What’s Holding You Back from Blogging?
We all have outside influences that pull us from blogging on a daily basis. I previously posted about the lies that are holding your blog back. I know posting once a day can be a difficult task when you are just starting to blog. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself though what is holding you back from blogging?
Experts say that if you do something for 20 days straight you will then form a new habit into your daily routine. I know this is true for myself and have seen it work well for people around me. If your not posting daily then today take out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen and write the following down in big letters…
I will post in my blog daily for 20 days straight
Now put that paper beside your computer where you will see it every day. I guarantee if you post once a day, you will see an improvement in traffic, an increase in revenue and an improvement in your own writing skills. I know everyone here can commit to 20 days of posting and I challenge you to do so.
To kick off your new commitment we are going to hold a group writing project. Go to your blog and write a short explanation as to what is holding you back from blogging. Share your post in a comment or link back and I will follow up with a compilation of the posts written in a future post on John Chow dot Com.
This post was guest blogged by Gary Jones from BlueFur.com. BlueFur provides Dedicated Servers in Canada like the one that runs John Chow’s site.
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I think you made a good point in the post and that’s that anyone can create a new habit if they try. I remember when I first started blogging, I had a really hard time getting that daily post in. I would almost groan in frustration when I sat down to work because I really had to rack my brain for an idea. It can still be difficult, but I think that it is becoming easier none the less. If you try, you will succeed.
Never heard of the 20 day rule but I believe if someone wants to achieve something, they must have the mentality to stick with it. If they don’t then they need to work on developing that mentality. I guess the 20 day rule is definitely one of many good starting points
I agree about the habit thing. Indeed if you keep on regularly doing something for a while it will become a habit. It’s the same like when you start going to gym, the first few days are tough but than everything becomes like normal, or like when you haven’t read a book for awhile and you start a new book, the first days gets tough but than it’s like a habit and once you get a free time you open the book and start reading.
Good post, much appreciated.
I totally agree with the gym thing. Then again it could aslo be because of intimidation from other huge guys lol.
Haha yeah, it seems majority of the people at the gym are super fit lol.
nice link bait
Actually you don’t need to link to the post if you don’t want to.
Just post a link to your comment or send a ping from your blog after you write it.
Great idea for those that are out of the honeymoon blogging phase such as I. That first month or so is great. You have the energy and vigor of a young pup. I’ve heard it’s that 2nd to 3rd month that’s the worst. Once you’ve past the 3rd month, you’re fairly established and blogging becomes almost second hat. Good luck!
Agreed! Once it gets past the 3rd month, it’s much smoother sailing.
Great article! Keep up the good work!
I think it’s past the 5th or 6th month in some cases too.
Yeah, I think it gets really tough to stay motivated around the 6 month mark. Especially if you are still struggling to make inroads by this stage.
Yeah I agree – for a blog (largely because of monthly archives) I look at everything on a month by month basis. The first month is fairly easy and the second is where the slump can kick in.
If you can crack 3 months then I think you’ve made it but habits can be easily fallen out of as well. It’s much easier to accompish something you enjoy – that should be the main message of blogging – talk about something you like and are interested in – it’s much easier.
It’s funny but I find myself feeling guilty if I don’t blog everyday now. It was a struggle for the first week but once you forma habit it’s hard to kick.
Doing once a day gets easy once you’ve done it for awhile. It’s updating multiple times a day that becomes difficult to juggle with your regular life, particularly if you don’t generate all your income online.
I feel the same, but the weird thing is like if I distract myself from writing (like two days ago when i wrote 2 posts because i needed time to get me working with the new design), when i got back…umh, it was so emm i was kinda lost where i stopped, where should i start from..but than again everything gets back in order.
LOL I don’t think I’ve ever had the problem of losing my place when I haven’t blogged for two days, probably because my topics are so out of this world (totally random) haha
Same here, but my blog is about business.. there is ALWAYS something happening in business. *=)
45 days and counting for me. Only missed a couple days during that period and that’s usually because I blog at night, so sometimes the post wasn’t finished before the clock struck midnight.
