the greatest challenge you have ever
faced since you started blogging and how you overcame that challenge
Honestly, when l first stumbled across blogging it was
through a book in the library. The book was written in capital letters and was
titled "HOW TO GET RICH THROUGH BLOGGING". What the book failed to
mention was that not everyone got rich blogging and the few that did get rich
through blogging made their money by advertising the carrot in front of the
donkey so that we are always trying to catch an impossible dream.
Do not get me wrong l am not bitter
or angry about how hard this blogging experience has been for me. I am at that
sweet spot where l am accepting everything that is happening to me with grace
and hopping that just maybe success is following right behind it.
The greatest challenge l have faced
through blogging is the failure to attract a lot of followers. Unfortunately
for me l am one of those people who are unable to give up on anything. Believe
me it is both a gift and a curse. I have religiously followed all the advice
offered by the gurus of blogging and l am still stuck in the same position l
was before.
The hardest thing about not being able to attract any
followers is that sooner or later you begin to doubt yourself. You begin to
question all your great ideas and you start to adopt the writing styles of
other bloggers because in your view there are able to achieve something great.
I remember there was a
time when l had already given up and had spent months without updating my blog.
I stumbled upon another who blogger who said for the first few months no one
followed his blog not even his mother. No one was following my blog. I had done
everything to encourage my friends including threatening to never speak to them
(which was impossible to do) to begging them yet they still did not follow my
blog.
However, slowly l
started to notice growth in the number of people viewing my blog from my first
follower who was a lady l did not know till a large number of people (in my
view large is more than 5) started to take notice of my blog and to read my posts.
I overcame this
challenge through the only tried and tested remedy which is patience. It is
like watching rain droplets fall from the roof to the mouth of a thirsty
person. It seems like forever before the rain drop is big enough to fall. If
you wait patiently and in the same position for long enough the raindrop shall
reach you too. For others it will happen immediately while some might need to
wait for years before they can appreciate the number of followers they have.
Believing that it is
not the number but the quality of the followers and being able to engage in
discussions with them helped me appreciate my blog even more.
