7 crucial blogger mindset shifts that will make you successful. This post contains affiliate links.

When I started out online, I didn’t think mindset was important.

As I’ve built my online business however, I’ve realized that mindset, is just as important as strategy when it comes to who becomes a successful blogger and who doesn’t.

You can approach your blog with two basic mindsets.

1. “Woe is me! Nobody is reading my blog, buying my products or clicking my links!” OR
2. “I really don’t care what happens. I am going to succeed. I will do what it takes to succeed.”

Angela Duckworth from the University of Pennsylvania has done some incredible research in the area of grit – or simply put, the determination to continue pursuing a goal in spite of failure.

(I highly recommend reading her book Grit if you want to learn more.)

In order to become a successful blogger, having the right mindset is just as important as having the right strategy and business knowledge. 

Your blogger mindset matters – 7 mindset shifts you need to make TODAY.

Depend on discipline instead of motivation.

Too many bloggers depend on motivation to succeed instead of being disciplined and developing everyday habits that will move them closer to success as a blogger.

Motivation is great.

It gives you goosebumps and an adrenaline rush.

But good feelings and adrenaline WILL NOT do the work for you.

If you want to be successful at anything, it’s important to get up every day and do that thing.

Take at least one step in your desired direction every single day.

That takes discipline.

This could mean each day you could be:

• Researching topics for your blog that your audience wants to read
• Batch creating content so you have content for weeks to come
• Creating products to sell to your audience based on what you’ve learned about them
• Connecting with other bloggers and entrepreneurs in person and online
• Learning a new traffic strategy in-depth so you can have a new stream of traffic

If you focus on at least ONE activity each day that moves you in the direction you want to go, you will get there.

I can tell you from experience however that motivation alone isn’t enough to get you going.

You need to build a daily habit to become a successful blogger.

Set healthy boundaries.

Some time last year, an individual reached out to me on Facebook and asked if I could write them a cold email they could send out to businesses so they could kick-start their freelancing business.

I kindly refused to do that and mentioned that I had my own work to do.

It was interesting because if the person had looked around on my YouTube channel, they would have noticed I have several videos o how to pitch freelance clients. I even have a paid product that shows people how to write client-snatching emails.

They did not do that work (herein lies another lesson!).

Instead of doing the work, this person wrote back and told me, “You can write it in your free time.”

I couldn’t believe it.

Unfortunately, when you build an online brand, there will be complete strangers who expect you to be at their beck and call.

And they expect it all for free.

I am not against helping people for free.

I have 150+ videos on YouTube showing people how to make a living with blogging and freelance writing.

I have a free email newsletter I’ve sent out since 2016.

I create a lot of free content but the truth is I still need to pay my bills. I still need to spend time with my family. And I have a myriad of other responsibilities!

And so, as much as I love and appreciate everybody who reads my blog posts or watches my channel, I value my free time.

In your blogging journey you will build fans.

And then you will have people who find you and think they can take advantage of your kindness.

Please know the difference and set healthy boundaries for yourself.

Stop giving excuses.

I once heard a mentor of mine say “If you don’t want to do something, you make excuses. If you want to do it, you find a way.”

I’m not one to downplay anybody’s excuses.

However, I am sure if we search in history and in the present long enough, we will find people with the same excuses, who have risen above and thrived.

• I am too old.
• I am too young.
• I don’t have the money.
• Learning all this stuff is hard.
• My kids are too little.
• I am too tired after work.
• Netflix is calling my name!
• I don’t have time!

If you plan on making it as a blogger, you absolutely need to overcome your excuses.

Successful bloggers plan ahead.

You will not achieve ANY type of blogging success without a plan and without planning ahead.

For instance, I already have blog content planned until December 2020 – we are in August of 2020.

I know exactly which blog posts I am going to write each month.

I know where I am going to promote those posts.

I have plans for a new paid product mapped out.

There is a plan!

Don’t be caught without a plan for your blog!

Run your race. Don’t compare.

I once saw this comment on Facebook that made my heart sink.

“I started my blog a month ago. I’ve gotten no traction from it. I’m about to quit.”

I think when we see other successful entrepreneurs, many people think those people never failed or that somehow the first thing they did took off.

In my six years of being an online entrepreneur, I have not met one person who has had any kind of success after one month.

Not a single one!

Don’t be fooled by headlines and YouTube ads.

Anybody that has been successful at blogging and online business has put in their “time behind the scenes” before you see what they’re enjoying.

Usually, that “time behind the scenes” is anywhere from one year to five years.

And even for those who truly come out of the blue and blow up, I find that they have usually invested in high-level coaching and paid $5000 or more to coaches to get their business off the ground.

So whether it takes time or it takes money, people are putting in some kind of work behind the scenes that you don’t know about.

Don’t compare yourself to them and feel you are “behind” because you have not seen success in some arbitrary amount of time.

Realize that your voice matters.

“Somebody else has the same blog I want to have”.

This is why you should start a blog in that niche.

Why?

Because somebody has already blazed the trail for you.

There is a market for the information you have to share.

And your voice, while it may be different from the other bloggers who’ve gone before you, matters.

Now, is it always possible that the niche you want to blog in is saturated?

Yes!

In fact, in his book Expert Secrets, Russell Brunson refers to the Blue Ocean Strategy.

This is the idea that you create a brand new market within an existing market that not many people have dominated yet.

So for instance, you may want to blog about fashion.

But what if you blogged about fashion for petite women?

Or perhaps you could focus on office fashions for executive women.

These still fall under fashion. But now, you may be speaking to a specific group of women who may not have anybody catering to them specially.

Your voice matters. Your audience is waiting for you to find them. If you do the right work, you will and you will be a successful blogger.

Never stop investing in yourself.

If you treat your blog like a business, you will not be afraid to invest in mentors to help you get ahead.

I have seen people proclaim that they want to make six figures per month but are hesitant to spend any money to educate themselves.

Don’t depends on email freebies and free YouTube videos alone to build your business.

If you want to grow, be willing to invest in your education.

I have come to fall in love with working with coaches and I highly recommend it.

However, if you are not in a place financially to work with a coach, start by reading relevant books and implementing that information.

Buy that $10 book. Study it. Implement everything in it.

Once you see growth, see how you can get to the next step by investing in another great product to help you move ahead.

Personally, the more I invest, the more I grow.

One new idea from a mentor or book will change how I do things and immediately be profitable. Sometimes that idea becomes profitable a year later.

Whether it takes a year or a month to profit from that idea, being intentional about investing in your learning will put you light years ahead in your business.

Question for you:

Which one of these ideas resonated with you the most? Let me know in the comments below.

SHARING IS CARING! Make sure to share this post as well.