How often do you read posts about how to grow your blog quickly or how to make money fast?
These posts and stories get me excited and get me feeling hopeful. Often, they offer the secret to their success, their road-map or path to exponential growth and an exploding income.
And yet, when you come back to your not so large blog that makes little money, you’re once again hit with that overwhelming sense that, maybe this just isn’t for me.
Today, I want to share with you the part of the blogging journey that often gets overlooked. It’s easy to share our highs and our wins. And sometimes I even see the struggles sprinkled in here or there.
But friends, the journey to success does not happen overnight. Because in order to succeed, we must fail. In order to grow, we must wait. And in those times of failure and waiting, we must keep working our butts off until we find our way.
Growing a successful blog takes time. And that's okay!
Why Most Blogs Stop After the Setup
Why do most blogs fail after such a short time? Because blogging is hard. work.
What most people don’t recognize is that blogging is not just writing posts in our pj’s or while sipping coffee at the local coffee shop.
Blogging takes the creation of an entire website, the development of a successful brand, always creating content and more content, an insane amount of networking and so much more. In fact, I feel like I spend only a very small percentage of my time simply writing content.
Setting up your blog is exciting. Usually you start with an inspired vision and a lot of hope for the possibilities. You pour out your heart and soul into creating your blog, getting your first few posts up and then…
Not much happens.
Maybe the only views and comments you get are from family and friends who you forced to read the post.
A successful blog doesn’t happen overnight. start a profitable blog. If you want to , it takes work. Even if you include the absolute best SEO, Google takes a few weeks to recognize it.
And yet, you still see posts about how other bloggers are making thousands each month or growing their lists of subscribers by the second.
Why is it so easy to quit blogging? Because it is hard work that takes a long time to pay off.
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Pressing on Through the Waiting Times
When you feel like giving up, the best advice I can give you is to put your blinders on to the world around you and keep going.
Keep writing posts. Keep creating awesome opt-ins. Keep sending that newsletter full of value. Keep networking, linking up and sharing on social media.
The most important thing you can do to make your blog grow is to keep creating awesome content full of value and working to get your content out there.
Don’t look too closely at what other bloggers are doing. There are some strategies that you will need to learn (SEO, social media, email marketing) but what they’re doing for their blog may not be what’s best for yours.
This leads me to the most important part of growing your blog when it feels like nothing is happening.
Nurture What You Have
Don’t wait for the masses to continue to pour out your heart to your readers and subscribers.
Write to one subscriber the same that you’d write to a million.
Write to ten readers with the passion you’d use to write a book.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten (several times, actually) is that it doesn’t matter the size of your audience, but the engagement and commitment they feel towards you and your blog.
It’s better to have a small, well-nurtured group of raving fans than a large group of anonymous and unengaged subscribers and readers.
Take time to listen to your audience, no matter how small, and give them what they need. The true first steps to monetize your blog is to nurture and grow a dedicated audience.
I know it’s hard in the time between the initial excitement and the explosive growth, but if you commit to nurturing your blog and continue to put in the hard work, it will pay off.
What have you struggled with in this beginning time where your blog growth seems stagnant? Do you have any tips to share? Comment below 🙂
You don't want to miss this blog growth challenge! As one who has grown two blogs, I've gathered a LOT of helpful tips and strategies and I want to help you too. The challenge is free and will help you take your blog to the next level!
From the owner of a slow growing blog – this is just what I needed!
So glad this could encourage you, Jessica! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Same here 💟💟
Thank you! I needed to hear this! This seems to be such a slow process. I just want to write posts, spill out my heart, and gain followers, and then I started seeing all of these so called “professional” bloggers, with amazing posts, pictures, perfectly laid out bloggs, and I got so intimidated that I almost stopped. I started this to find people just like me, and I will not continue to do just that.
Love these tips! It can be so discouraging when your growth is at a standstill, but definitely worth it to keep going!
I completely agree, Lara! Thanks so much 🙂
It is so easy to get discouraged–it always seems two steps forward one step back! But you do have to stay focused on your goals and stay positive.
Staying focused on your goals and remaining positive will help keep you on track! Great points, Jaclyn. I hope that you can stay encouraged!!
Such a great reminder! It’s hard to get frustrated in the beginning. We all need a little inspiration every now and then.
I completely agree, Katie! Thanks for stopping by!!
Slow growing blogger here! I get frustrated sometimes, but I try to move past those frustrations. Right now I’m focusing on SEO and a new Pinterest strategy. Hoping it will help!
I love your site, Johanne! SEO and Pinterest are my top sources of traffic. Setting up your strategies takes time, but they will pay off 🙂 Keep up the great work!
This is helpful to remember it is a journey not an overnight success. I have enjoyed blogging more than I thought I would, for myself more than anyone else.
For sure, Angie! It definitely is important to enjoy what we are doing 🙂
Great tips! Its always easy to compare your work with others but really everything happens at difference paces for everyone!
Great point, Brittany! Comparison can quickly steal our focus and our motivation! Definitely have to focus on where we are and how to make the most of it!
This is such a great post!!! I changed my plan and started writing and reflecting on numerical goals daily. Helped me to see how each day’s work was affecting each day’s results. It takes a long time, but I am finally starting to see a shift.
I’m so glad you’re starting to see a shift, Jennifer! I hope that you can continue to see that growth 🙂
this is great for the beginning blogger – few realize just how much hard work goes into a successful blog!
