The Only Blogging Secrets You Need to Know for Success

Last updated on June 6th, 2020 at 06:00 am

Are there really any blogging secrets that are keeping you from the success you’re looking for? Well, I’ve been on the entrepreneurial path for way too long. The thing that I’ve learned is that there are no secrets, but there are certain things you need to know.

The only secret to blogging success is to create the right type of content so you can find your targetted audience. The more people that you help the more money you make.

Sounds Easy Right?

Then why do so many blogs fail? Well, I’ve been at both ends of the spectrums where I’ve failed online with blogs and have seen some success. I still haven’t reached the six-figure blogger success, but I know with time and persistence, I will get there.

The great thing is so can you if you’re willing to follow these tips. The sad thing is that most of you who read this article will NOT believe what I have to say.

Instead, you’ll close the window and go find a different article that promises you quick results. I know because that’s exactly what I used to do around 5 years ago for several years.

It was hard doing the same things over and over and NOT getting the results I want. These tips will work for a fashion blogger, mom blogger or any type of blogger.

I’m going to share the secrets that I’ve learned from pursuing my entrepreneurial dreams and spending lots of money in the process. Hopefully, this will show you that regardless of what you think, the only way to success is to work for it.

There’s no system or training that will help you achieve success quickly.

13 Blogging Secrets You Need to Know for Success

#1 We All Start From Scratch

I just started my second blog a little over a month ago. It’s a lot of hard work to start a brand new blog and build it from a business to a profitable blog that actually makes money.

After you register the domain name, you have to find reputable hosting and install WordPress. Then you have to install Google Analytics and set up Google Search Console.

Next comes installing the theme and plugins and etc. It’s way too much, here’s a blog post that will walk you through 35 things to do after installing WordPress.

If you’ve never used WordPress before or blogged in your life, it’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out.

Guess what?

You’re not alone, we’ve all felt that frustration at one point in our lives. Just like anything else, you get better the more often you do it.

I can now set up a brand new blog with the themes and plugins I want to use in about 20 minutes. My very first WordPress blog took me over 8 hours to install, and that wasn’t including the themes or plugins. (I had no clue what themes and plugins were)

If you’re just starting and all this blogging terminology sounds foreign, it’s okay. We’ve all been where you are, you just need to keep pushing towards your goals.

#2 You Need Something You’re Passionate About

Choosing a topic is one of the most challenging things for most new bloggers. It’s kind of like asking an 18-year-old, what do they want to go to college for and do for the rest of their lives.

It’s a big decision that could end up costing a lot of money if you find out you don’t like it. Well, blogging is NOT as costly as paying for 4 years of college.

But if you choose the wrong niche from the get-go, you will end up wasting a ton of time.

Before registering that domain you found, ask yourself these questions:

Are you chasing the topic because of the money?
Can you see yourself blogging in that topic for the next 3-5 years or longer?
Do you have an interest in the topic and do you mind working for free?
Is that niche too competitive? (every niche has competition, but some are way more competitive)
Do you see other bloggers in that niche? (it’s a good sign if you do)

If it’s one thing that I’ve learned about starting several blogs, if you’re not interested in the niche, there’s a good chance you’ll quit.

#3 It Takes A Lot of Hard Work Upfront

It still amazes me when I see bloggers on Facebook asking why they are not making money in their second month. From my personal experience, success doesn’t happen overnight.

The only secret of a successful blog is that they keep showing up every day, regardless of the results they are getting. Blogging is NOT fun and exciting if you’re not making money.

In fact, it downright sucks, because you’re putting in all the hard work and no one is reading your blog posts or clicking on your affiliate links.

However, if you want to turn your blog into a profitable venture, you’ll just have to keep showing up. This is why it’s so important to choose a topic that you’re passionate about.

You’re going to be tested on the ability to stay persistent and your desire to reach your goals. If you chose something solely for the monetary gains, you won’t have the interest or desire to keep persisting.

