“Why You Should Celebrate Every Win” plus 1 more

Posted: 04 Mar 2012 12:05 PM PST

When I read Rick’s post on the thrills new bloggers get to experience this morning, of course I laughed (I’m not really a margarita kind of guy). Rick’s post is great—I love it as an example of the way we can use humor to get a message across in a blog post.

And that message is loud and clear: celebrate every win.

Every advance you make as a blogger—whether you’re just beginning your blogging journey, or you’re a bit further along the path—is important.

It’s true that as you practice something and develop your skills in it, your expectations change about what you can achieve—or should be achieving. But this is a constantly growing and changing field, so I think somehow, we’re always learning—somewhere in our blogging, each of us is still a beginner. So I think it’s important to acknowledge each challenge we attain.

As an example, over the last few months I’ve been looking to change the email service I use. That has meant that I’ve had to research providers, ask for recommendations from others, and take baby steps to test different services.

Each time we try something new, we take a risk. As bloggers, we work hard to build our blogs and audiences, and we don’t want to upset the fine balances we’re working to maintain and build upon. When that risk turns out to be worth it, we should definitely celebrate it.

There are plenty of ways to do this:

share your success on social media
tell your blogging buddy (or buddies!) about it
if it’s appropriate for your blog and audience, blog about it
tell family or friends about it.

There’s another way to note your blogging wins—perhaps the ones you don’t feel comfortable sharing with others—and that’s simply to stop for a moment and give yourself a pat on the back. Whether you just pause to think consciously about what you’ve achieved, or you treat yourself to a coffee or an afternoon stroll (or whatever you do to relax), it’s important to recognize your achievements somehow.

We learn from our successes as well as the things that don’t go so well. The difference is that the experience is usually much more pleasurable. We should enjoy it!

I’m interested to hear about any thrills—big and small—you’ve experienced recently in your blogging. Let’s share them in the comments, either here, or on Rick’s post.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Why You Should Celebrate Every Win

10 Thrills We Newbies Experience That the Top Earners Have Forgotten

Posted: 04 Mar 2012 06:06 AM PST

This guest post is by Rick of www.morebettersmarts.com.

I know we all want to be like Darren, sipping Margaritas on the beaches of Australia and occasionally opening his laptop to see how much money his guest bloggers made for him today, while beautiful women clean his glasses with $100 bills.

But do the big guys truly remember the thrills we newbies are currently experiencing as we grow our sites from poor, to inferior, and someday, God willing, mediocre?

Some milestones, in no particular order, that top my list are below. How about the rest of you?

1. The first 'Like,' first '+1,' first 'Share,' etc.

And suddenly we're channeling Sally Fields with tears streaming down our face shouting, "You like me, you really like me!"

2. Breaking the 2M Alexa rank

As God is my witness, Alexa will someday acknowledge my site exists.

3. Seeing the bounce rate drop from 100% to 80%

Cool, someone actually stayed long enough to read a second article?!?

4. The day the blog finally paid for itself

Sweet, the wife says I can keep blogging for another six months.

5. Looking at all of those green areas light up around the world on Google Analytics

I didn't even know Tuvalu existed, and they're reading my article on their telecommute! Wait … who telecommutes in a nine-square-mile country?

6. The day we made more than one stinking cent from Adsense

Woo-hoo, someone clicked an ad!!! Wow, 41 cents … early retirement is now in sight.

7. Learning how to put an ad above the header

It only took an entire weekend and most of my sanity, nobody's clicking on it, but man it looks great!

8. The first comment from a stranger

Of course then I smothered him with thank you notes, a link to my email updates, and an invite to guest post. Funny, I never heard from him again…

9. Seeing the first major spike from Stumbleupon

Sure, now I know it's not that big a deal, but wow that was exciting going from three to 300 hits … then back down to five.

10. Problogger accepted my article

I have truly arrived … a press release is in the works.

Where are you getting your thrills?

Of course, the tongue was firmly in cheek when talking about ProBlogger. I give Darren's site credit for at least half the stuff listed above, as well as helping me maintain my perspective.

Keep enjoying yourself, and add your own milestones below!

Rick is the owner/author of 'More Better Smarts,' supplying practical wisdom to help improve your life at work, home, and play. Visit Rick at www.morebettersmarts.com.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

10 Thrills We Newbies Experience That the Top Earners Have Forgotten