3 reasons you may be failing your blog

"You've got to start a blog," a trusted colleague advises you. Realizing that most of your competitors have already done it, you dive in. Within seconds you’ve staked your claim in the blogging world.

The launch is exciting. You tell your family, your friends and your clients, "Check out my new blog!" They do and they even leave comments — hooray! Your blog is a success! Then… crickets.

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A few weeks go by and the euphoria of the launch begins to fade. You become busy with clients. Your friends, family and clients forget you have a blog. You fall out of love with it. Somehow, despite all the initial hoopla, your blog is failing you. But in reality, you’re failing your blog. Here’s why:

1. You don’t have a clear purpose.
All things must begin with an end in mind. It’s a known principle of success in life, in business and in blogging. If you don’t have a clear expectation of what you want to achieve and the value you intend to deliver, then your blog will fall flat.

Solution: Set blogging goals that define who you are blogging for (your audience), the value you intend to deliver (your content) and the outcomes you expect to achieve (your results).

2. You aren’t being consistent. The most successful blogs offer quality content, consistently over time; many of these sites provide fresh content daily. That may be too much for you to manage, so don’t feel like you have to blog every day to be successful. You must, however, post to your blog on a regular basis: daily, 2-3 times a week, once a week. You choose, and then stick to it.

Solution: Establish an editorial calendar that outlines your blog topics for the next month, quarter or year. Then do what it takes to get those posts written, even if it means hiring a writer to support you.

3. You’re expecting overnight success. It’s said that patience is a virtue, yet so many of us yearn for instant success. But that kind of microwave success doesn’t usually last long. And you’re going for sustainable success, right? So be patient. Avoid blogging burnout. Focus on slow, measured growth over time to build a solid foundation for success.

Solution: Take smaller steps. They add up to big wins.

Your blog loves you and will give you back more than you put into it, if you’ll only love it back. How will you show it some love?