by Tope Olofin

I have been have been doing some serious thinking, trying to figure out why a lot of Nigerian blogs starting out, usually quit within the first year. World statistics actually show that blogs quit after the first 3 months. Today we want to point out the reasons why this happens and see how we can avoid it. So here we go.

 

Once again, I find myself cramped up in a crappy airplane seat. To cap it all up, I am sitting beside an unbearable human being. Wait, let me double check to make sure he isn’t peeking into my screen because I am about to bad mouth him. Whatever jor, so I got the middle seat, he got the window seat and the lady to my left got the aisle seat. After a while, the guy claims he isn’t feeling too good, that he is going to need the aisle seat. I’ve got some compassion in me, so I oblige him and so does the elderly lady. I end up with the window seat.

About an hour after, he demands for the middle seat and once again, the elderly lady obliges him. Right now he is asking for the window seat back. I have refused because I think he is just being a troublesome goat. All that moving around in this uncomfortable 15 hour flight, lai lai oh (never), he must manage the middle seat…finish!

Abeg let’s do some serious talk, before I actually scratch somebody.

I have been have been doing some serious thinking, trying to figure out why a lot of Nigerian blogs starting out, usually quit within the first year. World statistics actually show that blogs quit after the first 3 months. Today we want to point out the reasons why this happens and see how we can avoid it. So here we go.

Instant Gratification: Somewhere along the line, we have been made to believe that there is very little work involved in blogging. Therefore after the first few days, week and months of blogging and not being duly gratified, quitting seems like the better option.

The solution to this is the simplest. Wake up from your slumber. No one, not even Linda Ikeji hit it big overnight. It takes a while, so make your mind right now whether you are in or out for good so that we can move on to reason number 2.

No Definite Plan: If you fail to plan, then evidently have planned to fail. Sounds like very cliché, but stay with me on this. There are a whole lot of things that make up a successful blog. Two important ones are creating blog posts, and promoting the blog posts. Most bloggers start out blogging as the thought comes. If nothing comes, there will be no post for that day. The way I handled that issue was to create both an editorial and a promotional calendar.

For the editorial calendar, start off by planning how many days in the week a post will be published. Also figure out how many days or weeks you need to generate the blog post. I always suggest to plan a month ahead.

For the promotional calendar, you will also need to figure out which platforms are right for you. Ho w often you will want your content to be promoted on the particular social media.

Once you have that planned out, you are guaranteed to prolong the life span of your blog. How did you think I stayed this long with Tope Rants? Trust me when I say blogging is not as easy as it has been made to look.

Criticism: I actually put this in there because for while this was a big issue for me. I bet there are others out there that go through this. Whether you blog the right or the wrong way, there are people who are going to run their mouths about what you should and shouldn’t do on your blog. While a few of the criticism might be constructive, some are down outright mean.

I know for a fact that a lot of times the criticism is comes from a place of jealousy. Once the criticism isn’t constructive, you have my permission to ignore. I would rather you seek the opinion and suggestion from fellow bloggers but heaven help you if they are all newbies like you.

And that’s it for today. I am sure there are various other reasons, but I hey I had done a lot of talking. It’s your turn to share with me what you feel are the reasons blogs go under within the first year in Nigeria and don’t you dare say NEPA.

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Tope Olofin loves to rant. She is a boisterous and hilarious English graduate from the University of Lagos. She believes life’s experiences are priceless and the best way to capture it is by writing. She blogs atwww.toperants.com and tweets @toperants

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.