Let’s face it. Your blog sucks. You just aren’t cut out to be a blogger. No one cares about what you have to say. That’s okay. You’re probably more like the majority of bloggers than you think! Most blogs never amount to much. Most bloggers won’t go pro. Some don’t care. They just blog for fun. Others will get frustrated when they realize blogging isn’t easy money, and they’ll quit.
It’s that last group we’re interested in today. If you blog for business (to get sponsors, earn ad revenue, sell your own products, reach your customers, etc.), maybe it’s time to stop. Not everyone should blog, and not every business needs one.
Here are five signs it might be time to abort your blog:
1. You’ve been blogging for months, and you’re still excited that your family reads it.
Look. If your blog consists of sharing little family updates and posting photos of the kids, then maybe your family’s your target audience. But if you’re serious about blogging for business, no one gives a rat’s ass if your mommy loves your blog.
Who is your target audience exactly? Prospective customers? Existing customers? Colleagues in your industry? If your target audience isn’t reading your blog, something has to change. Either you seriously suck at marketing it, or your blog just isn’t giving them what they need. It’s probably time to hang up the blogging towel.
2. You sink in time and / or money and get nothing in return.
Returns are important in any kind of business. That doesn’t mean you have to earn a direct financial return from your blog though. There are other types of returns — exposure in the industry, authority status in your niche, leads, being seen as a thought leader, etc. But if your blog offers nothing of real value to your business, then why do you even bother? Don’t.
3. You can’t think of anything new to say.
Having a bit of blogger’s block is no big deal. We all eventually have a day where we think “what the hell is there even left to talk about?” There’s always something. You can review a site or product. You could interview someone in your niche or industry. You could write a how-to piece. You could post commentary in response to industry news. You could have a cross-blog discussion with another blogger. You get the idea.
The problem is when blogger’s block is no longer an occasional problem but instead a regular state of mind. When there are topics available, but you truly can’t think of anything at all you want to talk about, it might be a sign to quit because the passion is no longer there. When it’s gone, your readers will more than likely notice.
4. Your blog has become a war zone.
You don’t have to go around kissing ass every time you post to your blog. You don’t have to play nicey-nice with everyone else in your niche. It would be highly unusual if you never said anything controversial that pissed some people off.
That said, if your blog is igniting tempers constantly and it’s not your intention to do that, then maybe it’s time to give it a rest. You aren’t reaching your blogging goals. Take some time off to evaluate things. Can you rethink your strategy and give it another try? If not, call it quits before the constant stress of blog bickering takes its toll on you.
5. You’d rather watch paint dry than write.
Blogging usually means writing. Some people just aren’t natural writers. Some of those folks can learn. Other can’t. It’s not for everyone. If you find blogging to be excruciatingly boring or difficult to the point where you’d rather be doing just about anything else, then quit.
Remember, no matter what you use your blog for — income, company promotion, etc. — you can reach the same end results with other tactics. No one has to blog. If you don’t feel like it’s working out for you, don’t try to force something that probably isn’t meant to be.
Only you can decide whether or not it’s time to abort your blog. If you do decide to kill it, you can do it in several different ways. Here’s what I suggest:
Step 1: Announce the close of the blog in a post.
Step 2: Add a link to the top of the blog directing people to your main business site.
Step 3: Leave the existing content live as an archive to keep bringing in search engine traffic (which you’ll direct to your main site through the link you added in step 2).
Are you contemplating quitting your blog? Why? Have you killed off blogs in the past? What was it that pushed you over the edge and made you close the blog rather than just taking a break? Share your blog-ending stories with us in the comments.
Love the image used in this post!
#4 is a fine line to walk – its nice to piss people off and get some community activity, but you don't want to become the target of a huge flame war!
Yipeee! Wag! I'm so excited. None of those resemble me right now!
Great points to keep in mind for inspiration in a successful blogger.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SheilaAtwood, Nick LeRoy, Christina Radisic, Lisa Sumiyoshi, Lisa Sumiyoshi and others. Lisa Sumiyoshi said: Abort Your Blog — 5 Signs It's Time to Drop Your Blog http://ow.ly/15sjP […]
Ha! Love this line: “But if you’re serious about blogging for business, no one gives a rat’s ass if your mommy loves your blog”
Great pointers to walk away in Peace and still integrated…
Great article. I've killed off blogs in the past, and come back better and stronger as a blogger because of it.
Thanks for the tips! Blogging should be done with a purpose, and it should only be started by businesses after a well-thought out campaign of ideas, topics, and subjects that are clearly connected to the business and company. The more brainstorming done up front, the better. Then maybe the five warning signs wouldn't have to be articulated.
I think you've captured everything, great post. Sad truth is its 80/2o% – Its hard to find good stuff. Its a lot easier being a lurker. PS: I thought I was the only one who sucked. It's nice to know there are plenty of lolipops to spare.
