3 Questions Bloggers Should Ask to Establish Their Priorities
If you haven’t noticed yet, there is a lot of work that goes into running a successful blog. I often liken it to a duck on the water. Your readers see the occasional well-thought blog post. You make it look so easy and effortless. Just like a duck gliding across the water. What they often don’t see is what is going on under the surface. Your “webbed feet” are working hard and pulled in a million directions.
- How do I make this change to my theme?
- How do I start a mailing list?
- I need to spend time guest posting.
- I need to spend time on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Linkedin).
- I haven’t written a blog post in awhile.
- What is this RSS feed all about?
- I need to get a podcast going.
- How can I earn income from my passion?
There is a lot to process for sure. On top of that, blogging becomes even more challenging when you have a full-time day job. Before you get discouraged, let me offer some advice.
Things to Remember
- Following your passion is exciting. I have recently been reminded of this truth in watching my wife start her own blog. There have been many times, late at night after the kids are asleep, she is sitting down and writing a new blog post. Is that because she has to? No! She does it because she wants to.
- Learn to enjoy where you are right now. One of the downsides to goal-setting is we often do not celebrate the journey. You will always see people who are more successful than you are. You are never going to fully arrive. Learn to enjoy the journey.
3 Questions Bloggers Should Ask to Establish Their Priorities
A few weeks ago, I began re-reading John Maxwell’s classic, Developing the Leader Within You. One of the chapters is dedicated to establishing priorities. He offers 3 questions to help you know where you should be spending your time. I am going to use the 3 questions and apply them to bloggers.
What is required of me? The question is great for both new and established bloggers. However, I think it is especially important to those who have been blogging for at least a year. You are beginning to gain some momentum. You may have even tasted the possibility of converting traffic into income. Yet, you feel pulled in million directions.
My encouragement to you is to establish what is absolutely required of you. What tasks can someone else do for you? Where are your greatest strengths when it comes to blogging? How can you clear up more time to do what you do best? Make a short list of the blogging activities and tasks that require you to do them.
What gives me the greatest return? I love this question. This question separates the average blogger from the professional one. I want to spend my time in areas that give me the greatest return. Maybe it is publishing more blog posts on a consistent basis. Maybe you can use your analytical strengths to improve your conversion rate on a landing page.
If you are a connector of people, place more focus on reaching out to other bloggers in your niche. Take a moment and write down the top 2 or 3 things that can give you the greatest return if you place 100% effort on them.
What is most rewarding? We should never take the fun out of what we do. We all are motivated by different things. What are you motivated by when it comes to blogging? If adding value gives you the biggest reward, produce more content. If connecting with others is rewarding, comment more on other blogs. What is most rewarding to you as a blogger?
Putting It All Together
John Maxwell has a great summary paragraph about the 3 questions mentioned above. He says:
Success in your work will be greatly increased if the 3 R’s (Requirements, Return, Reward) are similar. In other words, if the requirements of my job are the same as my strengths that give me the highest return and doing those things brings me great pleasure, then I will be successful if I act on my priorities.
Question: If you have been blogging for awhile, what steps have you taken to establish your priorities?
