The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 144: Our Definition of Success

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

In this episode, we’re redefining what it means to be a successful blogger. We’re challenging the idea that success is solely tied to how much money you’re making, and instead, encouraging you to create your own personal definition of success. We’re sharing our own definition of success, like having control over your schedule, using your unique talents, making an impact on others, and more. Tune in for a fresh perspective on measuring success and tips to celebrate your personal wins along the way!🔗show notes for episode 144**We want to thank you for being a listener of The Ultimate Blog Podcast for the last 2.5 years! Join our new podcast newsletter and receive a FREE Blogging Essentials Guide HERE!**

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. This podcast is the podcast we wish we had when we started blogging. I'm Amy Reinike. And I'm Jennifer Draper. Our episodes dive deep into how to monetize your blog, sharing unique insights and practical tips. We bring you in-depth interviews with successful bloggers and experts who offer valuable, actionable advice.

Our mission is to educate, support, inspire, and empower you in your blogging business. Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Hey there and welcome to this episode of the Ultimate Blog Podcast. We're going to do something special today and we are going to talk about with you guys our definition of a successful blogger. The reason we wanted to do this is because we've talked about this a lot in the past. It's a word that gets used a lot or a phrase that gets used a lot, hey, we can help you become a successful blogger or people ask us, how do I become a successful blogger?

And I know we've talked about bits and pieces of this throughout the years, but what we wanted to do was just create this episode so that we can specifically define in our terms what we mean when we are talking about helping you become a successful blogger. So what we want to do first is just to lay a little bit of groundwork as to how we came about this definition. We've talked to gosh a lot of people on the podcast over these last couple years, a lot of our students and even just taking into account our own experiences and what we've realized is well when you first think about what does it mean to be successful, whether you're a blogger or you're in some other profession, a lot of times we think about, hey, it's like I make X amount of money, so I'm successful.

And what we've come to understand is, yeah, that's important. Making some money is important. And that's one of the reasons why we do this, why we've created the products and services that we have to be able to help you is so that you can create a business with your blog and a business makes money. But there's so many other aspects as well that we're going to want to talk about. And so we've thought about the reasons that we're blogging and why we decided to help others. And so what we want to do is help you be able to customize your own version of success by

giving you a starting point to start thinking about some of the things that can define success for you. And I know that there's some of you listening here like, ooh, no, I don't want to define my own version of success because that feels icky or that feels like it goes against the grain of what we're told. We're told like, if you make X amount of money, that defines success. And I feel like a lot of times, success and being rich or gaining wealth are interchangeably almost. And so like that is the only way that today people

are defining success. And this podcast episode is essentially just going to turn that over on its head. And we're going to challenge you quite honestly to think about this differently. So how do we define success? How do Amy Reineke and Jennifer Draper define success? And before we kind of dive into this, one thing I want to share with you is that this was something that I think that we've had to come into too, and that we've had to understand. And I think that a lot of these conversations that we've had on the podcast, talking to bloggers within our community and talking to other bloggers, um, that

we've networked with, we've realized that success truly does look very different for each individual and that you really can't set a dollar amount on what success means. And why can't you do that? Because of course we all want to make money. Like that's okay. That's the given. We're all doing this to make money.

That's totally a okay that that is a goal. But how much money somebody needs to earn to feel like they're successful is going to vary very greatly. And that's why the dollar amounts are very arbitrary and they are not a one size fits all in any way because some person might need just like a hundred extra dollars a month while some other person is not able to make their mortgage payment or they lost their job and they have to make that money up or they're going to have to go into the workforce. Somebody might be a stay at home mom who has a husband that provides for the family or

vice versa. It could be that the wife is out working and you're a man listening to this and you want to bring in money on the side. So it doesn't matter like what your role is in the family, but it might mean like you just want to contribute in money on the side. So it doesn't matter like what your role is in the family, but it might mean like you just want to contribute enough to pay like an electricity bill or something like that. And so there is no one size fits all. There is no one way that we define success in regards to the monetary part of it. It's okay that there are monetary goals, part of it. It's okay that there are monetary goals, but I think it's when we say You are a successful blogger when you make X amount of money I think that's when we get ourselves into trouble because they are arbitrary

They are not one size fits all and so that as we're talking today I really just want you to have that kind of in the back of your mind as you are Thinking through this because this was something that it literally, I cannot remember who the guest was and it drives me crazy, but it was literally a guest who is saying, how are you thinking about it? Like, how are you defining success? And I always was doing it in regards to a monetary equation, essentially. Like if I make X amount, then that means I'm finally a successful at this.

