During my time as a blogger I’ve come to believe that the most important characteristic or quality that a blogger can have is simply to be proactive. Sure, having the knowledge of an expert or exceptional writing ability will help your chances of success, but knowledge and ability will do nothing for you if you don’t put it to work. Growing a successful blog is hard work and it requires dedication. The proactive blogger will be aggressively finding new opportunities and new ways of doing things while others will be watching from the sidelines.
Any ability, talent, or connection that blogging requires can be learned, gained, or improved by someone who is willing to make the effort. There are plenty of different ways to be successful or make money with a blog. What separates those that are successful from those that are not? In most cases it’s action.
There is so much free and readily available information online about making money that it’s tempting to want to learn more before jumping in. Sometimes you just need to take the plunge and learn as you go. You’ll almost always learn more from doing things yourself than you will from simply reading what others have to say (don’t take my word for it, test me and find out if I’m right).
4 Ways That Bloggers Benefit From Being Proactive:
1- Networking
All successful bloggers are surrounded by a strong network of other bloggers. Your network can help you in so many different ways, including links, comments, social media votes, advice, referrals, guest posts, collaboration on projects, and much more. There really is no limit to the impact your network can have on your success.
The best way to meet other bloggers is to be proactive. Keep in mind that other bloggers are also interested in networking, so it really is not as intimidating as it may seem at first. While a passive and non-assertive blogger will be missing out on great networking opportunities, you can be making an effort to build relationships with others in your niche.
2 - Learning from Mistakes
One of the biggest things that holds people back from being proactive is a fear of failure. While this is understandable, it’s also important to realize that your shortcomings provide the best learning opportunities. Personally, I’d rather fail first, learn from my mistakes and eventually succeed than never try at all because I was afraid of making a mistake.
3 - Learn Faster and Better
Most of us learn more effectively when we are proactive. This doesn’t just apply to learning from your mistakes. A good example would be on online tutorial, take for example a Photoshop tutorial. You could read the tutorial 5 times, and you would probably not learn as much as you would from reading it once and actively performing the tasks in Photoshop as you were reading.
Those who are active will have far more opportunities to learn and they’ll be able to gain knowledge much faster. The learning curve for a proactive blogger can be pretty short, and then all of the lessons that you have learned will be able to help you in all of your present and future blogging efforts.
4. You’ll Be Further Ahead in the Long Run
If you want to achieve your long-term goals, you have to start making steps towards achieving those goals. The proactive blogger will be willing to do what is necessary to grow the blog and accomplish the goals. Even if you make mistakes along the way you’ll be further ahead in the long run because of your willingness to take action.
4 Easy Ways That You Can Become More Proactive:
1. Just Get Started
If you have an idea for a blog that you have been putting off, just get started. Buy a domain name and sign up for web hosting. The idea will never come to fruition without you taking that next step.
2. Write Guest Posts
One of the best ways to build your network and gain some exposure for your blog is to write guest posts. By writing for other blogs you’ll be able to get to know other bloggers, provide something of value to them, start to get your name out there, and build some inbound links to your blog.
3. Comment More
Commenting on other blogs can bring traffic to your blog, but just as importantly it can put you into contact with other bloggers. All bloggers like to receive comments, so if you comments regularly people will take notice.
4. Get Involved with Social Media
It’s called social media for a reason, and it’s a great way to get to know other bloggers. StumbleUpon is especially good for networking with others. Once you’ve built a network and learned more about social media you will be able to use the two to build significant traffic for your blog.
What Else Would You Add?
I’m sure there are more benefits of being proactive and more ways to become proactive, so please add your suggestions. What has brought the best results for you?
Remember that blogging is an ongoing learning experience. None of us will ever be close to knowing everything, but those that are proactive will at least be able to put what they have learned into practice.
- Subscribe to our RSS feed for instant updates!
- Receive the latest posts by email
- Add me to your Technorati Favourites
19 responses so far ↓
1 adnan // Feb 5, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Great advice Steven and I couldn’t agree with you more. The same sort of thing with being proactive is very relevant to the affiliate marketing I’ve been delving into today.
Sure, you can go and read hundreds of blogs and forums which discuss the principles of affiliate marketing, but if you don’t get your feet wet by playing with an Adwords campaign (although admittedly a lack of insider knowledge could end up being costly), you will never know how to optimize your Quality Score, manage to lower your bids etc.
In terms of blogging, I would probably emphasize trying to knock out a post per day. If you can create fresh content for the search engines to lap up, then you will also be on the right track for attracting new visitors and RSS subscribers.
2 Wayne Liew // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I guess one of the blockages that stop bloggers from being proactive are excuses.