LOL me too!
Dang, that’s solid man!
Hope the blog is going well!
Wow, congrats man. That is excellent. Do you pre-write a few for the days you just don’t feel like writing something?
You can always back date your post a few hours.
I blog everyday. And I have enjoyed a visit from John Chow twice in two days. I am such a lucky gal.
Damn, I wish John would visit my blog, guess I need to work on improving it some more haha
Just blog as a female!
Haha! Are you suggesting John is sexist?!?
LOL I wonder if John’s nobody blog is male or female
I hope not, since he’s been by my blog a couple of times in the last month.
I’ve posted a contribution to this group writing project:
http://www.aclevercookie.com/staying-in-the-habit-of-blogging-regularly/
i Just Love the Way You Write John, im Really Inspired by you. Anyway i`ve started Blogging few days back (13th of Aug ) i got 1,80,000 Hits from 700 Unique IP`s, in the Month of August. Am i going good ? and the silly thing is im a bad writer. i dunno how to write properly. i just write whatever i want to say the world.
i dunno !! whether it`s the correct place to ask you !
i wanna Make Money with My Blog. i want to Signup Kontera From Your Referal. Can You Help me out with the initials. i don`t understand what that initials all about ?
i`m sorry if it is a wrong place to ask you these Questions.
–VaaSU–
Wow, you’re right, you don’t know how to write properly but you must be doing something right if you have 700 unique visitors (assuming this is true)…
Well..this wasn’t John post…but anyway i believe John appreciates your kind words
I sometimes don’t know what I should blog.
Blogging is hard work! lol
Blogging can be hard, but there are other ways. One thing I have found that works is that everyone has their own opinion. John here may have one opinion on how something works and then Darren Rowse might have another. If you have an opinion about something, voila, you’ve got a blog post.
I think if you pick a topic you are actually interested in it is a lot easier. If you are trying to write about something just because of the keyword competitiveness or adsense payouts it gets tougher.
I have always heard it takes 30 days for repetition, but I bet it’s the same effect
I find myself lagging sometimes when writing my blog… I need to get out of the house more to get inspired.
haha:)
Just like a song writer how breaks up with girlfriends to get inspiration:)
I have had a pic of Bugatti Veyron and a text saying this is mine.
Well nothing! I suppose my brain has to think the paper is mine or something hahah.
Anyway recently I have experienced your site to load extremely slow, which shouldn’t be happening when I’m sitting on a 100/100 mbits pipe. Seems you have to compress the images more to load quicker.
I just read tonight that Bugatti wont even consider you to buy a Veyron unless you have a net worth of $100 Million +
Better get posting at 100 times the rate 
As Krillz said, I noticed that when I comment, it takes awhile for the comment to post, on average anywhere between 10-15 seconds.
The only thing holding me back is school. It’s very hard to do all these things in less than 24 hours. That’s why I have set a schedule for myself so that I can write a new post every day or two.
Sly from Slyvisions.com
yes, I feel so difficult to post article every day, but I try it…tnks
I heard it takes 20 – 30 days to form a habbit (I forget the exact amount). I wonder how quick it takes to stop a habbit such as blogging. Maybe 4 days?
I had a little difficulty thinking up good things to post but 3-4 months into it things just come to you. It also helps when you have 2 bloggers working for you to
True. Plus after 3-4 months worth of posts you’ve got more inspiration if you’re struggling for content.
It’s easier to go back and explore older posts and revisit topics if you’ve got more of them to explore in the first place. It definitely gets easier.
I don’t know about easier in finding topics to post but I do believe it gets easier to post on a regular schedule.
Hi John,
great Project. I would like to participate in this with my post: Committing to blog regularly and hope for many, many more bloggers to be part of it.
Cheers,
Marco
Great project! Blogs are like television.. when you expect new posts to be up… and there isn’t one… it’s kinda heartbreaking! (especially if it’s one of your favorite blogs!)
Heh, I was just gonna write a topic on that topic. How I’m gonna be a bit more busy since school is starting again, so I might not write long tutorials. However I do want to do at least two posts a day, a short one in the morning, and a longer one in the evening.
Here is my post: http://www.krizka.net/2007/09/03/back-to-school/
To find all blog contests on the Net
Is your named typo’d on purpose? I’ve seen you do it twice now…just checking!
I do like your site!
LOL I noticed that too.
Maybe trying to rank for a misspelling?
Dunno
Challenge Accepted!
20 Days to Better Blogging
Totally agree with you, I have been blogging 2-3 posts for 2 years – once you start, it is easy and becomes a daily routine. Last month I had to wipe clean and start over again with a new blog platform, but but after couple of days straggle with scripts, I am back as usual. The only time I may be not sticking to it when I travel overseas (it is hard to find Internet access while somewhere on camel in south parts of Egypt). Surely I do make up for it when I am back at home – LOL
Some people have the opportunity cost to spend on TV (average 4 hours per day) but find it difficult to make a single blog. I think it is a time management problem.
For time management problems you should just ask John for a copy of the 4 hour work week – that should help!
It’s faster to buy a copy yourself at your local bookstore.
Simple. Some days I write three posts. Some days I write zero. I only post once a day though.
I think I will actually take up this blogging challenge. I’ve been putting off starting up a blog for quite sometime now, simply because I’m pre occupied with my advertising network. But if I could blog for 20 days straight, I would feel I have accomplished something. Maybe not much…but something
I have discovered today after posting 3 times , even on a Sunday in the US and a holiday weekend my Technorati ranking jumped 7 points
So 20 days straight- so I need to have several in reserve as I will be away for a couple of days. this is also a good practice..
Congrats on the technorati points! It definitely helps your overall seo rankings to post consistently as well.
I agree – I often store several up in advance and plan when they will be posted. Also by doing that you can enjoy a life away from your computer from time to time!
http://tomoswyn.com/?p=10
My reason(s) about whats holding me back from blogging
Hmm… 20 days in a row? That actually seems like quite a challenge. I will give it a go! Let’s see how this works out.. lol
College is holding me back from blogging…
What Holds Me Back From Blogging Is…
http://www.bloddard.com/2007/09/03/what-holds-me-back-from-blogging-is/
I definitely agree that blogging can be habit forming. Why doesn’t WordPress come with at warning?
We post 30 days straight at http://www.usmansworld.com
Keep On Blogging On!
—————————-
vick is a dick (dot) com
http://www.vickisadick.com
I just cannot write anything much longer than some comment. I could write few lines but long posts like this or Johns are impossible. What I want to write is usualy maximum 4 lines and that is not enough long. for blog or is it?
I guess writing a good and long post is a little hard, I been trying to attract visitors to my blog while I keep writing but I don’t get visitors.
My blog is new and I know is to soon to get a lot of traffic but I hope I get enough to make some decent money.
Keep at it and good luck. Remember your posts don’t have to be huge either – as long as the content is good don’t stress about having to come up with huge amounts of copy.
And if you’re in a creative mood write a few articles at once – that way you can make up for the days when you can’t think of anything to post.
I recall that what held me back in the first place was the fact that finding a topic to write each day seemed to be a daunting task especially when you are actively involved in sports and working. But if you schedule your time accordingly, think of topics in advance and get people to guest blog for you…the tasks becomes more manageable.
Now if I can only go to the gym 20 times in a row!!!
steven-movieworld.blogspot.com/
Great! You are coming out with grant new ideas everyday. Where do you get all these? Do you dream a lot daily? Lol….
“Experts say that if you do something for 20 days straight you will then form a new habit into your daily routine.”
Didn’t know that, but I do struggle to get a routine going at times… will try it!
Making a new habit particularly blogging that is writing is not easy to some. It needs a strong determination of some sort. While many can easily have a new idea and a bit talent of writing, not all have the luxury. Traffics are also one problem. Many bloggers just impatience to have good traffic just by writing. If it’s the case, i think they should learn from you: writing regularly and advertise aggressively.
Are we supposed to link here or to Blue Fur?