Want to start a blog and bring in adequate income to abandon your day job? Then here’s a few pointers to be mindful of before you take the plunge. From my own experience blogging is at times a complicated beast, but I have learnt to embrace its more endearing aspects and to look on the positives more than the negatives.

Myths about blogging and Internet Marketing

There are a lot wild claims on the Internet about earning big; Riches are made overnight! Earn a Hundred Thousand dollars a month and on and on.

A few realities about blogging

Perhaps only less than one percent of people will ever make it big online from blogging.

What a terrifying statistic LESS THAN 1% it’s kinda hard to believe don’t you think? But with statistics like that it’s no wonder that a lot of bloggers who originally started a blog to generate an income give up. The sad truth is that not everyone is cut out for this type of income generation. You could draw the same parallels with the real world of business, because if you’re going to start a business whatever it is, you acknowledge you have competition, and this isn’t any more dissimilar in the online world of blogging.

So bearing all this in mind it stands to reason not to abandon your job, NOT YET anyhow. If you really want to break into the blogging phenomenon and make substantial earnings then unless you have a head start on everyone else then you’re going to have to learn your trade. Before you take the plunge take in to consideration the task or tasks that lay ahead of you: There are a multitude of skills that you’ll have to acquire if you want to succeed.

Below is a list of just a few of the essentials needed to accomplish success from blogging.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) The Biggy; if the search engines can’t find you…. you know the rest!

Communication methods: email marketing, Auto responders, social networking, commenting

Web Applications: all the technical issues like FTP, Redirects, Domain hosting and loads more.

Comprehending Affiliate programs, Joint Ventures, Traffic generation, Advertising

Business models and strategies, product conception, Private label, Resell Rights

And the list carries on and on…..

Take a Deep Breath

Please don’t get put off, there are ways to approach these tasks in a consistent manner. You’ll have to have patience, commitment and staying power. You’ll need to get involved in every aspect of the Internet from blogging regularly to networking and affiliate marketing. If you have the resourcefulness to fund outsourcing then this is capital, but you’ll still need to do your research to pick the right people for the job.

Learn Your Trade

I’ve said numerous times before that it’s better to tackle one job at a time, what a lot of Internet Marketers and bloggers find is that they take on to many programs or tasks simultaneously and finish up going nowhere. “Multiple streams of income” how many times have you heard that phrase. When I first began blogging I was launching a new blog almost weekly, but I soon found that I was working too hard and just couldn’t keep up.

As a consequence of this I now only operate half a dozen blogs and most of my time is now involved on this blog, the rationality being that I prefer to build this blog up to be among the better sources for information to people that would like to learn about Internet Marketing. I clearly still have a long way to go but I’m in it for the long haul. One thing’s for certain the journey has been enormously educational and rewarding, I’ve learnt many hard lessons along the way. But I know as my knowledge and understanding develops that I’ll succeed and flourish.

Build Relationships

Another matter to bear in mind is to communicate and build bridges with your competitors, see them as an asset not a rival. Eventually you’ll come out trumps and enhance your brand image by building up credibility and trust.

Make a Plan and plot your Strategies

Just like any business concern that you’d consider taking on in the real world, you don’t just rush in without thinking, and there’s no difference online. You’ll definitely make errors along the way and you may well not last the course. Don’t take any of these get rich quick schemes or overnight success stories to earnestly. Having a passion for your chosen field is one big advantage as contrary to someone who finds the daily tasks mundane and a slog. Always anticipate ways to improve and add value for your readers and keep abreast with the changing trends of the Internet.

This is by no means a full explanation of blogging but more of a condensed description in my own words. Please feel free to include your thoughts by leaving a comment.

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