The Biggest Mistake Bloggers Are Making that Stops Them From Being Successful

Everybody knows of somebody who is a blogger, and with technologies as easily accessible as it is today, it is not hard to even start one. I mean, you heard you’ll be able to go for complimentary tasting, reviews, trips and/or even enjoy exclusive discounts. Whats not to love? So you decided you too want to be a blogger. You think of a name, register a domain and start writing. You put your heart and soul into editing photos/videos and documenting every bit of your trip into words. You spend almost 3 hrs on each article and after posting, you are expecting it to take off. But a day past, slowly a week and then month, but still nobody seems to be reading what you wrote nor are you gaining any new followers. You are lost, can’t figure out why and is now on the verge of giving up.

If this scenario sounds familiar to you, then you’ve probably fallen into the biggest trap that 90% of the bloggers make these days; you think that the blog speaks for itself.

Ask every blogger out there and they’ll tell you that Content is King, that you should devote yourself to constantly dishing out quality content. While that is very true, with so many blogs so readily available on the world wide web, sometimes bloggers forget what a blog is supposed to be; a marketing channel. No matter which category, fashion, travel, food, lifestyle etc, chances are that there are already literally millions of blogs in your chosen industry, while content is key, you would also need to tell potential readers and sponsors, why you? Why you of all the blogs out there, who you are and what you do? If you don’t, it’ll just be like setting up a blog on an island all by yourself, you may have the prettiest shop, but it doesnt matter if nobody even knows you have a shop there.

If you want to be successful as a blogger, it is your job to do that screaming and letting people know who you are and what you do. You may have the best content, but nobody will read it if they don’t even know you exist.

When we started our Singapore Food Blog & Travel blog, we were literally marketing machines that worked so hard to put our names out there. Social Media Marketing, Traditional Marketing etc, you name it and we would have done it.

While there has been cases of bloggers who did zero marketing yet still experience instant shot of fame, these cases are rare and mostly happened before the “blogger era”, before everybody else even caught on to the idea of blogging. We can’t turn back time and join the pioneers, but what we can do is learn and try to market ourselves as best as we can. *PS this does not mean showing tits and cleavages on your social media.

One of the best ways to market yourself we have personally found that works is name cards. Bloggers having name cards? Why would blogger need name cards? That’s the standard response we get when we tell other bloggers that they should. It may sound weird and bizarre at the start, but if you really sit down and think about it, it’s actually not that weird or bizarre.

Think of it from a business setting, the rationale behind businessman needing name cards. To market themselves, make themselves memorable, tell people what they do and give them a point of contact to get in touch. So if you really sit down and think about it, these are exactly what a blogger needs as well.

A name card instantly sets you apart from other bloggers, it tells sponsors that you are a professional that is serious about your work. It is also so much more memorable from a potential reader/sponsor’s perspective when you pass them a name card as compared to just rolling it off your tongue that “I’m a blogger”, which they would probably forget a day after meeting you, especially if you have a super long domain name that is not easily remembered. As a blogger you NEED to be remembered for them to be interested enough to read your content.

Make a name card, pass it to your friends, give it out at social gatherings, networking sessions etc and get your name out there.

We personally got ours at GoGoPrint. GoGoPrint is an online printing platform and the best thing about getting our name cards at GoGoPrint is that we never even had to step out of the house once. All we have to do is upload our artwork directly onto GoGoPrint’s platform, choose the type of customization we needed (i.e rounded edges, matte finishing etc) and have it delivered by the stated promised date. The good thing about GoGoPrint is that they offer you the option to choose your desired delivery date based on your preference, and they charge you based only on what you need. For example, if you need your printing done by the next 3 days, you would pay X amount. However, if it is not urgent and you are ok to wait, you can simply choose a later delivery date and pay a much cheaper price. This means that as a consumer, you do not pay “extra” for the services or benefits you do not need. Because GoGoPrint operates on a more E-Commerce Basis, they are able to save on large overheads which they pass on to consumers. Head over to GoGoPrint to check out their services and get instant quotations based on your needs. No more having to talk to sales people or waiting ages for email replies.