Searchengineman
About #3 and #5 – writers block is one of the most insidious diseases a writer faces. Writing well, like any other interpretive art, takes time and effort. While this *IS* humorous, I would hate for anyone to give up on blogging — or any other creative endeavor — right when it starts to get tough.
I would encourage ANYONE reading this checklist and not chuckling because they think it applies to them to take a deep breath and then check out Seth Godin's “The Dip.” Its a fast read, and when you're done then you can think about chucking your blog.
Rather than killing off a blog I would say it's better to find ways to make it work. There are plenty of ways to either find good content to write about/rehash (not copy, but use other's ideas and build upon them/add your own knowledge) or find writers that can contribute quality content. You can also easily find other bloggers in your niche that you can build relationships with. If they like you and trust you they will most likely share content ideas, link to your blog or your posts, help you with promoting ideas and much more. There are also countless ways to go out and promote your blog including distributing your RSS feed, carnivals, distributing articles, guest blogging, twitter, you name it.
I have in the past had clients that wanted to put up a blog because they heard it can help their site, but they don't ever post content to it nor do they have the budget for us to post content to it… in that case, we focus on other activities that their budget allows while the blog sites there and rots. In that case, I would recommend people pull it off of their site because it isn't doing them any good.
I loved this post , it challenged me to ask , should I blog, than I said, does my blog suck , I than ask myself , why not say yes and see what happens, so I did , than it did happen, I realize, I love to write and this is a great blog, I am a niche sort of poet kind of guy, so , I just love to pound on the keys, I do it all day , Like now, yet , to be honest, the world is full of ego maniac running around believing normal life stories are sensational, either that or they just are wanting to get rich quick, not my thing, I just love to write, yet , again , this article blog post , made me stop and ask the real tough question, is it any good? So I did, you know what, I do not know, I jusy love to write, peace, from the E poet , johnjwillard
P.S. The reason I am responding to this , many years ago , I had to come to terms with my own expression of writing and why I do it , yet, I am a little fatigued at the masses who believe they have a huge opinion prior to having no opinion or training and or results and or something something special , it is a bit of the modern day dis ease of our society that has way over empowered everyone to be believe , it is not okay , just to be you and normal, who knows, maybe , I am wrong, loved the post.
If your goals are to make some sort of Social Media Pariah, then these tips are fine. The top web professionals, though, aren't keeping blogs to get something in return. They don't care how many followers they have, and they realize that the 'war zone' posts are valuable.
If you're blogging only to gain followers and make some more revenue, you're going about it for the wrong reasons. Those types of blogs rarely introduce important concepts or ask new questions.
Nice read. I've visited blog that has become a warzone but then again up to now I come and visit the site and it still up and running with many heated conversation, which are most of the time in line with the topic…you're right it's up to the blogger if it's time to cut it off and create a new one, it would really depend.
It's naive to think the top bloggers aren't blogging to get anything out of it. They are. It just might not be what YOU want to get out of blogging. People don't continually invest time in things they get nothing out of. Here are just a few things those “top” bloggers often either seek or get by blogging:
1. Income
2. Validation in the niche
3. Professional respect and authority status
4. Exposure for other business ventures
5. Clients or customers for those other business ventures due to visibility from blogging
Sometimes, yes, it's better to make it work. Sometimes though, it's not. Some blogs never should have been started in the first place. Some bloggers shouldn't be blogging at all. No one should keep doing something they dislike if they don't have to, and unless they're blogging for a client they don't have to keep a blog going. That's also not to say that aborting a blog means you abort blogging completely. Some of the best bloggers I know have left behind blogs that just didn't work after an initial investment, and they used it as a learning experience to go on and build bigger and better things. If you're sinking time, money, and creative energy into a black hole of a blog, those are resources you don't have available to invest in a blog that would be a better fit for you or your business.
The 'top bloggers' are blogging for money. When I mentioned Web Professionals, I was talking about people like Jeffery Zeldman, who don't have quite the following and who don't necessarily try to get ROI from each post (in fact, they'd never use that acronym).
At the roots of humanity, of course everyone does their stuff to get things they want. The web professionals want to educate their young followers, so that the industry can move forward and they don't have to look at tables-for-layout ever again.
It was wrong of me, though, to spout out “…for the wrong reasons,” in my above comment. This blog is about blogging-as-a-job, not about blogging-in-addition-to-a-web-design-job. The two are completely different fields, and someone like you does need to look at investment and following. I spend so much time reading the other blogs that I didn't even realize where I was.
I believe that the bloat o sphere is so full of hot air and marketing hype that the average reader understands, more like 90% at least, is total c-r-a-p.
[…] like to sell? Whether you’re creating new blogs for quick flips or you have an aged popular blog you want to unload for whatever reason, you should have an idea of what your blog is worth before you look for […]