7 Painfully Common Blogging Struggles

Ryan Biddulph April 2, 2021 blogging tips 🕑 9 minutes read

Mountain, High Peaks Wilderness, New York.

Blogging struggles visit every blogger at one time or another.

Pros make things look easy now but struggled as newbie bloggers 5, 10 or 15 years prior. Everything felt like a struggle during my newbie blogger days. From writing blog posts, to promoting posts to opening income streams I had a tough time overcoming even the most basic blogging problems.

Struggles do not need to be overcome as much as being identified. Bloggers often have no idea that they are struggling. Ego loves to create blind spots. Observe struggle #1 below. A hefty percentage of bloggers slam into the same struggles often because they believe that their struggle is unique. Oddly enough, the more you own a struggle as afflicting only you the more struggles you face because where your attention and energy goes, grows.

Identify this issue and other common struggles by seeing yourself and your blog in the light of truth. Look at yourself honestly. Pinpoint areas of blogging stagnation over the years. Admit that you are struggling to move in the opposite direction of fun, freedom and greater ease.

Blogging Struggles

Blogging feels uncomfortable sometimes but owning your struggles feels freeing as you correct big mistakes fueling your blogging heartache.

Keep an eye out for these common blogging struggles in this re-written blog post.

1: The Idea that Your Struggle is Unique

Nothing feels worse than believing you are alone in your blogging struggles.

I assumed pro bloggers never had to face the problems I slammed into years ago. But every professional blogger suffers through similar or identical struggles as newbie bloggers. Release some struggle resistance. Accept how your struggle is not unique. You are not alone.

Knowing other bloggers suffer through similar struggles lessens the emotional burden you carry because commonality bonds you with other bloggers who know exactly how you feel. I felt better knowing beginner and even veteran bloggers shared my struggles not by relishing their suffering but by knowing others struggled similarly yet succeeded. Or fellow bloggers still struggling picked me up because we cheer led one another, knowing the fear and pain we all experienced.

Your struggle is not solely your struggle. Release resistance in your mind by knowing every blogger has been in your shoes. Professionals in particular faced all manner of struggles; otherwise, they would not be pro bloggers!

2: Complete Overwhelm

Excitement greets new bloggers.

But overwhelm soon cripples most beginners for the fear of missing out. Newbies fear missing out on critical blogging research. Honoring this fear leads to information overload. Cramming a high volume of blogging information into your mind leads to an overwhelmed feeling resulting in paralysis and struggle.

Imagine a pre-med student who fears missing out on acquiring enough medical knowledge. Said student tries to take 10 classes each semester through 5 different universities. Overwhelm ensues. The pre-med student learns little by trying to learn everything from everyone, in essence.

Relax.

Pick 1-3 professional blogging mentors. Find pros who vibe with you. Learn how to blog primarily from these professionals. Release the fear of missing out by dialing in to a few skilled, compassionate blogging mentors. A small group of pros teaches you all that you need to know about blogging.

Blogging does not seem to be rocket science. Pros do a few simple things routinely for a long time. Although we all master a series of skills to go pro you can easily pick up these skills from 1-3 professional bloggers.

3: Giving Your Attention and Energy to Number Goals

As a rule, ego loves numbers.

Ego desires reaching certain number goals like:

traffic stats
profits numbers
number of comments
follower counts

because ego believes attaining specific number goals leads to a professional blogging career.

After being a blogger for 13 years I can assure you that:

numbers never followed my blog
a number never bought my eBook
numbers never hired me

On the way to Arthur’s Pass, New Zealand.

But bloggers struggle horribly because bloggers give oodles of attention and energy to reaching specific number goals. After reaching these goals success rarely if ever finds them because numbers cannot do anything.

Human beings help you to succeed. Give all of your attention and energy to:

listening to your readers
spotting their problems
solving their problems with your blog content
engaging pro bloggers in your niche via blog comments and social media

to lay a successful foundation for your blogging campaign.

Help humans. Pay little attention to numbers. Struggles dissolve as you generously, genuinely, persistently and patiently help people through your blogging campaign.

4: Trying to Do Everything By Yourself

Blogging lone wolves struggle, fail and die.

Connected bloggers who outsource succeed and thrive.

As a rule, almost every new blogger struggles because newbies try to do it all solo. Forget networking. Why would you outsource if you can do it yourself for free? Observe new bloggers who spend days struggling to find one line of code to fix their theme. Meanwhile, hiring a developer to get the job done and spending that time creating and connecting is the way to go. How many newbies take this route? Few outsource and network. Struggles follow.

No blogger succeeds solo. Gone are the days of manipulating Google to drive buying traffic without networking. Even Google nudges you to network in order to gain organic backlinks. Relationship-building became more important with each successive Google update as the Big G forces bloggers to focus on the fundamentals of creating and connecting.

Stop trying to do it all solo. Network generously. Help top bloggers in your niche. Ask for nothing in return. Let go outcomes. Earn their trust through your generous service. As your skills increase, more top bloggers promote you, endorse you and accelerate your blogging success.

Observe your struggles dissolve into a generous, loyal blogging buddy network.

Invest money in outsourcing to free your:

time
energy
peace of mind

At the end of the day, investing money to promote your peace of mind may be the ultimate struggle-killer. Bloggers suffer terribly mentally and physically by trying to do it yourself their way to a professional blogging career. Nobody succeeds without investing money to hand off work to skilled professionals who do certain things far better than you.

I invested money in:

web development
web design
my domain and hosting
educational resources for my blog

Handing work off to skilled pros and learning from equally skilled pros let me scale. I have ample time to focus on business-building tasks because credible professionals handle work I simply cannot handle.

