13 Things Successful Bloggers Don’t Do

13 Things Successful Bloggers Don’t Do July 7, 201968 Comments

13 Things Successful Bloggers Don’t Do

What don’t successful bloggers do?

I have been blogging for over six years,

wrote a lot of blog posts,

made over six figures,

had over 10+ million page views…

..and realised that there are certain aspects that successful bloggers don’t do. 

So this post is for you if you are still trying to become a successful blogger and have had no success, here are 13 things that successful bloggers don’t do.

1. They don’t start 10+ blogs at once

It is quite sad how many people have anywhere from 10 – 50 blogs that they are either trying to rank for or create content for them.

Focus on building one successful blog that you are passionate about and once you get some traction and have built an actual following and have made the income you desire then look at creating another blog.

Invest at least 1 – 2 years before you consider even starting blog two.

In the long term, this will be the most productive and profitable approach.

2. They don’t think that success will come overnight

“Earn 10k in 2 months by following my method! ”

“Quit your job in one month by following this simple system for only $97!!”

Thank god for people like Pat Flynn who have been showing how an honest approach to online marketing works 100 times better than what has been portrayed in the blogging world.

Starting a blog is like building a business, it takes time.

Not only do you have to build quality content but there is a big learning curve that comes with starting a blog.

You weren’t born with the skills you have now; they take time to learn and develop.

I am not saying you shouldn’t invest in yourself in the form of courses, mastermind groups and the likes but don’t be disheartened if in 6 months you still haven’t made a million dollars and quit your job.

3. They don’t just learn they DO

If I handed you, a book that had the secrets to making 1 million dollars blogging.

If it told you the exact investment steps, exact blogging steps and exact methods from head to toe on how I made my millions.

You read that entire book and thought

Wow, I learnt so much from Steves book!! 

What would happen?

Nothing! …. well except you might be a bit more educated 😉

Successful bloggers who listen to podcasts and read books on blogging implement what they learn.

That is exactly why when I quit my full-time job in 2014 I went from $1-2k per month to $5-10K+ in literally two months.

I devoured podcasts and books sure, but I also put in to play the email marketing, affiliate marketing, Facebook marketing and everything else I had learned while listening to them.

If someone told me about a new funnel for Facebook ads, I would try it.

If they said you need to work on building your email list that using a lead magnet, I would try that.

So while learning how to blog it is important if you don’t do what you learn it becomes irrelevant! Or you will not move forward.

4. They don’t fail

This is a big one, so many bloggers are under the impression that if after 6+ months of blogging and getting little to no traction that they have failed.

Successful bloggers realise that this is not a failure but an opportunity to learn.

My first blog sucked, but the lessons I learnt from the two years trying to build the blog helped me get more traction on my next blog and so on.

There is no failure only lessons learnt, and if you take one thing away from this article, it is you don’t fail you learn. Each failure is but a step towards becoming a successful blogger. 

5. Successful bloggers don’t start out to make money

All I wanted when I first started blogging was to become a millionaire on my first blog.

I did whatever I could to monetize the sites. Adsense, affiliates, ad networks, Amazon and anything that paid me money.

After many years of trying to do this, I soon realised that it is not the way.

Sure some people get lucky and make a few thousand here and there.

But ultimately it was because I brought value and actually helped people who were moving to Australia that the money followed.

On my blog, I answered questions, created communities, wrote content that helped people and just did everything I could to actually provide value for people.

All the previous blogs I had created, I just wanted to make money as fast as possible. It was the unfortunate mentality that was portrayed in many online marketing forums back when I started blogging.

If money is your number 1 goal before serving other people first, you will find it struggle to become a successful blogger.

6. Successful bloggers don’t turn into haters on other people’s success

Ah, haters. Where would we be without them? Some of you reading this are probably hating right now, stop it.

There will always be the haters of the internet marketing world and in reality, the percentage of genuine people to haters is much much higher.

If you focus on another person’s success and resent them for it, then you will block your path to becoming a successful blogger.

I have found that once I started providing value and a positive message that the haters were far and few between.

7. They don’t pretend to be something they are not

What I mean is be yourself and write content that you know and have researched about.

If for some example you started a robotics blog and just put together some random content that you thought you knew about ultimately you would not become a successful blogger.

For example, you wouldn’t take advice from an overweight personal trainer or someone selling a course on making money who hasn’t made money themselves except via selling the course on making money(this happens!)

The reason I believe I became a successful blogger when I moved to Australia was I did move to Australia. So any article or topic I talked about I had actually done and experienced myself.

Point being is writing about what you know or have experienced. Honesty will triumph overall.

