A lot of people claim to be “bloggers” for a living, but few people are actually making one. It’s astonishing how many times you’ll tell someone you blog your way to the bank only to have them tell tales of that one time their Google Ads gave them a spare $50 to play with.

Blogging is not just a career – it’s a lifestyle. You will swiftly realise that running a blog is not like running a website, or a magazine. It’s about researching both the world inside and outside of your head and constantly generating ideas without the assistance of a team.

First up is consistency. No one is going to stick with you unless you’re providing them with regular content (of a high standard, of course). Whether you’re talking about Cheeky Bingo or social networks, it’s imperative that you ensure your content is a constant stream to a user. Daily, weekly, even monthly – just don’t miss your self-set deadlines, or you’ll become yet another unreliable blog taking up space on someone’s RSS reader.

It’s also important to actually make your blog posts interesting to read. This seems simple enough, but it isn’t. Work on your writing style – keep it engaging, witty, informative, and even if you’re not going for the big laughs, ensure that you’re engaging with people on a level that makes it easy for them to digest what they’re telling you. This applies whether you’ve got a PhD in astrophysics or a college qualification in geography.

Last but not least, do not commit to a blog if you won’t enjoy it! Plenty of people start out well and then get demotivated, and if you’re hating the writing process, your finished content is going to showcase your distaste to anyone who wants to read it. So keep yourself keen, stay consistent, be informative and easy to read depending on your target audience, and most importantly – have fun! Good luck with your blog!

NB: this is a paid submission to divahh.com.