And that conversation really had me thinking through things very differently. And it was a true mental shift, not just for spark media concepts, but also for my own personal blog as well. So we have a ton of episodes for you about how to monetize your blog. And we really do want to teach you how to do that. That is a goal of ours here, is to teach you how to make money blogging. And we want you to understand

that that is what we want for you. Whatever that dollar amount needs to be, we want to help you have the tools and resources to achieve that. But there are some basics that need to be in place first because blogging is a long game. It is not something that is built overnight and it does take time.

It takes energy. It takes time. It takes the willingness to pivot. And so let's kind of just go into this idea of defining success in ways that are not tied to a monetary amount. So first and foremost, and the one that I think means the most to me personally is being in charge of your schedule,

not having to answer to anybody else. If you're able to do that by having a blog, do you consider yourself successful? If you're in charge of your days and making your days align with who you are as a person and your role in your family, or what you want to do at and your role in your family or, you know, what you want to do at this particular season of your life.

How does that make you feel? Does that make you feel successful? Are you able to work from anywhere? Are you able to travel? Are you able to pick up your kids from school? Are you able to do the things that you want to do with your time? And that's what we mean by schedule.

Are you able to be present with the people that matter, but then also have time to work and focus. And we're not going to get into a blogger burnout here. So that is something that I do want to remind you of. And we actually do have an episode on blogger burnout. So if you're a blogger who is like, that's why you got into blogging, but you're feeling really burned out, make sure you tune into that episode. We will make sure to put it in the show notes. But I want you to think about that, your schedule and how you're spending your time. Is it bringing you your version of success?

And I know that that is maybe a really interesting way of thinking about it, but I want to challenge your beliefs in regards to success because I think what happens is a lot of bloggers get started and if they're not making their X amount, then they immediately just write themselves off. They close the blog, they quit working, they stop believing in themselves because their only definition of success is tied to how much money they are getting to deposit into their bank account. And there's so much more to you

than just what you're bringing in. You have so many other gifts. We're gonna kind of dive into that next actually. You have so many other gifts and talents that you can offer. And so that's something that I don't want you to lose sight of if you're not making the dollar amount that you hope to be making someday. It's okay to have that goal.

It's okay to still be working towards that goal. But are you able to use your, but are you able to use your gifts? Are you able to use your talents? Maybe you're really creative and blogging allows you to use that. Maybe you had a job before or maybe your day job is not allowing you to tap into that side of yourself in any way, shape or form. And blogging is, it allows you to think outside the box. It allows you to think of something greater. Maybe you have a job that you're always within the lines or something. And blogging allows you to think from a different space and imagine different things that could happen in your life or in the lives of the people that you're helping.

different things that could happen in your life or in the lives of the people that you're helping. How are you able to use your creativity? Maybe you're really good at coaching and you are coming alongside people and like supporting them and you're offering them a pep talk or you're helping them with something that they're doing. Do you consider that a form of success? Because we do. We consider that to be a huge impact that you're making on other

people. I want you to take a moment and I want you to think about somebody who's made an impact on your life and let's come at it from a coaching lens because truly we say this often bloggers are helpers. We are helping people and so that is kind of what a coach does. Think about a coach in some former fashion in your life. Did it matter more how much money they made or did it matter how they helped you? I mean, did you ever even really care how much money they made or was it that they helped you? And so think about it differently.

Think about success in that way. Like, how many lives are you touching? How many lives are you impacting? Some other gifts and talents that you might have is design. Maybe graphic design is something that you might have is design. Maybe graphic design is something that you love to do. You love to sit down and create things. Or writing. I can't tell you how many people have joined our community and decided to start a blog simply because they love writing. And we kind of get lost in like the rat race of, you know, working and all of that. And

you're like, but I love to write and in my day job, I don't get to do that. Or in the job that I thought I wanted to do, I don't get to do that. So many people start a blog because they just want to write. They love to be able to use their thoughts and their emotions and their feelings, maybe their past experiences in order to write and to connect and help others, which is what Jennifer is going to talk about next. For the last two and a half years, we have shared weekly podcast episodes with you every single Tuesday, and we just wanted to share even more with you.

