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The One Thing You Must Have to Be a Successful Blogger

Now that I have been blogging for awhile, I get e-mails almost daily from people who want to start their own blog. There are a few questions that I get asked pretty often, one of them being “how do I make money as a blogger?”

Now that I have been blogging for awhile, I get e-mails almost daily from people who want to start their own blog. There are a few questions that I get asked pretty often, one of them being “how do I make money as a blogger?”. While this is a great question and one I asked myself after blogging for a few months, this isn’t really a question that someone who hasn’t even started a blog should ask (at least not in my opinion). If your sole goal of starting a blog is to make money, then you are heading down the wrong path.

Blogging is hard work. I spend hours drafting a blog post, proofreading, taking photos, editing photos, designing graphics, promoting on social media, and more. I cannot tell you how much time I spent on designing my website. All of this hard work went into my blog before I even thought about making any money from it. I knew that I wanted to have a place to gather my thoughts, share them with others and hopefully help someone else in the process. Of course, I wanted my blog to be successful. I wanted someone to read it. I wanted to help someone. If I made money in the process, then great. So, when a potential bloggers comes to me and asks “how do I make money as a blogger?”, I try to steer them in the right direction. The question that should be asked is “how can I be successful with my blog and what does that look like?”.  If making money is somewhere in your ‘bigger picture’, that’s a wonderful goal, but please understand: making thousands of dollars your first week in blogging is rare to impossible.

[If You’re Ready to Start Working With Brands, Here are Some Resources]

This brings me to my next point: what does it take to be successful as a blogger? There are multiple tools that I use daily to maintain my blog, protect it, promote it and update it. While these tools are great and something I will likely post about in the future, I am a firm believer that there is one thing you MUST have to be successful as a blogger: integrity. Integrity is something that I have always worked hard to maintain in both my personal and professional life, and my blog is no different. To me, integrity in blogging looks like this:

Know your ‘why’, why are you blogging? Why do you love to write? Why did you start your blog? If you know your ‘why’, you are less likely to compromise.

Be protective of your brand. This looks different for each blogger.

No matter what, never ever copy another person’s ideas or photos. Not only is this illegal, it’s easy to spot and find and it will ruin your integrity as a blogger. If you are out of ideas or content, don’t copy others’ content, just take a break.

Be willing to learn and make friends. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever ‘met’ are bloggers. They have taught me so much and we have become good friends. Be willing to learn from other bloggers, community over competition.

When it comes to working with brands, be transparent. Don’t promise 10,000 sales. They know you are lying and there is no way you can deliver on this. Share your statistics and let the brand make their decision. 

Don’t compromise your integrity to earn a dollar. I cannot tell you how many times I have turned down working with brands or guest bloggers because their product or vision didn’t fit my blog and brand. This may be because I’ve used the product before and I wasn’t impressed. It could be because the guest blogger didn’t have a post that I felt was useful for my readers, instead it was just them trying to sell a product. Sure, I could have earned money from posting or writing about these items, but at the end of the day- I would have been compromising my integrity. To me, that isn’t worth any amount of money.

What does integrity look like to you?

 

 

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Comments

  1. Neely Moldovan says

    May 23, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    Oh I 100% agree! This is so necessary!

    Reply
  2. Alex Snider says

    May 23, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    I agree with this! But I also think there is another thing you need and that is persistance!

    Reply
    • Loving Living Lancaster says

      May 23, 2017 at 2:40 pm

      That’s so true!

      Reply
  3. Rachel R Ritlop says

    May 23, 2017 at 4:14 pm

    Oh this is SO true! Integrity is everything in blogging!

    Reply
    • Loving Living Lancaster says

      May 23, 2017 at 6:23 pm

      I 100% agree with you!

      Reply
  4. Natalie says

    May 24, 2017 at 11:16 pm

    I love this! When those offers of money first start to trickle in, it’s SO easy to say “yes! I will work with you!” to everything since you’re so excited. I definitely had a few missteps in the beginning of monetizing my blog because I couldn’t believe someone wanted to pay me for my blog time!

    Reply
    • Loving Living Lancaster says

      May 25, 2017 at 11:02 am

      Yes! I agree, it’s so easy to say ‘yes’!

      Reply
  5. Devan says

    July 9, 2017 at 4:15 am

    Great post. I totally agree with you. Integrity is very important, yet it is one of the few things that I haven’t come across very often on my blogging journey.

    Reply
    • Allison Lancaster says

      July 12, 2017 at 3:36 pm

      It takes time!

      Reply
  6. Mike Lee says

    October 4, 2017 at 9:47 am

    Thank you for putting honesty and integrity high up on your excellent list. I have seen so many blogger sell their soul for a little money, but in the long run the audience always knows and only follows those who are true to what they are doing. I would also like to focus on content because off late content has also taken second spot when it should be essential too.

    Reply
  7. DNN says

    December 3, 2017 at 10:16 am

    Hang in there with your blogging. You’re going to be just fine. 🙂

    Reply

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About Allison

Thank you for stopping by and taking a moment to read a little bit about me. Writing has always been a passion of mine, but a few years ago I took a leap, left my corporate job and became a full-time blogger and online business manager. I hope you enjoy my little corner of the internet! About Me

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What a wonderful Friday it was!!! ⠀ ⠀ I was in What a wonderful Friday it was!!! ⠀
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I was interviewed by our local news channel today! ⠀
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While I can't share full details just yet, let's just say: I am super excited about this! ⠀
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The best part? This sweet boy was even more excited than I was. ⠀
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He kept telling me "good luck, mom", "you'll do great". ⠀
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Reflecting back on the past 5 years in business, I am so thankful. ⠀
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Thankful for each of you who has supported me on this journey and trusted me with your business. ⠀
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This Minestrone is so filling and tasty, it’s su This Minestrone is so filling and tasty, it’s sure to be a hit for the whole family!  The combination of flavors and textures really makes this dish perfect for a cold winter’s day (or night). You can also make this recipe in your slow cooker for a quick dinner! 🥣⁠
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I’ll share the recipe on my blog soon...it was so easy to make and delicious 😍😍
Working on planning our outdoor space decor for sp Working on planning our outdoor space decor for spring 😍⁠
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We're going to put in a new rock patio area so I need recommendations for the best places to get Adirondack Chairs...⁠
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What are your go-to places for outdoor space decor?
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The full recipe is linked over on my blog! Grab the link in my bio!
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My top 3 places are:⁠
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-Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (where this photo was taken in 2019)⁠
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-NYC⁠
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-Kiawah Island
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