How to Grow Wealthy with Blogging 101: First Things First

Many blogs have crept up in every facets of life. Few stand out to be successful. Learn blogging secrets to grow your blog into a wealth generating one

“Begin with the end in mind,” according to Stephen R. Covey, a bestseller author, is one of principles highly effective people use in their lives.

This article is the beginning of a ten-part series of How to Grow Wealthy with Blogging detailing how one can turn his or her blogging passion into a wealth generating enterprise. I will treat the topic in segments; from the preliminaries, the how-tos, the highs and the lows, the successes and otherwise, the profits and the losses, to the in and out of blogging.

Stay back, relax, learn and earn!

Why People Blog

Blogging has come to stay in the schemes of affairs of people’s daily lives; from those trying to express their emotions and/or passions, those trying to teach a skill, to those willing to make a living from blogging. And most of these wishes have found answers in blogging.

I believe by reading this post, you also have a burning wish you want to answer. Whatever that wish is, hone it. You will need it, to grow through the thick and thin of blogosphere.

Desire

To be able to break through in the real world brick-and-mortar businesses, one must have a burning desire to push that business in order to overcome any hurdle that will come his or her way. So also is the blogging world. Whatever you want to achieve through blogging, if you don’t have the burning desire to achieve it, you will end up burning up before getting to the Promised Land.

What is desire then? According to Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich, “Desire is the starting point of all achievements”.

Desire is that burning wish you have to achieve something. It could be love, appreciation, fame or money.
Over 86 percent of bloggers blog for money! Yeah, blogging for money isn’t bad. And indeed bloggers are smiling to the banks (Case studies: Linda Ikeji of LindaIkejisBlog and Chude Jideonwo of YNaija). But money shouldn’t be the primary objectives of your blogging life.

What should be?

Idea

If money is your primary and only goal while setting out on your blogging journey, you might get tired, thirsty, hungry and burnt out before reaching your economic Eldorado. And then you might fall victim of fraudulent schemes. No! Blogging shouldn’t be solely for cash’s sake!!

To stay afloat in the blogosphere and reap rewards in the long run, the blogging experience should revolve around a passion. And that passion should solve a problem. A need.

What skill do you have which you can teach? What experience have you passed through which you can share? Are you a movie freak who can analyse and review movies? Do you like eating and know how to cook good foods? Did you had an ailment which you got cured from and would want to share the healing experience with others? If YES is your answer, then you have started the blogging journey on the right footing.

The next thing will be for you to ask yourself another question. “Can I still write about this passion of mine in the next 10 years?” If the answer to this question is also YES, then you have found an idea which you could turn into gold. And with this idea backed with your original desire, you will surely soar to your Promised Land.

There is one most important thing you have to put at the back of your mind. Blogging is all about WRITING. And writing you will do almost endlessly. So you need to pick an IDEA that interests you and you know you can write much about.

And when you have had this unique idea that will solve a particular need, you will stand out in the crowd. You can then build your way to greatness. Even though the journey will not all that be smooth, but with the burning desire serving as your buffer, you would reap harvests long before other people come to realise that there are succulent fruits in that path you have trailed.

Getting Started

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,” so said Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s Founding Fathers, writer, scientist and inventor. These words on marble are applicable to all facets of life, blogging inclusive.

Since you have gotten a burning desire and the needed idea, it is high time you put these ideas on paper. There is magic in one writing down his or her ideas. When an idea has been scribbled on a paper, it is as if one has given life to it. It is then one can give more shape to the idea and put finishing touches to it. And most importantly, one will see that idea materializing into reality in his or her very eyes.

The beginning of the journey might look hazy, and hence, one’s vision of the future might be blurred. No matter any amount of vision you can muster, write it down. Sorting and arrangements can take place later on.
But there is one definitive thing you must do. And this is it.

Write down what you want to achieve (goal, desire), when you want to do it (timeframe), and how you want to achieve it (modalities) and what you will need to achieve your goal (tools). And lastly, also write down what you will give back to the society once your dream is actualised.

Blogging Tactics

Multitudes of blogging tools abound today which end up confusing people on which one to use. From the hosted Blogger, the self-hosted Joomla, the middleman WordPress to a host of others like Drupal, one is inundated with arrays of tools every now and then.

But one tool has stood itself out for ease of use, flexibility, availability of free and premium templates and plugins, and widespread use. It is WordPress.

WordPress can be hosted on the developers’ site (i.e. WordPress.com) or self-hosted. For those trying to test the waters or with low budget, the hosted should be given a shot. Else, the self-hosted will be the best. I will give more details about blogging tools in subsequent series.

Naming

First impression matters a lot. And when it comes to blogging, the name of the blog can be of advantage or disadvantage to a site. So, you have to be crafty and careful here.

There are few things you have to put in mind here also. One of these is leveraging one’s name if he or she is a celebrity, expert, politician or a university don. If your name carries weight, use it as your blog name. A typical example is LindaIkejisBlog or LailasBlog!

Else use something entirely different. The name can reflect the theme of the website and could also be unique to stand you out. Names like Ogbongeblog.com, 360nobs.com, BellaNaija.com, ArewaVogue.com, Taskira.com, and so on are few examples.

I will go into details about Naming in a subsequent series of How to Grow Wealthy with Blogging.

Slow but Steady…

While we were kids, we read stories of how a slow tortoise ran past a speedy hare in a racing competition. This is how it took place…

Long ago, the hare challenged the tortoise to a racing competition knowing fully well that the tortoise is a slow runner. Reluctantly, the tortoise agreed. From the beginning, as the blazing hare ran with splitting speeds, the tortoise could only sight the clouds of dust the hare was leaving in its wake. After leaving the tortoise behind at a far distance and already sighting the finish line, the hare felt he should rest for a while and then finish the race before the tortoise crawled by.

One thing led to another and the hare dosed off. Meanwhile, the tortoise even though running in a snail pace speed was able to catch up with the sleeping hare. He crawled past quietly without making any noise and finished the race first.

And when the hare woke up later on, it fired on but was surprised to see the tortoise at the finish line.

Moral: The slow but steady wins the race…

Even in the blogosphere, we have split-second bloggers who want to reap the reward of their labours immediately. Some do succeed. But most of them burn up even before the food starts cooking. But those that stay longer to enjoy the succulent fruits of blogging, work hard and consistently on their desire and idea.

For the fact that I don’t want to be an exemplar of the hare, I rest my pen here!
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