Overcoming Blogging Hopelessness When Success Seems Impossible

Blogging hopelessness is when a blogger doubts their ability, sees no growth in audience or money, and questions if success is even possible. I’ve personally been there many time in the blogging valley of despair and this is where most bloggers quit. Is there a realistic path to success, even when it feels like all odds are against us?

Is There Even Any Hope Of Achieving Blogging Success In The World Of AI, Algorithm Changes, And Social Media? 

Of course there is! It certainly doesn’t hurt to have outrageous optimism like me which somehow always translates into real results in the real world! Blogging hopelessness can be overcome by mindset shift, strategic action, and persistence.

• Mindset Shift Whenever I hear about the “death of blogging” I get very excited because I know that means more opportunity for me! When I hear “AI is killing publishing” I get amped up of all the opportunities it will introduce into the blogging game! When I hear “algorithm changes” I get pumped because that means Google is slapping slop mills off their pedestals and there will be more room for thoughtful human-written pieces like mine! The mindset shift is to see the good from every new challenge. Every change in the blogging game is an opportunity for your blog to climb to higher heights because you’ll be busy making adjustments while others are busy crying.
• Strategic Action The blogging game is always changing and the so-called “tried and true,” other than posting quality articles, doesn’t always stay tried and true. SEO changes, new technologies are introduced, different reading habits emerge. And that is all good. Every blogging change is an opportunity to improve and win. Take an inventory of your blog. Where do you need to improve? Where do you need to adjust strategy? Where do you need to attack?
• Persistence There is no winning the blogging game without persistence. Show me a winner in any sport who did so without commitment and without persistence in mastering their craft. You cannot find any such champion. Blogging is a craft and it takes time and effort to master it, and even when one masters it correct strategy and hard work still needs to be implemented. A sports championship does not simply fall into your lap just like full-time blogging income does not fall into your lap. It is earned through not giving up!

The Roots Of Blogging Hopelessness

The roots of blogging hopelessness exist because after the initial excitement of launching a blog wears thin, the reality of how big of an uphill climb to success it is, and the blogmaster begins to question if success is even possible. Common roots of blogging hopelessness:

• Algorithm Changes / SEO Undoubtedly you’ve come across Reddit forums where blogmasters and webmasters are having meltdowns and full existential crisis about Google’s Helpful Content Update, which was essentially Google lobbing a nuke into the business-as-usual SEO game. Websites engaging in spammy tactics were deindexed or completely buried in the SERPS. Google AI summaries and Reddit tops the results. The SEO blog game has completely changed and many bloggers are feeling hopeless because either their traffic was destroyed or starting a new blog and gaining SEO traffic in the face of HCU seems overwhelming.
• Saturated Niches It seems like even super niche blogging subjects have a million blogs covering that angle. There are an estimated 600 – 700 million blogs. How is one supposed to break through in the sea of blogs? How is one supposed to overtake an established blog started 10 or 20 years ago?
• Comparison To Successful Bloggers After the initial excitement wears off it’s only normal to take a look at other bloggers in the same niche as you and feel immediate discouragement. My blog looks like crap compared to them! you say. They have 1,471 blog posts and I have 14, and it was freakin’ hard to write those 14 articles! They have a beautiful email funnel. I can’t even figure out how to set up an email list! They have an income report saying they are making $45,000 per month! I can’t even make 45 cents! (Read: Don’t Compare Yourself To 7-Figure Blogs)
• Burnout From Creating Content Without Any Rewards Let’s be honest, we all want to help people with our writing but we also want to make money. So it’s a real sense of hopelessness when we have no traffic so 1.) we aren’t helping anybody 2.) we aren’t making any money. There is not reward for all our efforts and it’s infinitely discouraging.
• It Hurts To Think Our Blogging Dreams Won’t Be Achieved And That We Let Our Loved Ones Down Most of us have hard, full-time jobs. Money is tight. We are trying to find a way through to make life better for our children, family, and for ourselves. We need more money. So, since we love writing and have some writing skill, we (correctly) identify blogging as the avenue that has the highest probability of success. So, when it appears our blogging efforts are going nowhere, it is an enormous blow to our hopes and dreams and we feel like such a failure, that we failed our families and are powerless to create a positive path forward for our loved ones.
• Rise Of The AI Machines It also feels hopeless to go all in on writing when there are so many chatbots with the ability to churn out hundreds of articles a hour and here we are typing away the old fashioned way, battling to pump out three articles a month. It almost feels like there is not point to attempt to master the craft of blogging with this new, emerging technology.

