Many bloggers hope to reach popular blogging status and earn a living online. I cruise various websites on a daily basis to see what other bloggers have been up to and enjoy staying updated with the latest knowledge around the blogosphere. What I have noticed is that many bloggers lack confidence. If you want to succeed anywhere, having confidence is a vital trait. Without confidence, you may have a great blog, with great content, but never fully achieve your maximum potential online. Want to give yourself and your blog a huge boost in confidence? I’ve done the research and found many great methods to help you boost your blogging confidence.

Comment on other blogs

Commenting on other blogs is not only a great way to build website traffic… Participating in the communities of other blogs through commenting is a great way to build up your blogging confidence! When you share your opinions on other’s blogs, chances are good that you will get some traffic, along with responses to your comments. If you are commenting concerning a controversial issue, blog post, or there is already a healthy debate taking place in the comments section, don’t be afraid to state your opinion. When you are able to share your voice and express your beliefs, even if they are clashing with others, is when you begin to gain respect. Always make a good argument and try to pack your comments with as much quality information as possible. When you comment, you also are having a 1-on-1 type talk with the blogger and their readers.

Show enthusiasm, be charismatic

A great way to make a great first impression is to always be charismatic and show enthusiasm. Having charisma is what will separate your blog from the next information packed money-making blog on the block. There are so many great blogs and the industry in making-money online is competitive. When you show emotion within your posts and are able to get your point across without sounding like a robot or the text straight out of a non-fiction war fact book, you will really draw in the crowd. Not everyone will agree with your personality and views on certain issues, but expressing what you believe will boost your blogging confidence. Don’t be afraid to break away from the crowd. Look at the blogger John Cow, he didn’t hesitate to remove the Entrecard widget from his site. He thought most of the Entrecard traffic was useless, non-quality, and mostly just spam. Most popular bloggers use Entrecard, yet John Cow separated himself from the crowd and was able to be true to himself and his morals by dropping the Entrecard widget. It’s actions like this that will boost your blogging confidence and get people to visit your blog. Make your voice heard! It’s definitely important to be open-minded and respectful of others’ views, but don’t be afraid to fully share your point of view — it will boost your confidence!

Strive for a positive blogging atmosphere

Most people don’t enjoy negativity: why should you be negative on your blog. Always work to be and stay positive with the tone of your writing. Being positive encourages participation from readers and in turn, attracts positive people. I realize that you can run into people that may not support the message of your blog or may post negative comments. By the way, an increased amount of negative comments isn’t due to the fact that something is wrong with your blog, it’s due to the amount of visitors. Chances are that most people will be positive in the comments section, but every once in awhile the negativity can build up. Negativity usually mounts when you have a large increase in traffic. You can’t always please everyone, so look at negative comments in a positive light — negative comments usually occur when you’ve gained plenty of traffic. But if you think about it, there are always going to be people that aren’t going to encourage and doubt your dreams. When you work to stay positive and “kill off negativity with increased positivity,” no one can hold a grudge against your blog. The moment you lower yourself to defeat negativity and doubters with increased negativity is the moment you lose faith in yourself. Keep your dream going with positivity. Never allow negativity to lower the quality of your blog.

Be completely honest to your readers

Being completely honest with your readers is definitely an admirable trait that will get you far in the blogosphere. I realize that many people are attracted to posts of monthly earnings with big Ad-Sense paychecks from big-name bloggers. If you aren’t fortunate enough to be a big-name blogger quite yet and don’t earn $10,000 dollars a month from Ad-Sense, be honest about it, don’t try to be fake. When you post slandered information just to attract more readers, you are not only lowering your blogging confidence by not being true to yourself, you are posting false information. If you only make $0.50 cents your first month from Kontera, don’t be ashamed to post it in your monthly earnings section. You can always post about steps you are taking to improve your earning potential.

Never be afraid to ask questions

If you have any questions about that new plugin or how to increase your website traffic, don’t be afraid to ask someone that knows. When I come across someone that is very knowledgeable in a certain area of expertise that I may not know much about, I am not afraid to drop-off an arsenal of questions. If you want to learn something, ask someone knowledgeable, don’t feel guilty for asking and don’t wait. If the webmaster helps you, thank him / her, be grateful and move on. Learning is a great way to build confidence. The more you know in a certain area of expertise, the more confident you become and the easier blogging becomes. Man-up and start sending your questions in the contact form of other bloggers. If they help you: awesome, if not: well at least you tried and can keep trying elsewhere.

Admit your mistakes

If and when the time comes that you make some sort of mistake, admit it to your readers. Don’t try to sneak past the crowd like nothing happened you made an error designing a theme or endorsing a bad affiliate product. When you are able to be honest with yourself and with your readers is when you begin to build credibility. No one is perfect, and by God if you never make a mistake, you are probably doing something incorrect. When the time is right, fess up and claim your mistakes. Post what they’ve taught you about blogging, life, whatever, just keep moving forward. Making mistakes and admitting them is a great learning process — don’t worry if it happens to you.

Make friends in the blogosphere

One of the best ways to build blogging confidence is to make friends in the blogosphere. How do you do that? Well, there are several ways. The way I’ve made friends so far is by commenting on other blogs, participating in forum communities, and actively contributing to blogging discussions. Don’t limit yourself, think of your current friends: do any of them have popular blogs or blogs that are of or near the same caliber of quality as your own? If you do, chances are you should begin working with them if you aren’t already.

If you don’t yet happen to have any friends in the blogging business, there are many great things you can do to make friends and form connections in the blogging world. Participation on other blogs is an awesome way to gain support from another blogger and great way to feel a sense of blogging camraderie. Breaking out of your comfort zone and pushing your limits is what will make you friends and the necessary connections that it takes to succeed online.

Get a well-known blogger to visit and comment on your blog

When get a well-known blogger to visit, comment on a post, and drop an Entrecard on your blog, not only do you have something to blog about, but a huge confidence booster. Just seeing John Chow’s avatar in your “Recent Readers” section shows that he made his way to your site to check out your progress. Not to brag or anything, but John Chow actually appeared in my “Recent Readers” section of MyBlogLog and dropped his Entrecard. At the time, seeing that Chow visited actually motivated me to push forward with my blogging career and stay focused on my final goal. Popular bloggers are unique individuals that are admired by many in the blogging-world.

How exactly do you get a well-known blogger like John Chow to visit your website? Here are several ways to do it: include backlinks to the blogger’s website within on one of your posts, drop Entrecards on their site frequently, participate in the comments section of their blog, or send them a personal message in their contact form. I was a very active commenter on John’s website for awhile, dropped my Entrecard each time that I visited, and have included links to John Chow’s website in several of my posts. The feeling that comes from a popular blogger stopping by your blog is something that will increase your motivation to make your blog successful.

Align yourself with your passion

If you are already passionate about blogging or what you are blogging about, feeling confidence will be an indirect side-effect. When you aren’t sure about your blogging interests and feel like a rocket shooting up into space without direction or a primary focus, chances are good that you won’t have much confidence. Being passionate about your blogging subject, or even blogging in general, will boost your blogging confidence. Why? Being passionate shows that though you may not be an expert in your niche, you are willing to learn new things to help you succeed and achieve your goals. Do yourself a favor and align your blogging career with a topic you are passionate about and you will find that boosted confidence comes as a natural side-effect!

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