Why You Should Keep Going with Your Blog

This post is based on Episode 89 of the ProBlogger podcast.

Last week I talked about “starting” and why it is the most important thing you will ever do as an entrepreneur.

This week I’ll be talking about that second The most important thing you will ever do as an entrepreneur. And like so many lessons in life, there is a story that perfectly captures the idea.

But this story is not mine. It’s actually one that I came across while researching a project in high school. But it’s one that really impressed me, and I hope you will find it just as useful.

A story of two brothers

It was 1851 and the Cavanagh brothers were standing on a bend in a creek that gold prospectors in earlier times had optimistically called the Golden Point.

Together with around 600 other miners, the two brothers had dug for days in their claim. Numerous miners had already found gold in this curve and made good (but not spectacular) money with their finds, which is why so many miners were there.

Most of the gold had been found in the top meter of sandy soil, which was relatively easy to traverse. But underneath was a hard layer of clay that got through The was groundbreaking work.

The miners also heard rumors of richer harvests further up the stream. And so it did not take long before the entire area surrounding the brothers’ claim was littered with abandoned holes, each about three feet deep.

But the two brothers stayed. Believing there was still gold to be found, they began the arduous task of digging into the harsh clay that had made everyone else pack.

They moved to another miner’s abandoned claim and started digging. Inch by inch they splintered the clay only to find more of it. They went to bed that night with nothing but back pain.

The next day they started digging again. Again they splintered the layer of clay, inch by inch, only to find more of it underneath.

As sunset drew near, the brothers finally broke through the last of the clay. The hole was now about two meters deep, and at the bottom they discovered an old creek bed that was centuries old. More importantly, they found pockets of gold that had washed up from the mountains for hundreds of years.

The brothers worked feverishly through the night until their lamps failed.

The next day they got up early and assessed their work. In the light of day the full reality of what they had discovered began to sink in. Under that clay was gold – and a lot of it.

On that day alone, the Cavanagh brothers found 27 kilograms worth more than £ 3,500, which was more than enough to prepare them for life.

News of their success spread quickly. A month later there were 10,000 miners working in the area around Golden Point who, as I can imagine, were digging much deeper than usual.

And the larger Ballarat area (just hours from where I live here in Australia) became the richest gold field in the world.

Sometimes you have to dig further …

Like I said, I learned about the Cavanagh brothers in high school. And although I don’t even know their first names, I often think of them and how they moved on after so many others had given up.

I also think about how their persistence not only led them to their fortune, but also encouraged others to try something new (i.e., dig deeper). People who saw them dig and probably thought they were crazy before did the same thing now.

Because of this, perseverance is the second most important thing you do as a business owner. Sometimes you have to dig a lot before you can succeed. But when it gets difficult and people start giving up on their “claim” and moving on to the next big thing, it can be tempting to do the same.

There were times when I felt a bit like the Cavanagh brothers. (As a blogger, I mean. I don’t like physical work and would never make a choice and start digging in clay.) I’ve seen many bloggers come and go over the years. Like me, they saw the opportunity to build something meaningful. But as soon as it got difficult, they gave up and gave up their blogs.

And there were times when I thought about giving up too.

I’ve seen many bloggers quit their jobs after deciding that they would be more successful on other platforms. By the time I started blogging, some of them were already talking about quitting their blogs and moving to MySpace. And since then, I’ve heard of many bloggers who gave up their blogs to access Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, or Google Plus.

The blogosphere is littered with abandoned blogs. And I sometimes wonder what would have happened if they continued digging through the clay instead of giving up their claim. Perseverance doesn’t always lead to success, but it is a huge part of successful blogging (and success in almost any area).

… And sometimes you have to go on

However, in some situations, it may be better to give up on what you are doing and move on than to whip the proverbial dead horse.

Yes, the Cavanagh Brothers story is a great example of how perseverance can pay off. But I’m sure there are other stories about miners who spent way too much time digging in the same spot for little or no reward.

This can also happen with blogging. In these cases, quitting may be the best option.

I’ll talk about that in next week’s blog post.

Photo by Reuben Juarez on Unsplash