The "2 Month" Rule Of Blog Success

People ask me all the time how I got my blog in the top 100,000 on Alexa. And as much as I'd love to say it's because of great content, or some special skill, I have to admit that the biggest reason is simply time and consistency. And after coaching hundreds of clients in blogging and social marketing, I have noticed something interesting. No matter what their niche, how good a writer they are, or how pretty looking their blog is, blog success always seems to come to those who post often, and for long enough.

The challenge seems to be that first eight weeks. Most people drop within that period, for the following reasons:

1. Reality. They thought blogging would be easy, fun, and profitable. And it is, but not in the first eight weeks (usually). So the "sales page motivation" wears off as soon as they have to do something, and they give up. Obviously, the solution to this one is to simply make a stronger commitment, and carry on!

2. "Death By Analytics." This is the crowd that spends more time looking at analytics and results than actually blogging. Unfortunately, the results in the first eight weeks are so tiny that it's easy to be fooled and drop out of the game because the reward just isn't there. The key here is to invest all available time into working on the blog, posting frequently, and having faith in the fact that over time your Tribe will find and support your blog.

3. Lack Of Confidence. I have seen many people drop out because they just don't think they can do it. They doubt their writing skills, technical ability, or offerings. The key, again, is activity. There's nothing like doing a thing for getting good at doing a thing. Having a good mentor or coach can really help this crowd as well.

4. Perfection-itis. This is a killer too. A lot of people just don't get enough content on their blog because they want every post to be the Taj Mahal of blog posts. And while each post should be of a reasonable quality, keep in mind they're blog posts, not submissions for Nobel prizes in literature.

In the end, average people who blog frequently, and for long enough, will have blog success. And like any other worthy business endeavor, the reward will be greater than the price.