Calvin’s Hub

So what makes a successful blog? Is it just about the money you earned from it at the end of the day? The amount of visitors you are getting per month?

I would say it’s a combination of both and some more. The emphasis on the some more part. You won’t see ads on MarketManila even though it’s one of the most successful local food blogs IMHO.

Of course, every person has a different idea on how a blog’s success is measured. In this post, I’m talking about Darren Rowse’s (ProBlogger, DPS, etc.) level of success. This guy is on my list of top bloggers out there.

The Plan

For quite some time, I’ve been shadowing this professional blogger who I think is already quite successful here in the Philippines. He doesn’t want the added exposure so let’s just call him Gabe (that’s with a silent “G”).

He became a local authority in his niche, his views are respected even by the media and his blog is so influential that people often append his blog when searching in Google.

I tried to understand what makes his blog work. What drives new people in it and win them over as regular readers. What his mindset is when it comes to blogging.

Have to let this one out of the way first. One of the C’s here does not stand for Content. That should already be a given and besides, people are already tired of hearing Content is King.

Community

The first sign of a successful blog is a healthy community. I’m not simply talking about friends and families posting comments regularly although they do help jumpstart the comment conversations. This would make it easier for new visitors to just jump in and say what they have in mind.

Gabe’s site has a big, healthy community. Even if he posted something uninteresting, like maybe where he had lunch, it won’t be surprising to see at least 10 comments on that post.

How many legit comments does your blog have on an average?

Connection

When the community is healthy, visitors start pouring in. When this happens, advertisers, marketing managers and even the press will take notice and they will want to have a piece of the action as well.

Your connection will be the doorway to more worthy posts. You will gain access to a lot of “latest” and “hottest”. News, gadgets, fashion, food, travel destinations, etc. This in turn will bring more visitors, and in turn, bring more connections. It’s a vicious cycle and all you need is that first foot at the door to get started.

Gabe has a LOT of connections. Not only in the tech industry but in others as well. He also has a lot of connections with the media and press. What does this entail him? Access to a lot of exclusive events and info that he gets to blog about faster than magazines or even newspapers.

Another benefit of having connections is in the form of direct advertising. An ad space on a successful site can fetch Php100k (somewhere around that area) and up for a single month. Now how many ad space can you cram in your site?

Commitment

When you have both connections and community, the last C that you need is commitment. Be committed with the substance and frequency of your post.

But who should you prioritize? Your connections or your community?

Gabe says his community is more important than his connections. He decline offers to post about something that would make him too biased or to write something good about a not-so-good product just because they are paying for advertisements.

He avoids (as much as he wants to) accepting gifts just because he posted about it unless it’s something he totally believes in. Or he just raffles them off.

So what I’m saying here is don’t sell your blog posts at the expense of your readers. You can get away with it when you still have a small community but you have to be mindful about the image you want to project when your blog becomes huge.

Conclusion

This is not one of those “C’s”. This is the conclusion part of this post.

For me, a successful blog is not just about the money. It would be more satisfying to earn from a blog, no matter how small, when you are enjoying at the same time. Try to develop these 3 C’s and blogging would become easier and more profitable. But of course, GOOD content is still king!

I’m going to leave this one out here for you to ponder. A successful blog is measured by the authority, influence and respect from the local press and the industry. Try to aim for that if you wish to take your blog to the highest level.

Examples of local blogs that I find successful? Yugatech, Our Awesome Planet, Market Manila, Takbo.ph and Chuvaness. I’m sure there are many more out there that escaped my mind at this point.

Hope you learned something or at least enjoyed reading this post.

Photos courtesy of Blaugh.com

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Filed under: Blogging Experience