Burn out is inevitable. I’ve noticed those who lash out most online are the one’s who are the most tired. They don’t want to write more content to keep things going. They let the summer months of slower traffic get them down. They see other bloggers create products and call them a sell-out. It’s much easier to discredit others than work harder to create more progress of your own.
I love blogging because of the tight correlation with effort and reward compared to what happens at work. So many of us are addicted to blogging when we first start because we experience immediate feedback. When we see new comments from our post we get excited. When we see our Alexa ranking drop another 50,000 points we do a mental victory lap and keep on going. I firmly believe that anybody who sticks with blogging for at least six months will highly likely reach the one year mark and beyond.
So why do some hit a hump? One reason is that consistently producing content is difficult. We’ve got day jobs and families. But I suspect another big reason is because we see others who’ve started at the same time achieve way more success than us! Everything is not only relative in finance, it’s relative online as well.
THE COMMON COMPLAINTS ONLINE
I’ve been around for four years now so I’ve seen several blogging life cycles that always start with excitement, to realization, to apathy, to sometimes anger, to disappearance altogether. Only a minority really keep on going.
So what are the common complaints from apathetic or angry bloggers about other bloggers?
* They “sell-out.” We’ve discussed whether blogging is a form of charity in a previous post. Given all of us spend way more time on our site than our market hourly wage, I do not understand for one bit why there is something wrong with selling a product you’ve created, highlighting an affiliate whose product you use, or writing reviews on products that might be beneficial to your users. This complaint always comes from a blogger who makes little or nothing online. You know they’d love to, but they don’t have the skills to sell or the fortitude to create their own product yet. It’s easier to just complain about bloggers violating “the true essence” of blogging rather than figure out a great win-win scenario.
* They aren’t doing what they are saying. If you are a frugal blogger, you better not be buying that item of clothing other than at Walmart! If you are an early retirement blogger, you better not lift one finger on something that may generate you income! If you are a entrepreneurial blogger, you better not take on a side job to help make ends meet! The list goes on and on where those who are unhappy with their progress feel a need to box others into a strictly defined space. The fact of the matter is that life is an evolution. Each day is but a snapshot in time.
* They don’t have the credentials. Most bloggers who have this complaint are older, more educated, or think they are much smarter than the average person. When they see someone talk about how to become a millionaire without being a millionaire themselves it pisses them off. We’ve had a great discussion on Yakezie.com about writing and saying things we have no idea about. Given there’s no blogging certification online, we can all say whatever we want. It’s up to consumers to parcel through the smoke and mirrors. The solution we’ve come up with is to just be upfront with our situation and offering up the role of the pontificator. But for those complaining about other people’s lack of credentials, go ahead and write your own highly credentialed post if you’re so worthy!
* They blog about blogging to make money. Everybody knows the fun logic of blogging about blogging to make money blogging. The “purests” will think this way of blogging is one big joke, especially since so many of these types exist. But let’s say you’ve been blogging for years, don’t you have the credibility to teach people about blogging? I think so. Whether you’ll find enough readers and make money is a different story. The real question is why do people care at all about what other people do? At least they have the guts to try.
* They are so narcissistic. From income reports, to videos, to pictures of vacations, to blog status updates, it’s easy for a lot of people to get turned off by so much “look at me” self-promotion. Yet without self-promotion it’s hard for readers to get to know who you are or find credibility in your actions. Self-promotion is a skill that some can deftly display without making it seem too much like self-promotion. The problem is skills have to be honed before aggressively utilized. Deploy too soon and you might blow yourself up. If you find a blogger to be narcissistic, then read something else.
THE SOLUTION
Nobody is perfect. What’s important is to use real-time feedback in terms of traffic, comments, and income or lack thereof to see what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. If you start going from an average of 10 comments a day to 3, it’s probably because your content is boring, too self-congratulatory, or not useful. There really are no other reasons.
If your income drops by 20% one month, it could be due to a seasonal slowdown as we’ve discussed. Or maybe it’s due to a Google algo update. Perhaps your content is just not convincing enough and something has to change. The reality is that there’s a combination of factors to figure out.
Progress is hard. Success is even harder. I’ve highlighted the five complaints above because I’ve gone through every single one of them when I first started out. Come to the realization that everything is rational in the most meritocratic environment on Earth. If our traffic is fading, we write more. If our income is sucking wind, we develop new income streams. If you are starting to burnout, then absolutely take a break by posting once a week instead of more. The goal is to get to that one year mark so that you’ve got a large enough portfolio of traffic to keep the traffic going when you aren’t thanks to Search.
