So you watched a YouTube video of a successful blogger and how they rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you hope to also get to that point.
Am I right?
I bet I am.
Is this feat even possible when you know next to nothing about blogging?
Absolutely, but only if you follow this guide and apply the lessons I’m about to share.
Let me, however, prepare your mind. Becoming a successful blogger involves doing ground work which includes learning a lot and then applying everything you’ve learned.
Unfortunately, most people think that the journey to making huge money online is a matter of setting up a blog, publishing some crappy content, putting up some Google ads, and then sleeping.
If this is how you think, I can assure you that you are only going to become a successful dreamer.
Forgive me for being rude, but I can’t find a better way to say it.
Becoming A Successful Blogger
So many years ago, I started my first blog. But before I did, I read hundreds of blog posts and consumed a ton of PDFs that contained tips on blogging and how to become a successful blogger.
Fortunately, it didn’t take me too long before I started making a few dollars from my efforts.
What did I do right?
Bring your seat closer and pay attention as I unveil everything to you. I promise not to hold anything back (except my password of course)!
4 Easy Steps To Becoming A Successful Blogger In 2017
Step 1: Become A Voracious Reader
Becoming a successful blogger includes being a voracious and ardent reader.
I am sure you’ve heard the phrase:
- “Readers are leaders.”
That’s right.
When you read extensively, you are gifted with the same knowledge successful people have.
I get tons of emails from folks who want to do what I do:
- “Hey, I want to become a successful blogger like you.”
But I am always stunned at how shallow their knowledge is about the business.
Interestingly, when I ask these people how many books they’ve read so far on the topic of blogging, marketing, self-improvement, time management, and all the other blogging related topics, they always answer with the same thing:
- “None.”
Typically, every great and successful entrepreneur, and yes successful bloggers, are folks who are committed to a life of learning, and how they learn is by consuming the knowledge of the industry to which they belong.
Do you still desire to be a successful blogger?
I challenge you to start by reading at least 20 books/blog posts on how to run a successful blog.
This is perhaps the best strategy to becoming a successful blogger.
ShoutMeLoud is a great place to start. You can check out:
- How To Become A Credible Blogger That People Trust
- How To Make Your Blog More Professional In The Next 15 Minutes
- How To Write Perfect SEO-Optimized Articles In WordPress
- The Ultimate WordPress Guide For Beginners
- What is Affiliate Marketing & FAQ
Here are the apps that I use to read posts & books:
- Feedly (available on all platforms & perfect for subscribing to blog feeds).
- Flipboard (great for content discovery). Here is a guide I wrote that will help you drive traffic from Flipboard.
- Pocket App (for offline reading).
- Kindle for reading books.
- WordPress Reader
Step 2: Dare To Be Different
According to E.E. Cummings, “To be yourself and nobody else in a world that is doing its best both night and day to make you like everybody else, means to fight the toughest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
One of the things I told myself while starting out was never to act or be like anybody but myself.
I love Gavin Degraw’s theme music on One Tree Hill: “I don’t want to be anything other than what I have been trying to be lately. All I have to do is to think of me and have peace of mind. I’m tired of looking’round rooms, wondering what I’ve got to do or who I’m supposed to be. I don’t wish to be anything else other than me.”
You know that there are a lot of bloggers out there. Some are successful and some are not. The primary thing that will distinguish you from them is the way you communicate and air your opinions.
I’ve heard people tell me to write this way or write that way. I always welcome their views of course, but I go ahead and do what I feel is right for me and my audience.
So basically, if someone I love and admire has their blog’s design in a way that I like, I go ahead and do something different. I make it more unique to myself.
Read: 6 Brilliant Tips To Make You Blog Like A Pro-Blogger
Similarly, if someone I know publishes a sponsored post on their blog, I publish an interview post. If someone I follow closely puts up a text-based article, I make an audio post.
Doing this will make you stand out from the 70 million other bloggers on the internet. I’m not saying you should be doing the exact opposite of what others are doing, but you should try to always do something your own way without imitating anyone.
Initially, it may seem like too much of a task to do something different, but the only way to really become successful is by moving out of your comfort zone.
Step 3: Invest In Yourself And Your Blog
Sadly, a lot of newbie bloggers and average bloggers don’t like to hear this. They prefer to waste their time and energy in merry-go-rounding on the internet searching for FREE ways to promote and manage their blog.
But here’s the truth:
To achieve success with your blog means to start thinking of your blog as a business.
