Bloggers: 5 major mistakes to avoid

This blogger learned the hard way that obsessing over numbers, thinking like a marketer, and copying other bloggers isn’t the route to success.

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1. Preoccupation with numbers.

It takes time, patience and hard work to find your voice and build a successful blog. I don’t have much patience.

A while back, I thought I wrote some good articles and was frustrated that nobody wanted to read them. I became preoccupied with adding my blog to directories, as well as other schemes to drive traffic.

It was a waste of time—there are no shortcuts. If you want to build a community, you have to do it one reader at a time. Give people a good reason to come to your blog, and then love them for it.

2. Trying to copy success.

When I arrived on the blogging scene, I found a few people who were doing it right, including Chris Brogan. I tried to be like Brogan, who posts several times a day. I nearly killed myself trying to be like him.

Trying to be like someone else is a rookie mistake. You have to find your own path, voice and wisdom. Trying to be somebody else is precisely the wrong way to be original!

3. Being a marketer instead of a blogger.

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