Watching my sister interact with her children got me to thinking about building a successful blog. Isn’t the connection obvious? No? Oh okay. Well let me explain then.
Newborn
Have you ever held a newborn baby? If you have, you were probably amazed at how completely helpless they are. They rely entirely upon their parents to tend to their every need, and wouldn’t survive for very long at all if they were left alone.
A “newborn” blog is exactly the same. When you are just starting out, you have barely anything of value. A few posts perhaps, and maybe even a few readers, if you are lucky. But what would happen if you stopped looking after your blog? It would only be a few days before pretty much everyone had forgotten that it ever existed.
Childhood
At some point, a child begins to become aware of the world beyond just their parents. To an extent, they are able to start doing certain things for themselves. Their independence is of course limited, but they are essentially showing the very first stages of adulthood, in their ability to think and reason for themselves.
There comes a point at which your blog will gain a level of traction. You will have a few readers, and a few regular commenters. But the size of your audience still remains very modest, and although you appear to have attracted a few loyal readers, they will not hang around for long if you do not continue to build your blog.
Teenage Years
Any parent will tell you that raising a teenager is a tough experience. Most teenagers are of the opinion that they no longer need their parents, and relative to their vulnerability as a child, that is somewhat true.
At some point, your blog will achieve “critical mass”. It will to an extent be self-sufficient – if you were to stop promoting your blog, people would still visit. However, your blog still has a great deal of unrealized potential, and the more effort you put into increasing your blog’s exposure, the more popular it will become.
What About Adulthood?
Blogs essentially never become “adults”. They always need to be looked after – with new content, and ongoing promotion. It certainly gets easier to run your blog as its exposure increases, but the “parenting” never stops.
If you intend to create a blog that will stand the test of time, you will have to dedicate hours of your life every week for as long as you want the blog to succeed.
The Cumulative Value of a Quality Upbringing
Parenting is a gradual process. The interactions you have with your child on a daily basis add up over time to determine his or her character. This is a double edged sword – whilst you can afford to make many “mistakes” in the way that you raise your child, if you repeat these mistakes constantly, your child may not grow up to be the person you would like them to be.
The same goes for your blog. Every post you publish, every guest post you write, and every message your exchange with your followers, all contribute towards the legacy of your blog. Whilst you can make plenty of mistakes and still build a great blog, you must be heading in the right direction most of the time.
What Stage is YOUR Blog At?
What stage would you say that your blog is at – newborn, childhood, or teenage? And do you feel that you are giving it everything it needs to mature into a successful blog? What more could you be doing? Let us know in the comments section!