If you want to reach the level of a the big bloggers, it won't be easy, but if you build a little community of followers and stick to it, you just might break through yourself.
Success means different things to different people. Perhaps, just earning a living writing is what you want? Depending on your living expenses, that can be a larger or small goal.
The following 5 things are the most important things to focus on, some easier than others of course, and some require initial success to get to the others.
1. Take Action
Of course any goal-setting aficionado knows, without taking positive action toward your goals, you have zero chance to achieve anything. Even lottery winners buy a ticket first.
Some of your first action steps could be to start a free Blogger blog like this one. You could also pay for your own domain, and host a WordPress site, with paid theme if you want.
It's not nearly as expensive as you think, but extra costs like setting it up, and support for those things can add up. A few hundred dollars a year is a good bet. If you simply can't afford that type of overhead yet, Blogger is a great entry point.
Take effective action:
I highly suggest you consider the viability and income potential of writing within the niche you'll enter. Ideally an extensive background in the topic would help with authority, though you can learn and build authority as you go.
Straight traditional blogging for income seems to be very difficult unless you're in the self-improvement or blogging help area. Social Media blogging and financial blogs also do well from what I have learned.
I know blogging about a specific music for instance is nearly impossible to do well income wise. Niche sites though, that offer tips about collecting vintage music, or collecting vinyl records can do well, but the amount of people looking for this info is very small.
2. A Passion That Shines Brightly
If these Bloggers didn't wear their passion on their sleeves, I wouldn't want to follow them. Why do I subscribe to Darren Rowse's podcast, or follow Pat Flynn on Twitter, or Read Jon Morrow's blog posts over and over? They are ON FIRE! Passionate about what they do, and I feel they genuinely want to help people.
This is my first stab at the self-improvement blogging help space, but I have used many of the things I have learned over the years into my little modest niches over the years, and they have helped me find my voice in those niches...all be it with tremendous ups and downs. You know, like any other business or career?
I feel, and you could too, like I could do what they do, because I have absorbed so much information over the past 8 years, it has almost become second nature to me, some of their teachings. It's just about having the capital and enough passion to make it happen.
3. Hang around like minded people
One of things I have noticed in my journey writing the past few years is how much cross pollination goes on. Other bloggers do tend to help each other out too, at least the smart ones do.
Don't be afraid to share the things you've learned from the experts. You might get noticed by them, and perhaps get one of your articles linked to, which will help you rank better with the search engines and build authority.
These people don't have time for negative people though, they are achievers moving ahead, and they like to surround themselves with people who think like them on a basic level...Positive vibes go much further than the negative.
Not that they don't value constructive criticism, especially from their readers, which is you and me by the way; but snarky, petty attitudes tend to get left in the dust.
4. Reinvestment of Capital
This one is the biggie! All of the monster bloggers seize the opportunity when it comes, they put money "capital" they earn, back into their ever expanding business.
Their brains work that way too, scanning the landscape ready to pounce when the notion strikes. Of course if you're just starting out with a zero bank account, this can be a problem. But again, don't let lack of money prohibit you from writing that first word.
These men and woman not only blog, but have expanded into live webinars, videos, audio pod-casting, and all types of e-books, affiliate services, and some like Jon Morrow offer entirely overpriced for me, but useful high-quality services. Yes they are passionate about what they do.
To get as big as these people, you need to be able to hire help. This could be as simple as hiring people to design logos for you, run your social media accounts, edit your work, and I am sure at their level, accounting specialists are hired to manage their tax and investment situations.
5. Give Back to the Blogging Community
Hard to fake genuine caring for your fellow man. If you follow the best of the best, you'll quickly realize, they practically give away the store to their loyal following.
Darren Rowse's podcast is practically everything you need to know in how to be a successful blogger. I eagerly get up in the morning and refresh the iTunes podcast player in hopes another podcast is available.
It's more than just the info, I like the guy. His laid back, yet business like approach agrees with me. His tone of voice works for me, if he sounded like some high pitched used car salesmen I doubt I would have stayed with him.
The point is, these are FREE information loaded podcasts, with just a brief mention of an affiliate product of some sort. They do indeed give away the store. Pat Flynn's podcasts are also very entertaining as well as informative.
They realize the reality of giving back. They give, and you apply the knowledge, and become a disciple of them so to speak.
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