This is why so many bloggers fail in the first six months. As a blogger, your persistence will be tested nothing I’ve ever seen.

Only the people that are crazy enough or really want to reach their goals will make it through the early times of struggle.

#4 It’s Easy to Fail

Anyone can start a personal blog as a hobby. Not everyone can monetize it and actually start earning profits from it. There are tons of different ways to make money with a blog.

The best thing you can do is test out different monetization methods and see which ones work for you.

Most new bloggers start with Google Adsense and Amazon Associates because that’s what they know. I started with Google Adsense and then switched to FOMO Ads because I had read how much more you can earn with it.

Well, after testing it on my blog for two months now, I am happy to say that I am making more than I ever earned with Adsense. I would’ve never known this if I hadn’t tested it out for myself.

As a blogger, you have to constantly be testing things out and see what works for you. Don’t assume that just because something works for someone else, that it’s going to work for you.

Sign up with FOMO Ads for a month or Ezoic and see which one actually makes you money. You won’t know what works for you until you test it out on your blog.

You’re sure to fail and not make any money if you’re not constantly testing and experimenting with your blog.

#5 It Can Be Lonely

You need to be ready to spend a lot of time in front of your computer. I recommend investing in a standing desk, to avoid back and shoulder pain.

There are days when I go to Starbucks just to get out of the house and avoid the white noise. Karen my partner doesn’t understand what I do for a living.

Yes, she supports me, but she can’t understand why I spend so much time in front of the computer. It can be lonely when you have no one to talk to or who can celebrate your small wins.

It’s okay to join some Facebook groups to meet other bloggers. Just make sure that you’re not spending too much time in them and not doing the work that will help you grow.

If you’re NOT okay with spending tons of time in your computer by yourself, then you may not have what it takes to be a blogger.

#6 It Costs Money to Build A Blogging Business

Yes, there are free blogging platforms you can use like Blogger or WordPress.com. However, if you’re serious about building a business, there are some costs to blogging you can’t avoid.

It still amazes me at how many people want to start for free. They don’t even want to buy a domain, which only costs around $10 per year. If you can’t afford a domain or hosting, which costs around $50 for your first year with this reputable company, you need to think twice about blogging.

There’s no reason to start for free unless you’re just testing the waters. Eventually, you’ll find yourself having to migrate your content to your own self-hosted blog if you want to make money.

It’s just easier to get started the right way from the beginning. Don’t worry, running a blog is not as expensive as you think. I’ve put together the bare minimum costs to help you get started.

Here’s a list of blogging resources that you can use to help you know what to spend money on and what you shouldn’t.

#7 Follow The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule which is known as the Pareto principle, is a concept from more than a century ago. You can read more about the concept in this post.

Basically, it means that you want to spend 80% of your time promoting and marketing your content. 20% of your time should be writing new content.

Of course, you can break it down to 60/40 or 50/50. The main takeaway is that you want to focus on what’s working and what is actually helping you grow.

This will help you become a smarter blogger and fewer chances of burning out.

As you start developing a routine, you’ll be able to see where your time is best spent for the best results.

#8 You Need to Create Content

If you want to succeed with blogging, you’re going to need to learn how to create content on a regular basis. One thing that I did differently with my second blog is created as much content as I could right from the start.

My goal is to create 50 blog posts in the first quarter if I can do more I will. The sooner you can start planting content seeds the sooner you will start seeing traffic from Google.

I can’t tell you how much content it takes to see growth, but this article will put it into perspective for you. While you don’t have to write an article every day, but since I went on a content spree for my blog, I’ve finally started seeing some decent growth.

Now before you start writing any type of content, it’s important to make sure you understand why keywords are important. If you write a bunch of articles on competitive keywords, you’ll just waste a bunch of time.

I personally use KWFinder to help me uncover low hanging fruit. I’ve also signed up with SEMRush every 4-5 months to do some competitive research.