Think like an entrepreneur. Outsource to scale. Reach more targeted people by giving your energy to business-building activities. Outsource all else to pros who do what you cannot do.

5: Picking Your Niche

Niche selection seems to cripple bloggers.

Analysis paralysis sets in the moment you explore one niche. What seems profitable? Which niches seem popular? How do you ever whittle down niches to a single blogging niche?

Bloggers struggle to select a niche to the tune of spending weeks going back and forth between multiple blog topics. But this struggle is not really a struggle if you ask yourself a few simple questions:

what feels fun to you?
does that fun-feeling activity solve a pressing problem?

Picking a fun-feeling niche that solves a pressing problem does not seem terribly difficult to most bloggers. We possess passions. We can easily see if our passion solves some issue. Narrowing down your fun-loving, problem-solving niches from a few to one demands you to get fully clear on why you blog. Picking a fun, freeing driver influences you to pick the right niche for you.

I picked Blogging From Paradise because I had fun blogging and spotted a large number of bloggers who struggled to go pro. Following your fun feels good. Solving a specific problem makes your blog appealing to readers. Dissolve niche-struggle by doing what you love to help readers solve their problems.

Niche Selection Warning

Bloggers amplify their struggles by choosing niches solely based on popularity and profits without consulting their heart. Going back and forth between profitable and/or popular niches for weeks does not seem to be uncommon.

11 Fundamentals of Successful Blogging Audio Course

Struggling in this fashion reflects your fear-greed back to you. Struggle is fear. Blogging with a strong fear driver perpetuates struggle until you let go your fear driver to focus on your heart-passion that solves a problem for humanity.

Do not pick a niche based solely on popularity and-or profits. Follow your passion first. If a niche feels fun to explore you clearly see whether or not the niche solves a problem or not. From there, selecting a blogging niche becomes easy.

6: Finding Time to Blog

One part of me finds it weird that people cannot find time to do something that frees them.

But another part of me recalls how my formerly fear-dominated mind struggled to find time to blog. Never mind how I seemed to have a wide open schedule. I simply never could find time to blog.

Fast forward 13 years. I found time to blog. 🙂 But facing, feeling and releasing fears to create a value-shift marked the turning point with this struggle. I always had 24 hours daily to choose from; I never lost time. Time never evaded me. But sitting with fears in mind scaring me into valuing:

distractions
comfort
struggle

over:

fun
freedom
expansion
success

goaded me to blog.

Life seems incredibly busy for:

working moms
working dads
college students holding down a part time job

Granada, Nicaragua.

but if you value busy-ness over freedom you will never find time to blog.

When my wife and I helped raise our niece I do not recall me needing to stare at her and care for her 24-7, 365. True; she did seem to require much of our attention and energy but after caring for her I:

blogged
meditated
did Kriya yoga
did yin yoga
exercised

I value freedom over fear. Naturally, I blog because blogging is one vehicle toward freedom.

Sit with fears in your mind scaring you into valuing busy-ness, distraction and aversion over freedom. I have not met a parent who works then stares at their child collectively for 24 hours each day. Every working parent has hours to blog every day but making space for those hours involves facing, feeling and releasing fears to shift your values.

Face fear. Release busy-ness. Let go distractions. Blog.

7: General Feeling of Wasting Your Time

Bloggers struggle mightily with the idea of wasting their time with blogging.

Blog for months. 3 readers visit your blog on a good day. Zero profits flowed to you even though you promoted affiliate offers hundreds of times. 4 people joined your email list. No one comments on your blog. Nobody hires you or buys your stuff.

At this point, most bloggers feel like they wasted their time for months. The cycle continues for years. Nothing seems to grow. Nothing seems to expand. Success feels frustratingly elusive. Why do so many bloggers seem to succeed while you waste years of your time blogging?

Overcoming this struggle seems difficult until you simply realize how studying pro bloggers reveals every pro takes a similar journey of helping people for free persistently before money and traffic flow to the pro. Every blogger works for free for a long time before working for pay.

Studying professional bloggers shows you are not wasting your time solely because traffic and profits do not seem to grow for you. However, studying pros also alerts you; you better learn how to blog the right way to ensure you do not waste your time. Sticking your head in the blogging sand through sheer ignorance does not get you off of the hook.

Learn blogging from pros. Observe their careers to understand that blogging the right way with a generous, trusting energy leads to success but only after helping readers for free for a long time.

Conclusion

Bloggers only struggle by stepping away from successful blogging actions.

Dissolve your struggles. Step into fears fueling your blogging nightmares. Let go resistance to free yourself as a professional blogger.

Your Turn

Do you struggle with your blog?

How do you struggle?

Have you overcome your blogging struggles?

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Lewis LaLanne says:
March 14, 2015 at 1:15 pm

All of these tips are marvelous and yet the essence of #1 on the list that seems to get in the way of all progress – being afraid of showing up with no guarantee that you’ll hit a home run.

The very last question that one of my treasure mentors Dan Kennedy answered at his Renegade Millionaire retreat was…

What is The Secret To Life That You Can Fit On a 4×6 Card?

He’d mentioned in the salesletter selling the event that he could fit the secret to life on a 4×6 card but he never revealed what the answer was in that letter.

Do you want to know what it is? I thought you would. He said the answer is . . .

Decide. Make a decision to do something and go do it.

The way Dan got into horse racing was the exact opposite way most people do it. Most people in that arena are lifers meaning they’ve been in the sport since they were kids. Dan made a decision and started at the ripe old age of 46 years old.

The usual path to harness racing success doesn’t include doing it weighing 248 pounds, not being in shape to do it, not living anywhere where harness racing takes place, etc. He knew all of this and still said “F it. I’m doing it.”

He just got started and figured how to work out all the details on the path. Dan believes that he might make a mess but that he always cleans it up later.

Just about everything he’s done has been this way. He thinks this is the way things actually get done.

Decide With Blow Torch In Hand

Lee Iacocca when at Chrysler was at the ass end of a turn-around and he’s walking through the factory looking at the LeBaron and someone makes the comment, “Wouldn’t that look great as a convertible.”

Lee tells him, “Get a torch, cut the roof off, we’ll drive it around town, stop at traffic lights and see if girls look at it. If they do, we’re making it.”

This is the exact opposite of the way things get done in the car industry – you’re supposed to slog through market research, focus groups, get designers, get the lawyers harping on the safety issues – and it takes them years to get shit done. YEARS of meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting.

Iacocca’s got a blow torch. Girls check it out. Guys will like it. Let’s make it. Six months later they’re selling it.

That’s the right way to do it. Get a blow torch. Mail a letter. Go give a speech and see if you can sell it from the platform. Write a post. Get your ass handed to you, learn something, and go try it again seeking improvement.

Forward Motion By Itself Will Bring You Confidence

Iacocca, on the back of driving the car around for a couple days and getting the positive feedback from people, went and announced to the press, the trade press, and the bankers that they were coming out with four convertibles in six months.

This led to everyone at Chrysler asking Lee how the hell they’re gonna do it and his response was, “I don’t know but I told everyone we we’re gonna do it so let’s figure it out.”

So the secret to life is to “Decide” but what gets in the way of you making a decision? That little bastard named perfectionism.

People have nutty ideas. Instead of thinking, “I’d like to perform adequately and well and successfully,” they constantly hold the thought in their mind that they must do well – everyone must treat them well and the world must be easy on them.

With this being the case it’s not hard to see why people live in the paralysis of analysis.

If asked, I’m nowhere near as proud of the pieces I wrote for my site in 2008 as I am of the pieces I’m writing today. (Especially the one I published Friday that details the elite business practices of the Mayflower Madam’s million dollar a month New York City escort agency. Thought you might be interested in that one being that you might remember her name in the papers in your neck of woods at the time the NYPD shut her down.)

But I was fortunate in that my business partner believed in me, more than I believed in myself. The only reason I wrote my first post was him coming in and telling me to write one and not listening to or putting up with any of my bullshit excuses about how I’d never done that before, blah, blah, blah.

If there was a service guys like you could offer that I believe would truly help bloggers, it would setting up a paid Good Fellas-Like “F-You. Pay me.” accountability agreement.

I can’t remember who made that line famous from that movie, Pesci or Deniro, but that’s not important. What is important is understanding that people pay their debt to the mob – they do what they say they will – because they’re afraid of the consequences. No consequences to be afraid, no payments. Easy as that.

Well, if someone decided they wanted to move forward with their desire to blog and they hire you to be their accountability partner and they tell you that they’re gonna pay up with a post every single week, you can have an agreement in place that says that if this doesn’t happen, a $500 dollar deposit they put into your account to serve as leverage, is now yours to keep.

You could also, have a three strikes and you’re out agreement in place for the people who are hell bent on self-sabotage.

And the number would vary based on what would sting, but wouldn’t bankrupt someone and would be a minimum of something like $500 to deter the people who aren’t serious.

And perhaps at the end of each month you deposit their money back into their account if they followed through to show them it hasn’t disappeared and you let them decide whether they want to continue by giving it back to you or not.

The majority of people will only move forward when some kind of direct threat looms over them that will immediately affect them if they don’t do so. This is why the whole “Save for your retirement” advice is respected but ignored by 95% of people. The IRS would collect zero taxes if they weren’t willing to put people in prison for not paying their fair share.

The only reason I took action when my business partner first came to me was because I didn’t want to hear him running his mouth if I didn’t accept the challenge. Most people, especially someone looking to start a blog on their own, don’t have a person in their life to hold them accountable. It would be interesting to see what results a service like this would yield. 🙂