8. They don’t think that they are the best writer in the world.

Oh if my high school English teacher could see me now! She would be both amazed, and I imagine proud.

I sucked, absolutely sucked at writing. Now I feel that I am okayish…rite? 😉

Point being we all suck at things when we first start them.

Remember when you learnt how to drive? Haha

Becoming a successful blogger takes 100’s even 1000’s of blog posts.

Even then you might not be the best writer in the world but heck you will be a million times better than when you first started. Keep writing and learning.

9. They don’t rush things

One of the biggest things I have learnt about blogging is patience.

  • It takes time to learn how to blog
  • It can take a long time before you rank in Google
  • Creating content takes time

This may seem obvious, but patience is probably the most underrated of all things that successful bloggers have.

Again the internet marketing space has created this “get rich mentality” that you will publish one blog post and make a million dollars*

*With my secret method for $97!!* Click here to buy now! ;)*

They say good things come to those who wait, and patience is key to that.

You will become a successful blogger, work done with passion and patience will take you to new heights of success.

10. Successful bloggers don’t neglect their health

Health?

What does that have to do with becoming a successful blogger Steve? 

I learnt a valuable lesson when I listened to Episode 38 of Darren Rowse’s podcast on how important your health is to your blog and it made so much sense.

Think about it; a blog is a direct reflection of you. If you are not performing then neither will you blog.

Darren asks the question: “how are you?”. Not your blog, not your business, but you?

The benefit of looking after your health will have a direct reflection on you if you do or do not become a successful blogger.

11. They aren’t afraid to become successful bloggers

Ironically as big as a fear of failure can be, often people are more afraid of becoming successful.

This is something that most people aren’t even aware of. For some, an excitement of success can be close to anxiety.

I hummed and hawed about launching my podcast for over eight months!

It wasn’t that I didn’t have valuable information on what I had learnt about blogging and making passive income. It was that I was afraid of what might happen.

  • What if I become successful? 
  • Will I lose my freedom and have to speak in front of thousands of people about my success? 
  • Can I still able to walk away and live my previous so-called dot com lifestyle?

The list goes on and to some you, it might sound silly.

However, if you want to become a successful blogger, then you have to identify this fear. 

It is far more widespread than people realise and the first step to getting over the fear is just doing.

The sooner you start, the sooner the fear will become a thing of the past.

Even now while I am writing this post, in the back of my mind I am thinking… wait what if it gets picked up and goes viral… what the hell do I do then. Eek

But seeing as you are reading this now, I have published it 🙂

12. They don’t skip their morning routine

Some of the greats Tony Robbins and Oprah all have morning routines that they swear by.

This is something I learnt after listening to Hal Elrod on a podcast episode of EOFIRE talking about some weird thing called a “Miracle Morning”.

I ended up listening to Hals audiobook and went from doing pretty much nothing in the morning to meditating, writing affirmations, listening to audiobooks/podcasts and exercising every morning.

While I found it hard to stick to it every morning. 

I immediately noticed a difference and my miracle morning has changed significantly depending on my goals and priorities that month.

Whatever you need to work on you can include this in the first two hours of the day.

With every day that passes, I promise it will change your life and help you become a successful blogger.

13. They don’t skip writing their goals or to-do lists

I remember when I used just to sit and say okay I am going to blog now..

Or man I have to publish an article its been weeks now.

This is something I encourage everyone to do if you don’t already.

Two important things about goals and to-dos

1) Make a deadline for those goals.

Goals are dreams with deadlines. ~Diana Scharf Hunt

I highly recommend at the start of every month to take out an A4 page and just write down what you want to achieve that month. I can guarantee you that a lot of successful bloggers actively do this.

Specific goals not just “get fit” more so like “I want to do lose 5lb’ or “write two 1000 word blogs posts per week.”

Fill that page not just on what you want to achieve in your blog but your life as a whole.

At the end of the day, your success both physically and mentally is reflected by the goals you set.

For blogging, I would also break those goals into weekly goals.

Here is my A4 page currently for this blog:

Niche around weekly tasks

One thing I did last year was(and it might sound ridiculous) write a list of 100 goals I want to achieve over the next three months.

I got inspired to do this after listening to Shawn’s podcast with James Swanwick.

Fast forward to the 17-minute remaining mark if you want to hear Shawn’s similar story about 100 goals.

At the end of it, I had a list of which I would never think of unless I had written everything out.

And sure some were not massive goals, but it just gave me this great outline of what I needed to do for the next three months.

Three months after writing the 100 goals I had crossed off about 50 of them!

Which might not sound like a lot but I literally wouldn’t have done half of these goals without realising what I as a person wanted to achieve.

