What “Survivor” Can Teach You about Surviving the Blogging Real World

A successful blog is not a set in stone. It takes continual work to keep it alive, and if I want to be a blog world survivor, I have to do just that.

Many successful blogs go belly up each year, lost in the sea of SEO, competition from new and fresher blogs, and neglect. I contend however, that everything needed to survive the blogging world can be learned from Survivor.

Keep Your Enemies Close

While they are not enemies per se, other bloggers in the same niche are certainly competition. I don’t want to get voted out by the net surfing public, so I have to know what their other options are.

I visit other blogs in the niche frequently, befriend other bloggers in the niche, and leave useful comments on their post.

The bloggy love option or something similar is a must so that there is a link back to my last post. I must be careful that I do NOT become a pirate.

Directly copying someone else blog post or even just the general idea is not cool. Instead, I try to find common niche bloggers that are willing to team up with me.

We pledge to never copy idea and even promote each other’s posts. I consider it a sort of friendly “bloggers’ alliance.”

I Have to Be a Team Player

Survivors may be alone in the end, but they start out as team players. No one is the last man standing without help from someone or helping someone along the way.

I join Facebook groups that would be interested in my blog, +1 related articles and blog posts, and Tweet and retweet as much as humanly possible.

Joining in and participate in related forums helps as well. I share my own posts and links, but I also share others that would be useful to my readers.

Asking legitimate questions and leaving useful, informative posts and comments is a great way to get involved and get other interested. This helps in more ways than one.

Readers come to rely on me as a source of information and those who reap the benefits of my sharing and Tweeting will likely return the favor.

I just have to make certain to share useable information and not shamelessly promote my own stuff too much.

Hands with likes

I Must Stay Informed

Contestants that lose track of what the others on the island is up to are doomed.

To avoid that in the blogging world, I keep track of what is going on with the search engines and SEO, pay attention to what is happening on other blogs, keep tabs on what is working and what is not, and strive to be flexible enough to make changes when necessary.

I make it a point to read up on new Google updates, look for fresh articles on SEO, and take note when a fellow blogger in the same niche gets a sudden influx of followers.

I May Have to Sacrifice

The contestants on the show have to make sacrifices, and so do bloggers. If times are hard, I may have to sacrifice more time, and may even have to literally fast due to lack of money for food.

However, I will not give up. No survivor ever made it to the end by giving up. Giving up sends smoke signals to the hungry search engine wolves that it is time to swallow my blog up.

If traffic or income slows, I will not stop.

I have to keep writing, look for new and fresh content, and work harder at marketing. I have to comment more, share more, Tweet more, add more pictures, and get fresher.

While Survivor and other reality television shows are much further from the real world than their producers would like us to believe, it is still true that when it comes to blogging, Survivor can tell us all we need to know to about blogging survival.

Image courtesy of Nutdanai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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February 8, 2013 By 42 Comments
About primeaque86

Prime Aque is a Blogger, SEO enthusiasts and Self-taught Web-designer. He blogs about making money online ideas at CashOutDecently.com; he also builds professional Genesis Child themes to take Wordpress blogs to the next level. Recently, he got PageRank 3 in his 3-month old blog as a result of white hat SEO practice.

Comments

  1. Srikanth Sri says:
    February 8, 2013 at 2:51 pm

    Hi Prime Aque ,
    Blogging is really tough job to be done .if your a new blogger then u need to work more to get fame in blogging :) Thanks for sharing bro :)
    Srikanth Sri recently posted..Dell Inspiron 15z ultrabook launched for Rs 41,990My Profile

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  2. Mosam Gor says:
    February 8, 2013 at 2:55 pm

    Hi prime Aque,

    Great Post!

    you are Absolutely Right Keep Your Enemies Close. Thanks For Sharing your Ideas :)

    Mosam
    Mosam Gor recently posted..Social Networks and HarmonyMy Profile

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  3. mikec ( says:
    February 8, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    Really enjoyed this. Especially the paragraph: “However, I will not give up. No survivor ever made it to the end by giving up. Giving up sends smoke signals to the hungry search engine wolves that it is time to swallow my blog up. If traffic or income slows, I will not stop.” Perfect summation of the way we must think if we are to be the last man (blogger) standing. Thanks again for a great post.
    mikec ( recently posted..Mother Lode Area Real Estate Stats (January 2013)My Profile

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  4. Carolyn says:
    February 8, 2013 at 9:05 pm

    Hi Prime, I like your analogy. I’m a big fan of Survivor and blogging. I’ve often thought that Triberr tribes were a bit like Survivor tribes. The big difference, of course, is that we can help people without worrying about getting voted off the island. Our tribemates can support us, driving traffic back and forth between blogs. That’s why backlinks are so great, they help both the sender and the receiver.

