The Reasons I Failed with Blogging
(My Story Begins)
I failed at blogging for many reasons, and I want to share them honestly and openly with you on this blog.
A little bit about myself.
My quest to free myself from my 9-to-5 grind and create my financial empire dates back to 2002. While still in Mauritius (my country of birth), I wanted to use my computer for something more productive than just surfing the net, sending emails, and using a word processor. At first, I thought of creating greeting cards and selling them locally. I soon realised the limitations and decided against the idea because the market is small, the population is around 1.25 million, and the competition is fierce. I would have had to develop something unique and less competitive to succeed in this area.
My encounter with online marketing
Fast-forward to 2004. I left Mauritius for Ireland and settled in Dublin, where I currently live. I was a total stranger to digital marketing. The term was unfamiliar to me. The same year, while talking to my then-housemate about buying a computer, he advised me to "buy one online on eBay, as you would obtain it for cheaper."
It was my first time hearing about eBay, and buying and selling online was also possible. I didn’t have a computer yet, so I visited internet cafés to research eBay and learn more about the growing world of online marketing.
At that time, YouTube did not exist, so I read blogs about online marketing. In the meantime, I bought myself a computer. Gradually, I began to understand the concept of blogging, and I wanted to be part of it. At the time, Blogger (acquired by Google in 2003) was the go-to platform for aspiring bloggers. Blogs on Blogspot were everywhere. Inspired by others, I followed in their footsteps and started blogging, too. There was no planning, no structure, and no specific topic. I was blogging about anything that came to mind.
Then, I discovered Google AdSense. It is an advertising program for those who need to learn what Google AdSense is. When someone signs up with Google AdSense, they receive banners in various sizes that they can place on their blog. Each time someone reads the blog post and/or clicks on the banner, the blogger gets a small commission. It was motivating, and I also started using Google AdSense on my blogs. (More on that in another post.)
Enter the Internet Gurus
Who are the Internet Gurus? They are self-proclaimed experts who claim they can help aspiring bloggers quickly make money online and become wealthy and successful, like overnight success. Internet Guru was associated with blogging and digital marketing more than anything else. They popped up everywhere on the internet at that time. They knew people wanted to make money fast, so they exploited the opportunity for their benefit. They developed software programs that could make you rich fast and sold them online. When YouTube was launched in 2005, the gurus appeared on screen and spoke to a broad audience. Their marketing campaign was intense and enticing. People believed them.
The "Make Money Online Fast" slogan led many to believe digital marketing was a get-rich-quick phenomenon. That's what the gurus wanted you to consider. Many people fell for the hype and bought the supposedly miracle software.
Although initially sceptical and hesitant to spend my hard-earned euros, I kept listening. Over time, I became hooked on their pitch. I absorbed every word and, unknowingly, allowed their promises to shift my mindset. My focus narrowed. My only goal for blogging became making money — fast. And unsurprisingly, I failed.
The truth was that the internet gurus were not making any money at all because digital marketing is not a get-rich-quick system. If their system could make bloggers rich fast, what kind of system were they using to sell their program if not deception? There is no shortcut to making money online or offline except solid determination, hard work, and patience.
The fall of man in Genesis happened when Eve listened to the Devil, agreed with his words, and acted upon them. It was manipulation, and it started in the Garden of Eden.
And So, I Failed
Yes, I failed at blogging. But failure isn’t the end — it’s part of the journey. If you’d like to learn what I did wrong and how you can avoid the same mistakes, I invite you to keep reading my other posts.
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