It occurred to me as I was exercising this morning, that many of us do what we do for the wrong reasons.

Some of those ‘wrong’ reasons might be; to be better than someone else; to gain recognition; to become the ‘go-to’ person and so on.

The problem with that is there are a ton of laborious rules, strenuous ‘best practices’ and unyielding standards that come with that territory.

If you read Joe Pulizzi’s 42 Content Marketing Commandments you might recall #35, which is: “There are no shortcuts to great content marketing; it takes a lot of elbow grease”.

Isn’t that the truth.

Frequent blogging, SEO ‘best practices’, copywriting principles, Facebook rules of engagement, and so on. After a while it get’s to be very laborious. And excessive, unbalanced labor takes the enjoyment out of your work.

So here’s an alternative approach.

What if you pursued enjoyment instead of Google Rank? What if you killed your obsession with SEO, or your Klout score or your Facebook Edgerank?

Why don’t you start enjoying what you do and let the chips fall where they may?

What do you think? Is it that simple or am I missing something here? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Why are some bloggers so successful at what they do, and not others?

I’m sure you think about that from time to time – and you’re not alone.

In the last one year I’ve had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with some wildly successful and some not-so successful bloggers.

From what I can see, the difference between the mighty and the mediocre doesn’t appear to be talent. Perhaps this might play a small role, but I think it has more to do with the way they think, and the way they do certain things.

Successful bloggers:

Think Big

They seem to have the mindset of ‘Go big or go home’.

If they’re going to write a book, start a blog or do a presentation, their goal is to lead, to outshine the competition and to exceed everyone’s expectations.

It’s not that they’re naive about the amount of work that’s needed. They’re not intimidated by that. They dream big anyway and do whatever it takes to achieve those dreams.

Seize the Moment

Successful bloggers seize the moment to act on their goals TODAY!

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by hectic schedules, plans, obligations and even family. But thinking about it all at once is unhelpful and unproductive.

Achieving your goals means knowing what you need to do today and actually doing it. Were you supposed to run five miles this morning? Did you skip it because you overslept when the alarm didn’t go off?

If you don’t do what you’re supposed to do each day, you’ll probably never achieve that big goal that you set out to achieve. It’s as simple as that I’m afraid.

Are realistically optimistic

The more ambitious your goals the harder they are to achieve.

Success requires long hours at work, time away from family, less sleep, mental discipline and many bumps on the road. While successful bloggers don’t underestimate how tough it will be to achieve their goals, they do not doubt their own ability either.

They’re motivated, energetic, and positive in their outlook. I’ve also noticed that successful bloggers surround themselves with other positive people who encourage, inspire and help them out when they need it.

Develop willpower

Willpower is self-control.

It’s doing the right thing when you’d rather not, and not giving in when you’re tempted to. Successful bloggers know what they need to do to make success happen.

They keep an editorial calendar (blog plan), and they follow it meticulously. They make no excuses, and they take responsibility for their work. When it’s ten o’clock at night and tomorrow’s blog isn’t written, they don’t go to bed. They brew a strong cup of coffee, and get to work.

They embrace technology, learn new skills and get better each day.

Listen well

Successful bloggers aren’t ‘know-it-all’s’.

They understand that being a good writer doesn’t mean they’re good at everything. They make it a habit to listen to others who have more experience, and those that are better than them at other things.

Not only do they learn faster when they listen well, but they also grow in their own wisdom and experience, which further increases their chances of more success.

Stay Humble

Finally, successful bloggers remember their humble beginnings.

They understand that they didn’t get where they are on their own and they resist the temptation to be arrogant and aloof.

This keeps them grateful and willing to help others as well. Successful bloggers also understand that success is fleeting, and so they carry themselves with grace and a certain level of humility.

What about you? Do you realize that you have more control over your blogging success than you think? I hope you’re able to see some of the mistakes that have held you back in the past.

More importantly, I hope you’re able to think and do things differently from now on.

Ask yourself this question: As a content marketer, is there a connection between vacation and creativity…between vacation and clarity of thought?

I  think so.

As I write this, I’m preparing to head up north to Ithaca for a much needed summer break. But I’m worried about my blog. You see I’m the sole content creator here in my little world.

Who will write my blog when I’m gone? Should I stack up several blog posts and automatically schedule them over the next two weeks?  Or should I just give my blog some breathing space?

The Vacation Narrative

The idea behind vacation is that everyone needs time to slow down, to refresh and re-energize. This is especially true for bloggers and content marketers.

Time away from the computer screen allows you to acquire different experiences, to stimulate your imagination, and to support new ideas. To put it simply, vacation time is extremely beneficial to your content marketing efforts.

But.

Who will feed the sheep?

Let’s agree on one thing. In content marketing there is no such thing as a ‘slow season‘.

Even when clients and customers are away and your staff takes the opportunity to go on vacation themselves, the blog must still be fed and your social media networks cannot be ignored. Someone has to tend to your audience because they still expect to hear from you.

If the person in charge of content marketing takes off, they better make sure that there is continuity.

Content, consistency and contingency plans

Consistency is one of the most crucial elements of content marketing.

If we’re constantly urging our clients to be consistent with their content marketing efforts, we better be seen to be doing the same. Content marketers do not have the luxury of letting their content go while they’re gone on vacation.

And so a lot of planning and preparation is needed before you decide to hit the beach (or the mountains!).

That might mean that you make arrangements with a guest blogger, or that you accumulate several articles before you leave. And if the worst comes to the worst, be prepared to multi-task while you’re sun-bathing in Ocean City. But I just don’t think that your content marketing should miss a beat. (Sorry – that’s just me!).

It’s true: planning to take a vacation can cause anxiety (especially if you’re American or Japanese – Europeans, not so much!). But with some forethought and planning, a break can be a really good thing. Heck you might even conceive an idea for a book!

Over to you

What do you think? What can content marketers do to ensure continuity while they’re on vacation? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.