Blogger Burnout And The Steps To Avoiding It

Blogger burnout is the feeling that blogging is no longer worth the effort.
Taking the time to develop unique content for a blogsite no longer outweighs the perceived pain of the effort.
Burnout comes from one of three reasons:
The blog is not successful enough of a marketing effort.
The blog is too successful as a marketing effort,
Or you haven’t paced yourself (too much, too soon).
Sure, outside life and business issues may have a crippling effect on one’s passion and availability for blogging, but this should not be considered a burnout as much as a distraction.
If your business blogging effort isn’t paying off based on the expectations you had set, the willingness to keep the pace starts to seem unreasonable, even unnecessary.  The lack of results can seem like you are shouting into a hurricane; the effort is great but the reaction is next to none.

If you are burning out due to lack of success you probably fall under any combination of the following

Your expectations of success are not in line with reality.
I preach, “If you write it, they will come” – But don’t think for a second that there isn’t a formula tied to it.

Your content is not focused enough
If your content is all over the place, your audience will lose interest.  Without having an expectation of what you will be delivering on a regular basis, your readers will return irregularly.  You build trust by educating your audience on their needs, waiver from this and they will be educated elsewhere.

You are part of the community and not the voice of it
If you are part of the noise, you will never be heard.  Joining in is not the way to be noticed.  Find your topic and you’ve found your soapbox.
Your participation is weak
No successful blog is an island.  Reading less that you write is a blogging sin.  Blog comments are the bridge back to your blog… just ask Google.
You aren’t blogging enough
Consistent effort is the key that unlocks the door to the search engines, as much as it sets the expectation for your audience’s visitorship.
Your tools are faulty
Not all blogs are created equal.  First of all, standard pinging, plug-ins, captcha, social media marketing and social bookmarking are just a few examples of that which is not always included in your free blog.   But what really makes a blog work for you is when you develop the platform into a full featured website by offering clear Calls-To-Action to the tools that your intended audience is seeking: Listings, MLS Map Search, and in-depth Community Profiles.

To prepare yourself against this type of burnout you need to set your expectations that successful blogging is much more than a hobby, a skill, or an ego booster. Successful blogging is a major marketing effort that takes a lot of focus, practice, and research.  The only shortcut to your success is through proper training and commitment.

Schedule your blogging.

On the other hand, when your blogging strikes the chord that your audience is seeking, the result can be overwhelming to the point that you begin to build your business around your blogging effort.  When this happens, your success gets in the way of your blogging availability.  Making time for blogging becomes more and more difficult and although you haven’t truly burned out like the above, your blogging suffers the same.
This sounds like a good problem to have, but the reality if the situation is that it is not fun.  Maintaining the effectiveness of your blog as a marketing tool requires the same effort it took to make it work in the first place: consistent, focused, relevant, knowledgeable and noteworthy articles that meet your consumer’s needs.  Stop delivering, and the audience and the search engines will spend their time elsewhere.
The most effective way to avoid this type blogger burnout is to start formally scheduling time to blog.
I’m serious.  Organize 1-2 hrs of blogging time for each quality article.  If you have the goal of 3 per week, make it happen Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  As your blog develops into the marketing tool it was intended for, you will realize that it is this consistent effort that has made all the difference to your audience and the search engines.
The third burnout cause: too much, too soon, can easily be remedied by realizing that blogging is about the journey, not the destination.  Prepare to be in it for the long haul.  Consistency, dedication and habit will build your audience without overwhelming them nor yourself.

Bring in help.

And finally, if you find that the there is just no time left to blog, then it is time to bring in help.  Marketing assistants, guest authors, blogging partners, and (dare I say?) pay-per-article services can all satisfy the need for consistent content.  Keep in mind, however that there is no replacement for your voice as the expert.  People who take the time to read your blog are doing so because the are looking for someone they can trust.  Replacement articles and authors will never be able to establish this confidence better than you.