So launching now is the Ultimate Blog Podcast email newsletter and we want to just personally invite you to join us on the inside. You already know that you get episodes each and every Tuesday, whether you listen on Apple or Spotify or any other podcast player, but we want to take it a step further. We really do want to connect with more of you who are listening each and every week or more of you who are learning how to blog or learning more about blogging as you go. So as our gift to you, we would love to invite you into the podcast newsletter. It is specifically for podcast listeners. So if you have been an avid listener of the podcast newsletter. It is specifically for podcast listeners.

So if you have been an avid listener of the podcast, you are definitely going to want to join us. As a way of saying thanks for joining us in the newsletter, we want to give you this free resource called the Blogging Essentials, and it's gonna talk about your niche and categories and how you can define those. All you need to do is go to theultimateblogpodcast.com backslash niche. And that is where you can sign up for that freebie

and get to know more about your own niche, learn more about the categories that you need to have on your blog. And this is a great resource whether you have started your blog or you are on the front end and thinking about it. It's just a good way to understand if you have the right scope and the right foundation for your blog. Once again, go to theultimateblogpodcast.com backslash niche to get that freebie today. We cannot wait to share more with you in the newsletter each and every week. We are going to be building these connections and helping you really become as successful as you possibly can. So thank you for being a listener of the Ultimate Blog Podcast. We can't wait to learn and grow with you more.

Yeah, I bet people are a little bit surprised to hear us define success as using your gifts and talents, but it's so true because you were given those talents and gifts for a reason in sharing, being able to have the opportunity to share those with the world. That is true success. And one of the reasons is because it can help you to be able to help others. And so helping somebody else, I mean, wow, that is a real success because are you making an impact on somebody's life in some way? I mean, it doesn't have to be like what you might think of

as wow, life changing. It could be something small like helping them figure out what to make for dinner, for example. And that impact that you're making on them, that you made their life easier for 30 minutes a day, that's success because you helped that person and then you might help another person and then you might help another person and then you might help another person. And how amazing is that to have that sort of an impact on the world just because you created something. And maybe you're able to help a person solve a bigger problem that they might have.

Maybe they need some advice. Maybe they need to figure out how to do something. And you can be the person that has the right perspective, the right combination of talents to be able to connect with them and walk them through that journey that they need to take to solve the problem that they're having. You might even be able to have a bigger impact because maybe whatever you're talking about could be the voice of a change that needs to happen in the world,

something to make the world a better place. Even if it's just a small slice of the world, your message and the content that you share can have that big of an impact and help people in that way. And we see it all the time. And I think that we all, as people who consume content on the internet in this day and age, we've been impacted by somebody in some way.

We may not take the time to tell them, but it happens. And so you can also use your talents and skills and abilities to help other people. And that is a success in and of itself. Kind of related to that would be this opportunity that you have to introduce like new ideas or new perspectives on things into the world. You know, you're creating a platform

and people, if you do it right, they're gonna hear what you have to say and what you have to offer and isn't that incredible? that isn't tied to a dollar amount that is tied to reaching those people that need the message that you're sharing and People will start to take an interest you'll start to hear from people and that intrinsically is going to start making you feel a little bit more successful because that was your is going to start making you feel a little bit more successful because that was your goal in the first place.

You had something that was important to you. You probably learned something along the way. You solved a problem and now you want to be able to share that with other people and you've created a platform and people are hearing it, I mean, how incredible is that? I just think it's amazing that in this day and age, we have that opportunity. We don't have to wait for somebody to offer it to us. We are able to create that.

We are able to create that platform and people can be in touch with our ideas and our advice and all of that, which is amazing. And that also helps you, that's the next one, you can feel accomplished. So feeling accomplished is being successful because you've created something, you've learned something new,

you probably started out, you didn't know how to blog, but you learned how to do it. You're proud of yourself. You've created something and you overcame some obstacles to be able to do that. You're already successful. The day you start your blog, you're successful because you figured out how to get it all set up. You learned a new skill. You created something from scratch.

You put an idea that was in your mind, and you made it something tangible out there for people to see. That is successful. Hey, Ultimate Blog Podcast listeners, are you ready to take your blog to the next level? We've got something special for you. Introducing Redefine Success, your blogging checklist. This free guide is waiting for you to change your blogging game. Whether you're a newbie or you're looking to refine your strategy, this will help you navigate every step with confidence. You're going to get a comprehensive list of Muscle and Podcast episodes that we believe

are foundational for your success based on our top four tips to grow a successful blog delivered right to your inbox. If you have ever wondered if you are focusing on the right thing, this is your answer. Head over to theultimateblogpodcast.com slash success to download it now. Redefine Success, your blogging checklist is completely free and was created just for you. You can start today and turn your blogging dreams into reality. That's theultimateblogpodcast.com slash success. It's time to redefine success and make your

blog shine. I'm so glad you're talking about that, Jennifer, because I think that that's something that's missed. Yeah. Like truly, I want you to like think about that if you're listening to this and you're thinking about that. Like think about what Jennifer just're listening to this and you're thinking about that. Think about what Jennifer just said there and I hope it impacted you because a lot of times ideas don't get farther than just in our mind. They don't get actually put into action and they don't get to impact others. And if you're doing that, you're right. You're totally right.

You're already successful simply. As they say on social media, it got out of the group chat. It got out of your brain and you actually put it into action, which is huge. It is. It is because so many ideas just, they come and they go and nothing ever happens. I can't remember. I heard a statistic at one point in time, like everybody has X number of great ideas. It's just like a matter of are you gonna act on it? And so if you act in on your idea, there you go, you're successful in that manner.

Now, another level to that would be, over time you are gonna start becoming recognized as an authority or an expert on what you're blogging about. And you'll start to see that as people ask questions, they might send you a message and ask a specific question about your topic, or they might recommend you to a friend and then the friend shows up, or they might let you know, hey, you told me to do this and I did it and it worked and I was successful. Well, they were successful, so therefore you are now successful.

So being recognized as the person who can help somebody or be an authority on a topic or provide information on a topic, that has created a level of success for you. And then also just the ability to get connected. So all of these things kind of come together and you start to meet other people talking about similar things and you start to connect and you connect with other people with great ideas. And then you become a part of important conversations, things that matter to you,

things that matter to the world, and together you start to create things that help people. You start to talk about things that are important and people are able to hear you. So these conversations really reflect about things that you care about and things that will make an impact in the world. And so just this ability to connect with people that you wouldn't have met before.

I know that that's something that we've been able to do so much with the podcast and all of that. Like people that we would have never talked to before had we not created something, had we not put ourselves out there, we would have never gotten to know these people. Just being able to know people who can teach you new things, who can challenge you in new ways will also give you those feelings of success. These are just a few things. There are so many more things that could be important to you.

But if you've been blogging for a while and this happens, people come to us and they say, I feel frustrated. I'm not making money or I'm not making the amount of money that I think I should be at this point in time or that quite honestly, maybe somebody else put in their mind that they should be making by this point in time. But if they really stepped back and thought about it, maybe they would be fine with what was happening because they're comparing themselves to other people. If you've been blogging and feeling frustrated, just take a moment and reframe your thinking

and give yourself the true recognition that you deserve for all you've accomplished so far. true recognition that you deserve for all you've accomplished so far, you have already been successful. Take a moment and just actually write some of these down. Take note of your successes and then you can start to think about what other things you want to accomplish in a different way. I think that's going to take some time to brainstorm those things and kind of think outside the box from what you've maybe the story you've been telling yourself in regards to what it takes to be a successful blogger. We have created a checklist for you that's kind of kind of dive into some foundational things that I'm going to talk about just briefly here. And so we would love for you

to have that checklist that you can go through and just have a very tangible look because I know that there are some of you who are listening like, okay, this is all great and fine, but I still want the quick and dirty, tell me what I need to know about having a successful blog because monetary is part of it. Financial success is part of it for you. And I want to be very real with you that like financial success is important to most of us who are blogging. But we want you to think outside the box in regards to that, that maybe not instead of

tying it to a specific dollar amount, like knowing like what you're bringing in is like you're bringing in something, you're doing something that's working and to not like beat yourself up if you don't think that it's enough. So take that time to like really think about what the definition of success is to you and then download the checklist that we've created. You can find that at the ultimateblogpodcast.com slash success and be really mindful of any goal that you set. And I think that you want to ask yourself, like, is this an attainable goal? Is this something that I feel like I can actually do? Is this something that I'm putting the work into? And get really specific about the kind of money or the kind of goals that you are setting for yourself and assign it purpose. Give it meaning. Understand

why you want to make the money you want to make or understand why you want to create what you want to create. And I think that when you can think about what that really means to you and what that's going to mean to your life and how that connects and is aligned with your why, then you're going to find this success that you're meant to have. So for those of you who are just like, give me the tips, Amy, like give them to me. So other things that we want you to think about, and this is really what this checklist is going to dive more into. But these, honestly, these are just blogging foundations that we've talked about before.

And so we don't, we didn't want to spend a lot of time in this specific episode talking about it, but we do want to give you these resources because we do find them to be really important. First and foremost is being on a self-hosted blog. You know why this is important to us. If you're wanting to grow and be found online, being on a self-hosted blog is important. Having an email marketing strategy because in a day and age of social media, you might be able to have a larger audience there, but email is going to allow you to have a deeper connection with your subscribers. And we have been

personally diving into more email marketing ourselves. And it has been a really fun game. So if you love numbers, if you love stats, if you love seeing like if what you're doing is converting, email marketing is something that you want to focus on. It has been so fun to see how much we've been able to grow our email list in the last couple months by just shifting our focus honestly, very simply. It has been no one huge big thing that we've done. It's just being more intentional with it. And so that is going to be part of the checklist as well. SEO and keyword research is going to be a key component

when it comes to building and growing a blog and finding success so people can find you. it when it comes to building and growing a blog and finding success so people can find you. And last but most importantly not least is your mindset. I don't care if it is like the amount of money that you want to make or the impact that you want to make. If your mindset is not in the right space, you're not going to find any kind of success. That is the key foundation because whether or not you're getting stressed about the money that you are or are not making, the technical thing that you can or cannot figure out, or the niche that you're just not sure about,

or the audience that you wish that you have created, truly, I think the difference in someone who is successful and unsuccessful there is the person who's willing to push past all this internal crud that comes up when you're trying to figure out something that you've never done before, or you're trying to build in a way that you've never done before, or you're pivoting, or you are working towards something that means a lot to you. And so getting past all that, getting past the story that you're telling yourself in your mind about like not being good enough,

when you can do that, when you can shift who you think a successful blogger is, and you start taking a look in the mirror and you look at yourself and you say to yourself, have I impacted one person today? Or one person this week or one person this month? If you have impacted them in one way, you are a success. Your work matters. And in time, that one person becomes two and that

two people become four and it's a snowball effect, but it starts with the belief in yourself. And I hope that this has been an encouraging episode. That's our goal, is to just really encourage you to lean into the season that you're in. You're building, you're growing. Whether you've been blogging for five years or five minutes, you are growing and you will never stop growing. And our goal truly is to come alongside you and not just like hold your hand, but also like give you a pat on the back and be like, we're really proud of you and we want to see you be successful

in whatever capacity that looks like for you. The really exciting thing about this is that we're going to have more of an opportunity to do that by the end of this year. And we are in the process of creating something brand new that you're going to be hearing us talk more about in the episodes and months to come, but it's called the ultimate blog roadmap and it's going to be a community of bloggers. And we are so excited, so excited for this.

We want to create a community of bloggers that can learn, network and grow and show up for you truly each and every month and how we can do that better than we ever have before. So if you want to make sure that you are on the list to learn about the ultimate blog roadmap, then please join the ultimateblogpodcast.com slash newsletter and you are going to be the first one to hear about that. So exciting things happening here with the podcast and with the community. And as always, our biggest flex is truly helping other bloggers and how we can help you grow. And so if we can do that in a different way or a different capacity, or if there's a podcast

episode that you are dying to hear that would help you in a specific season of your blog, shoot us a message, whether it's our email, respond to any emails that we send you or on social media, and let us know, like, how can we come alongside you? How can we support you in the best way possible? Because when one blogger finds success and whatever that looks like to them, we all find success because rising tides help each other. And that's what we're all about here

and always rooting for you and finding your own version of success. So thanks for listening today. Thanks for listening to the Ultimate Blog Podcast. If you'd like to learn more about building your blog, visit theultimateblogpod podcast.com backslash newsletter to get signed up for our email newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love for you to share it with a friend, subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts. Thanks for tuning in today and we'll see you next time.