I get interviewed here and there by aspiring bloggers.
Most of these bloggers ask me what MUST-HAVE tool do I suggest. I reply either how I am not a tools guy, or, I share my MUST-HAVE tool as being my mind. I spend hours daily honing that tool because life follows mind. As within, so without, the ancient wisdom goes.
But moving beyond honing your mental tool, blogging skills beat tools every time. I know millions of bloggers who use all the seemingly right tools but struggle like heck to succeed. But I use basically no tools to save WordPress and I do OK. Why? I put my faith in my skills, not in tools. Using the right tool for the job may or may not help you but if you have no skills, you are toast.
Picture a carpenter. He learns early on how the hammer is the MUST-HAVE tool for his job. But he never learns the basics. He never practices to develop skills. Whenever he uses the hammer he does a poor job, not driving nails into wood effectively, building a dangerous, unsafe framework for the home he appears to be working on. His hammer-tool matters not because he did not put in the thousands of carpentry practice hours needed to become skilled enough to use the hammer effectively.
I am like a carpenter who is not too attached to the hammer but focuses heavily on learning the in’s and out’s of my craft. Of course, I use a WordPress dot org blog as my main tool; serious pros go this route for 1 of a billion reasons. But beyond using a WordPress dot org blog, I give little attention and energy to tools but spend virtually all of my time and energy improving my blogging skills by creating and connecting persistently, every single day.
Perhaps I do not have a list of critical tools like millions of bloggers out there but I do OK blogging-wise because skills beat tools. Millions of bloggers do not put in 15,000 blogging hours like me; millions of bloggers do not have my blogging skills. Skills beat tools because you need skills to use tools effectively to succeed.
Tools also create certain crutches for bloggers who lean on tools from fear versus putting their tool perspective in the proper space. Imagine if you are an ESL blogger; English is your second language. Fellow ESL bloggers shout out the glowing benefits of a grammar tool. Using such a tool can AID your writing but using this tool does not MAKE you a better writer. What makes you a better writer? Spending 1000’s hours practicing your writing in English.
Do not depend on a grammar tool to improve your writing skills because grammar tools only assist in pointing out glaring grammatical errors. If you do not practice writing and do not develop your writing skills, using a grammar tool to make your post look good is like trying to place a Band-Aid on your leg to stop the blood flow after it’s been amputated.
Write, write, and write some more offline. Become a skilled, clear, confident writer. Create helpful content. Build genuine bonds with bloggers in your niche by serving them. Open multiple income streams. Develop skills. Skills allow you to become a successful blogger. Skills gain trust, earn credibility, and open prospering doors.
Did Vishwajeet invite me to guest post on his sensational blog because I used Grammarly once? Nope! He invited me to guest post here because I developed my writing skills after practicing writing for millions upon millions of words over 12 years of my life.
Develop your skills first. Keep tool use to a minimum. Tools aid you in becoming successful but YOU and your blogging skills are the prime cause of your blogging success.
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