    Our joint enemy is trolls, spammers and hackers who will try to prey on us. By banding together we can unite against their evil ways!
    Carolyn recently posted..Irresistible Tech Gifts for Valentine’s Day!My Profile

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    • primeaque86 says:
      February 9, 2013 at 2:59 am

      Wow! You made me smile today Carolyn… I am happy reading this comment. I love the idea of banding together for the purpose of helping each other to survive. Yes, we can. We can promote each other, we can share our PR juice to build powerful backlinks.

      Thank you for reminding me about Triberr – I have created an account there couple of months ago. I just did not realize the essence of being there before, but now I will be back for sure… thanks.

      Spammers are everywhere and trying to prey on our hard work but we can unite together – to kick them off the blogosphere.

      See you Carolyn and have great day! :)
      primeaque86 recently posted..7 Reasons Why I Used the Genesis FrameworkMy Profile

      Reply
  5. Eric Pangburn says:
    February 9, 2013 at 4:20 am

    Wow! I came across this post and must say this is just fantastic!

    This post really just comes to life for me, and really motivated me to be on the top when it’s all said and done. Just breaking things down in simple terms and points like you have and pulling it all together with a Survivor theme brilliant!

    This thought right here: “Contestants that lose track of what the others on the island is up to are doomed.”

    That’s something that I can and apply right away with my blog!

    Thanks for sharing this post!
    Eric Pangburn recently posted..Be the Best Freelance Blogger You Can BeMy Profile

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    • primeaque86 says:
      February 10, 2013 at 7:53 am

      You are welcome Eric… and thank you for reading my post in spite of your busy schedule… Well, I learned these things by getting around and listening to people with brilliant minds like you. When you started snitch I have been there stalking and reading your contents… and I learned these things… I learned to interact and interact more to stay connected with other bloggers – it’s a great way to come up with new topics and to keep my content fresh… I want to be one of the survivor until the very end :)
      primeaque86 recently posted..Learn How My 3 Months Old Blog Got PageRank 3 in 2013 Google PR UpdateMy Profile

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  6. Joe Hart says:
    February 9, 2013 at 4:51 am

    Like you mentioned, it is important to be a team player, especially when you start out…We get that much needed push when we are working in alliance…It’s a great strategy for mutual promotion.
    Joe Hart recently posted..Dental ImplantsMy Profile

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  7. Catherine says:
    February 9, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    This is great to be reminded of. I think when you start out in blogging, it is easy to think you have to ‘beat’ the competition and you generally tend to steer clear of promoting others sites etc. But in actual fact, it is the communication and interaction that helps everyone succeed. Nicely put here :-)
    Catherine recently posted..Movie Night IdeasMy Profile

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  8. Sarah Park says:
    February 10, 2013 at 6:21 am

    They say bloggers is a big community and there is no room for loners. If you want to be a successful blogger, you have to be interactive with other bloggers and benefit from being their friend by learning idea from them.
    Sarah Park recently posted..How to Become a Nurse PractitionerMy Profile

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  9. anis chity says:
    February 10, 2013 at 10:28 am

    very nice post thanks for sharing !
    anis chity recently posted..The Best WordPress Plugins You Should Install !My Profile

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  10. Joe says:
    February 10, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Great post. Thanks for sharing it!

    Reply
  11. Gemma says:
    February 10, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    Hi, thanks for this as it has renewed my motivation to push forward with making good links with other blogs similar to my own.

    How many different blogs would you recommend commenting on and how often?

    Reply
  12. Gemma says:
    February 11, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    I guest post on a facebook page but not done a guest post as of yet. It is definitely something I will keep on my radar though :-)
    Gemma recently posted..Valentines on a BudgetMy Profile

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  13. Gemma says:
    February 12, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    I am not following any big fan pages etc so I am just going to do that now. Thanks for the tip :-)
    Gemma recently posted..Valentines on a BudgetMy Profile

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  14. anis chity says:
    February 14, 2013 at 1:37 pm

    Fantastic informations thanks for sharing i Luv your site !
    anis chity recently posted..How to Find Free Quality Guest Posts For Your Blog Easily !My Profile

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  15. Purnima says:
    February 14, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    Hi Prime Aque,
    Inspiring post . Surviving in the blogging world is a challenge in itself . Link building practices play a crucial role to in gaining visibility and building a loyal audience over a period of time.