A crazy story about my list of 100 goals

Within literally 2-3 minutes of completing this list of 100 goals, I got a phone call.

One of my goals on my list was to “start a regular yoga practice”. 

My friend Ian called me up(he had just started his Yoga business). I had helped him create his website, and he offered me a 10 class pass because of how I had helped him. 

I went to my first yoga class that evening, and another goal of mine was to “start to do some sprinting”(health was a big part of those 100 goals), my friend Steve who was at the yoga class with me gave me a lift back home.

We were chatting, and he said: “Here, do you wanna start some running or sprinting or something?” :O  

Call it coincidence or not, the fact that I had spent hours and hours making this list, and that happened minutes after completing gave me chills.

Bottom line: Get clear on what you want, and the universe will deliver.

2) Write daily to-dos

Before you start any blog post or workday make a to-do. It sounds so simple, but I promise you this will be a game-changer.

My advice writes an a4 page list of all the things you want to do today and group into what you need to do in order.

See my tasks for today below I put finishing this blog post as the highest priority:

13 Things Successful Bloggers Don't Do

Conclusion on what successful bloggers don’t do:

So if you are just starting out as a blogger or have been blogging for many years and are still waiting to become successful keep your head up.

Follow these 13 steps that successful bloggers don’t do and you will get there.

If you are reading this and want to start your first blog, I recommend BlueHost(Affiliate link)

Hope this blog post has inspired you and be sure to subscribe to the podcast where I will be turning this post into an episode in the coming weeks.

I am also doing daily internet marketing tips on Snapchat @Nichearound

Send me a tweet @nichearound if this post helped you.

Lastly hit the share button, it means a lot to me.

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a quote of mine:

Life is made up of moments, not by how much money you save, invest or earn.

13 Things Successful Bloggers Don’t Do
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68 comments

  1. Really enjoyed this post. I’m a relative newbie and am still getting myself settled so your post really helped to ground me as to where I need to put my time and energy. I will keep a copy of this post around to remind me when I get frustrated or discouraged. Thanks for the encouragement. (also left you a post on FB where I got your link from)

  2. Nice to see some genuine advice rather than the normal rubbish that gets spilled out everywhere like the examples below, note: I have approached most of the well know marketers to verify their claims of traffic and earning and none have taken me up on the offer :(((((

    Ohh you mean I can’t have a 157k per month consulting job like frank the wank kern in 90 days??. He says it’s easy and he didn’t even try to do it bahahahah wtf, omg do u have an upsell for 9.98 that will reveal the secret sauce billion dollar marketers use to make the best pizza app around, I think it will literally give you free traffic of 500k hit per day for 9.98, ohh but wait there s more what about some free steak knives, als we give worth you acessto all our database of stolen code plugins we copied and don’t support “”””$$$worth another $99.210 ull make millions from these ooh but wait we give you full dev right to re sell the stolen plugins for another 2.50 this offer alone is worth $55.980.

    Nice to see some genuine advice rather than the normal rubbish that gets spilled out everywhere like the examples below

    1. Hahaha yes Dan spot on. I hope people will soon learn that these just don’t work. Its just a big circle that keeps going around. If people can’t provide the proof to what they are selling it is normally not worth a $.

      Thanks for the comment 🙂 Steve

  3. Thank you for this post. I’ve been blogging for almost six year, am just beginning to look for ways to make income, but I agree with everything you said. It is work, even if you begin blogging as a hobby, and I think people who expect to get rich quick or are kidding themselves. Keep up the good work!

  4. Steve, those point about health, goals, and to-dos were completely unexpected and perfect. I do write a daily to-do list, but other two are takeaways (read reminders) for me! Of course, I will put them into practice 🙂

  5. Hey Steve, thanks for the motivation post!
    I have been blogging for about a year now and I can see first results and cooperation requests, but I was close to giving up with around 8 readers a day just 3 month before. Now I am over 100 per day, Yey!! Just as you said, the success never comes over night. It is a process and we all have to keep learning.
    All the best from Berlin!
    Samira

  6. Hey Steve,

    Unsure where on Facebook I found your article but it’s damn on point! There was a video by Alexi Panos the other day wherein she mentioned patience is so important! It’s like the universe is preparing you to face things when they happen…and all of that stuff can’t be learnt or taught in a day 🙂

    Faced most of the points you’ve put here, but till the good things come, a tiny push from any source is always so welcome!

