Blogging is magic.
Both consist of knowing your audience well, pulling out effective setups, and playing the ultimate mind tricks to create an entertaining experience.
However, just because there are tricks doesn’t mean it’s a cakewalk.
It takes intense dedication, discipline, and consistent effort to perform those tricks seamlessly.
Even though maintaining the illusion is no joke, it is not even the hardest part. The real sweat is to come up with newer tricks that will intrigue your audience.
That’s what takes creativity.
But what if you are not the creative type? What if you lack natural talent? Is it game over for you? No!
Why It Doesn’t Matter Whether You Are Naturally Gifted or Not
Sure, having natural talent at something does give you a head start. But that doesn’t mean you are useless without it.
Being an Indian, English isn’t my native language. It isn’t even my second language. I did my schooling under our regional board instead of any English medium boards.
I was so bad that I scored a whopping 11/100 in English in the seventh standard. Wait, there’s more. In my college, my parents pressured me into taking on English honors.
I failed the first year.
Three years later, I graduated, topping my class. Today, I earn a full-time living blogging online and writing for clients all across the globe.
You can do the same. Even if you think you are not good enough.
Will it be easy? No. Will it be fast? Not really. However, if you use the tricks I’m about to show you here, it can get substantially easier & quicker.
But first, let’s get rid of what had been holding you back for so long.
Desperation Is Your Kryptonite
Your desperation will forever keep you trapped in the aspiring phase. It shows that you have become the one thing that a blogger is not supposed to be — self-centered.
Make no mistake. Being yourself doesn’t translate to being a cute little narcissist.
- If you use your distinct stylistic elements to enhance the reading experience, you are ‘being yourself.’
- On the contrary, when you expect everyone to show up and support your content just so you can buy the new iPhone, you are delusional.
If you constantly ask yourself, “what can I get from here?” “how much money would it make me, and how fast?” you are missing the point. Trust me. I’ve been there.
Sure, you are doing it for money. And being result-oriented isn’t a sin. But how would you get to those results if all you do is obsess over them instead of taking enough result-oriented action?
I learned this from James Clear, as he beautifully puts it:
True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.
But how do you build such a process? How do you get better at blogging? Here, let me explain.
How To Make Blogging Better, Easier, & Faster — Step-by-Step
Most aspiring bloggers never make any money because they fail to recognize a simple fact.
Blogging or online writing isn’t about writing itself. It’s more about hitting the pain point of your target audience.
As author and self-made millionaire, M.J. DeMarco lays it out:
Money isn’t attracted to selfish people… It’s attracted to people who fill needs and add value… The amount of money in your life is merely a reflection to the amount of value you have given to others.
So if you want to make it as a blogger, you will have to put in the hours. You have to make yourself visible.
Most importantly, you have to…
Be a giver first
It starts with a few simple steps. First, know your market. Who are the people you want to read your stuff? What problems would your pieces solve for them?
Are you trying to appeal to young adults dealing with real-life problems? Or are you aiming to help new parents to raise their children better? You can even cater to newbies trying to learn to code.
Once you are done selecting the audience for your work, now it’s time to figure out two things.
Their hopes & aspirations: What are their deepest desires? And what’s keeping them from getting what they want?
Their fears & frustrations: What keeps them awake at night? How can you help them make it a little better?
Now you can serve them through entertainment, suggestion, or inspiration. Either way, the more you help your audience solve their problems, the better off you will be in the long run.
While doing it, make sure that the desperation doesn’t creep into your system. To do that, you must…
Ditch the scarcity mindset
Can you drown in knee-deep water? Well, you convince yourself that you can when you come from a scarcity mindset.
How to beat it?
You can sum it up in one sentence — let go of what you can’t control and get better at what you can.
There’s a good reason why you have to live up to this philosophy. Here’s why.
There’s no place for crybabies, especially those who whine about not getting hefty rewards for their limited skills.
If you want to add value to your audience,
- you have to be a perpetual problem solver
- you have to be resourceful
- most of all, you have to be willing to grow by learning newer things
Only then will you have enough substance to engage a wide scale of audience. But that’s not it.
Once you know whom and how to serve, you better…
Amp up the production (value+frequency)
As a beginner, you only have to do two things to make your content delivery professional:
- Package your message well
- Speed up your writing
Doing so, you will be able to put out quality content more frequently. You can achieve both by implementing a systematic approach to your work. How to do that?
- Don’t just use clickbait titles. Figure out different formulas to turn dull titles into exciting ones without the bait.
- Don’t just write an uninspired introduction. Learn multiple ways to grasp your audience’s attention from the get-go.
- Don’t just dump large chunks of texts. Draft your custom structure with shorter paragraphs and irresistible subheaders.
- Don’t hustle yourself to exhaustion every day. Maintain a steady pace of work so you can learn newer things and talk about them effortlessly.
Again, it will take time, effort, and dedication to get the combination that works for you and your target audience. And as you move along, you have to tweak and improve upon specific areas to keep up with changing trends.
So, yeah. It’s work. Hell, it’s more of a business. But once you pull it off, it can be highly recompensing.
Believe it or not. Serving your audience well is a far better blogging strategy than trying to rig the algorithm. After all, we keep returning to the things that fill our needs. That’s all you need to focus on as a blogger.