Complaining is such a loser way to go about things. Don’t resort to discrediting people’s efforts. Someone will always have it better than you. Instead of being envious, why not just go to their site and figure out what they’re doing right? What they are doing is as plain as day!
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Negativity is an easier emotion to tap into than being positive. If a person views blogging as a competition with others (instead of just a test of his or her own competence) they may take opportunities to criticize and tear others down. I just reached my one year blogging anniversary which was my original goal from the start. I know there are other bloggers who began around the same time who have grown more rapidly than I and are bringing in good amounts of income. I’m not jealous of them, I’m learning from them. Obviously they understand the blogging process more than I do.
Nice one! I have been blogging for about 7 years, not on my current site, but many others. I have seen this each and every time. It used to bother me, but then I realized that people are just angry when they see other people more successful than them. That type of stuff actually just pushes me to achieve more. I like other people that are successful. It is a good group to be in!
Blogging is not easy! It takes a lot of work. And successful bloggers work hard. I’m learning from successful bloggers, and trying to figure out how to be successful myself.
Nice thoughts Sam! I don’t understand the need to feel negative about others’ successes as it is all so relative. I try to focus on what I can focus on and let the success I see others have motivate me to strive for me. Like Grayson said, I like being with others that are successful – it’s a great group to be in.
Good post, Sam. I have seen more “why other bloggers suck” posts come out of the community than I can count on all of my digits. Personally, I never understood the point. I believe that we are all on the same team here, and spending time or energy putting others in the community down is purely waste.
Being jealous of other bloggers success happens a lot. Not everyone vocalizes it. Some let it dig into them and use it as an excuse for “why should I bother, I’ll never be as good or as successful as XYZ”. Consistency and quality are some of the hardest things to maintain long term.
As a wise man once said, “haters gonna hate.” Rather than worry about those few, the best bloggers worry about their audience who comes to learn, converse, and share. That’s what has kept me going since I started blogging in 2007.
I will admit that I occasionally get a little jealous when I see others’ sites which are achieving success faster than mine. I don’t let that jealousy consume me though, I let it motivate me. I am happy for them and their success, because I believe it means that I can be successful as well.
As for the other “complaints”, I haven’t engaged in any of those yet, and I hope I never will. I agree that “complaining is such a loser way to go about things”!
Thanks for this. It made me feel good as I am experiencing blogger exhaustion right now. Probably doesn’t help as I have experienced a drop in revenue since its July. Oh well, I still love to write so that is what I will do
I think some people are just the jealous type. They would rather complain and make excuse vs doing the hard work and it not paying off as fast or paying off at all. Its the easy way out. I just started my blog and I could easily complain about this or that but I look at it as a challenge. When I see other bloggers doing well I kick myself in the butt and say get moving. Do it 10x times better and work harder. I am thankful that there are so many successful bloggers that put themselves out there. I ask questions and get advice and most importantly try to help others. Whether it be commenting or sharing its a network and we should be trying to help one another not bad mouth or disrespect others.
I’ll confess: I still get jealous towards other bloggers’ success. In the begining I was just like you described. There were two other blogs that started virtually right around the same time as me, and they both seemed to do better than me for a while. After some time, one was sold and the other still continues to do okay. But now I measure success a little differently than I did before.
It’s hard to read a blog like Think Traffic, Niche Pursuits, or Smart Passive Income and not be envious of their successes. Its a natural human reaction to feel that way because it is easier to deal with. But like a lot of emotions, you have to train them to respond differently. Those blogs are special because they are doing something right, and I will be that way too if I ever figure out how to do something as well or better. Instead of getting frustrated, I will learn from what they did and try to blaze my own trail.
It is great to keep at the fringe of several blogging communities – gives me loads of freedom and not much hastle. ‘Live and let live’ is what I believe in. At the same time there is much that is of low quality around the web – but then, as we say in Bulgaria, every train has its passengers. As to writing about things we don’t understand and/or have not lived through, this can be OK but often ring hollow; people know if you are honest and write from the heart.
Thanks for sharing the Bulgaria philosophy. I might have to use that one day.