    Cheers for the great post! 🙂
    P.S. Shared the post as I know that it may seem insignificant to many, but it matters 🙂

    1. Its always funny the way we see things, its like we are meant to get reminded about a paticular learning point. Glad you saw it though and I really appreciate the share. Cheers, Steve

  7. This was such an encouragement to me today. I am one of those baby bloggers you discussed who have been bitten by the discouragement bug. This was an excellent booster shot to get me refocused. I am redetermining in my mind right now to just breathe and enjoy the process. Thanks again.

  8. Hi, Steve. Thank you very much for your post.

    Another baby blogger here. (In Spain). I totally agree with the idea that first blogs are terrible.
    do you think there’s room for improvement? How long will it take?
    Any tip on this issue will be welcome.

    Regards,
    Rosa

    1. Hello Rosa, I love Spain been there a few times 🙂 I would suggest listening to my first podcast episode on how to start a niche blog link is Episode 1

      Make sure you are passionate about your current blog. I wasn’t really that passionaite about my first blog and as a result it never really took off. I’d also suggest listening to podcasts like Smart passive income where you can learn a lot about blogging. And of course stay tuned to my podcast and blog for new content to help you 🙂

  9. Ahhh …. writing things down. I keep reminding myself to do it, and even start doing it only to not continue it after a week or two. Discipline is very important to make a blog a success. You have pointed out some really great things. My takeaway from your post – make a to do list every single day. Thanks for this great post 🙂

  10. Great in-depth article Steven.

    I remember you working on the headline. Finally, a great headline with solid info.

    I would also like to add that people who don’t succeed (me being one) with their blog is they don’t really treat the blog like a business. It happens when there is another source of income – mine being training, coaching and online marketing.

  11. That part about the yoga class really gave me goose bumps 😉 if you advance confidently in the direction for your dreams, you will meet with success unexpected in common hours, outcha ya stevey ba

  12. Hello Steve Palmer, thanks for your great and resourceful article. Your article is really helpful for both newbie and advanced bloggers. Yes, you have rightly said that thinking about monetization from the beginning is not wise rather a blogger should take at least 2 to 3 years to establish his blog. Blogging is an art and business as well which requires dedication and hard work to get success. Once again thanks for this nice and great article. Keep in touch.

  13. Hi Steve. Really appreciate this post. A few years ago, I was trying to maintain 4 or 5 blogs at once. I was making some money and had a few followers, but I have some health issues that got in the way and the ground fell out from under me. I still get likes and followers on the FB pages that I’d set up for 2 of the blogs. Lesson learned.

    I’ve now begun again, with ONE blog. I really struggled to get the blog together because I have memory issues and couldn’t remember all that I’d learned before starting the other blogs a few years ago. So slow, but sure is the way now.

    I got all excited the other day when I got my first comment… lol Making money isn’t the bottom line, although it would be nice. My main purpose is to educate and inform.

    I wish I had the skill(s) to sit and listen to podcasts or videos or ebooks on blogging. Maybe one day that will come back as well.

    Glad to connect. Again, thanks for the post.

    1. Inspiring story Jane, glad you are back at it and focusing on one blog.

      It will come with time I hope and yea once you focus on building community and adding value the money normally follows. Best of luck in your blogging adventure.

      1. Steve – this is the first blog post of yours I’ve read — was sent here when someone posted this to a blogging tips Facebook group this morning.

        I really appreciated your in-depth take, particularly the points about the dangers of focusing on money too soon and on giving up after just six months. I’m 11 months in to blogging and feel like I’m just beginning to find my voice.

        Most of all, I loved the link to your first blog — wow…just wow…

  14. Thank you so much Steve! I enjoyed reading this post. I’m a beginner blogger and right from the start I just knew I had to stay calm and patient. I love doing to do lists ( I already do those daily) and I understand that no progress can be made overnight. I don’t believe in shortcuts when it comes to success, only hard work and dedication.
    Thanks for this inspirational post, I can’t wait to learn more and grow…And eventually become successful! 🙂

  15. By January 27, 2013 – 11:00 pmVery nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to mention that I’ve really loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be suibcrisbng in your rss feed and I’m hoping you write once more very soon!

  16. Blogging is such hard work. I enjoyed reading and nodding my head in agreement. I’ve learned so much about myself and I’ve learned so many new skills. Very encouraging post. Our labor, as bloggers, are not in vain.

  17. Steve, I am so thrilled to have found this. Until I read this, I did not know that becoming successful was something that made me a little (read a lot) nervous. I just started a smallish Facebook community because I have noticed so many of my peers struggling with getting answers to the questions that they ask. I see so many others struggling with what i have learned I wanted to help them while helping myself. I hope you don’t mind me sharing (haha that would be my blog to blog humor) to my group because I think that they all will benefit from reading!

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