I started this blog of mine almost two years ago building it from zero views/month and now to almost 20,000 views/month. This growth is definitely slower compare to a lot of travel blogs that I follow.
I added some personal hurdles (ain’t it stupid LOL) that makes it harder for me to compete but at the same time makes it more interesting for me to keep on doing it. I usually stop doing something that bores me right away.
While most bloggers (of any niche) will say that I should post my pic on my blog to make it easy for the audience to connect with me, I did the other way around, I’m blogging anonymously.
While most businessmen will say that I should think globally and act locally, I took a different route, I think globally and act globally. I networked with bloggers from different countries (including my own of course).
While people hold on to their possessions including their blogs and everything else that makes them think defines them, I sold almost everything I have and now preparing to transition my blog to something else in pursuit of more sustainable online revenue.
While I am broke and jobless, I flew out of my country with my backpack and have travelled to five countries already (from April 2011 up to now) without using my credit card and just working on my starting budget and online income.
The point is, I defined my own goals based on my own needs and wants. I listened to everyone’s advices and tweaked whatever is applicable to me. Instinctively I know I’m on the right path, a rough, bumpy, maybe thorny, but right path.
And it goes the same for you… YOU define your own path, your own measure of success and your own pace. Do not let any of us (yup, including me) tell you what you should do (unless you want to do the same thing and you find value in the advice).
If you’re wondering how I’m paving my own road, here’re some tips (again, you don’t have to take it all in, tweak it to adapt to your own needs if you find it useful).
1. Know What You Want: This is by far the most difficult thing to do but this is the most important. I have a mental list of what I want to do. And I try each of them one at a time. I tutored some students for a few months because I thought I wanted to be a teacher. In my previous life, I worked my way up to the corporate ladder because I thought that’s the life that I wanted. You have to try the things that you think you want to do, if you don’t do it, you might end up with a lot of “what if’s”.
2. Do It: There’s nothing more liberating than actually doing things you’re passionate about. By doing things you love (or think you love) you make your dream come true or you zap your own dreams because sometimes we come to a realization that it isn’t what we really want.
3. Surround Yourself with Positive People: This is by far one of the greatest things that I’ve ever learned by observing people. If you surround yourself with positive people or sometimes like-minded people, they help to propel you forward. Another tip is to surround yourself with people better than you in your chosen field. For example, if you’re a manager, do not be afraid to mingle with people who are better than you in team or project management. The time you spend with them is a great opportunity to learn from their best practices.
4. Leverage: Know what you’re good at and use it to its maximum potential. Know what your weak points are and strengthen it. Learn how to fully utilize all available resources around you. Understand your limitation or challenges and work around them. Find alternatives if needed.
5. Raise the Bar Higher: Challenging ourselves makes living more exciting and makes work less boring. Raise the bar higher for yourself. If you’re a blogger getting a thousand viewers a month, aim for 2,000 next month. If you’re working 12 hours a day, try to work on just 8 hours with the same results.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail: “Failure” is relative. Failing on something or not meeting your desired goal for a specific timeframe is actually an opportunity to hone your skills and competencies on a particular craft.
7. Celebrate Successes: Regardless how small your milestone might seem to be, celebrate it. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first sale, first adsense payout, first writing gig or what have you, you should celebrate that success to motivate you to achieve bigger goals.
8. Share: Share your successes and failures to people that you value the most. This is one of the simple joys of life that we often take for granted. Heck, if you find this useful, you can share this too…
We only live once… might as well make the most out of it.
im glad i found out bout your site through my friend…and through your posts, i’d never knew more about the other amazing travelers out there…it’s making me get more inspired to keep my focus on my dream travel list too and yes, pave my own road on how to get to each one of them in God’s time. =)
thanks for being a great encouragement and sharing your thoughts!
i wish you more success! cant wait to hear more of your adventures!
God bless!
you’re welcome josephine
what i like most about this blog is that the blogger is probably the most kind-hearted anonymous person I’ve met. Flip always makes it a point to share, educate and inspire each and everyone of us. So happy that this blog is alive and running. I don’t think there’s any other blog out there that has become my daily travel bible as Flipnomad.
More power!
thanks for the kind words jerik!
Great tips. I always fail at number one. But I kick a*s at number seven. So if I can get number one under control, that means I can do number seven even more. Great advice.
It’s amazing when we achieve those small milestones out of blogging, first Adsense payout, 2 USD payout, etc. Surrounding yourself with Positive People indeed! — Agree, I never knew the value of having a conversation over coffee/ice cream was until I had a small conversation with Fitz Villafuerte on niche blogging.
He didn’t spoonfeed me as the pieces of the puzzle were left for me to solve, but he gave me the idea of doing so over a simple talk in a mall foodcourt over snow cones. I’ll write about this later on.
great tips and keep the fire burning Flip!
Thank you, Flip! Thank your for your blog posts, the encouragements and for all the advices you’ve given to me. Although i am at the slacking stage now as far as my travel blogging mojo is concerned, i still keep in mind all the things you said to me. May God bless you in your travels and life inspire you to go further. Woohoo!
Inspirasyon ka talaga Flip!
Everything you listed down is spot on. Number 3 specially rings true for me. I got rid of the negastars surrounding me and life hasn’t been better. It pays to surround yourself with creative people too!
Flip, you bring up some great points in this article. You have to do your own thing, your own way. I remember somebody told me a quote a while ago: “It’s better to fail at your own life than succeed following the comfortable path.”
I can’t believe I just read this. I absolutely agree. #1 is really difficult to do. It took me 26 years until I found out. Then I narrowed it down to my top 5 which was also really difficult. But doing that gave me clarity. 3 years later, my #1 is still traveling and I didn’t get to do that until I was clear about what I wanted to do in my life.
This is a great reminder Flip! Thanks for writing this!
Nice one Flip! Knowing what exactly what you want can at times be difficult and rarely do you get to see people doing what they are passionate about! I believe that if you can’t spring out of bed (most days anyway) with a smile on your face, looking forward to what you have to do that day….its not worth doing. Thanks for sharing, Keep it up!
it is for me the hardest… as we are an ever changing being… i do try to keep up with my ever changing interest hehe… thanks for dropping by jess