I have found the other bloggers to be very supportive and they offer lots of ideas.
I do get jealous because I can’t seem to get one ad on my site after being dumped by Google AdSense. I have written posts about this and other bloggers have made suggestions of other ad services I can try. I still don’t have one little ad but I have applied to a lot of services.
When readership drops it is my responsibility to do more marketing and write more posts.
Try some guest posting Jane! I see you comment around, so you definitely have an interesting perspective to share.
Great post, Sam! Comparing yourself to others is truly a losing proposition the majority of the time. We should all strive to do our personal best!
As crazy as it sounds, I LOVE seeing other blogs succeed…financially and otherwise. There is so much opportunity out there and there is plenty of it to go around. Seeing others succeed just reinforces the fact that I can succeed as well. We all can.
Doesn’t sound crazy at all. This is why you will succeed!
Good stuff. Whenever I find myself beginning to bitch about others, I try to remind myself, “Focus in.” That’s my shorthand for focusing on my work, instead of critiquing everyone else around me.
Focus in, I like that. Focus in baby! Kinda like Lean In.
Love this post. As someone who posts their online income regularly, I have my fair share of haters. But I also have a great deal of people who like my blog, so that balances it out.
That’s a good attitude to have. I have an upcoming passive income update, but that’s on a one year time frame.
I hate complainers because they are a distraction. They don’t do anything about their plight except complain. If you want your blog to improve, you have to take action! Complaining just draws attention to your inaction. Blogging is a little like teaching, you never really know how you affect people.
And that’s part of the fun. You never know!
I tend to agree with Marie at Money Principal, “live and let live.” We all get jealous and envious at times. After all, those are human emotions. I just go with the attitude of focusing on creating value, whether it be posts or products and not worry about others too much!
My gripe is people who act like there is only one “right” way to be a blogger. If you are on blogger.com, if you aren’t doing a specific amount of marketing, a specific amount of writing, a specific amount of commenting, then you are either doing it “wrong” or must not be serious about it. I’ve stated before that I’m perfectly happy to have slower growth in exchange for being able to enjoy life outside of blogging.
There’s definitely no right way that’s for sure. Although there are many successful examples for others to emulate.
I definitely get jealous and envious of other bloggers who have made it big, although I should probably change those words to “admiration” as I’m more wishing I was at their level of success. Those feelings just motivate me to try harder myself. By looking at what the top bloggers are doing, its almost like you have a blueprint of tons of ways to become successful, you just have to put together the pieces and stick with it and you too will succeed! (I hope lol)
Just use their success as a great pull to try harder. It’s the most beautiful thing.
As someone who is just starting out, I found this article and the comments helpful to put things into perspective.Of course, I haven’t experienced any negativity thrown my way yet (I’d have to actually have visitors for that!).
I don’t find myself getting jealous of anyone. For me, it’s more a feeling of awe that some bloggers have achieved such success. I also find myself getting a bit impatient to achieve just a modicum of that success. However, I told myself from the very get go that I’ll only undertake this blogging endeavor if I treat it has a hobby and don’t let it conjure up negative feelings (including stress). Otherwise, what’s the point, right?
Good luck on your journey. Give it six months and come back to this post if it speaks to you a little differently. Enjoy!
I’ve changed my thinking about blogging. I forgot it was meant to be fun. I got stuck in the “I have to write” mentality that I stopped writing. It became a perpetual problem.
I’ve just reset factory settings and re-designed my objectives. I won’t complete the Yakezie challenge; I don’t have the talent or persistence. But, it’s only a bit of fun for me, not income generating so does it matter?
Nope, just enjoy being part of the community. Focussing on that will solve my “I have to write” syndrome.
I like your realization John “reset factory settings.” Do what makes you happy and enjoy the journey!
Spot on! I have complained about all these things starting out but I guess its part of a journey. As I improved my writing and learnt more by reading and talking to fellow bloggers, I realized that writing is what matters. Money and adulation comes automatically sooner or laterSpot on! I have complained about all these things
starting out but I guess its part of a journey. As I improved my writing and learnt more by reading and talking to fellow bloggers, I realized that writing is what matters. Money and adulation comes automatically sooner or later
[…] slowdown 10%, we decide to take some time off, and business slows down some more. We discussed pushing through the online hump and surviving a seasonal online traffic downturn earlier on Yakezie.com. Despite a slowdown, there […]