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So you started a blog.

It sounds so promising - you read everywhere on the web about how easy it is to make money blogging.

Days pass by. You work hard, and harder.

You closely analyze your blog’s stats every day (or every moment). You take pride in every new subscriber you get. You jump around in joy because you got some comments too.

You read many blogs. The A-listers especially.

And here they are telling you that they’ve got 5K Twitter followers, 2K Facebook fans and 10K newsletter subscribers. They tell you that they earn a six-figure income.

Now you are all set with a nice motivation - the words of the A-Listers.

If they are able to make six figures, you say to yourself, you can earn too. That’s right.

So you follow their strategies, tips, do SEO, talk about hot stuff in your niche, provide quality content, engage in social media, comment on blogs, and what not.

You do your best to become one of those A-Listers.

Yet there is a problem.

You hit a brick wall. You can’t progress anymore. You’re stuck.

You feel let down. You lose hope. You wonder if you made the wrong decision. You think about quitting. And perhaps you already did that.

Hang on. It doesn’t have to start and end so quickly.

Why did you hit the brick wall?

First off, let’s see why you hit the brick wall.

There could be more than one reason:

1. You chose the wrong path; the path where the brick wall was. Instead you should have chosen a different path, the right one.
2. You chose the right path, but got sidetracked somewhere in the middle and ended up at a brick wall.

As to (1), it is very essential that you start with a clear blogging goal.

Wanting to make money just like Mr. A-lister does is too vague. You have to be more specific.

Unless you know exactly what you want to achieve with your blog, you’ll most probably (or perhaps certainly) choose the wrong path.

Plus, as to (2), if you don’t have a clear blogging goal, your efforts are not targeted.

Since you are not clear about what you want to achieve, you don’t have a plan. This means a lot of “getting sidetracked” along the way. And one of those sidetracks can lead to a brick wall.

It is of utmost importance that you start your blogging career with a clear blogging goal followed by an action plan - it doesn’t have to be a complicated one.

All you need is a list of things you need to do and a set of strategies for executing every item on the list.

So where does it all begin?

Your willingness to find out what you want to achieve with your blog - the goal.

Now…

• Are you a high-headed blogger?
• Do you think reading/observing other blogs is a waste of time?
• Are you too lazy to learn new tips/techniques?
• Do you outsource everything and expect money to roll in?

I wish you answered NO to all of the above questions. If not, you will certainly hit a brick wall.

You know why? You cannot execute your action plan (even if you managed to devise one) without your willingness to learn.

Blogging is all about learning. The more you learn, the clearer and smoother your path to blogging success will be.

Let’s say there is a rock on your way up to a castle (and let’s assume, visiting this castle is one of your biggest dreams).

Now what will you do?

1. Stand there and wait for something to happen.
2. Leave because you know that you cannot go up there without moving that rock.
3. Take the initiative to explore possible ways to get it out of your way.

For the sake of your blogging success you need to choose (3).

It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to move the rock by yourself. But it is about your willingness to do something about the obstacle.

After all, that obstacle is in YOUR path and hence the problem is absolutely YOURS.

Standing there thinking that someone else will come up with a solution is unreasonable and unrealistic.

If you face a challenge in your blogging career, you must roll up your sleeves and come up with a solution.

I am not telling that you shouldn’t outsource anything.

In fact, I support outsourcing. But don’t just count on your outsourcing team to figure out your problems; learn how to deal with them on your own and your business will be much better for it.

If you are lost and don’t know what to do next, I suggest you start from scratch.

Sit down and identify your blogging goal. Go through the process of defining your own success.

Develop an action plan and then you can outsource bits and pieces of the steps involved in executing your plan.

There’s one more point to it: your goal has to a realistic one. Add this as number (3) to the possible reasons you might hit the brick wall in your blogging journey.

When you have a plan, you anticipate things. You know when you might possibly get stuck. You devise alternate plans for the things you anticipate.

Marketing Takeaway

All in all, there are three possibilities to consider when you hit a brick wall:

1. Do you have a clear blogging goal and a plan to achieve your goal?
2. Is your goal realistic?
3. Are you willing to learn and progress in your blogging career? Relying too much on outsourcing will only halt your progress. It is YOUR path and YOU have to walk it.

Have you hit the brick wall? If so, have you found the reason and the solution?