Ryan Biddulph says:
March 11, 2015 at 4:56 am
Are you having a tough time with these struggles, my blogging buddies?
What solutions can you share?
kelli says:
March 11, 2015 at 5:23 am
Hey Ryan
Great tips here and an entertaining read as always. As far as not having time to write, I would recommend people work on being more flexible with their daily routine as much as they can and work more based on inspired action—when we do that, things get done more quickly and with less effort. When we are too rigid or arbitrarily declare things must be done at a certain time, including writing our posts, we can set up a lot of mental blocks. At first glance, many will claim they do not have this flexibility or they can’t wait to get inspired to do certain things or else they won’t get done, but if it needs to be done, at some point, they will feel like doing it.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:30 pm
  Kelli perfect timing on this comment. This morning I found myself forcing me to write. Then, 2 seconds later, I didn’t write. Networking time. Writing time comes later. When I’m fresh from a break. Networking happens after a sleeping break. Super point and hey, keep on inspiring!
Phillip Dews says:
March 11, 2015 at 5:42 am
Wow dude,
This post really made me chuckle! The transition you have made from the old blog to this one is a truly wonderus thing and I think a lot of people who know and have followed you as long as I have would agree with me!
Reading your posts is a pleasure and not a struggle as I often find when I start reading other posts from different bloggers who are not up to par. My mind starts wandering; like an albatross trying to decide which part of the south pacific to wander too (did ya like that RB? Feel free to use it. you got my permission.)
See looks like your infectious story telling is starting to rubboff on me; even thought I am some few thousand miles away. I think thats it dude, the way you tell these humorus little storys is what makes your posts a pleasure to read, their a real far cry from the old days from the old blog! Seems to me pappas got a new bag.
Anyhoo I wrote a post today! Boy was that a great feeling dude! I forgot how much I have missed it these past few months; reading this post though and those nuggets of gold blogging tips you have shared has only strengthened my resolve to get back in the blogging game!
Halfway through reading this post RB I started to get those little doubts creep in my head thinking about my latest post wondering if it’s up to par and does it provide value to the reader! I kept thinking; is it a little too self promoting.
What the hell it’s published now and yes I think (no I know) it is worth something and something that should be published as I talk about feeling like a giddy schoolboy in a sweetshop when the subject on PDO and MySQLi enters the conversation. Would love your thoughts anyway!
Another thing is that if anyone does critizise or does not agree with me in the post I will just take it on the chin and move on or perhaps if said commentor gives me some constructive advice (masked critisism) then I may decided to enter into a commenting war (Or just learn from it, feel free to use those as well dude.)
Right then SW, RB were the same age so of course I am a SW geek and I dont mind admitting I went all giddy when you starting talking about Star Wars. thought’s of what the new Episode VII is going to be like are firing off neutrons in my noggin as I type this now. Actually awesome it showcases in early december right? Hope there are pictures (what us British call cinemas) in NYC or NJ that we could all goto.
Anyway some spot on awesome storys with brilliantly crafted and funny praticle tips that I will be adding to my arsenal dude!
– PD
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:29 pm
  Phil I am also trying to figure how the next episode is gonna be. Tempering expectations as it’s so tough to re-create the magic in the first 3, in the 70’s and 80’s. We will see. FAB comment! And great post over there at Brummy, I commented and shared my friend 🙂
  - Phillip Dews says:
    March 12, 2015 at 10:37 am
    Yep it’s going to be awesome.
    the new Avengers looks awesome as well! Guess what dude? 2 blog posts on two day’s as well!
    I just wrote about a company in Bali btw!
    Have a great day dude!
  - Ryan Biddulph says:
    March 12, 2015 at 10:58 pm
    Phillip, reading now 😉 Gotta stop by the main office here in Bali.
Angelo Limon says:
March 11, 2015 at 7:15 am
Hi Ryan,
Entertaining post and great tips. The blind blogger is pretty inspiring. Thank You.
Regards,
Angelo
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:27 pm
  Agreed Angelo, Max is a boss! Thanks for your support 😉
Reinardt says:
March 11, 2015 at 7:47 am
What Kelli said
So true, I am only writing when inspiration hits and that really does work. I have started with 3 eBooks in the last week, wrote 4 pages yesterday in the latest one.
In getting clear in what you actually want to do and then getting your message, product or service as clear as possible is definitely the best one can do for your sanity!
Meditating is certainly a good point, that is one area that I have been neglecting for a while and I can say it does work, even if it is just to get some quite time in during just another hectic day.
Keep on inspiring!
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:27 pm
  Reinardt congrats man! Happy to see you’re churning that content out here in paradise. Just a few minutes of quiet does wonders for our creativity. Be present, be calm, observe, and those struggles dissolve into ease. Thanks much!
Sue Anne Dunlevie says:
March 11, 2015 at 8:55 am
Hi, Ryan,
I love the title of the new book! These are all of the issues I hear from my readers also. Now I can point them in the direction of your newest tome!
Thanks,
Sue
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:25 pm
  Awesome Sue, thanks so much! I betcha you do; many are recurring, as we’ve been through them too 🙂
ebijayashanti says:
March 11, 2015 at 9:10 am
Great tips Ryan it will to overcome the fear of blogging may I be succeed or not
and to keep up the new blogger
thanks
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:25 pm
  Ebi you got it!
maxwell ivey says:
March 11, 2015 at 10:57 am
