Use These Poker Skills to Go All-In On Blogging
Starting a blog can be a daunting experience, with so many trying and so few seeing the project succeed.
It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, a certain amount of knowledge and a little bit of luck. Two people could start the same blog simultaneously, with pretty much the same content, and one would fail whilst the other would thrive. Sometimes, success might hinge on who sees your post on social media or someone linking to you as a resource that opens new doors.
There are around 31 million bloggers in the US, according to FinancesOnline.com, which makes for a crowded market. They write about anything and everything, from wildlife to wrestling, from the world of football to the world of poker. To make a blog success you must take inspiration and tips from a range of resources, and poker is one of those places.
It might not be obvious at first, but there are many attributes a poker player has that are also used in blogging. Of course, one is a game, the other is a pastime, but both can make you serious money if you get it right, and that’s why it wouldn’t hurt to take a leaf out of a professional poker player’s book when setting up your blog. How? By following these handy hints.
Network
When starting a blog, it is important to make sure you back your brand by networking. In his book ‘On Writing’, author Stephen King said that the key to being a good writer is to be a good reader. The same goes for blogging; read other people’s work, interact with their social media accounts and make sure you’re speaking to people in the same niche as you. The same happens in poker; Poker.org explains how a good poker player survives by networking, sharing experiences and even discussing their own game with rivals. By sharing tips, learning where others have failed, and just chatting about your niche, you become part of a community that will help you succeed.
Work Hard
When you see players sitting around a World Series of Poker table, as they are at the minute, you might be fooled into thinking they just turned up to play. They didn’t; they invested buy-in money, sometimes as much as $10,000. They most likely earned that by grinding poker tables at their local casino or online. They put the hard work in simply to be one face in a crowded Las Vegas poker room, and that’s an important lesson for a blogger. To become a name in your chosen field, even a small one, you’ll need to work hard. You might need to invest in camera equipment, hosting, and other resources to help you create content. You’ll need to write consistently and keep putting the hours in. Do that, and you give yourself a fighting chance of reaching the stage where you get recognized just as the WSOP players do.
Enjoy It
The most crucial piece of advice is to enjoy what you do. A poker professional thrives on the intense drama, the thrill of a winning hand and the nomadic lifestyle. If they didn’t enjoy it, they’d go back to a regular nine to five job like the rest of the country. Instead, they love what they do and take the rough with the smooth. If you love blogging, it shows in the words you write and the presentation of your posts. Nothing promotes quality work in all aspects of life more than enjoying what you do.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also find our recent piece, ‘8 Crucial Tips on How to Start a Successful Blog’ interesting.
