Not a single blogger exists that was not at some point an immature blogger. Even the current A-List bloggers started off being immature – the fiercest lion in the jungle was once a cub chasing butterflies.

It is part of the process, before you can become a mature blogger you need to go through the immature stage. You cannot skip this step. You cannot go straight to mature. Blogging is a learn as you go endeavor. At the beginning everything is new and you make mistakes.

You cannot avoid it, but you can be aware of it. First step is to admit you have a problem and only then can you start to heal.

During the two years that I have been blogging I have slowly moved towards maturity. Here are some changes that occur when you become a mature blogger.

You Forget To Check Your Statistics

For the first few months you are addicted to statistics.

How many visitors in the last couple hours? Even though there are never any surprises, its always two new visitors, you check anyway. Two visitors is not a lot but its better than nothing. You get a slight rush from seeing the visitors number increase. Unfortunately what you do not realize is that your mother, who is so proud of you, visits your website at least twice every couple hours.

It has been one hour since you checked your Adsense revenue so you check it again. And again you see the big green $0.00. Everyday and six times a day the zero is waiting to greet you. You know that it is going to be there but you do not care – you need to see it with your own eyes. A nervous goose constantly standing and checking whether her egg has hatched – nothing there but a goose egg.

The mature blogger knows that checking statistics once a day is plenty. And if you are lying in bed and suddenly realize that you forget to check your statistics, no problem, you will check them in the morning.

You Can Delete Content

Of course when you start your blog what you lack most is content. So you write. Driven by enthusiasm and excitement content spews out like ground meat. Every word is precious – the more words the more content.

At the end of your first month you look at the big pile of words and pat yourself on the back. Look at all my words, its amazing that I did all this in a week. Only a squirrel perched on top of his mound of acorns could be happier.

The mature blogger knows that it is not about the amount of words, its about the quality of words. A well crafted four hundred word post is a lot better than a two thousand word vomit. A mature blogger will never hesitate to delete words because he realizes that its not about the amount of words, its about what they say.

For You Three Months is Not A Long Time

The internet sends information at the speed of light. A nobody becomes somebody in less than fifteen minutes. On the internet things go viral – within days a video can go from being viewed by fifteen people to being viewed by millions.

New bloggers assume that everything works this fast on the internet, including their blog’s rise to the top. They believe that all they need to do is create content, let a few people know, and the internet will do the rest. They believe that to start an avalanche all they need to do is to roll a snowball down a mountain and gravity will do the rest.

A new blogger’s typical three month plan:

• Month 1 (pack the snowball) : Create blog, write content.
• Month 2 (start to roll the snowball down the hill): Market blog. Leave comments on other blogs, join forums, tweet all your friends about it. This will put your blog out there and people will notice. They will tell their friends and their friends will tell their friends.
• Month 3 (cheer as your gigantic snowball causes an avalanche): Quit your job and move to Beverly Hills.

Matures bloggers wipe away tears of laughter as they hear these kind of plans from new bloggers. Mature bloggers know better, they think in years not months. They know that just like in the real world, persistence and patience win the day on the internet.

You Are Not Concerned With Fame Or Money

New bloggers are always prepared for the future.

They know exactly what they are going to say after the audience quiets down and Opera Winfrey asks them to tell their story. They know they want to go on a luxury cruise and then want a jet ski for the cottage – not the other way around. They realize that a Manhattan penthouse on fifth avenue is close to shopping but a mansion in Bel-Air is an ideal place to have a olympic size pool.

Fame and money lure many into blogging. They start their blog motivated by the prospect of a pile of money and adoring fans. They work hard and long hours believing that the internet will pay them handsomely for their effort.

The mature blogger know that the internet can’t care less about your efforts. The internet does not owe you a dime. Being hit by the ugly stick of reality, the mature blogger writes posts because they enjoy it, not for some crazy dream of chatting with Opera.

Are You A Mature Blogger?

I admit, I am still have some immaturity left in me. I still check my statistics way more than I really need to and I want a big pool. How about you? Are you a mature blogger?