    Reply
  16. primeaque86 says:
    February 15, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    Hi Purnima – you are right there. Link building plays an essential rule to make money blogging in the long term. This is not done just to impress the search engines but to gain targeted traffics as well especially if bloggers are submitting guest post to related blogs/niche. The lasting asset bloggers can have is loyal readership from readers.

    Thank you and see you :)
    primeaque86 recently posted..Why Make Money Online?My Profile

    Reply
  17. Aayna from gazebo kits says:
    February 16, 2013 at 10:34 am

    This is a great post!!! Blogging is indeed not a child’s play, it requires an adequate level of patience and efforts, apart from original content. It is indeed important for a blogger to keep a tab on the path taken by the contemporaries and making sure one post genuine and relevant posts. Thanks for the share.

    Reply
    • primeaque86 says:
      February 16, 2013 at 4:14 pm

      Thank you Aayna! Yeah you are right there. I know for sure most of bloggers nowadays aim to make a living from their blogs. However they should take it seriously. By getting to our “enemies” more closer, we will learn new things – and we can imitate some of their important techniques. For me imitation is not bad at all – it’s just using their proven techniques to push our creative stuff on top!!!
      primeaque86 recently posted..Why Make Money Online?My Profile

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  18. Ben Edgson says:
    February 24, 2013 at 11:23 pm

    Hey Prime! this blog posts reminds everyone that you don’t make a quick buck over night! Professional blogging takes heart, time and commitment! Thank you for reminding us :)
    Ben Edgson recently posted..Hello world!My Profile

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  19. Prime Aque says:
    February 25, 2013 at 1:54 pm

    You are right there and thank you for finding great sense with my article! I thought before that blogging is easy as 1 2 3 – putting ad banners and making money overnight on my blog, however I realized that it’s not the real game – the real game is blogging by heart. Posting only relevant and useful information for the readers!

    Best regards,
    Prime Aque
    Prime Aque recently posted..Content Categories: Planning Them Out And Focusing ThemMy Profile

    Reply
  20. Jessica says:
    February 26, 2013 at 9:25 am

    Great Post!you are Absolutely Right Keep Your Enemies Close. Thanks For Sharing your Ideas to us,,Thanks a lot,,,

    Reply
  21. Heru Prasetyono says:
    February 28, 2013 at 2:40 pm

    Yes, that’s right. In high competitions of online business we must be able to survive by more creative, innovative and do not give up easily.
    Patience and self confidence are needed in every situation if we want to survive in the hard competition. Thank you for sharing this good article.
    Heru Prasetyono recently posted..CurationSoft Content Curation SoftwareMy Profile

    Reply
  22. Prime Aque says:
    March 1, 2013 at 6:01 am

    And I may add – instead of struggling to rank for keywords like “make money online” we should focus on long tail keywords to survive in the sphere and in order to that we should explore more – read more – find new bloggers and befriend them :) and use some free tools to make our work easier and faster … thanks for the comment :)
    Prime Aque recently posted..Don’t Be Sidetracked By ‘Get Rich Quick’My Profile

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  23. Dtan says:
    March 16, 2013 at 7:05 am

    That reminds me of networking and how important it is than anything else. Just about that day, when I was updating my details on Linkedin, I came across the profile a schoolmate and guess what? He’s also in the same niche as mine. Instead of treating him like a rival just like during our early schooldays, we decided to hook up and help each other in a new venture. We both brought along our very own group of people, one from his and another group of mine and guess what? We have expanded the network twice the size.
    Dtan recently posted..Controlling algae bloom in goldfish pondMy Profile

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    • Prime Aque says:
      March 16, 2013 at 4:29 pm

      Thanks for sharing that – that is collaboration, I’ve stumble upon on Ms. Ileane’s speak podcast on basicblogtips and she taught me of the 3Cs of successful blogging: Connection, Collaboration and Confidence!

      Right now am doing exactly the same with some of my awesome blogger friends. Keep the ball rolling bro!

      Regards,
      Prime
      Prime Aque recently posted..How I Make 10 Sales from a Single Buyer on FiverrMy Profile

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