The only distinguishing factor between successful bloggers and failed bloggers is the intentionality and willingness to invest in themselves and in their blogs.
So you will see bloggers like Darren Rowse, Syed Balkhi, Neil Patel, and Jeff Bullas (among many others) get serious with their blog by investing money into every part of their marketing funnels. It’s little wonder how they rake in all that money and success.
You can quickly double your odds and become a successful blogger yourself by simply viewing money as an investment that is sure to yield a high ROI.
I read a lot of blogs (top blogs, average blogs, and new blogs), and I can categorically tell you that the only difference in these blogs is their ability to spend a few extra dollars to spread the word about their blogs across the internet.
So, if you are truly committed to becoming a successful blogger, you have to rethink your strategy and be ready to invest money into yourself and your blog.
Read: Essential Blog Investments For Every Blogger
Step 4. Create And Sell Products (Add new income streams)
Since we have established the fact that your blog is a business, let’s walk through the process of becoming a business entity.
Simply by viewing your blog as a business, you get closer to the point of becoming a successful blogger. However, you will need to put some highly crucial things in place first.
What things?
Well, let’s first look at what a business is. Business, as defined in one of my speaking engagements:
- “Any organization that centers around the creation of products and services for mankind’s consumption.”
To further buttress my definition, Businessdictionary.com defines “business” as:
- “An economic system or organization where goods and services are exchanged for one another or for money. Ultimately, every business needs some form of investment and enough customers to whom its output can be sold on a consistent basis in order to make a profit (This also buttresses the point I made above about investment).”
So what things do you need?
As you can already see from the definitions above, you need to create and sell products/services if you want to build a successful business.
Bloggers like Michael Hyatt, Yaro Starak, Brian Clark, and Ramsay of Blog Tyrant (among many others) have learned to invest time, energy, and money on creating timeless and useful products. This information comes in the form of eBooks, software, themes, plugins, online courses, etc. so that their audience can learn and advance their understanding in a short amount of time.
Here at ShoutMeLoud, I sell tons of stuff including eBooks, online courses, and plugins.
Check out:
- The ShoutMeLoud Store: This is created using the Easy Digital Downloads plugin. You can read the complete guide here.
Places to sell your goods:
- Gumroad: A great place to sell digital goods. Example listing here.
- Instamojo: Great for Indian users who wish to sell stuff only in India. See my InstaMojo store here.
- Kdp.Amazon.com: Here I sell eBooks on the Amazon platform. Example listing here.
- Thinkific: Great for creating & selling an online course. This is where the new ShoutUniversity is hosted.
Let’s Wrap Up
These four strategies I’ve shared here will positively transform your life and help you become a successful blogger, even when you don’t have any experience at all.
I’d love to hear your comments as to what has helped you become a successful blogger when you were first starting out. Or, if you are just starting out on your blogging journey, what techniques are you using to help your efforts along? Shout out your thoughts in the comments below!
Please be sure to share this article with your friends!
Here are a few hand-picked articles that you should read next:
- How To Become A Professional Blogger And Be Your Own Boss
- 7 Powerful Ways To Lay The Foundations Of Blogging Success
- Question: How To Get Started With Professional Blogging?
Hello Harsh you really change my mind whenever i feel to quit blogging journey.
Thanx for inspiring once again.
Hey sir thanks again for your guidance you are my biggest motivation ever so i started a tech blog called The Mind Feed a month ago and it is just blowing off. thanks sir for great article.
Hey Harsh great post and very nice article. Keep it up.
Hi,very good article.
Thanks for sharing.keep up the good work.
Hello Sir I am follow You from The Past 6 Months
You are Always with good Post
love you sir
Its upon you. If you have ability to do something then u,ll definately achieve your goal.
You every blog is always favorite for me. I always try to read your blog.
How is health blogging growth in India? Because I see most of the bloggers write about tech review or blogging tips.
Thanks for sharing such great post.
I am new to blogging and taking help from your blog.
Thanks for the post Harsh. Reading other blogs is important, because it allows you to absorb so much new information!
Hi HARSH
i like this great post specially the last part about selling products. my big problem with blogging is about the Focus but when i start my blog i faced the problem of traffic.
Hii..very good article.Thanks for sharing. keep up the good work.
Hi Harsh,
This article is incredibly great, its both beneficial to newbies and pros. Thanks for sharing and do have a wonderful day ahead. i am a big fan for your blogging tips.
cheers,
mahesh.
