7 Things you need to be a Pro-Blogger

When I began my journey to Chris Bloczynski dot Com, I have to admit that I didn’t think too much about what it would take to make it happen… I just had this driving urge to DO it. I’ve never blogged before. I’ve spent the last year imagining that owning websites would be a good idea, since I’d like to travel someday, and having a “job” where I could check in no matter where in the world I was would suit my dream of traveling much better than a hotel or a restaurant job.

After spending some time in this business, however, I have a much clearer picture of what it takes. Since it’s Blog Tip Monday, let’s start off the week by identifying seven different things that it takes if you want to build a successful blogging business, and possibly make a living from it. You’ll need:

• Expertise on a topic, or a desire to study and become an expert: If you want people to read what you write, then you’ll need to know what the heck you’re talking about. Ideally, you should be a pillar of knowledge on your particular topic before you presume to speak about it to others… however, you’ve got to start somewhere, so it’s alright to take on a topic at a lesser level of expertise, so long as you actively pursue your own growth on the topic and you don’t misrepresent the level of your knowledge.
• Lot’s of time: It takes TIME to build a blogging business. I think sometimes people deceive themselves into thinking that “the pro’s only spend a couple hours a day blogging, and LOOK at all the money they’re making!” In reality, just like with any business, if you want to make a full-time income, you should expect to put in full-time effort and hours.
• Some technical knowledge: You’ll need to have a passing knowledge about domains, web hosting, databases, plugins and scripts, servers, and all sorts of other technical things that you may or may not already know about. I suggest learning the basics on your own, and when the time is right, you may want to hire someone to manage the technical details of your site after it’s had some growth. Unless you’re already technically inclined, you’ll probably want to spend your energies on writing and marketing instead.
• An ability to write: I know… here’s a big one. A writer must have the ability to communicate concepts and ideas without relying on cues such as tone or body language… you’re limited to the words that you use! You’ll need a strong grasp on vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation to let your writing flow and communicate your message to the reader. If you don’t have outstanding writing skills, then your content should be incredibly compelling to entice the reader to stick around. Your writing skills should naturally improve as you write more and more content.
• A general understanding of how blogging works: Besides general technical knowledge, you’ll need a solid understanding of the blogosphere and how it’s structured… study up on SEO and general blog features like Feedburner, social bookmarking, blog carnivals, and ping services. You’ll need to know how to leverage these features to attain a high level of visibility for your own blog.
• Skills in marketing: Just like with any business, your blog requires marketing to build a loyal base of subscribers or consumers. Without an audience, you may as well be a monkey on a typewriter. Your marketing strategy should be based on carefully crafted goals, along with a plan to achieve those goals. Ideally, you’ll be introducing new readers every single day… whether it’s only one person or a dozen, the size of your audience will be a directly related to the effort you spend to market your business.
• Creative ideas: I read somewhere that real value isn’t created by doing something better, but rather, by doing something differently. Get out of the box a little bit and see how you can innovate within your niche. Your writing will reflect your creativity, as will the ways that you promote your blogging business to others.

Readers, do you have any other ideas? Go ahead and leave your thoughts in the comments!