“I don’t have enough time”, “I am tired” and even “Nobody is listening to me” are some lame excuses that I have heard and these should be curbed in order to make the blogger become proactive.
3 pearl // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Hey Steven - you keep churning out these wonderful ideas post after post so quickly - Im starting to print them now
One of the essentials for being proactive and doing all the things you mention here is good time management, which most of us who aren’t able to take action, lack or aren’t as good at.
I’m glad you are writing posts on topics other than design and marketing Steven, its starting to show more of your personality
which is always a plus..
4 Josh // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Hi Steven,
Your thoughts about proactive is amazing.
5 Steven // Feb 5, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Adnan,
I agree. Ultimately I guess being proactive is important in just about anything you do, blogging is really only one example.
Wayne,
Very true. Excuses are easy to find and easy to justify.
Pearl,
Thanks for your compliments! Yes, I agree that time management is critical. That is something that I am ok at, but I could use some improvement.
Josh,
Thanks for reading and commenting.
6 Iversen // Feb 5, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I was reading your post with an interest..thats all because i am very beginner of all these things waht we say ..blogging, bloger and so on.. Basically I do everything what you just mentioned,,but ..one very simple question..
.. to write what i like to write
or to write what people like to read
7 ajay // Feb 6, 2008 at 7:02 am
You are right in your analysis…I’m joining your network..
8 Gregg Hawkins // Feb 6, 2008 at 7:19 am
I definitely agree with you on most of your points! When I had my personal blog, I never got around to writing guest posts. However, I did notice that once I began to comment more on other blogs I made new friends as well as new readers!
I try to keep in touch with most of my readers…it seems like a lot of people are beginning to lose interest in blogging though.
9 guitarFlame // Feb 6, 2008 at 9:36 am
You have just read my mind! I have started GuitarFlame.com since 4 months (actually 2 if you count that I have started it in the end of november and it is the beginning of feb
) and I am constantly looking for ways to be more proactive! You are right about everything here!
10 nithin // Feb 6, 2008 at 1:36 pm
this was a great post. I really have to learn a lot from new. From your post even though I know most most of the mistakes that I’m doing, but there are still some which I have learned after reading your post.
11 Steven // Feb 6, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Iversen,
I would advise you to write about topics that you like, and hopefully others like them too. If you’re blogging about something that you don’t care about, it won’t last very long before you get tired of it.
12 Ria Ludy // Feb 8, 2008 at 12:37 am
One of the best ways to be proactive is to document everything that you do and then of course do it enough so that you can create a system. James Brausch is very good at that. Once you have a system in place, it can still be fluid enough to remain interesting but you are sure to get all the things done that need doing.
Proactive does include the word ‘active’, so you have to do something.
13 Terra Andersen // Feb 9, 2008 at 10:55 am
Great post! Another thing that I have learned is to give as much as possible. I recieve tons of emails asking for help and advice, and I do my best to answer each and every one. I have learned that in the end, I become a more viable source for information if I actually am doing what I am saying I am doing… helping people!
14 Weekly Links - February 9th | Vandelay Website Design // Feb 9, 2008 at 2:49 pm
[...] The Most Critical Characteristic for Bloggers at Blogtrepreneur. [...]
15 Week 9 - The Overview // Feb 10, 2008 at 7:28 pm
[...] covers the most critical characteristic for bloggers and Derek provides a few great banners for those who would like to increase their chances at [...]
16 D Web Design // Feb 13, 2008 at 6:11 am
Sometimes it is really difficult to become proactive.
I think one way of motivating yourself is competition. You can do a competition with one of your friend for updating your blogs daily. But for best result, why not just do the competition on your own blog. You just find a blogging partner and you both compete on the website.
If they are both motivated, it the entire blog will benefit from it.
17 Ishani Mitra // Mar 4, 2008 at 6:54 am
I do agree on the points mentioned on being proactive. Additionally i would like to say that someimes delegating tasks of trivial nature by way of outsourcing saves youvvaluable time and adds a spring to your step. For details and a free trial you can check out http://www.outsorcerer.com
18 Miguel Pineiro // Mar 8, 2008 at 8:48 pm
“You’ll almost always learn more from doing things yourself than you will from simply reading what others have to say.” I agree, may I put this up as a quote on my site somewhere? I learn best by putting my hands to the plow. I’ve learned about weight lifting and training through a hands on approach. The reading aspect is needed, don’t get me wrong, but it seems people learn best from trial and error. Excellent Post!
19 Robert Irizarry // Mar 11, 2008 at 2:29 am
@Gregg: People are losing interest in blogging? Are you referring to people joining the ranks of blogging or potential readers turning away from blogs?
Leave a Comment