How To Overcome Blogging Hopelessness and Start Winning; Shifting To Mindset Aggressive

The passive blogger waits for inspiration to strike, keeps polishing the post until it is “perfect” (which it never is), checks Google Analytics and affiliate clicks daily for validation, blames Google for blogging woes, refuses to take ownership that their blog is a direct reflection of their efforts.

Shift to Default Mindset Aggressive. “I hope this works” → “I will make this work, if it doesn’t I have more data to make my next effort work.” “It’s saturated” → “I will create my own path.” “I’m not inspired” →”I am disciplined so I will write.”

• Revisit Why You Want To Be A Blogger Remind yourself the reason you want to be a blogger, and not just “make money” but why this platform attracted you in the first place. I love to write and when I first started blogging I did so with no thought of making money. I just loved the process of creating articles without gatekeepers and being able to bring into existence the articles and resources I wished existed. Simply, I love blogging. I have always loved blogging. I will always love blogging. What got you into the blogging game at first? Revisit this and reset.
• Be Aggressive In Promoting Your Blog You cannot write and wait, that is a losing strategy. I am reminded of a story of Gene Simmons, of KISS rock and roll hall of fame (the band that dresses up in face paint and outrageous costumes); when he was a child him and friend spent all day collecting fruit from trees to sell to people as they got off the bus at the end of the workday. They set up a makeshift stand and as the people were getting off the bus nobody came to buy fruit. Him and his friend watched with hopelessness as everybody passed by…and then Gene yelled “Hey!” at all the people. Then many of them came over and bought fruit. This was a fundamental, ground floor lesson in Gene Simmons life that he brought through to all of his rock and roll. Add this to your blogging game. Stop being timid. Be aggressive and outrageous, if necessary. At the minimum, yell “Hey! Look, my blog!” Get on social media and promote. If you haven’t been suspended at least once from a social media channel you aren’t being aggressive enough. Get on X, get on Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, whatever channel best serves your blog and go hard. I’m not saying get suspended on purpose and certainly don’t get banned, my point is you should go hard. Be the annoying person: check out my blog, check out my blog, check out my blog, check out my blog, etc. Embrace default mindset aggressive.
• Get Action Because Action Displaces Hopelessness Hopelessness is only a feeling you feel when you are standing still, either standing still physically or standing still mentally. As soon as action is taken, there is not room for hopelessness in the mind because the mind is focused on the task at hand. That’s why common advice for depressed people is to go take a walk outside, which is advice that actually works well. What does getting action look like in blogging? Writing a new article, adding new sections to old articles, building on social media, filming a YouTube video using only your phone, learning about SEO, commenting on other blogs (leaving a link to your blog behind), reaching out for guest posting opportunities, writing the next chapter in your book (we all know you are working on a novel or thinking about writing one), make a TikTok, add photos to old articles, read a biography of somebody you admire for motivation, and, if all else fails, go for a walk.
• Hold Onto Your VISION And Make It Your REALITY Love him or hate him the accomplishments of Arnold Schwarzenegger are absolutely insane. One thing he keeps going back to in interviews and in his books is the concept of vision. What is your vision? he often asks. He frequently talks about the vision he had for what he wanted to accomplish, whether that be in bodybuilding, movies (FYI he achieved millionaire status before he became a mega Hollywood movie star), politics, book-writing, and now his current vision of a healthy America that embraces exercise. So, what is the vision for your blogging? Is it to be a full-time blogger making $250k per year? If so, what are the practical steps you need to take to get there? (It’s identifying the practical steps and then taking big action is what made Arnold Schwarzenegger such a winner in life).
• Fire Mr. Defeat and Put Mr. Victory In Charge Of Your Thinking Factory There is an old self-help required-reading book called The Magic Of Thinking Big (affiliate link) in which it is revealed in your mind there is a Mr. Defeat and a Mr. Triumph (I prefer renaming him Mr. Victory). Mr. Defeat and Mr. Victory perfectly and immediately carry out all of your orders in the management of your thinking machine. The problem is many people put Mr. Defeat in charge and not Mr. Victory. FIRE MR. DEFEAT AND PUT MR. VICTORY IN CHARGE OF YOUR BLOGGING. Whenever you are looking at your blog, make sure Mr. Victory is in charge of your thinking machine. (Really, make sure Mr. Victory is in charge of your thinking machine in all areas of life but that’s beyond the scope of this article.)
• Make A Recommitment To Achieving Your Blogging Vision Yes, you can be a full-time blogger pulling down six-figures a year and live free with your family, absolutely. Make a recommitment to your blogging vision and get action on the practical steps you need to take to achieve the high-level version of your vision for your blogging.Relearning SEO, consistent posting at 3x per week, promoting on social media and third party platforms, expanding old articles. Commit, commit, commit and win.