Great post harsh sir I am wait for this post because it is so interesting post.
Hello!
Before start blogging needs knowledge about blogger, your thought always impressive and informative for me..Thanks
I’m always struggling to know how to become successful blogger . I wasted lot of time in internet to know valuable information. Finally I found your blog and now I’m hoping that my hope become fruitful with your tips. Thanks a lot.
It truly motivates experience bloggers of the world as well that they can still do it more….Thanks a lot for being there always.
Hello Harsh,
Nice effort for the new bloggers. Keep it up…
By this tips anyone can become successful blogger, I learn many new things today which I didn’t know before, like if we want to start something if it is blogging or something else we have to get sufficient knowledge about it, we have to treat our blog as a business and invest in it what we can, I am lucky that today I visit shoutmeloud and I got most valuable information like this
Thanks For Suggesting
After Reading This Post I Will Start My Blogging Site Again.
Thanks For This Post Bhai
Hello Harsh,
I totally appreciate your honesty and straightorwardness in sharing all the information with everyone here so easily without any cost or charging anything.
I couldn’t thank you enough for doing this hard work.
Amazing bro i don’t know that how i become a successful blogger but i became your fan. Thanks for this article
Hi Harsh,
Thanks for the article. I have heard it’s important to vary my income stream. I have a blog coaching business and an ebook. I also get paid to write and publish on my site and other’s sites. Monetizing with more than that will take thought.
Janice
Hi Harsh,
Amazing post as always. I love reading your blog because it’s inspiring and I’m learning a lot and applying your expertise and knowledge to my own blog.
My blog is still very new in fact, it’s only 5 months old. It’s not my first blog, I’ve had several in the past that I never stuck with long enough.
I think one of the main reasons I never stuck with my last blogs is because I always started blogs in niches that I knew nothing about or didn’t have the desire to continue learning.
I agree that continually educating oneself by reading books, watching videos or investing in products that can help them create a successful blog can be a great thing.
With my current blog, I am focused and actually chose a niche I love and know. I am focused on growing it and creating a business. You’re right about many bloggers wanting to get everything for free.
Unfortunately, if you want to grow your blog into a business it’s going to cost something. The great thing is that it doesn’t have to be extremely expensive.
Thanks again for another awesome blog post.
-Susan
Hi Harsh,
Thanks for another great post. I must say these all steps are very much important for all the newbie bloggers & you’re the biggest influencer for all newbie bloggers. Great keep it up!!
Amazing post Harsh ! You always impress with your amazing blog posts! i infact , get so much of information from here. Thanks for the share . No wonder you are the best ! 🙂
Nice and Thought Provoking write Harsh , I subscribed to your blog post through the Push Notification.
I have been learning a lot from your blog, I am into the Entertainment Niche,
How can i be different all i see is one blogger copying the content of another , funny enough they even rake in more than traffic than the original owner of the content
Good day Harsh!!!
I wish to become a successful blogger like you.
Thank you for the encouragement.
Have a blessed day!
Again Published Nice Content about blogging. Really blogging can change life if seriously involve in blogging. Blogging give multiple knowledge with multiple earning Ideas. And after read this article i confirm, anybody can start blogging, just need to knowledge of internet & which type of topic you can write.
Again Thanks to Harsh for sharing your Thoughts with Us.
Thanks so much HARSH i like this great post specially the last part about selling products. my big problem with blogging is about the Focus but when i start my blog about Amazon products Reviews i faced the problem of traffic.
“Readers are Leaders” i like it.
thanks leader.
Observing all the websites and having catchy keywords with sourceful information and rich content data will allow traffic to navigate your website. And sir if you ask me what has helped me to become successful blogger, then my answer will be always “shoutmeloud”. I am not yet successful but now i know the steps to become a successful blogger. My blog is improving day by day after applying your tricks and methods to my blog. Thank you sir
(Your Biggest Fan)
Hello Harsh,
I have following your blog from past one years and I learn everyday from your post. This post will definitely help newbie bloggers who have zero experience to be successful in blogging. Thanks for this awesome and informative post.
Thank you! I don’t have any experience but i want to make a blog and i want to become a blogger.From now only i will make a website and start blogging..
I also have my website but i am not comfortable with it but from now i will do…
Thank you so much keep up the good ..
Thanks Harsh.!
every new blogger afraid of investing money online, they have to learn first that how to invest money online.
Regards
Great post!!! Thanks for sharing.
Once you post any blog on your site I always read it. thanks