It has been asked time and again and the answers also have been repeated time and again. We must purely blog for fun and self satisfaction. When these 2 factors are missing or have vanished along the way, it’s time to stop, and I think that is why so many stopped after a year or two. Some stops within months. There is no more fun in it. Kudos to those who can stop. What about those who can’t or just simply refuse to stop because they took the advise of some who said, “Winners Never Quit, And Quitters Never Win” What are the motivating factors then, to stop them from quitting?
The Motivating Factor.
“I Have A Dream” says Martin Luther King, Jr. He acted on his dream. So we should have a dream. However, in my books, just plain dreamers are failures too. Dream all you want, but with no action, you will be still left with a miserable blog that serves only to satisfy you and you alone. If that motivates you enough to keep blogging, then dream on, my friends.
Right then, start with a dream. All great inventions started with a dream. What is your dream as a blogger? To be a successful one of course. Like Darren Rowse maybe. Better still, be like Micheal Arrington, where you can charge $10,000 per month for one small 125 x125 button ad. Holding on to that dream, learn how to make the dream come true. You can dream and blog like a man possessed, writing 3 articles per day, but I can tell you, your dream will never come true if you just day dream.
The Real Motivating Factors
Your Blog Readers. - To see your readers increasing daily is a real motivator.
Your Feed Readers - Same as above.
Your Comments - Same as above too.
The work and process that a blogger has to go through to increase and improve these three factors alone is enough to make anyone quit, unless they have a very realistic motivator.
The Most Realistic Motivator.
With the 3 factors increasing, the most realistic motivator follows.
MONEY. - Don’t cheat yourself. Money is the greatest motivator to keep you from stopping your blog. The moment the first dollar comes in, all other factors can actually be put aside. But then you have to make sure the first three factors keeps improving to make even more and to motivate you even more. Those who quit are those who refuse to believe that it is okay and not a sin to make money from their blogs. Tens of thousands of readers and feed subscribers WILL NOT stop them from quitting if they wanted to. Thousand of dollars in lost income WILL certainly deter them.
Of course, I have now stepped on the toes of those who blogs for the pure pleasure of blogging and making money from blogging is a dirty word to them. They are a class of their own. A very rare class, I must add and they have my full respect.
There are still people who blog for the pure fun of it, even renowned bloggers. Not everyone blogs for monetary values you know
I guess my motivational factor would be that my blog is an archive of the memorable things that has happened in my life. And I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences with people.
Rinaz,
You are a class of your own. A rare class..
i think you are the rare class youself. Imaging putting tons of open ad slots when you don’t even have any ads on them. Please.. for one that is so concerned about making money via blogging, you obviously do not do it well.
Peter,
Hahaha..I did stepped on your toe huh?
it’s only 4 empty slots that came built in with this theme..Not tons, okay. LOL..
Anyway, I have a dream….
If a person is really enthusiastic about blogging, it will be the The Real Motivating Factors that is motivating them.
On the realistic motivation, it depends on who is the blogger is. If someone blogged for let’s say 3 months and still not earning anything, that will definitely not be a factor any more.
I think no one can make claim what constitute ‘real blogging.’ It is purely personal and nobody can be persecuted just because they blog for different reason.
There’s no written rule….
I agree with all you said here. I get my “dreams” of what I want to create with my blog and then i work to make them realities. Most of the time I learn my dream was either: DONE BEFORE or impossible within the boundaries of CSS or other outcome I am sure you can relate with) but it is through the dreaming process that I learn more about blogging and get more excited about doing it. HOPEFULLY that makes it intresting to read.
I have a blog that I spent time writing articles on health issues and alternative cures. Most of my visitors from the blog came from google search engine and the fact that months down the line, the article is still helping them (they spent time on the article and click on other pages) makes my day. I’ve also experimented with Adsense which is quite fun, what having others who benefit from the articles keeps me going. I am not sure, but when I ever write with $$ in mind, I will suffer from the writer’s block, haha.