You can use any tool you want, the important thing is to find a strategy that works for you to find the right keywords.

#9 Perfectionism Will Kill You

I get it, you want everything to be perfect before you launch your blog. You want to make sure that you have the perfect logo, the right colors and that article sounds amazing.

We all would love things to be perfect, but the people who have success don’t let perfectionism stop them. They move forward regardless of whether things are perfect.

The great thing about a blog is that you can always go back and update an old blog post. You can create a new logo when you have more design skills.

Don’t let the perfectionist in you stop you from moving forward. The only way you’re going to be able to create a popular blog that actually makes money is if you keep moving forward.

#10 Think of Blogging As A Long-Term Strategy

Blogging isn’t one of those “get rich schemes” in fact, it’s one of the slowest ways to make money online. You can’t expect your blog to start earning you money from day one.

It’s easy to read someone’s blog income reports and think that so and so was able to earn a full-time income in their first year. The truth is that everyone has their own success story.

No one is going to share a personal story of how many years it took them to start seeing success. No one wants to hear the truth about how hard and long it takes to see success with a blog.

Instead, we want to hear how easy it is to start a blog today and make money in our first year. I’m not saying that you can’t do it, in fact, some bloggers have been able to do it.

But the norm is that it will take most people a while before they start seeing success. I can tell you from my personal experience that I’ve been chasing my entrepreneurial dream for over 10 years.

If only I would’ve stopped chasing that “Magic Bullet” years ago, who knows where I would be right now. This time around, I know that the only way that I’ll be able to achieve success is if I stick with something long enough to make it work.

Don’t make the same mistake I made, don’t quit if you really want to create a profitable blog.

#11 It’s Okay to Take A Blogging Break

There are going to be days when you don’t really feel like doing anything. It’s okay, allow yourself to take time away from the computer.

Spend time with friends and family and shut down the computer. Your blog will be there when you come back in a few days.

The time off will allow you to get your head straight and you’ll feel motivated once you get back online. Taking a short break is a lot better than just throwing in the towel and calling it quits.

#12 Don’t Start More Than One Blog

It’s easy to think if you can run two blogs, why not start multiple blogs. I can tell you from experience, it’s hard running more than one blog.

When you’re working on one blog, the other one is being neglected. Once you get your first blog earning and you’ve written over 100 articles, then you can consider starting a second blog.

This way, you have one blog that is already profitable and taking time away from it won’t matter. That’s why I started this blog, it’s finally earning money and I wanted to build another passive income stream site.

I figured if I could earn from one blog, why not create a second one. I’ll sleep better at night when I have more than one blog earning me money.

#13 Treat Your Blog Like A Business

Don’t be scared to invest in your blog, whether it’s a blogging course or some type of education to help you learn something new. Most of us have no clue about marketing, creating content or creating a successful business.

I’ve invested in several online courses and while I’ve spent a lot of money in the process. I can tell you that I’ve always learned something from every course I’ve purchased.

I can tell you one thing, I won’t be buying any new courses this year because I don’t need to know anything else at this point in my business.

This doesn’t mean that I won’t ever buy anything again. I’m a huge fan of buying courses that teach me how to do something new or improve a skill I am struggling with.

If you’re completely new to blogging, I recommend checking out the Dare to Conquer blogging course which will teach you everything you need to know. I purchased this course and since the update, it’s been great.

Final Take Away

There are no secrets when it comes to creating a successful blog. People myself included will try to make it a lot harder than it is. If someone tries to tell you they have huge secrets to share, there’s a good chance that they are trying to sell you something.

You have it in you to create a successful blogging business. As long as you can stay the course and keep creating content and promoting it, eventually, your time will come.

Take it from me, it I did a lot of things wrong with this blog at the beginning. I’m finally starting to see some good traffic and the best part is that it’s continuing to climb and so is my income.

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Have you finally figured out what it takes to create a successful blog? If so, let me know how long it took you to figure things out and what you’re doing about it.