Hi Ryan; I don’t often go directly to face book, linked in, twitter, or any other social media site. I do most of that through email notifications as it is easier managing social media that way when you are using a screen reader. but Facebook won’t let me reply to messages that way, so I have gotten in the habit of going to fb just to do that and then leaving before I get distracted by all that is going on there. But somehow I heard your post and then I heard my name and then I had to come read the post. I figured that you would have other people mentioned in it, so imagine my surprise to see that mine was the only one mentioned. I mean you are one of the stars of the blogging world, and its no secret that I want to travel more myself. You have done and are doing many of the things I want to in my life. so this is a real honor. I will have to go make some coffee so i can drink a toast and celebrate this occasion. And if I can help other bloggers overcome their fears about networking and teach them about the value of relationship building through blog commenting and content sharing; then that’s great too. I learned from adrienne smith, but as sweet adrienne likes to remind me I’m the one that did the work. so, for those reading Ryan’s post remember reading it is just the first step. You have to take action. You have to try the techniques he mentions. For me it will be writing more daily. It will also be recording more audio and video. It will also include sending more pitch emails and making more calls to get myself more opportunities for guest posts and radio show interviews. and it means going after speaking engagements where I can share my story. This carney kid turned equipment broker turned coach and author can inspire and motivate so many more but only if I work hard at sharing my story. so like Ryan said get in touch with your own story. Tell it often because the more you share it the more comfortable you will get with it and the more it will shape your blog, podcast, writing style, etc. thanks again my friend for giving me a push. No matter how fast you are going you can always use a little push. 🙂 Hope that made sense. Got to go share this now. take care out there, Max
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:23 pm
  Max it is all my pleasure. I draw off of your inspiration. I feel you’re one of the budding stars out there because your content, your networking and your story are 1 in billions. Keep on inspiring!
Bob says:
March 11, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Hi Ryan, I agree that procrastination or fear are two big problems. With me it’s procrastination or I get distracted doing something else. Just writing is the best advice. Write and then write some more. As you said it helps to follow and learn from successful people.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:21 pm
  Writing is the great tonic, the cure for most of our blogging ills Bob. Thanks for sharing and keep on writing 🙂
Andrew Speers says:
March 11, 2015 at 1:38 pm
HI Steve ,
Slowly digesting all you write and its great fills the pelican’s bill . Been living in Paradise for the last five years now, Bangkok . Condo with all a great view and connection but its time to leave the nest .Have an urge to become a more mobile Digital Nomad and do the hopping thing .
An original from Ozzie but plan to travel soon would like to see the USA and do a train trip Amtrak . My blog is just a infant and you will see I am hooked into Steve Brodsky an truly amazing 27 year old entrepreneur . Its week three and have discovered what RSS is wow.
Being able to use the keyboard to touch type is a great thing almost necessary for a writer and editing . Of course every one has to read and edit spell check etc . I am in training for the word count and out put I like it and that is important .. Hope to be sitting in odd places with my Mac book doing it ..
Oh please may I ask you for information on the social media buttons you have would you share that . I do like them floaty and the count . I have some but would love to have the ones you have please ..
Ciao Andrew “Catnip” Speers Bangkok ..
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:21 pm
  Andrew, BKK is awesome. We do short term stops there but it’s neat. Steve is a star. I was on his podcast in November. What a blast. Not sure but I’ll check with my developer and let you know, ok? Keep on keeping on, your dreams are coming even MORE true!
Renard Moreau says:
March 11, 2015 at 1:39 pm
[ Smiles ] Ryan, I am not boasting when I say to you that I do not suffer from writer’s block; but I do get extremely restless when I have reached around 1100 words.
How do you write 5000 words daily without losing your mind?
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 11, 2015 at 9:19 pm
  Renard that’s awesome!Just lift the bar a bit every single day to make 1,000, 5,000, or 10,000 🙂 Thanks much.
  - Renard Moreau says:
    April 11, 2015 at 2:29 pm
    [ Smiles ] Thanks a lot, Ryan.
    A 10,000 word post is out of the question; it will never happen.
    And, as a form of discipline, I will try to raise the bar higher by adding more words.
  - Ryan Biddulph says:
    April 11, 2015 at 8:58 pm
    Cool! NOW for irony’s sake, I am publishing 6,000 word posts LOL. But I am writing more eBooks; one of the drivers.
Harleena Singh says:
March 12, 2015 at 12:57 am
Hi Ryan,
Awesome post indeed 🙂
Yes, there are so many of these struggles that sound familiar – glad you wrote them all down. I couldn’t agree more with them – the ones that I am facing now is maintaining the balance in my commenting…lol…trying to juggle between the comments of my own blogs, the ones of my regulars, and the ABC (Aha!NOW Blog Community) members too, where Maxwell shared this post of yours as you mentioned him so aptly here! He’s surely networking and connected with a lot of people now due to his interactions and comments – God Bless him 🙂
It’s not easy being everywhere, but then who said blogging was all that easy! Like life, blogging is all about the choices we make, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 4:23 am
  Harleena I feel you, big time. Finding time to comment here, there and everywhere, while helping my clients and having a life outside of the internet thing can challenge us but you and I are doing a fab job establishing a good mix. Thanks for the comment and keep up the great work!
Michelle says:
March 12, 2015 at 2:31 am
Love this post! For me, I am really trying to work on getting ahead with blog posts. It makes blogging so much easier and less stressful knowing that I have enough content to last me at least a little while.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 4:22 am
  Michelle I hear you. I just wrote 1 for Monday – new eBook release – and am well into next Wednesday’s post. Preparing gives you confidence and peace of mind. You’ll also struggle less with content in your holster. Thanks for sharing!
Lorraine Reguly says:
March 12, 2015 at 4:56 am
Ryan, all of us have faced these problems at some point or another. In fact, I’m in the process of a re-vamp of Wording Well. I already purchased a new theme and had a new logo designed!
Now that I’m an officially registered business, I must act the part, right? LOL
My author site is going to be undergoing some updates, too.
I just don’t want to overwhelm everyone with all the new posts on that site at once, though. 😉
Yep, I’m moving my posts from Wording Well to Laying It Out There!
A lot of work, but it needs to be done!
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 11:03 pm
  Lorraine sounds exciting! Do send me the link when it goes live, OK?
Rudy says:
March 12, 2015 at 9:44 am
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway, as quoted in “Kingsman: The Secret Service”
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 10:57 pm
  Rudy I like it 🙂
Yatin says:
March 12, 2015 at 9:53 am
Hi Ryan for this wonderful guide
I am a beginner in this blogging world, but I am feeling great to know about your struggling to success phase in this post.
I really love your point on meditation. Few months back, I used to meditate on a daily basis. But in between, I lost the track and discontinued this lovely practice. Now, I am back to my senses by adopting the method of meditation.
Thanks for providing the link to Ramdass book. I also have some problem in connecting with the pro-bloggers because there is a feeling of “What will they think?” Now, I am trying to come out from this myth.
You are right that we must choose our topic and then create the post without thinking about its uniqueness
I really love your line: The wealth is in your story. Everyone has a different view of living life. Each of us can coat their stories with their own spice and twist. Your 1000 words per day look very difficult on listening, but I will keep in mind the use of making journal.
Thanks again for sharing your puky experience to NYU experience.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 11:01 pm
  It really is in our story Yatin, the wealth bit 😉 Thanks for reading and keep on meditating!
Naveen Kumar says:
March 12, 2015 at 12:16 pm
Hi Ryan,
Great post indeed 🙂
I think these all struggle suffer every blogger. In my case I am mostly struggling for getting ideas what I should write. What topic I should need to choose 🙂
This is the main problem for me. But after reading your post I came to point and will try. And hope I will get success!!
Navee
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 10:57 pm
  Awesome Naveen. Try that meditating; works wonders. You WILL be a success! Thanks much 😉
Uttoran Sen says:
March 12, 2015 at 1:25 pm
Hey Ryan,
Seems like Bali is no different than here in India when it comes to packing people in mini-van. I can tell, it does not seem like so many people can fit into it, but they do somehow.
Killing blogging issues are easier, the only problem is that many more pop up every day!
I believe that you did coin a new phrase and a very realistic one. I am a perfectionist, or so I believed. But yes, when you keep editing a post for a month and still not sure if it is ready – it can well be fear. Am still ok with it as long as the published post is as good as I can make it.
thanks,
Uttoran Sen,
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 10:55 pm
  Uttoran oh yes, we saw some similar circumstances in India lol. Gotta pack them in to save those ruppee 😉 I too struggle with the perfectionist thing at times but am releasing more and more. Just publish and you’ll be a OK. Thanks for commenting!
Brian and Felicia White says:
March 12, 2015 at 1:45 pm
Absolutely LOVE this Ryan! Your writing style is extremely entertaining and yet informative at the same time. You provide so many phenomenal solutions to the problems bloggers have and we appreciate that immensely. We really like the idea of meditating to come up with ideas or content also. It really does work! Thank you for being you and for leading the way for others to have success in their endeavors as well. Freedom Rules!
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 10:54 pm
  Meditating is spot on the easiest and direct way to conquer these blocks Brian and Felicia. Thanks guys!
Adrienne says:
March 12, 2015 at 1:50 pm
Hey Ryan,
I’ll start with the 110 degrees F. Never in a million years will I be caught dead anywhere with that kind of heat. That’s not paradise to me although I do know at this particular time you were inside a vehicle packed to the gills. Oh my goodness, I would have walked but I’m sure the heat outside was just as bad. Yep, I don’t like the heat and I don’t like the cold. That’s why I stay inside most days now, I’m SO past all that. I use to be a sun worshiper and in it every single darn day of my life practically but those days are behind me now.
So now let’s get to the post. I was nodding my head the entire time but do you want to know what I think about all of what you shared? They are just excuses people come up with because they are driven enough to see this through. I know we all have fears, I’ve been there too. It’s what held me back personally myself for way too long but I had to face them eventually because I knew this was where I belonged. Once everyone else faces theirs then the rest will start to fall into place as well.
We might not be able to crank out the content like you do still, I’m still rather slow at that myself but I’ve gotten so much better as the years have gone by. You have to find consistency in what you do or you’ll continue to be frustrated.
Oh I know, send them to Kelli if they’re having these issues and she’ll help them so they can conquer all of these.
Another great share and wonderful stories you intertwined Ryan, thanks my friend.
Enjoy the rest of your week now, you’re in paradise after all.
~Adrienne
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 12, 2015 at 10:53 pm
  Adrienne that point is excellent; all are excuses, we tell ourselves, to stay safe and comfy and unhappy. Ego created stuff. Being liberated mean facing and releasing the excuses and struggles with them. Yep Kelli’s the partner; she handles that end of it 😉 Thanks for the comment Adrienne, you too!
Glenn Shepherd says:
March 12, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Hey Ryan,
Awesome post and tips there buddy! You know, as soon as came to the point where you started to list your stimulating experiences, I thought, “The wild man of Nepal…. wait for it… wait for it…. yep! There ya go!” lol! I just love that story and whenever I see you mention it, for some reason it always brings a smile to my face! I also know you can never make a list of your experiences without including him, hehe!
As I’m sure you know by now, I’m totally with you on every point you made, especially about not writing for the money. It’s absolutely correct, as soon as you start to do that then your writing will become stale and people will pick up on the fact that your heart is just not in it. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money and using your blog for that. But that shouldn’t be the focus. It can be an element, but not the absolute focus. Focusing on that will end up leading to frustration, a lack of ideas, a lack of motivation and, well, a whole lotta lack!
For me, it’s important to:
1) know what the end goal of your blog is and never waiver. Sure, you can adjust and tweak and heck, even change direction. But when you have your goal fixed, you need to be working towards it. And no, the goal should NOT be money. The goal should be your blog ethos, what your blog’s all about and what you aim to achieve with it. It’s like being a music teacher. Yes, it’s your job and yes, you want to make money at the end of the day. But when you sit down with your student, your end goal is to teach them music. Your whole lesson program will revolve around how to best serve your pupil. The end goal of being a music teacher is not to make money. The same needs to be true of your blog.
2) Always, always, always be yourself. Put yourself into your writing; write about your experiences, your passions, your frustrations, your desires. People are much more likely to connect with you than if you write boring, efficious, sterile posts.
3) Never give up. There’s so much that goes on in the background with regards to our blogs and our presence online as a result. There’s so much that we don’t know about or appreciate. But that will dry up if we give up. But so long as we’re still plugging away at it, even through the more difficult times, we’re still making waves and making an impression.
Those are just a few of my thoughts to throw into the mix. Thanks for a great post as always, Ryan. I hope you have an awesome weekend over there in the tropics! 🙂
»Glenn«
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 13, 2015 at 7:54 am
  Glenn what a comment, thanks! Putting yourself in your writing has hands down been the most powerful way for me to build my blog. Our stories are brilliant and will carry us through any obstacle. Thanks again Glenn, you have a great weekend too!
Kerry at The Insightful Wanderer says:
March 12, 2015 at 11:27 pm
coming up with things to write about is definitely not my problem. I can write. It’s the whole blog, Internet, technology side of it that stresses me out because I am bad with these things. I also have always love to share and comment so that is not ever in question for me. Great that you mention Max year. I don’t think I would like the humidity either. I want to travel, but I do like Canada’s range of seasons.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 13, 2015 at 7:53 am
  Kerry I have been there. I was one phobic of the tech side of things. I learned some and made friends with wizards who help me out 😉 I like range too but am sick of the terribly cold NJ winters. If it got as cold as fall, I’d be OK 😉 Thanks for commenting!
Sayantan Mahato says:
March 13, 2015 at 12:57 pm
Hey Ryan,
Thanks for this amazing post. As I said earlier, if we combine all of your blog posts, it would be no less than a bible for bloggers! Your posts are both enjoyable and informative at the same time, which is quite rare nowadays.
I always had the trouble of finding the idea to write a post and the inspiration. But your post cleared out my mind, provided a solution to it and many other problems.
Thanks.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 13, 2015 at 10:35 pm
  Sayantan I really appreciate that! I am going for practical, and helpful yet entertaining to add a bit of flavor to the blogging tips niche. Thanks, and have a fab weekend 🙂
Lewis LaLanne says:
March 14, 2015 at 1:15 pm
All of these tips are marvelous and yet the essence of #1 on the list that seems to get in the way of all progress – being afraid of showing up with no guarantee that you’ll hit a home run.
The very last question that one of my treasure mentors Dan Kennedy answered at his Renegade Millionaire retreat was…
What is The Secret To Life That You Can Fit On a 4×6 Card?
He’d mentioned in the salesletter selling the event that he could fit the secret to life on a 4×6 card but he never revealed what the answer was in that letter.
Do you want to know what it is? I thought you would. He said the answer is . . .
Decide. Make a decision to do something and go do it.
The way Dan got into horse racing was the exact opposite way most people do it. Most people in that arena are lifers meaning they’ve been in the sport since they were kids. Dan made a decision and started at the ripe old age of 46 years old.
The usual path to harness racing success doesn’t include doing it weighing 248 pounds, not being in shape to do it, not living anywhere where harness racing takes place, etc. He knew all of this and still said “F it. I’m doing it.”
He just got started and figured how to work out all the details on the path. Dan believes that he might make a mess but that he always cleans it up later.
Just about everything he’s done has been this way. He thinks this is the way things actually get done.
Decide With Blow Torch In Hand
Lee Iacocca when at Chrysler was at the ass end of a turn-around and he’s walking through the factory looking at the LeBaron and someone makes the comment, “Wouldn’t that look great as a convertible.”
Lee tells him, “Get a torch, cut the roof off, we’ll drive it around town, stop at traffic lights and see if girls look at it. If they do, we’re making it.”
This is the exact opposite of the way things get done in the car industry – you’re supposed to slog through market research, focus groups, get designers, get the lawyers harping on the safety issues – and it takes them years to get shit done. YEARS of meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting.
Iacocca’s got a blow torch. Girls check it out. Guys will like it. Let’s make it. Six months later they’re selling it.
That’s the right way to do it. Get a blow torch. Mail a letter. Go give a speech and see if you can sell it from the platform. Write a post. Get your ass handed to you, learn something, and go try it again seeking improvement.
Forward Motion By Itself Will Bring You Confidence
Iacocca, on the back of driving the car around for a couple days and getting the positive feedback from people, went and announced to the press, the trade press, and the bankers that they were coming out with four convertibles in six months.
This led to everyone at Chrysler asking Lee how the hell they’re gonna do it and his response was, “I don’t know but I told everyone we we’re gonna do it so let’s figure it out.”
So the secret to life is to “Decide” but what gets in the way of you making a decision? That little bastard named perfectionism.
People have nutty ideas. Instead of thinking, “I’d like to perform adequately and well and successfully,” they constantly hold the thought in their mind that they must do well – everyone must treat them well and the world must be easy on them.
With this being the case it’s not hard to see why people live in the paralysis of analysis.
If asked, I’m nowhere near as proud of the pieces I wrote for my site in 2008 as I am of the pieces I’m writing today. (Especially the one I published Friday that details the elite business practices of the Mayflower Madam’s million dollar a month New York City escort agency. Thought you might be interested in that one being that you might remember her name in the papers in your neck of woods at the time the NYPD shut her down.)
But I was fortunate in that my business partner believed in me, more than I believed in myself. The only reason I wrote my first post was him coming in and telling me to write one and not listening to or putting up with any of my bullshit excuses about how I’d never done that before, blah, blah, blah.
If there was a service guys like you could offer that I believe would truly help bloggers, it would setting up a paid Good Fellas-Like “F-You. Pay me.” accountability agreement.
I can’t remember who made that line famous from that movie, Pesci or Deniro, but that’s not important. What is important is understanding that people pay their debt to the mob – they do what they say they will – because they’re afraid of the consequences. No consequences to be afraid, no payments. Easy as that.
Well, if someone decided they wanted to move forward with their desire to blog and they hire you to be their accountability partner and they tell you that they’re gonna pay up with a post every single week, you can have an agreement in place that says that if this doesn’t happen, a $500 dollar deposit they put into your account to serve as leverage, is now yours to keep.
You could also, have a three strikes and you’re out agreement in place for the people who are hell bent on self-sabotage.
And the number would vary based on what would sting, but wouldn’t bankrupt someone and would be a minimum of something like $500 to deter the people who aren’t serious.
And perhaps at the end of each month you deposit their money back into their account if they followed through to show them it hasn’t disappeared and you let them decide whether they want to continue by giving it back to you or not.
The majority of people will only move forward when some kind of direct threat looms over them that will immediately affect them if they don’t do so. This is why the whole “Save for your retirement” advice is respected but ignored by 95% of people. The IRS would collect zero taxes if they weren’t willing to put people in prison for not paying their fair share.
The only reason I took action when my business partner first came to me was because I didn’t want to hear him running his mouth if I didn’t accept the challenge. Most people, especially someone looking to start a blog on their own, don’t have a person in their life to hold them accountable. It would be interesting to see what results a service like this would yield. 🙂
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 15, 2015 at 6:28 am
  Lewis, that is the best comment I have ever read on the internet. Ever. So good, I’m not adding an exclamation point. Brilliant. Oh, it was Ray Liota, speaking as Paul Sorvino’s character 😉
  - Lewis LaLanne says:
    March 17, 2015 at 7:29 pm
    I’m greatly honored that you feel that way Ryan. Especially because I know you’ve seen in a shit-ton of high quality comments in your day.
    Thank you for blessing me with your deeply kind sentiment. It is duly appreciated.
    I’m just trying to do my part to continue earning my place on your Powerhouse list. 🙂
  - Ryan Biddulph says:
    March 17, 2015 at 9:22 pm
    Lewis, you have earned it 😉
Anna @ shenANNAgans says:
March 17, 2015 at 1:48 am
Love it, especially the tip to carry around your ‘why’ until it is burned into your subconscious. A few weeks back I stuck a sign to my wall by the computer that says – ‘No present like the time’. Will pop into my wallet too.
As always Ryan, thanks for the inspiring post.
Hope life is Bali is going swell! 🙂
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 17, 2015 at 9:24 pm
  Anna that approach works so darn well; in the wallet it goes and you have your mental compass. Thanks!
Richard Martin says:
March 17, 2015 at 12:23 pm
Hey Ryan.
I think you got it spot on with these 10. At some point, it’s almost guaranteed that we will struggle with one of these.
Right now, I’m struggling to publish. I’m not in the right frame of mind to complete a post I have drafted up (yep, I have been working on other projects and I’m mind tired), so figured I’d go around my buddies sites and leave a few comments.
Still making use of my time, but not exactly killing the struggle.
Good read. Speak soon.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 17, 2015 at 9:23 pm
  I use the same tactic Richard, it helps to move away from publishing and towards socializing, and reading posts. Gets the creative energies flowing. Thanks!
Ben Drake says:
March 19, 2015 at 1:26 am
Hey Ryan,
Just love the tips You have given this post. A number of which are the same of what have struggled with over the years of having a Blog. Yet its all been a learning experience of what works and what doesn’t work with a blog. As often hear we need to be able to Brand ourselves and show our own uniqueness. Its what happens.
Yet we all have to learn those lessons either ourselves of from someone who has already been there and can help us fasten up the pace. The lessons are wonderful and so true, Its learning to be that successful person through all Your own lessons. Yet as one of the other comments says be Yourself.
Can You be anyone bar Yourself????
Ben
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 19, 2015 at 10:50 pm
  Ben, what a fab question and great truth; who can we be at the end of the day, right? Thanks for sharing 🙂
Gaurav Kumar says:
March 28, 2015 at 7:01 am
Struggles are everywhere, but that dosen`t mean that a person lose faith in his efforts. Dedicated efforts and unshakable focus is the key to success. Thank for sharing the most valuable tips to keep bad aside and be dedicated and happy person.
I always believe that if a person feel that he is special then he make and achieve what is special.
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 29, 2015 at 11:10 pm
  G, you nailed it. Belief in self helps you through anything. Thanks!
Andrew M. Warner says:
March 28, 2015 at 10:07 am
Hey Ryan,
It’s been a while since I been on here, lots to catch up on.
First off … 65 posts A DAY???!!!???
How is that even possible???!!!???
Haha, I won’t even get to 65 posts this year … that’s a definite.
I like your tips though. Write 500+ words a day. People think that won’t necessarily help, but it trains you to not only write faster, but write better as well. Just like an athlete, a doctor, or anything else, you have to train to get better.
I also like your tip#10. I’ve been in that boat … and was in that boat recently. I see everyone talking about the same things and it just makes me want to separate myself from the crowd even more. Get away from “me-too” blogging.
You’ve obviously done an awesome job of distancing yourself from being a “me-too” blogger. And everyone should look to you for inspiration of how to accomplish that.
– Andrew
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  March 29, 2015 at 11:09 pm
  Andrew, I was insane back then and…the posts were short, and short videos lol….write, write and write some more, and your voice comes out. Thanks for the super comment and have an awesome week 🙂
Anthony Gaenzle says:
April 2, 2021 at 10:08 pm
These are all great. I think #1 is a huge issue with both pro and beginner bloggers. You need to reach out and learn from others, because you’ll quickly learn you aren’t alone. Most bloggers run into the same hurdles, and knowing you aren’t alone can really help you dig through the tough times and find solutions to challenging problems.
Blogging can also be very overwhelming. That’s just a fact. If it doesn’t become overwhelming at times, you aren’t doing it right. Embrace the chaos and enjoy the ride!
- Ryan Biddulph says:
  April 2, 2021 at 10:44 pm
  Boom! We want to hug the chaos because blogging does feel overwhelming sometimes. Bloggers have many skills to learn and master over the years.