About the Author

Roman Jelinek from How this Website Makes Money has really matured in the two years since he started his site. Although he will be the first to admit that his addiction to statistics is very hard to outgrow. If you find the article interesting, do take the time to subscribe to his feed. Roman has guest posted for Blogsessive before and you can read his other article here: How a Great Backlink Can Make You An Instant Success

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All blogs are written so that others could read them. This statement is true for both personal and business blogs. Otherwise bloggers wouldn’t take their diary online. So from the moment you publish your first post, you’ll be waiting for your soon-to-be readers and their take on what you have to say.

While waiting for readers to discover you might be a choice for some, the more impatient ones of use will approach readers proactively. And by far the most effective way to get them to read your writings is to bond with them, so them you’re worth exploring.

While most of us would like to think we’re great at it, there are quite a few tricks we can and should learn and there’s always room to improve. So what does building relationships (a phrase I actually prefer to “networking”) take?

Who do we bond with?

Both what you write and who you want to network with depend on your intended audience. Besides their interests and background, you need to think of what they like to read. You’d then of course start with blog readers. And where else would you find them if not on other blogs in your niche or on related niches?

Sure, there’s social media, from bookmarking and news sites to forums and everything else out there. There also magazine and portal readers, but all of these are not directly interested in blogs. This is how we bloggers discovered networking with bloggers has the best impact on our own readership.

Consequently, the better known the bloggers we network with are, the more exposure we get. Having your comments seen by a few dozens is not the same as having a few hundred see it. That is why we’re all drawn to those more famous than us, with more readers and more comments. Sure, the competition is tougher, but here’s where the art begins!

Where and how to approach bloggers?

First of all, their blogs. Most bloggers allow comments and that’s the first place to reach out. The idea is to find an angle when commenting that allows you to add something personal and valuable to the conversation. Showing your appreciation for a blogger and his post works once, maybe a couple of times, but if you don’t actively contribute to the conversation, both the author and his/her readers will ignore you.

There are bloggers such as Liz Strauss who place great value on replying to all comments. That will help you get the conversation started and possibly keep it going, as there’s that little option allowing you to get replies to your comment via email.

If you love a blog and keep reading it, you’re bound to sooner or later find out where else the blogger spends his/her online time. Is it Twitter? Then get an account and see what microblogging holds for you. Is it LinkedIn? Start building your business profile and connect. Is it Mixx, StumbleUpon or some other, more specialized news or bookmarking site?

Join the conversation over there. But make sure wherever you follow those you want to build a relationship with, make sure you take the time to learn what works and what doesn’t. This applies to both the social media site in general and to the specific behavior of those you want to get to know better.

For example, if you’re planning to become friends with Tad Chef, don’t join his SEO 2.0 group on Mixx and then submit your own stuff.

Some bloggers, from A to lower lists, also make their email address public. When your comment is one among a few hundreds, taking your effort further by writing an email might just do the trick. If you write and send that email, make sure you don’t sound like a stalker and don’t forget to use your comment posting name and add a link to your blog. Just because you remember the bloggers name and know his blog address by heart, doesn’t mean he or she remembers all the people who ever commented on his/her posts in the past year.

Linking to your favorite blogger’s posts is also a good idea. You can either add them to your blogroll, write an entire post about something they’ve published and your take on it or add a post you found extraordinary to a regularly link love list, like my very own Monday Reading Roundup.

And remember, linking and sending emails are life savers when the blogger you’re interested in networking with does not allow comments.

Writing guest posts is also an excellent idea. If the bloggers you want to befriend accept guest posts, that’s a great way to get noticed. Write something that fits the general focus of the blog, spice it up with your own style and experiences and submit it, along with a short intro of yourself and your blog. If what you send is quality content, it will most surely get published and the blog owner will surely analyze your blogging activity more carefully.

You might even follow up with a request for them to author a guest entry on your site. There might be some delays as the famous the blogger is, the less time they have to also handle other writing assignments. But if they thought you were worthy of being features as a guest writer, they might also thing your own blog is a great place for them to expand their audience.

It doesn’t work like magic!

