When someone asks you if they look stupid it is probably considered bad form to nod your head yes or to do anything that makes it clear that you agree with them. I imagine that the only way such a moment would be made worse is if the person who said that you look stupid was someone you cared for and or respected.
Ignore that last paragraph and come closer because I am about to provide you with advice that I should charge an exorbitant and well deserved fee for. The best part is that I am going to do so for free.
Mind you the only word in the entire English language that sounds prettier than Free is the sound of your own name, but we’ll save that conversation for a different day.
Instead let’s focus on the two things that the best and most successful bloggers do.
- Write/Share Great Content.
- Sustain Your Effort.
Why Is This Important and Why Discuss It Now?
The answer is that the brick-and-mortar” and world share a number of traits in common. One of them is that a successful business operates based upon the mentality of a marathon runner and not a sprinter.
If you want to survive and thrive you need to create and execute a plan based upon the long haul and not just a moment in time. That means your plan needs to be based upon supplying great content with regularity and not just every so often.
The reason we are discussing this now is every August panicked bloggers write a slew of posts about how their traffic has disappeared and they can’t figure out why.
The Impact of Summer Vacation
Unless their content has gone to hell the answer is usually summer vacation. School is out and consequently quite a few families take off for parts unknown.
The smarter folks disconnect from the web. They shut down their computers, turn off their smart phones and forget about their voicemail. For a brief moment in time they revisit the days when you could truly escape from the office. That is why unique users and pageviews take a hit.
Are you ready for more free advice? Good, now come closer I don’t like to yell.
Sustain your effort. Keep writing. Keep moving. Keep engaging, interacting and commenting on other blogs.
In other words it is business as usual.
Don’t Forget To…
While you are sustaining your effort don’t forget to continue to schedule and conduct periodic checks of all beeps, buzzers and whistles on your blog. Even though it is likely that any dips in traffic are due to summer break it is possible there is another reason.
Sometimes there are technical glitches that occur and you don’t want to be caught unaware. Your readers won’t always tell you if there is a problem with mobile browsing or if your RSS feed has broken down.
You cannot and should not rely upon them for those things so you need to be diligent in checking on your own.
Work hard, maintain and sustain your effort. Good things happen when you do that.
Got any thoughts or questions? Share them in the comments and join the discussion.
Oy, my effort and consistency the past two months has sucked. If I was coaching myself I’d have to kick my own butt! But since I’m not and wouldn’t listen even if I was, I just look forward to getting back on the writing wagon and some semblance of a schedule 😉
@devacoach:disqus You wouldn’t listen to your own coaching? You are like the doctor that refuses to stop smoking but still lectures their patients. 😉
Timely message:) Cheers! Kaarina
Glad you liked it.
I was sucking sand for a couple of weeks; dog days of summer indeed. I just kept plugging away and feel I’m back on track.
The traffic has ebbed and flowed; some new people have showed up so that has been cool. I see some regulars starting to drift, but that tends to happen so I don’t put too much thought into it other than that’s just the way it goes.
One foot in front of the other…
Sometimes the only thing you can do is the one step after the other march. It is not a bad thing, this business is cyclical. It is a carousel ride that takes us up and down.
As long as we bear that in mind it usually balances out. Always good to see you here.