3 Mistakes Newbie Bloggers Make When Asking Questions

Mistakes Newbie Bloggers Make

3 Mistakes Newbie Bloggers Make When Asking Questions

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” ~ Tony Robbins

After receiving – and reading – many blogger questions during my nearly 10 years online I spotted 3 pressing mistakes that newbie bloggers make when asking questions.

Struggling bloggers tend to ask the same questions.

Hey; I asked these questions too, during much leaner days.

But I eventually learned to follow Tony Robbin’s advice.

I asked quality questions. I got quality advice. I followed that advice. I lived my dreams.

Pinpoint whether or not you are making these 3 mistakes when asking blogging questions so you can ask quality questions and get better answers.

 

1: Asking the Wrong Questions

Asking the wrong questions is the quickest way to perpetuate your failure.

New bloggers tend to ask:

“How do you make $10,000 in 6 months?”

or similar money-driven questions, setting a finite time frame within which to make it.

This is the wrong question in almost all cases because it shows the blogger is blogging mainly to get, versus blogging mainly to have fun, to give, to serve and to develop a skill that empowers readers to live their dreams and to solve their problems.

I can almost feel the desperation behind the question, which usually goes like:

“I have no money! I need to make $10,000 in 6 months to pay my mortgage, to take care of my family and to live a decent life!”

Or I see most of these folks living in fantasyland, believing that blogging money can flow to them quickly without these bloggers developing a skill (through years of persistent practice) that solves a problem.

There are other questions that I see on Quora and receive from fellow bloggers that, again, focus on the wrong thing; bloggers want to know how many page views they need to earn X amount of dollars.

Pageviews cannot spend money because pageviews are inanimate concepts.

People buy your product or service, said people being folks you have helped, through your blog.

Focus less on specific dollar amounts or time frames. This is not a job. This is a blog. A business.

It’s OK to ask the generic question:

“How can I make money blogging?”

but understand that 95% of your time and energy or more will be spent on giving, not getting, in order for you to build a thriving business.

Ask how you can serve people. Ask how you can help people. Ask how you can build a sustainable blogging business by being of service, and you will pinpoint exactly what you need to do, to help folks and to live the life of your dreams.

2: Asking off Topic Questions

During many of my live videos – and sometimes in response to my posts or guest posts – new bloggers sometimes ask questions completely unrelated to the topic of the video or the video.

Although I do appreciate answering all questions related to blogging this is the quickest way to lose out on engagement with an established, pro, an experienced blogger, and it is also an unfortunate way to be labeled as a spammer, even if you are not intentionally trying to spam.

Stay on topic.

Ask questions related to the blog post or the video.

If another question comes to mind, feel free to ask the question via email.

If the blogger refers you to an eBook or service….buy it. These guys have hundreds to thousands of requests every day; they can only answer a few questions personally but have eBooks and products that will answer virtually all of your blogging questions.

3: Asking Questions When the Answer Is in the Blog Post

This one is a classic of classic mistakes, often attributed to new or struggling bloggers.

I may publish a post titled “10 Tips for Driving Blog Traffic” and a blogger asks me in the comments section:

“I am having trouble driving blog traffic….any advice?”

Ummm…. I just gave you 10 pieces of advice, via the blog post 🙂

I have compassion for said bloggers because only intense fear causes you to ignore advice that is right underneath your nose. Goodness knows I was in that boat for many years.

In the same regard though, I did not turn around and head toward success until I was truthful about my tendency to ask questions in response to pieces of content was my questions had been freely and easily answered.

Your Turn

Have you made these mistakes in the past? I sure did.

How are you asking the proper questions to accelerate your blogging success?

Comment (0)

  1. Hi Prince,

    Thanks for the opportunity my friend.

    Ryan

    1. You are welcome, Ryan.

  2. Your writing style is very nice. Love your blog <3

    1. Thanks a bunch Andy. On the writing style. Prince’s blog it is 😉

  3. Hi, Ryan

    I have read this post and I have discovered my problems in terms of asking questions as a blogger.

    Thanks for this post.

    1. Good deal Jitender.

  4. I would add that wrong question too would be asking questions that are hard to answer, too broad or too private. You can’t be selfish, be polite and think about other side too. Also, appreciate the help that you get and the person that helped!

    1. Alright Jarvee, this is a good point too. Thanks much.

  5. Hi Ryan biddulph

    These is a great post you’ve written here. Most of the reasons new blogger ask this type of queations is they never get clarity about their niche or what they really want out of blogging or just start blogging for money sake.

    1. Clarity is the great question answer GS. Find that, and you ask the right ones or find answers before you ask.

  6. Hi Ryan,

    Well written! Definitely asking a better question make your life or website successful and you will learn a lot of things just solving other problems. You will learn the things that increase your experience and will never forget.

    Thanks for sharing wonderful thoughts, I really appreciate your efforts.
    – Rajinder

    1. Rajinder thank you for all the rocking comments bro. When you ask good questions, you get good answers which put you on the path toward your dreams.

  7. Hi Ryan,

    Great advice and you’re right, you have to pay your dues before you start making any money. I’m not saying that you can’t make money right out of the gate.

    However, I’ve found that money comes more often when you’ve served enough people. If you’re actually helping people, then you’ll start to see the profits.

    Like you said that takes patience and a lot of hard work. If we focus on serving people, then eventually the money will come.

    I’m sure we’ve all made the mistake of putting the money first. I know I’ve made that mistake in the past.

    Thanks for sharing, have a great day 🙂

    Susan

  8. Hi, Ryan,
    I am happy to see your blog posts in the blogosphere everywhere. And surely The biggest mistake which irritates the bloggers is asking the same question which is already answered in the blog post.
    Thanks for the share.
    Have a good day ahead.

  9. Hi Ryan,
    Is very annoying sometimes and you could become overwhelmed if care is not taken and the requested help could not be rendered if you consider their questions. At times even when you provide the answer on a blog post, they will rather want you to say it on a chat. Is very common in my place when it comes to this because they will always claim they are using free browsing which may not allow them to surf the internet. But what can we do? Should we neglect them or still go ahead to bring the information live on a private chat?

    1. We want to find the happy medium Awogor. Like, chat folks up a bit on social media through public updates, but then share answers via private messages. Pretty in-depth, but of course, set up coaching services to offer robust help, and to also, get paid. As for folks asking questions, just follow these tips, be bold in asking the right ones, and feel free to ask on more public forums or private. Whatever feels better to you.

  10. Chidera Ochuagu

    Hello, Ryan.

    Thanks for sharing this. I love it!

  11. The people you are talking to are new to this industry,This topics will teach a lot to those people.

  12. I have read this post and I have discovered my problems in terms of asking questions as a blogger.

    Thanks for this post.

  13. Hmm, I don’t do any of above-mentioned mistakes but I feel so guilty of all. I love the way your write bro.

    More grace to your fingertips and I’m really ready to catch a lot from your tips.

    Thanks!

  14. Good day Ryan

    I have read your style of asking a question very carefully. I’m a new blogger and these are great tips for me.

    Thanks for sharing them, Ryan.

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