels great helping people out and to hopefully watch them succeed in the long run. Really glad I could help alechahn :)
Practical and helpful post - thank you . upvoted
I feel this should have gotten more than 1.66. Good inspiration. I think it would be great if there was a timer, in which your posts can be automatically witheld and then posted at the time you set.
Then again everyone would do that and... well it was nice at first.
Very helpful post especially to a newbie like me, will definitely follow and upvote. Thanks.
Might be a question too late to get answered: How do you select a topic (tag) for your niche? Can it be niche specific like "Retired in Philippines?"
Very nice post! I can't decide at the moment if I should do the "all-over-the-place-blogging" or just go full-on niche (which is more of a long term investment). OR do I do a little of both for now and go slowly over to just posting about my niche?
@steemrocket I found this post very useful. I was happy to see that I am already incorporating most of these things into my own practices. I am working on a post now and will definitely refer people to this page. I'm really surprised to see that it didn't get more upvotes. I think it deserved more.
Old post, great advice. I'm surprised to see that you stopped posting on Steemit. The community is much bigger now, you should give it another try. Best of luck.
I agree with you on this one @lmw - here I am in June 2018, two years after the post was written, and I'm still gaining value from it.
A very usefull article! Glad i almost do everything above here! :D
Excellent article. So what happened?
I'm confused............hope you're still around.
All the best.