Networking takes time and effort. Ongoing effort! You can’t just take a day to spread comments around, add some people to your social media profile, send out a dozen of emails and then that’s it, those folks will be your friends for life. Contacting someone is easy, turning a onetime deal into a lasting relationship takes a lot more work on both sides.

The trick is not to get impatient. There are dozens of comments to be read and replied to, there are flooded inboxes and incoming links are not scarce for some. It takes time to be recognize as a valuable contributor to one’s blog and a little more to discover what you’re posting on your own blog is worth the same attention as your comments or your other social activities.

It doesn’t take decades either! If what you publish is interesting, has a unique approach and is supported by effective networking, you might get the results you wished for and much more in a couple of months.

There’s no fixed recipe! Some approaches might work for you, others might not. Your unique blend of networking skills will be shaped by trial and error and a lot of passion and determination to achieve your goals.

About the Author

This is a guest post by Alina Popescu, PR Consultant. If you’re looking for a fresh voice, balancing unique views on life with original PR and marketing tips, head over to her blog at WordsOfABrokenMirror.com, or better yet, subscribe to her RSS feed.

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These days we keep hearing about authority bloggers, about how they manage to build and maintain successful blogs and aside project, about the massive traffic they receive. Along with them, more and more people start new blogs dreaming of becoming successful and making money blogging.

It’s not an easy task, but if you approach it from the right perspective, you are more likely to achieve your goals.

Your Main Goal is to Make Money Blogging?

That’s alright! As long as it is a legitimate activity, no one will blame your desire to improve your lifestyle. Sure, we’ve talked about how many fail when starting a money making blog, but that’s only because they’ve based their strategy on the wrong premises.

A strategy is like planning a chain reaction towards your ultimate goal. It’s OK to think and dream big, but act in small steps.

So, as you can see, it all starts with the desire to satisfy our needs, but only a few are willing to take the required actions.

Believe it or not, becoming an authority blogger is not that hard, but it starts with really wanting to be one and doing so by respecting 3 basic principles.

The Basic Principles of Being an Authority Blogger

1. First and most important, you need to have a good expertise in the field you’re blogging about. It is obvious that experience is needed in order to guide people into following your advice, otherwise, why would they follow you?

2. People have needs, just as you have. Put your expertise at work for your followers. Share, help, educate.

3. Always expand your knowledge. An authority blogger is open to new ideas. Experiments with new concepts and shares the results with his readers. Communication skills and a good relationship with his community are vital.

The above principles relate solely to your own actions and don’t depend on external factors. It’s only a matter of personal choice and action.

The Wrong Perspective

There’s this idea that authority bloggers are those able to attract massive amounts of traffic. While it’s not entirely wrong, it’s not the healthy way to approach this matter.

Sure, traffic it’s a pretty important factor when it comes to judging a blog’s success, but there are enough examples of people getting great traffic and making a fair amount of money through blogging while their opinions don’t count for much.

In order for traffic to turn you into an authority blogger, it has to:

1. Convert into community traffic, those loyal readers I keep telling you about;
2. Convert into referrals, people that promote your articles and blog out of their own desire to help;
3. Convert into relationships. Of course, networking is and has always been an important step in authority building.

Are You an Expert? Become an Authority Blogger!

If so, all that it takes to become an authority blogger is to start helping others. Genuine desire to help will always set you on your path to success.

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Before being blog writers we are blog readers. We do it daily, searching for news, reviews or other information of interest. For every post that we write, we probably read at least ten times more posts. We enjoy some of them, while others we simply put aside and forget over time.

But how do we show appreciation to those bloggers that maintain our interest high, making us come back for more wonderful posts? It’s easy to simply read a good post and then skip to the next one without taking any action, but most times, it’s not the “polite” thing to do. Here’s a list of ways to show appreciation to your favorite bloggers.

Leave a comment

Did you enjoy his/her latest post? Do you have an opinion on the matter? Why not leave a comment. Sometime, even a simple appreciative comment will make the blogger feel even better. Try it, it’s easy.

Link back to the post

If you read an interesting post, why not considering recommending it to your own readers. You know those “link-sharing” type of posts? You could try to create such a series of posts, publishing one every week or month. If you can also formulate a small opinion with each link it would be even greater.

