You have played that game with the gofer’s head. There are 6 holes and a gofer pops her head out and you need to hit it in the head before it scoots back into the hole. It’s a fun game that provides physical exercise, anger redirection (gofer is your grandmother), and instant gratification.
Instant gratification is a great thing. You perform a action and you receive instant reward. In the gofer game when you bop the head with the soft hammer lights flash and your score increases. Hit head, get reward – this triggers happy things in your brain so you like it and you try to hit another head.
Instant gratification can be used to do amazing things. Some guy in the 1940’s was able to make pigeons play the piano simply by giving the pigeons food every time they pressed the right key on a small piano. They were not playing Chopin but they could play a lot better then me.
Most of our body is designed around gratification. Eat something and if the body enjoys it then your brain will instantly reward you by making it taste good. Food touching your tongue makes you happy so you touch more food to your tongue.
And if you are doing something that biology wants you to be doing, like putting a thing into another thing and moving it around lots then your brain rewards you by making it feel really really good.
The lesson is clear. Biological brains are designed to respond to instant gratification. If you are doing something right then your brain makes you feel happy.
The Problem With Blogs and Their Lack of Instant Gratification
When it comes to blogs there is a problem with instant gratification. The problem is there isn’t any instant gratification – especially when you begin your blog.
You will spend countless hours building your blog. You will pay special attention to every detail. The logo must be just right, a day is spent positioning it into the perfect spot. Wording will be revised and revised. Only after many many adjustments and re- adjustments you publish the blog.
What happens? Nothing. Nobody visits your blog and the few that do could not care less about all your effort. Your perfectly placed logo. Your reference to the rare African dung beetle that took you 2 hours to research. It all goes unnoticed.
What can you do about it? Again – nothing. You dust yourself off with your head a little lower and continue. You think to yourself, maybe the gratification is just not so immediate, maybe it comes in a few weeks.
I have had my blog and website for 2 years and am still waiting for gratification. I have written over 40 great web pages. I have redesigned the layout and design of the website multiple times. I have over 50 well crafted and thought out blog post. I am still waiting for gratification. Still waiting for lights to flash and my score to increase.
Does your blog provide you with the instant gratification you crave? No? Neither does mine.
Even though the internet seems like a fast place, for most bloggers it is tearfully slow place. You design, you write, you try to please and get nothing. No gratification. Is it going to come later? Who knows? Maybe.
If you are expecting instant gratification, or even near instant then forget about your blog – go to the arcade and start bonking gofers on the head.
This post was written by Roman from How This Blog Makes Money
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