Ask The Toughest Question: Am I Any Good?
Folks, there comes a time in every blogger’s life where he looks at his traffic and his flagging adsense revenue and has to ask, is it ME? You go out, and promote, and promote some more, and you’re posting at a pretty good clip and at regular times of the day, and by all accounts, you’re doing the right things. Your posts have plenty of keywords but they’re not link bait. You’re drawing attention with your headlines but not ignoring the SEO possibilities. You read Problogger and Slyvisions EVERY DAY to try and catch new ideas (okay, so maybe I’m getting a bit grandiose there, but still).
And your blog just still isn’t going anywhere.
So like I said…you have to ask the toughest question of all. Am I any good at blogging?
This isn’t a question people want to ask. No one wants to hear they have no talent. That’s why most people would rather WATCH American Idol than go ON American Idol. They want to hear how badly OTHER people suck, not how bad THEY suck! But you can find out. Talk to your friends, any of your blogging contemporaries. Send out links to your blog. Specifically request they not spare your feelings as you want to improve, and MEAN it.
Then, see what’s wrong, and try to fix it.
There’s only one way to be a better writer, folks, and that is TO WRITE. It’s the very definition of “writer”.
Writer. Noun. One who writes.
But if you’re willing to practice, to turn in the work even if no one’s watching, keep up the promotion and everything else, chances are you can become a good writer…even if you aren’t right now.