So true, Jasmine! It really is hard work. Thank you!
My blog with its 20 per day readers thank you for this nugget of truth. Very real and relatable. Saving for when I’m down in the dumps.
Keep up the awesome content, Liz! Those 20 readers will grow in time 🙂 The difference you make for them is helpful to focus on when feeling discouraged!
Yes! This is so true and I LOVE how you said to write just as passionately to 10 people as I would to millions!
My favorite piece of advice! I repeat this in my head often 🙂 It also helps to really hone in on our niche! Thanks for your comment, Kristin!
These are all great ideas, I am trying to grow my blog much more (just by finding my audience and niche). It isnt always about the numbers!
That is SO true, Susie! It took me a long time to realize that the numbers shouldn’t be our first priority. Although sometimes I do catch myself keeping track, it’s so important to focus on our audience!!
This is such a great reminder, the process can be discouraging but we must continue to press forward.
For sure! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement. I just started my blog 3 weeks ago and do not have much traffic. Hopefully, it will change soon.
Congrats on starting your blog, Biljana! I stopped by your site and I love it! Definitely keep up the hard work because it will pay off in time as long as you keep at it 🙂 Thanks for your comment 🙂
This was something I needed to hear. It is nice to know that I am not the only one that gets frustrated from time to time.
You definitely are not, Jeanne! So glad this could encourage you!
I love this post, especially your comment about writing to one subscriber the same way you’d write to millions.
Very encouraging! I like the thought of nurturing the readers you have!
Thanks for sharing this post! You never see posts that say it will take a long time to build a blog (besides the rare cases). Everyone wants to sell you something that will be a “get rich quick” type of thing for a blog. It can be so discouraging when your blog doesn’t do what you want. Thanks again!
This is a great reminder to keep going even when you feel like giving up. I am a slow growing blogger,but–I LOVE it! Blogging is a stress reliever for me.
I’ve been blogging for 11 years now, but it’s been in the last few years that I’ve really tried to focus on growing the blog numbers more, etc. It does take a lot of work and time, and I think some blogs “blow up” if you will partly based on luck. There are so many amazing blogs out there but they don’t always get the same amount of recognition, so you have to love it and you have to be okay with the readers you do have (and I love mine!!)
-Lauren
I love everything about this post! Thanks for the encouragement!! It is hard to remember at times, but I love what you said about the importance of nurturing a smaller audience and staying engaged with them instead of getting hung up on overall followers. Smart!
I feel like it’s very easy to get discouraged with your blog, but I keep telling myself eventually I’ll get there ! I never knew how hard blogging was, definitely totally underestimated the work that is involved in getting it going . I think that’s part of what helps me not quit , I’ve worked too hard to just throw in the towel. Thanks for the encouragement !
I’m glad I came across this today – I’ve been a bit hard on myself with the blogging journey so far and this was a good reminder to keep working hard and that success will come in time!
Wow, this was so perfect to read today. Over this past winter/spring I didn’t work on my blog very much, mostly because I was discouraged by “my stats”. But what you said about it doesn’t matter how big your audience is, you’re soooo right! The past couple months I’ve been focusing more on engagement and reaching out and it’s been so much more fulfilling.
This is really great. Our blog is new as of March 2018, so keeping these tips in mind will be great for us. Thank you!
I love this! So many new bloggers get discouraged because they’re not seeing growth fast enough and I keep telling my clients, be patient! It will come!
This morning prior to reading this post, I was seriously thinking about NOT starting my blog after all. The fear of failure and hearing others tell me I can’t was beginning to be too much! But then I read this post and I now have hope. Funny how reading about not being successful right off gave me hope to start my blog! HA! 😀
I have been on a voluntary bloggers break. I haven’t published in over a month, trying to regain my motivation to get back at it. This post was just what I needed to get me out of that break starting tomorrow.
I love it Nicole. This is the real deal guys. I have blogged for 10 years. This journey gets so easy after you persist through thick and thick, focusing almost completely on GIVING and not on GETTING. That’s the trick.
Something I don’t like to hear but need to. Im new to the blog world at about 5 months now. Its slow growing for sure.
This is definitely a tough gig. The hours spent on it can result in just crickets – and that’s a tough pill to swallow sometimes. Another great post and timely for me, too. Plus, I appreciate all of the candid replies from other bloggers who are feeling exactly how I am feeling. Good luck everyone!
Great article, just in time. I keep having to remind myself that I started this blog saying, I’ll just keep plugging along, no matter how long it takes.
I loved this post and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I started a blog in April of this year and I am the person you’ve described here. I work full time and STRUGGLE to find the time to create content – create graphics once I’ve created the content (this is probably my biggest struggle)
I refuse to quit…but at the same time…I know I’m NOT giving my blog the attention it ‘must have’ to survive.
This post has been just the ‘kick in seat of the pants’ I needed …to re-group – recommit and keep going…I can do this!
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this today. I feel like I’m drinking off a fire hydrant and am in a panic to think I’m not doing the right things. I love the creative part, but the other side is the hardest work. Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll keep being that little engine that could…
Thanks for the encouragement to keep going. Blogging for 2 years with little growth. It is hard work but I believe too with consistent blogging, learning my blog will grow. It is the engagement in groups I find I struggle with.