Write follow-up posts

Was the post you’ve just read interesting enough to make you formulate an opinion of your own? Then, start writing, publish your answer and link it to the original post. This demonstrates that the post that started it is of good quality. Yes, sometimes, follow-up posts are not meant as good idea developments, but let’s simply consider the positive ones.

Email the blogger

Even if it’s only a simple “Hello, I’m a reader of BlogName.com and I want to thank you for the interesting things you share with us”, it will make a blogger’s day. Trust me, receiving a confirmation, from time to time, that your work is appreciated means a lot.

Subscribe to the feeds

Even if you think that you’ll only be one in a mass of subscribers, you should be aware that in the end, your subscription matters as much as everyone else’s.

Show some social media love.

Social media has long been a traffic and new readers source for most bloggers. Consider leaving a review/comment and an up-vote for every story you enjoy. It only takes a few seconds, but it matters a lot. Help spread the buzz.

Add the blogger to your friends

On Twitter, FriendFeed, StumbleUpon, Mixx or whatever services you might enjoy using. Following a blogger is a clear sign of appreciation and it is as easy as “one click”.

Add a blogroll link

If it’s a blogger you constantly read, consider adding a link to his blog in your blogroll. For me, my blogroll is some kind of a sacred list and if I add someone there, then I really appreciate the way he/she write and what he/she writes about.

Sponsor the blog and/or buy the books

If you have a big wallet, consider sponsoring (or running ads if you have a relevant business) your favorite blog. Further more, if the blogger is also a book publisher, you might consider buying the book(s) and recommending it/them to your own readers and friends. A review will also be great.

The “unethical” option: Clicking on ads

This is an idea that started with one of Seth Godin’s posts. While Seth explained in a follow-up that the original post was misunderstood, the buzz has spread throught the blogosphere that “ads are the new online tip jar”. Chris Garret and many others rushed in, calling this “sign of appreciation” click fraud, and from my point of view, it is unethical and leads to low conversion rates for ad publishers which in the end leads to lower advertising budgets, less money for bloggers.

Who are your favorite bloggers?

Come on, let’s see who your favorite bloggers are and when (how) was the last time you’ve shown them a sign of appreciation.
List 3 of them in a comment on this post and in a few days, I’ll create a list with all of them, thanking them on behalf of my readers for the wonderful job they’re doing.
Please refrain from spam-links, comments will be moderated.

And to get thing started I’ll list three of my favorite bloggers:

• Steven Snell of Traffikd.com and DesignM.ag
• Jon Phillips of FreelanceFolder.com
• David Peralty of eXtra For Every Publisher (xfep.com)

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When it comes to speaking, there are three types of people:

• those who speak so that other people can listen;
• those who speak only to hear their own voice;
• those who speak because they just can’t shut up.

If you want to be a better blogger, you’d definitely want to be in the first group.

But what does it take to be a good orator? You’d probably say it takes good communication skills, ability to adapt from audience to audience and a spontaneous character.

Some people have these skills written in their DNA, others train them. If you’re looking to speak or write better you should first consider listening and reading more and better.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”
Epictetus, Greek philosopher

Advantages of being a good listener

Why and how should listening improve our communication skills? First of all, by paying attention to our audience we can observe and analyze the level of interest, which would make it a lot easier to adapt from a situation to another. Therefore, a better blogger is a blogger who listens to his community is more likely to provide real answers and help to real questions. Solutions make people happy.

By taking time to listen you’re more likely to have something interesting to say after. Think about how that could come in handy when trying to write a follow up or an opinion post.

Have you ever listened to people around you; not only to those talking specifically about things that you blog approaches, but purely mundane topics? You’ll be amazed how many interesting ideas can be generated from simple, friendly chats. Satisfying the most basic needs can make most people happy. A good orator knows what masses what to hear.

Listening is also a great way to gather more knowledge. Knowledge gives you more opportunities and also allows you to explore fields where no one has stepped. If you take 2 hours for your daily writing, take at least as much to read. It keeps you fresh, inspired and why not, original.

“Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”
Bernard M. Baruch, American Economist and adviser to US presidents

The emotional factor

Take a real life example: women are especially attracted to men that know how to listen. Also, it’s a know fact that women tend to act more on instinct and emotions. So, for them enjoying a good listener is an emotional factor.

Listening can create an emotional bridge between you and your audience. Showing interest in what other people have to say qualifies you as a caring person, and for a blogger that wants to be helpful that is a big plus.

To summarize

In order to be a better blogger you need to be a good listener and reader. Why? Because you only have to gain from it:

• You’ll learn new things;
• You’ll be more insightful;
• You’ll be more interesting;
• You’ll be more original;
• You’ll be more helpful;
• You’ll adapt and connect easier.

And just for the fun of conversation, share with Blogsessive’s community a situation when being a good listener made your day. That could come in handy for some of us.

Photo credits to Sophie.

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Ever since I can remember I’ve been a huge movie fan. No matter the genre, I’ve watched so many movies that would probably take me more than my hosting space just to list and so I came up with this post’s idea.

Are bloggers Hollywood’s next big shots? You never know, but looking back to some of the best movies in Hollywood’s history I can almost see some of them playing the leading characters.

It’s a know fact that bloggers have a rebellious character. They can’t be ordered around, can’t be asked for favorable reviews (at least the respectable ones) and can’t be forced to advertise a company, brand or product against their beliefs. They have their own lifestyle, their own creeds and goals and I can see a “Ronin“ in every single one of them.

Like Clay Collins said, bloggers tend to create alliances, blogging networks, with people with similar tastes, dreams and even writing styles. It almost seams to me like they’re “GoodFellas“, all working for the same goal.

Also, do you remember the little RSS competition that ShoeMoney and John Chow had in 2007? They both have strong personalities and represent some of the biggest money makers in the blogosphere. Could you imagine the “Heat“ in an actual face to face confrontation? That, caught on tape would become an instant classic, like De Niro facing Pacino.

And while we’re talking about John Chow, doesn’t he remind you of Nicholas Cage in “Lord of War“. John knew that the way he managed the advertising on his blog was not something appreciated by Google, but he still did it. In the end, Google is starting to like him again, while Chow continues to make good money out of his blog.

Every single day we keep fighting against comment spam, splogs (content scrappers) and blog hackers, and they keep coming back in waves, just like zombies. And who’s always there to speak against them, against this “Resident Evil“? None other than our WordPress lady, Lorelle VanFossen.

And when it comes to building a successful career in blogging, who could guide you? Who else than Darren Rowse of ProBlogger could help you climb up the stairs like “Rocky“ did? His evolution and sound advice stand as an assurance that following your goals will lead to success.

If you ask me, all of them and many others would make a great movie cast! And who knows, after all, some of them broke the ice when they were featured on television. The first step was taken! Hollywood, here we come!

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive

The Blogosphere. The most dynamic community I’ve ever seen in my life. Constantly evolving, constantly growing and constantly changing. Ever day we find so many blogs that we did not know about.

I can bet that you could go a whole week, without sleeping, clicking from blogroll link to link, without being forced to see the same blog twice and you still wouldn’t cover 1% of all of them. But I won’t, as I know it won’t be a healthy thing to do.

With this enormous competition and dynamics, why would you want to be the same guy that started the blog, months or years ago? You don’t! You need to be responsive to change. Be aware of the latest trends and try to shape them according to your needs. Remember, shape them, not copy them!

Even better, as your skills grow stronger, try to set new ones. You want a change in the Blogosphere? Then be the first to change it! Don’t be afraid to try, be afraid of passing unnoticed.

The Secret of a Successful Blogger

Have you ever wondered why the most successful bloggers are always on top, no matter what? Because they are the change. Because they are visionaries. Yeah, sure, most of them have been here from the start, but they did not fail to adapt, and that kept them high in rankings, constantly growing their community over the years.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

When bloggers fail to adapt, there’s nothing more to be done. For many, change can be the Grim Reaper. Try your best not to be one of them!

PS: Have you watched Darren Rowse’s video “5 Emergin Trends in Blogging“?

Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive