Three Rivers California USA
Look at that sweaty pig.
Go ahead.
Place your peepers on my sweaty dome above.
I assume that someone figured this out before me.
Sweet is just a letter away from sweat.
The sweet aspects of blogging require years of sweat. Bloggers work diligently to go full-time. Gaining freedom from time and location takes thousands of hours. Sit before the laptop. Write. Put in repetitions. Comment genuinely on blogs. Reply to emails. Reply to followers and friends on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Blue Sky. Do the work. Sweat consistently. Position yourself to experience a nectar-sweet full time blogging career.
Blogging Sweat
Earlier this evening the thought entered my mind after snapping a selfie in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. I always sweat profusely here in Three Rivers. The 7:30 p.m. temperature? 92 degrees. The 2 PM temperature is usually 104 in the shade but 110 or higher on the baking asphalt.
Death Valley is the distance to our east. The hottest place in the world is not that far away. Things get toasty here during July.
Anyway, I thought about my physical fitness. I am in good shape for a 51 year old. I am in good shape for a 21 year old. Hiking for 5 hours through the mountains in 90 to 100 degree temperatures seems to be a solid achievement for any person, from 21 to 51.
I can do stuff like this in my fifties because I sweat my ass off over the prior three decades. I enjoy the sweet benefits of exercise now because I exercised diligently for 30 years. I am healthy as the world judges it. Most assume I am far younger than 51. I worked my ass off to enjoy the sweet. I decided to sweat for 3 decades every single day. I never take a day off. I exercise every 24 hours for 2-3 hours on most days. Some days I do 4-5 hours. Rarely – only on travel days – I do 30-45 minutes. I do not miss a single day.
Blogging Is Similar
Blogging is similar. Do the work. Sweat. Put in repetitions. Publish detailed content consistently. Do this for years. Engage in blogger outreach. Open multiple income channels. Sweat the highs and lows. Practice. Work. Go pro.
Do you want the sweet?
You better sweat.
Blogging shortcuts do not exist. No one gets something for nothing in the blogging world.
Do the Blogging Work
Everyone underestimates the work it takes to succeed.
Everyone overestimates how fast they can get the blogging job done. Lost blogging souls toss around 6-12 month time frames for going pro. Reality never spares the rod for these ones. Is the blogging wake-up call harsh? You bet it is.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into 18 years ago. I expected to go pro quickly.
Boy was I wrong.
I also underestimated the detail of my work. I assumed that writing and publishing a heavy volume of thin posts generated blogging income.
Boy was I wrong again.
Becoming a professional blogger means doing detailed things mindfully for a significant stretch of time. Nobody seems prepared to do this work as a beginner. Few bloggers see the journey through to a full-time career.
Do the blogging work.
Research blog post ideas based on reader feedback.
Publish long form content based on due diligence.
Distribute blog posts.
Engage in genuine blogger outreach.
Bond with readers.
Monetize through multiple income channels.
Sweating consistently brings sweetness to your blog.
Smart work earns blogging income.
Consistent work earns you a full-time blogging career.
But I cannot sugarcoat things.
Most professionals blog mindfully for many thousands of hours before going full-time. During these years the money never shows up quickly. Everything moves slowly even though your work is spot on.
Google does not reward bloggers quickly. Readers do not reward bloggers quickly. Someone buys an eBook. Someone else buys a course. Someone refers your eBook to like-minded people. Someone refers your course to like-minded people.
While you generate one sale over the next 3 weeks the work needs to continue. Publishing detailed, long form content at least once a week is non-negotiable. Put in the work. Generating one sale for weeks during the growth phase is par for the course.
Build a Blogging Asset
See the work as building a blogging asset. No asset generates significant income for a while. Building it the right way means earning a few dollars here and there before the asset spawns significant income.
Entrepreneurs know this.
Employees don’t.
Think like an entrepreneur not an employee. Do the work without being psychologically attached to statistics. Trust the process. Ride out the highs and lows. Sweat it out. Sweet blogging success is on the way.
Blogging Delusion
Bloggers believe that this gig is easy.
Show up to publish a few long form blog posts.
Earn steady blogging income.
Sorry.
Blogging never works that way.
As a general rule of thumb, bloggers typically work for thousands of hours spanning years before their asset drives consistent passive income. Drill those numbers into your mind not to set up strict expectations but to ground yourself in some semblance of reality.
Appreciate how much work it takes to scale.
Depending on the service queried, 70,000 plus backlinks point to my blog. Think of how much work it takes to get even a few backlinks daily. I don’t care if you run around commenting like a headless blogging chicken today. At the end of the day, only a few backlinks will point to your blog.
Consider how much work it takes to generate thousands of backlinks.
Imagine how much work it takes to generate 70,000 backlinks.
Don’t be intimidated by the numbers. Simply dissolve your blogging delusion. Relax into realistic expectations. Slow down. Calm down. Do the blogging work knowing how long it will take to reach your ultimate goal. The time frame serves as an investment not loss. Stop sacrificing. Start investing. Think like an entrepreneur.
Being realistic inspires you to blog mindfully for a long time.
This is the requirement to go full-time down the road.
Keep the Sweet in Mind
Never lose sight of your blogging goals.
Create a vision. Guide yourself past blogging obstacles. Concentrate on where you want to be.
Holding your vision inspires you to work even though blogging returns appear to be meager. Don’t worry. That’ll change if you consistently publish detailed blog content.
Call to Action
Check out my eBook to earn a full-time income through blogging: