I’ve heard plenty lately from bloggers freaking out over what’s happening with Facebook.
Now, why do you suppose?
It’s because so many of the bloggers I work with have come to rely on Facebook.
But first, just so we’re all on the same page, here… what IS happening with Facebook?
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The truth is, I don’t really know.
In fact, nobody does.
Trouble in Facebook Paradise
But it’s been all over the news lately that Facebook has violated the privacy of it’s users.
So the heat is on them.
Why should bloggers care?
True enough, a lot of people have been deleting their Facebook accounts because of all the shenanigans that seem to have been going on.
That’s enough to unsettle bloggers.
Many of them have put an awful lot of time and money into building a Facebook “presence.”
Others have built Facebook pages to funnel people over to their blogs.
And there are plenty of bloggers who have used Facebook pages to replace their blogs altogether.
Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket
So one reason that many bloggers are freaking out about the Facebook problems is this.
They’ve put all their efforts into learning how to use Facebook.
Many of them run Facebook ads, or boost their posts to find a bigger audience.
And, or course, Facebook groups have become a key to building relationships in their niche.
An even more recent trend has seen bloggers building Facebook “Notification” lists in place of email lists.
The idea is that while many people don’t open the email messages you send them, a great many more are likely to respond to your Facebook notifications.
After all, that’s where your friends and audience hang out, right?
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So, yes, bloggers who have gone “all in” with building their blogs primarily on the back of Facebook, may well have put all their eggs one basket.
Putting All Your Eggs in Someone Else’s Basket
Not only that, but they’ve put all their eggs in someone else’s basket.
Namely, Facebook’s.
You see, Facebook does not belong to you, or to any blogger.
It belongs to, well… Facebook.
So when you make it the foundation of your business, you are putting someone else in charge of your business.
Which has to make you wonder… is it really your business, or someone else’s.
Who are The Masters of the Universe?
Now, I don’t want to pick on Facebook.
Yes, Facebook is one of the “Masters of the Universe,” as they are often referred to.
But it’s not alone.
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If you don’t depend on Facebook to make your blog a success, maybe you depend on one of the other big Masters of the Universe.
Many bloggers have had their blogs rise to success, only to see them crash and burn, because of the fickle mood swings of Google.
- Panda…
- Penguin…
- whatever.
Bloggers often hang breathlessly on every tiny fluctuation of Google’s algorithm.
They design their entire business in quest of the Holy Grail… they top 10 positions of Google Search results.
That’s where they turn to for their traffic, and their success.
So many bloggers jump through so many hoops to keep Google happy, that they pretty much forget about their readers.
Besides Facebook and Google, you might be bending over backward to suck up to YouTube, Reddit, Pinterest or some other power platform.
Who is The Master of Your Universe?
While those things may be important, the real key to your success is this.
You have to stop focusing on what everyone else is doing.
Stay focused on what you are doing.
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Stay focused on your own success, not that of others.
Pay attention to what is working, what is not.
Run with every little thing that starts bringing you the results you’re looking for.
- Traffic
- Leads
- New Business
- Buyers
- Clients
- Profits
- and whatever else.
Then run with those things.
Focus purely on how to do them more, better and bigger.
Forget what makes others successful.
Focus on what makes you successful.
Forget how big other people succeed.
Focus on every little success you achieve.
Forget what the Masters of the Universe demand.
Focus on being the Master of your own Universe.
Stay Focused On Success To Achieve It
You see, whatever it is you give your attention to, is what you are likely to attain.
When you stay focused on success, you exponentially increase the likelihood that you will achieve it.
Have you ever noticed that?
If you focus on your fear of failing, what happens?
That’s right… you fail.
If you focus on “I’m not good enough to make this happen” then, of course, you can’t.
Meanwhile, when you focus on your success… you really can achieve it.
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What Do You Focus On?
Do you find that you pretty much get what you’re looking for?
What are the results you’re getting from your blogging business?
Take a moment to write a short list of the results you get.
Then write a short list of the results you’d like to achieve.
Finally, write down what you do every day to get those desired results.
Most people want to achieve something, but spend most of them time actually working on things that can never get them those results.
What you do every day, is where your focus is.
So what is your focus?
And what are your results from it?
I’d like to hear about your blogging journey, challenges and triumphs in the comments below.
Meanwhile, remember that you need to stay focused on success to achieve it.
-Donna
Article was useful and very important for me. Previously i checked out blogger learning curve post and that was amazing. Keep writing awesome article. Thanks for sharing Donna.
Twitter: msellithorpe
April 27, 2018 at 7:22 pm #
Hi Donna,
Great post. It is so sad that some people think that any of the free places will be there forever. I have to admit when I lost my blog at the beginning of the year, I did consider just using Facebook but then remembered just what you said above; “It’s not mine,” so I went ahead rebuilding my blog.
I am seriously considering putting a free membership feature on my blog or maybe a forum. I know forums are sort of outdated now but as you said, I would be “Mistress of MY Online Universe” and no one can take it away; except technical glitches. Grrr.
I’m trying something a bit different now to see how it works. For my daily tasks, I’m using a large 4×6 index card and planning my week with them because I just can’t seem to find a planner that I can stick with. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
In the meantime, I will be creating my own planner, just the way I like it.
Thanks for the great information and suggestions.
Monna Ellithorpe recently posted..10 Creative and Health Benefits of Journaling
Twitter: growwithweb
April 25, 2018 at 4:36 pm #
Amazing post!
We can never put all of our eggs in a single basket in case of Internet marketing. Everyday Google brings a new update, Facebook also changes its algorithms and gmail is also getting updated frequently. But yes, if we use every method appropriately we will won’t fail. Now, I believe I am gonna succeed very soon and the readers of this post too. 🙂
Cheers,
Shubhanshi
Twitter: coachtocoachguy
April 22, 2018 at 2:32 pm #
Totally excellent real world advice Donna!
Sure it’s definitely okay and even necessary to
leverage some of the most awesome and popular social
media sites on the planet!LOL!
However Coach, as you so wisely have pointed out, let’s not seduce
ourselves into believing, we’re in charge.
When clearly we’re not.
It’s like the difference between merely renting your
home and or temporarily living friends or family.
Ultimately, until we invest in owning our own home,
(self hosted WordPress) website and or blog etc.
Each time the wind blows in a slightly and or radically
different direction than we expected and or are even remotely
prepared for.
Our long term future, once again hangs in the balance!
I sincerely hope, your incredibly sound and practical real
world advice is being heeded, before another unexpected update
and or shift occurs!LOL! Great and spot on advice as always!
Mark Newsome recently posted..Why Every Profit Seeking Entrepreneur Should Invest In Lead Generation Education!
Hello Donna,
A nice post reminding bloggers and business owners to depend on their self and not external body.
But still, it’s kinda bad seeing what you work so hard to master crumbling down at the end of the day. This is a lesson that thought us to succeed without depending on nothing but our ability.
Thanks for the lovely post and do have a good week ahead…
Babanature recently posted..What Are Your Top 5 WordPress Plugin You Can’t Do Without?
Hi Babanature,
Indeed, we have to succeed without depending on nothing but our ability. This is why we have to keep on top of just about everything going on online. Having our own website is key!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..How To Implement The Best Daily Actions For Your Online Business
Twitter: ravishingravism
April 21, 2018 at 3:40 pm #
Hi Donna,
Some people only focus on money, and when they don’t see enough incoming, they quit blogging.
Not only blogging but any business is successful not because it earns you a lot of money but because it builds trust and become brand. The success of business shows in how people find it helpful.
I believe when you can’t rule someone Else’s kingdom, create your one.
Thanks for sharing
Gaurav Kumar Joshi recently posted..Link Building Made Real Simple: Build Links Naturally
Hi Gaurav,
So many people don’t have the understanding that any business we do online will take time, just like an offline business. They build a blog, don’t make immediate money and then quit. Those people I assume are just not cut out to have their own business.
So true that when you can’t rule someone Else’s kingdom, create your one. Awesome!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..How To Implement The Best Daily Actions For Your Online Business
Twitter: enstinemuki
April 21, 2018 at 6:08 am #
Hey Donna,
How was your week?
I traveled to Buea. It’s the beautiful mountain city of Cameroon. I was invited to speak on “SEO for WordPress” during a WordCamp event. It went quite well but I came back with my left eye hurting. That has kept me away whole week from blog hopping. I can’t even safely read your content now but the drugs are gradually getting me back to other.
In a summary, it’s the best thing to build your own world and maintain 100% of it. If we focus on building facebook pages, they will one day change things and frustrate our efforts.
Build your blog and your own list. That’s your own market place. 😉
Enstine Muki recently posted..16 Top Bloggers reveal how they make massive earnings online!
Hi Enstine,
Hope your eye is back to normal by now.
Indeed, the best thing to do is build our own world or as I like to put it be your own Google. We need to do this from our blogs/websites and never depend on rented space like Facebook.
Donna Merrill recently posted..How To Implement The Best Daily Actions For Your Online Business
Twitter: ebusinessroom
April 20, 2018 at 4:25 pm #
Hi Donna,
What’s currently happening to Facebook is a reminder to bloggers that put all their eggs in another man’s basket. Nothing can be more frustrating than that.
This is why I tell my loyal students that connect with me on Facebook to get a blog and build their presence on search engine too.
Yesterday, I found the photo studio where I took my pictures from a search I conducted on Google and not Facebook. There’s a limit to what Facebook can do except you run ads.
Thanks for sharing.
Emenike
Emenike Emmanuel recently posted..5 Annoying Guest Posting Errors Writers Must Avoid Like a Plague
Hi Emenike,
Indeed, its never smart to put all your eggs in another man’s basket. Running ads on Facebook has worked well for me when I do them. Other than that, I do like to share my blog as well as my friends’ on that platform but that’s it!
To get more of a reach, I do FB Live Streaming and it works better than my ads ever did. Go figure!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..How To Implement The Best Daily Actions For Your Online Business
Twitter: corirams
April 20, 2018 at 12:12 pm #
Hi Donna,
I just love the advice you give here “stay focused on your own success, not that of others” that is like the golden rule.
And I love the exercise you told us to do. Writing things down always gives me a clearer picture of what I need to do to get where I want to go.
I’ve been stuck in the same gear so to speak so it’s time for me to put the pen to paper and tweak what’s not working for me.
My blogging journey has been a rollercoaster ride. 🙂 And what I thought I wanted back then turned out to be totally different.
At first, my goal was to become an influencer and work with brands I love and use. But when I got a taste of it, I still felt something was missing.
Then when I landed my first web design client and client for VA work, it just felt right. I guess it’s the customer service in me. I’ve always enjoyed helping people so it was a natural fit for me. 🙂
That’s where I’m at now. I don’t want to give up NNMB because I love sharing work from home jobs and I feel like if I slow down it would be a disservice. But I also want to put more focus on my new blog because that is my main business.
Thanks for the great advice! Have a great day and weekend. 🙂
Cori
Cori Ramos recently posted..DIY Blog Review: How To Review Your Blog Like A Pro Part 2 [Free Download]
Hi Cori,
Going on your intuition is key! I see that you have done it when things didn’t feel right and when they did. Bravo my friend.
You are always helping people especially with your NNMB .. I love what you do there and I always have someone in mind that I send the link to because I find they needed the information.
I have to say that your new blog is awesome!!! I bet you will be gaining more influence with that one in a short amount of time.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..How To Implement The Best Daily Actions For Your Online Business
Twitter: SusanWPTutorial
April 20, 2018 at 5:29 am #
Hi Donna,
Great points and I’ve seen so many people freak out about Facebook. I have to admit that I don’t use it very often in my business. It’s just not where I put my focus.
I’ve been focusing on using and learning Pinterest. They actually just had a huge update the past few weeks. I think they are still going through some updates as we speak?
There’s so much chatter from the Facebook groups that I belong to where some bloggers traffic has dropped completely. I’m with you, as a blogger or business owner, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket.
It’s never a good thing when all your traffic comes from one source. I did that in the past and was one of the bloggers who was affected by Google Panda.
It wasn’t fun and this time around I told myself that I wasn’t going to do it again. We work so hard every day on our blogs, we just can’t build our business based on one platform.
But then again, you don’t want to spread yourself too thin. It’s important to have a plan and focus your time and energy on a few traffic strategies that actually work.
Thanks for sharing this I have no doubt that it will help so many people, I’ll be sure to pass it along.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
Susan Velez recently posted..How to Grow Blog Traffic With Pinterest What You Need to Know
Hi Susan,
It is important to find out what social media sites are giving us the most luv. People can bash one thing or another but forget that there will always be changes and we have to choose where to stay and for how long.
As long as we have our “home base” of a website, we can be our own Google.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: krsaurabht
April 19, 2018 at 11:45 am #
Excellent points Donna.
These are some great tips on how to stay focused.
Yes If we are focusing on the things that are more important, I mean stop doing multitasking. That Definitely helps us to achieve success,
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Hi Saurabh,
Oh no…multitasking is only good for a very short time. Be sure to remember that if you do it for a long time you will surely burn out. There are many tasks we must do in one day, but focusing on the most important one of all needs to have as much time as you can devote to it.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: MosClement
April 19, 2018 at 10:33 am #
Hi Donna,
In my recent post that was published yesterday, I quoted Rebekah Radice where she said: ” what you put into social media is what you get….” In order words, where you put you mind as you mentioned that’s what you’ll get. Success attracts success, so when you focus on success and do the thing that brings success, you will definitely obtain success.
I love it when you make clear that one should not out all his eggs into one basket, and should not put them all into someone else’ property. Facebook is a property that belongs to somebody else, and with the crisis on facebook, what happens if you had all you eggs stock on facebook?
I so much love your article, Donna. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Moss,
I love that quote from Rebekah. So true! Success does attract success so we have to focus on it to bring it to us.
Yes, we cannot put all our eggs in one basket on some else’s property. It just is a bad idea for a business platform.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: hassaankhan
April 19, 2018 at 8:10 am #
Hi Donna,
It’s an excellent blog post. It reiterates the idea of what I call “finding your strength.”
Absolutely, fantastic.
People, when they start off, look out for things to learn — at some point, when they have learned a few things, some of them get confused in choosing what they know better.
Here comes the concept of “finding your strength” or what Gary Vaynerchuk refers to as “self-awareness.”
I genuinely believe that you can’t become good at something you don’t like. It happens a lot in the blogging world. Newbies start specific niche blogs because someone else is doing good in that area. It indeed doesn’t work this way.
Finding your strength is my answer to that problem.
Have a good day!
Hassaan Khan recently posted..Brick by Brick: How to Build Authority When You’re a Beginner
Hi Hassaan,
Indeed, finding your own strength is self awareness. We are not born with it, but rather it is a wonderful journey within the self. Once we find it, we become so empowered and nothing can stop us from what we set out to do.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: maria_tayler
April 18, 2018 at 7:09 am #
Hello Donna,
I like this one, I don’t know much about what is going on with Facebook. But i think, We shouldn’t concentrate on one thing or place whether is it Facebook or any other social media channel. It may be can ruin things. As you know changes happens anytime, we shouldn’t depend on a single social media channel. by the way nice article as usual.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards
Maria
Hi Maria,
Glad you liked this article. We cannot depend on one social media place to do business from. We need our own Blog to do so. Social media sites are only rented space and we never know when it won’t work for us.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: Lisapatb
April 18, 2018 at 5:41 am #
Hi Donna,
I love this one and I have always said not to be all your social media eggs in one basket. It’s true that we own our own blog space, it’s our home based, not rented property as in with social media networks.
Even my favorite Twitter is changing and we have to roll with it.
Change is happening at a faster pace today than ever before in our world. Online and offline. We must continuously grow to succeed.
I am staying focused on my space at my blog and my email list. Those are really only what we can control. The rest we use when it does us good and not when it doesn’t 🙂
Thanks for the wise wisdom as always Donna I hope you are getting some much needed sunshine up there today 🙂
Lisa P Sicard recently posted..It’s Time to Shore Up Your Business Site’s Ecommerce Shopping Cart
Hi Lisa,
No matter how we love our favorite social media site, it will always go through chances weather we like it or not. We have to keep up with them. Indeed, change is happening so fast these days offline and online. And yes, we have to grow with it.
Stay focused on what you are doing because girl it is working so fine.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: marquitaherald
April 17, 2018 at 3:11 pm #
Great timing Donna and your message is spot on as usual! I’ve always said I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook so it probably won’t come as a surprise when I say that I closed my fan page and will be spending even less time there. But I started shaking things up before that when I closed my comments, so it hasn’t been a big deal for me because I’m in change/experiment mode so I am definitely the master of my Universe. :-).
A BIG believer in the power of focus, I love the points you’ve made here. I’ve been blogging for around 8 years now and still occasionally find myself caught up in an idea or advice offered by one of the experts that sends me headlong in a direction away from my focus. It’s frustrating, but each time I’ve learned something, even if it’s to reaffirm the passion I have for my mission with my blog and writing. Thank you!
Marquita Herald recently posted..What it Means to be Empowered
Marquita,
You are a fine example of being master of your own universe. I’m sure the decision of closing comments on your blog was a huge one. But hey, we still follow you no matter what!
I know it is easy to get side-tracked and loose focus sometimes, but as long as we jump back on that horse, so to speak, we are OK.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: ryanbiddulph
April 17, 2018 at 2:44 am #
I cannot agree with you enough Donna.
Alonzo and I talk about this all the time on our podcasts; ya gotta be focused on success big-time and more than that, you need to focus on serving others through your self-hosted blog, and most of all, please guys, focus heavily on believing in you. Not Facebook. Not Google. Not your bank account.
Bloggers tend to out all their faith in Facebook. Then when it changes, or has issues, the panic sets in. Ditto with Google. Faith in the network, and belief that Google dictates their success, then a house of cards fall when things Go South with a Panda update or whatever the hell the latest algo is LOL.
How about creating helpful content on your self-hosted WP blog. No better way to proceed from a more chill space. You own the blog. You set policy. Then comment genuinely on other self-hosted WP blogs. Make friends. Read posts. Promote other bloggers. Bonds form. Those bonds are Google and FB proof, meaning if you are in your friend’s heart, and if they are in your heart, you will stay connected, promote each other and succeed online, staying focused on success, creating on your owned real estate and connecting with folks on their real estate.
Ryan
Ryan Biddulph recently posted..Dogs Rough Housing New Zealand
Hi Ryan,
Right on target! I once wrote an article about being your own Google! It can be done as long as we have a self hosted WP blog. Nothing wrong with the other social sites, but never a good idea to put all your eggs on those baskets.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: matofarides
April 17, 2018 at 2:43 am #
Great advice, Donna!
I’d simply say that we shouldn’t rely on anyone’s platform – Facebook, Twitter, WordPress.com, Blogspot etc
Have your own site and your own mailing list – I’m not even sure if we should rely on WP plugins for important parts of our blogs (e.g. plugin to create a mobile app based on the blog). What do you think about that?
Marios
Marios Tofarides recently posted..How to Get Started Writing a Book
Hi Marios,
Indeed, we have to have our own site to produce our very own mailing list. Hmmm a mobile app based on the blog sounds terrifid!
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: matofarides
April 22, 2018 at 1:12 pm #
Hey Donna,
Yes I think there are a few, but I haven’t tried any of them
Marios
Marios Tofarides recently posted..5 Best Practices in eBook Publishing – kitaboo
Twitter: PraveenTemok
April 17, 2018 at 1:30 am #
Hello
Donna,
Very inspirational post. The focus is very important in every activity that we do and it is the key to achieve success. Yes, you are right, we should stop focusing on what everyone is doing as well as we should focus on our work. You have written a great post as always and all these points are very effective to achieve success.
The ways you have explained the whole post is very interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes,
Praveen verma
Hi Praveen,
Without focus where would we be? Going around in circles and wasting time! And you know what I always say: Time is money lol.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster
Twitter: imbhawnak
April 16, 2018 at 1:50 pm #
Hey Donna
Very well written post. I am currently new to blogging and I feel that being consistent is the hardest and most important part. Keep your blog fresh with content and good content is something very important.
Keep sharing your wonderful tips with us.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Bhawna,
Welcome to my blog and the blogging world. It is difficult when starting new but you raise a good issue. Being consistent. It will be easier if you keep things on your calendar. Each week for example, put out content and share it on social media sites. Each day, reach out to other bloggers in your niche and then leave a good comment and share them on social media. Eventually reciprocity will kick in.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..7 Ways To Make Your Blog Load Faster