Hello! I am writing this post from Denver, Colorado. I am currently skiing with my family. My sister and her three kids are along for the ride. Jack is 5, Auggie is 3, and Maggie is 1.
Watching my sister interact with her children got me to thinking about building a successful blog. Isn’t the connection obvious? No? Oh okay. Well let me explain then.
Newborn
Have you ever held a newborn baby? If you have, you were probably amazed at how completely helpless they are. They rely entirely upon their parents to tend to their every need, and wouldn’t survive for very long at all if they were left alone.
A “newborn” blog is exactly the same. When you are just starting out, you have barely anything of value. A few posts perhaps, and maybe even a few readers, if you are lucky. But what would happen if you stopped looking after your blog? It would only be a few days before pretty much everyone had forgotten that it ever existed.
Childhood
At some point, a child begins to become aware of the world beyond just their parents. To an extent, they are able to start doing certain things for themselves. Their independence is of course limited, but they are essentially showing the very first stages of adulthood, in their ability to think and reason for themselves.
There comes a point at which your blog will gain a level of traction. You will have a few readers, and a few regular commenters. But the size of your audience still remains very modest, and although you appear to have attracted a few loyal readers, they will not hang around for long if you do not continue to build your blog.
Teenage Years
Any parent will tell you that raising a teenager is a tough experience. Most teenagers are of the opinion that they no longer need their parents, and relative to their vulnerability as a child, that is somewhat true.
At some point, your blog will achieve “critical mass”. It will to an extent be self-sufficient – if you were to stop promoting your blog, people would still visit. However, your blog still has a great deal of unrealized potential, and the more effort you put into increasing your blog’s exposure, the more popular it will become.
What About Adulthood?
Blogs essentially never become “adults”. They always need to be looked after – with new content, and ongoing promotion. It certainly gets easier to run your blog as its exposure increases, but the “parenting” never stops.
If you intend to create a blog that will stand the test of time, you will have to dedicate hours of your life every week for as long as you want the blog to succeed.
The Cumulative Value of a Quality Upbringing
Parenting is a gradual process. The interactions you have with your child on a daily basis add up over time to determine his or her character. This is a double edged sword – whilst you can afford to make many “mistakes” in the way that you raise your child, if you repeat these mistakes constantly, your child may not grow up to be the person you would like them to be.
The same goes for your blog. Every post you publish, every guest post you write, and every message your exchange with your followers, all contribute towards the legacy of your blog. Whilst you can make plenty of mistakes and still build a great blog, you must be heading in the right direction most of the time.
What Stage is YOUR Blog At?
What stage would you say that your blog is at – newborn, childhood, or teenage? And do you feel that you are giving it everything it needs to mature into a successful blog? What more could you be doing? Let us know in the comments section!
What if my blog gets caught up in the wrong crowd?
When my blog is down due to database and caching errors, is it really just acting out?
Great metaphor bud, I liked this one.
I love how people are taking it further – someone on Twitter said they needed a nanny
thank Greg.
Tom,
Love the analogy. I think it is a great one. I have also noticed that blogs go through distinct “stages” and I think your analysis of these is spot on.
Thanks Steve!
Good analogy.. I like it.
And like most kids.. I really wish my blog would grow up faster!
We all do, but you have to savor the present too!
This is a great post! I am defianately I the New Born category. I do have some comments and a small audience, but if step away for two days, it’s like my blog never exsisted!
I am currently focused on creating more posts, and evaluating the layout of my blog. It is obvious that I need to hold my blogs hand every step of the way, but at least (like a child) I adore it.
Brooklyn
I guess like any child, if you put effort in to them when they are young, you will raise them to be Outstanding high achieving adults.
great post love it…
Yep – the more you put in, the more you’ll get out. Thanks Darren!
I can totally relate to this from a business perspective. I have always said I have 3 kids, my son, my daughter and my business.
Hope you’re having a great time Tom!
Haha – it’s a part of the family! Thanks Michelle
I would argue that there is an adult stage; at some point, every blog reaches its elderly stage, and at some point, every blog goes to rest in the great digital beyond. Most adults still need their parents to some extent, usually just for guidance and advice, but still.
I love the metaphors in this post and the ones that other people have come up with. Raising a blog really is like raising a child!
That’s a fair point Elizabeth, but we don’t want to think about the time that a blog dies, do we?
Great analysis! Each blogging stage requires a distinct set of implementations to make the returns better. I also don’t want to think about the elderly stage then the dying part. Because in blogging, one should always think positively to achieve more success.
Spatch Merlin
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Great post Tom, glad you made the effort
Thanks Michelle