May, 2016 : What Can you Learn from Failed Businesses and Blogs?

📅 May 23, 2016 - Sometimes learning from other people's mistakes is the best way to avoid them yourself. When it comes to the business world and online blogs, it's common to hear about failed attempts in these industries. If you don't have a strategy in mind or you rely on others to do the work for you, it's likely that you'll be the next to fail at this undertaking.

Being vague about your beliefs or policies, avoiding authenticity, and contradicting yourself are other ways to lose the interest of viewers or customers. It's really important to avoid the mistakes like these and the ones of other businesses and blogs in order to avoid them yourself. If you're trying to be a successful blogger or business owner, start learning from the mistakes of others in order to avoid making them yourself.

Don't forget to always be learning

Sometimes people think they already know everything they need to know and they don't take the time to continue learning or improving their skillset. Instead, you should always be trying to learn more and getting advice on the latest techniques and strategies in the world of marketing, blogging, and social media.

You can do this by following trending blogs or cutting edge marketers for tips. You can keep learning your craft by attending additional training, conferences, or webinars. Always keep your social media up to date and make sure your information is updated, such as your “about” section, your photos, and your media kit.

Being vague, contradictory, or inauthentic

What others have done that have caused their business or blog to fail was being vague about their convictions or policies, showing a fake and insincere persona to viewers or customers, and being contradictory that shows dishonesty. There is nothing more important in your business and blogs than being authentic and honest. Being insincere will cause people to lose trust in you and your brand. Contradicting yourself and having to retract later makes people look bad.

While growth and change is to be expected, changing your position on something or seeming false in your niche will drive customers away in a hurry. You should always be willing to be transparent, show decisiveness, and making your philosophies known are important for retaining customers. Even if you have controversial opinions, you can decide how much you are willing to share and still maintain honesty and clarity.

Neglecting to do due diligence and belittling

Another mistake others have made in the past was to accuse others in an article without doing their homework first. When you mislead people and it comes out later that you were in error, you'll lose readers or customers for not doing your due diligence.

Belittling others in general will cost you followers, but if it's a matter of taking a stand on a controversial issue compared to mocking someone that doesn't agree with you, it won't hurt you like pure belittling of others will.

By being a professional in your blogging or business, you'll likely avoid these mistakes in the first place. Be sure you aren't making these mistakes and correct the problem before you hurt your reputation, your business, and your customer base.