One hundred and fifty-four million, four hundred and forty thousand blogs go completely and utterly unread.
Let me write that number out for you so you can really take it in:
154,440,000
That’s not even the number of blogs yours is actually competing with, those are just the ones that no one felt were worthy enough to even be read in the first place. If you had even one reader on your last post, you’re doing infinitely better than millions of others out there right this very minute.
So, with all that indifference running around for blogs, what makes you think anyone gives a damn about yours and how can you make sure that someone actually does?
A Journey of a Thousand Readers…
I might have scared you with the big numbers starting this post, but let me bring it back down a bit. You don’t need to worry about the millions of blogs out there not getting readers. You also don’t need to worry about the thousands out there getting more readers than you…..yet. What you need to worry about is finding your golden reader, that one person who, if they approve of your blog posts, that will make everything alright.
They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Well, a journey of a thousand readers begins with a single one. Your job is to find that one, that one reader that will make all the difference and carry your blog and your message to others because they believe in it. The nest part of finding that reader is that you already know who they are.
I Am Tyler Durden
By now you’ve probably already figured out who that golden reader is. For those of you who haven’t (and the rest of you who haven’t seen Fight Club), the only reader who’s opinion you need to worry about is you. No one is going to give two craps about your blog until you start caring about it.
“But Joey, I do care about my blog. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be writing it.” That’s one of the biggest causation fallacies in our world today. Just because you’re doing something doesn’t mean you care enough about it to put your whole heart and passion into it.
There’s a huge risk about committing yourself totally to something like blogging. What if people don’t like it? What if it doesn’t get any readers? What if people leave nasty comments? What if people disagree with you? Those are all real fears and real questions I get asked when I do blog coaching and social media seminars. They’re all embodiments of fear and exist for the sole purpose of holding you back from truly loving blogging.
There are only 5 questions you need to honestly worry about and know the answers to if you’re going to succeed in blogging.
- Am I willing to put in the time to make this successful? Blogging takes time and it takes a lot of work. You need to understand up front that fact and truly know if you’re willing to be passionate about your topic 8 months from now when you “just don’t feel like writing today”. Marcus Sheridan, AKA The Sales Lion, wrote a great post about the uncomfortable road to success that explains the mindset and the turmoil perfectly. I’d suggest you read it.
- Am I comfortable putting all my passion into my blog? If a person was magically born with only half an ass, they’d be pretty easy to spot as they walk towards you on the street. In the same way, a half-assed blog is identifiable from miles away. When you’re blogging because you have to as opposed to because you love you, people can tell. Those blogs that have thousands and thousands of readers got that way by not only producing great content, but dedicating themselves and their passions to it as well.
- Do I have anything to say? This one should be self-explanatory. Also, if you look deep inside yourself and you can’t find a unique perspective on something you care about, blogging isn’t your biggest concern.
- Do I believe in what I’m going to say? This one relates to the two previous questions, but if your answer is a hard “yes” it will also solve the fears of what to do when people disagree with you. If you truly believe, down to your core, in what you’re writing, you won’t care if people disagree with you. That’s their right, just as it’s your right to try and sway them to your (correct) way of thinking.
- Would I read this blog? If you wouldn’t read it now, you won’t care about it in a year. I’m no soothsayer, I just know how passions work. You can’t force yourself to be passionate about something. You can educate yourself past the point of indifference on certain issues, but if you wouldn’t currently sit down and enjoy reading the blog you’re writing, stop writing it and find something you do care about and write about that.
If you noticed, all the important questions can and should be asked of your golden reader, the only person who’s opinions actually matter. Once you have your answers , you’ll be on your way to creating something epic that everyone will want to read. No one may care about your blog now, but they will because you’ve got on your side the only number that really matters: