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This post is a follow up to my previous post in this series - “How to Start a Blog - Choosing Your Blog Topic and Niche“.

I don’t know the exact latest stats for how many Blogs there are out there, but I have heard the number to be around 150,000,000 or so. Of course, most of these are abandoned after a few days or weeks and the actual number of Blogs that are “Alive” is much, much smaller than that. I would venture a guess and say that only 1 out of 100,000 Blogs is “Alive” out there, or will be alive in three months.

Why do more than 99% of Bloggers quit within just a few months of starting their Blog? To answer that question we have to go back even further and look at all the people who had the intention of but didn’t even START a Blog in the first place. I would say that out of 100 people who seriously consider starting a Blog, only 1 will actually start one. That’s only 1%. Then out of that 1%, 99% will quit within the first few months. Why?

Although it is not the only reason, I do know that ONE of the main reasons people don’t start a Blog, or if they do they give up within a short period of time, is due to the fact that they do not believe that anyone out there cares about their opinion.

This is mostly an issue of low self-esteem in the area of writing and expressing oneself creatively. I mean, unless you’re already a writer or a columnist at your day job, most of us don’t get paid to write for a living prior to starting a Blog. So what would make us think that anyone out there would want to hear our opinion anyways? Basically our fear is that if we write something, people will think: “Who cares!?”

A few years back, long before Blogging was a big thing I remember seeing eBooks for the first time and I remember thinking instantly that everyone has an eBook in them. I don’t think I’ve ever met a person or have had a friend in my life who didn’t know something about something that someone else out there could find useful. It doesn’t matter if you know how to train dogs, cook something, bake something, invest in a certain way, fix lawnmowers or whatever, there might be someone else in the world who would pay for that knowledge. I always thought that eventually everyone would write an eBook on something.

Then, when Blogs came out I realized that Blogging was very similar to that except that the area of expertise a person has didn’t have to just be written in an eBook, it could be expressed in a Blog that’s updated regularly with the newest information. Instead of there being a Dog Training eBook, there could be a Dog Training Blog with the latest and greatest tips and tricks on training Dogs. Then when AdSense and other monetization methods came along where the readers didn’t have to PAY for the advice, but instead the advice was subsidized or paid for by the advertisers, I thought it was a brilliant step in the right direction.

The challenge for most people when it comes to Blogs is that they have a limiting belief in thinking that nobody gives a crap about the advice they have to offer. I find that kind of funny because they typically have no reservations on chewing your ear off at a party talking about the exact same thing, but if you ask them why they don’t write all this stuff down and publish an eBook or a Blog they look at you like “Why would people pay for my advice? Who the hell cares?” Well, if you don’t think it’s valuable advice, why are you chewing my ear off about it!?

So one of the first hurdles people have to get over before they start a Blog is to actually have enough self esteem to realize that their opinion DOES matter. People do care. If you come from a place of genuinely wanting to help people by sharing your opinion and advice on a particular topic you are passionate about, people will care and you will bring value to people and your Blog will be successful.

So, if you’re one of those 100 people considering starting a Blog, but your concern is that people don’t care about your opinion, I would be willing to bet that if you’re passionate about it and you think that your advice is valuable enough to share with your friends and family at some party, then maybe you should start a Blog yourself and share that opinion with the world.

Now, lets look at those that do start a Blog but abandon it after a few days, weeks, or months. Why does that happen? Well, one of the reasons actually is because they still don’t think people care. Someone starts a Blog, worried that nobody gives a crap about their opinion, but they start one anyways just in case. They write up a bunch of posts, keeping as little of their personal opinion out of the written text as possible, instead choosing to remain as neutral and uncontroversial as possible because it’s safe. God forbid someone respond to your first post with a negative comment! I mean that would crush you right?

So lets say you start a health and nutrition Blog focusing on Pre-natal nutrition. Two days ago you just finished telling your pregnant girlfriend at a party that “You’ve got to be absolutely fricken insane to be drinking diet pop while being pregnant! Do you realize what the Aspartame in that pop will do to your baby?!” Now you go to write an article on your newly formed Blog. So what do you write?

Do you write “Unless you’re insane, don’t ever drink diet pop while pregnant. Here are the reasons why…” ? I mean if that’s your opinion, then that’s your opinion right? Do you express it?

Or do you play it safe and write a post that says this: “Whether or not it is safe for pregnant women to drink diet pop can be argued either way. If you’d like to get more information you can read this article by …” ?

Listen, nobody wants to read your Blog so that they can get “more information” from someone else. They came to hear your opinion, so express it. Pretend you’re talking to your best friend at a party, and if she’s drinking diet pop and your opinion is that diet pop is liquid death in a can, then say that. I’m not talking about being super controversial on purpose just to attract readers to your Blog because you’re saying something really bad and they’re just waiting for you to get sued. I’m simply talking about being natural and expressing your opinion. Safety doesn’t work with Blogs. People want your opinion. Even if they don’t agree with it.

I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else. When I first started Blogging I was trying to play it safe as well. What I realized is that it’s hard to attract readers if you don’t pick any sides on any issues. Nobody wants to read the “Let’s Be Neutral Blog”. People read Blogs because they get honest personal opinions from human beings that they can’t get anywhere else out there.

For example, if I purchase XYZ product and I think it sucks, I can freely state my opinion and say that I think that XYZ completely sucks! It’s a completely useless product that nobody in their right mind should ever buy. I can choose not to say anything but I am free to express my opinion on my Blog if I want to. I can also say great things about great products, and that is exactly what people want - your opinion.

Here’s why I think so many Bloggers give up so early:

1. They start off with the false belief that their opinion doesn’t matter. So if they even ever muster up the courage to start a Blog in the first place, they fill the blog with a bunch of posts that try to stay neutral so as not to offend anybody. They hold their opinions back and stay neutral. They write a couple dozen posts and then they wait to see if anyone comes around to read their “stuff”.
2. Eventually, one way or another a few people stumble across their site and read the last post. Half way through reading the post they yawn and stand up to stretch. If they’re really bored, they read until the end of the post and wonder “What is this person saying? I just read a bunch of words, but they haven’t told me anything? It’s so dry, it’s like reading the encyclopedia or a dictionary…. oh well…NEXT!”
3. Disheartened by the fact that nobody has left any comments, and the fact that they haven’t gotten any traffic, the new Blogger hangs his head in defeat confirming his false belief that “Nobody cares about my opinion…” which has now been “proven” in their minds, never to be seen in the Blogosphere again.

I’m not saying that every single person on earth should start a Blog. I’m not saying that every Blogger will become successful. But if you have been considering starting a Blog, please give yourself a chance but at least acknowledging the fact that when it comes to Blogs - People Care About YOUR Opinion! But don’t just acknowledge that fact, follow it up by actually expressing your opinion.

If you do that, your very first comment is either going to be “Holy smokes, I loved this article!” or “You’re an idiot.” In either case, you’re on your way.