Why Do Blogs Fail?

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I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who is planning to launch a blog.  My friend is extremely talented and a blog would be a great way for her to share her knowledge.  She asked me if I could take a look at a few blogs that were in her niche and give her some advice.

As I was going through the short list of blogs I couldn’t help but shake my head (A LOT).  Let’s just say, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  This experience led me to ask, “Why do blogs fail?” I’ve heard various opinions on this topic, but frankly I wanted to come up with my own reason and it boiled down to one thing.

Most blogs fail because the blogger is not ready to become an extreme giver.

Yes, that’s it.  If you are starting a blog you are essentially saying that you want to be a leader in your niche and to be a leader you must be a giver – an extreme one at that.

I have worked with businesses and individual brands who found this concept hard.  You see the only reason this concept is hard to grasp is if your only goal for starting a blog is to sell products.  That’s fine, you can do whatever you want but understand that your blog readers don’t want to be sold to.

Think about it.  Why do people visit blogs?

People visit blogs to learn.

People visit blogs to be entertained.

That same holds true whether they’re watching a video or reading a post.

This means that if your blog is not about teaching your reader something new, sharing wisdom / lessons learned, sharing your talents, or entertaining, then its not giving.

There will come a point when you have given so much to your readers that they will naturally want more and you can offer them something that’s based on their needs, but until then hold off on selling.

Being sold to is off putting to any first time visitor of your site.

For example, one of the blogs my friend asked me to visit was entirely a sales page disguised as blog posts.  A typical headline on this blog read like this, “Give Yourself The Best Gift and Join My Coaching Program”.  I went through the entire blog and sadly, every single post read like this.

That’s an extreme example but it’s something we can all learn from.

Essentially that is the kind of blog where the blogger is asking you (the reader) for a favor. This person is not sharing what they know, and it’s certainly not entertaining.

The truth is this blogger wasn’t ready to be an extreme giver which is what a blog requires.

So do yourself a favor, before you start a blog, really ask yourself if you’re ready to give without getting much “tangibles” in return (at least at first).

Blogging is not a magic pill.

It’s hard work.

It’s like being a mom and her baby.  The baby must be fed regularly to grow and thrive.  And if you want a healthy blog then you are not feeding it McDonalds.

A mother gives and gives and gives and that’s what you must be prepared to do when you blog.

So my advice to my friend is in order to shine in her niche she must become an extreme giver.  Only then will there be the opportunity for the giver to become the receiver.

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Tagged as: blogging, mistakes, why do blogs fail

Article by Thérèse Cator

Thérèse Cator is the founder of Cator Media and has taught close to 1,000 entrepreneurs and artists how to use social media to grow their business online. She's headed social media campaigns for companies like GE. Most recently she's masterminded Unstoppable Foundation's (partners with Richard Branson and Free the Children) initiative to raise money for schools in Africa. The result was $500,000 in donations during the course of one evening. Her clients can be seen at the Sundance Film Festival, on best-sellers lists, on Broadway, on network and cable television, and have featured in major publications like New York Times. Her film Click has appeared in several film festivals.

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