Today I am proud to welcome Ryan Biddulph, Island Hopping Pro Blogger, as my guest author. I asked him to tell us more about his background and how he started his pro blogger career.
Ryan needs no introduction so I'll hand you straight over to him.
Ryan Biddulph: Island Hopping Pro Blogger
When Joy asked me to write about how I went from pier guard to island hopping pro blogger I froze for a second.
The process of doing so was simple. How would I sex it up?
Buy your domain and hosting. After you find out about making money online. Struggle. Succeed. Struggle some more. Then, success.
Sound boring?
It wasn’t boring, but in the same regard, people who live their dreams simply develop enthusiasm, passion and a sense of child-like fun for following simple, powerful tips, daily, over the course of years.
I had so much fun on this journey and I also ran into some big league struggles. But as for the logistics of doing the island hopping thing, the journey is Plain Jane Simple.
Why then did I struggle for years? Why do most bloggers struggle to make enough dough to buy a used gum wrapper?
I – and they – resisted facing fears. I – and they – resisted doing energy work.
There is little sexiness about doing energy work. Feeling crappy for a few hours or days, or feeling horrible for moments, is not fun. But on the other side of eating these energetic poop sandwiches lies happiness, fun, love, practice, study, service, generosity, persistence, prolific writing, guest posting, blog commenting, video creating, profits, and your wildest dreams.
This is the cornerstone of my transition: facing my fears and shifting my energy after facing these demons.
Let’s dive in.
1: I Got Fired (Important Step)
Key step here.
You know when folks tend to bemoan getting fired? Best thing that happened to me, to that point. Being given the pink slip from my security guard job at the shipping terminal forced me to get clear on choosing freedom over bondage. Meaning I had to get serious about designing a life around some vehicle where I could make a living while being free from working long, hard hours for somebody else.
My wife – then girlfriend – Kelli told me that you could make money online. This floored me. I had no clue this was possible. But first I had to decide not to run back to the shipping terminal like a dog with its tail between its legs, begging for part time pier guard work.
I declined the part time work.
I loved the idea of calling the shots in my life.
But I still had to figure out how to do it.
2: Kelli Told Me about Making Money Online
SEO?
Blog?
Twitter?
I did not know the meaning of these words. Was an SEO like a CEO? Who cared about weblogs? I thought only birdies tweeted?
I knew how to check Facebook and my email after I got fired nearly a decade ago. That was it. Not much else doing online.
But after Kelli noted how you could make money online by running a cyber business I did a little bit of research – emphasis on a little bit – dropped money on a domain and hosting and got going with blogging and a few other online cash flow thingees.
I failed horribly.
But I did take the first all important step; I bought my domain and hosting, and began writing and publishing posts.
3: I Bought My Domain and Hosting
This was the turning point. Biggest day of my blogging career.
You cannot be something without taking a few fundamentals steps of being that something. Bloggers need to have a domain and hosting to take the first step into becoming pro bloggers.
I took that step.
Even if I failed horribly for many years, I still dove in.
One day after I bought my domain and hosting, Kelli walked me off of the cyber ledge. I had a freak out moment. Totally panicked, I was this close to cancelling my domain and hosting and getting my money back. If I could actually do that.
Either way, I was close to quitting 24 hours into my fledgling online career. Who the hell was I? A broke, fired security guard? What did I know, anyway? I could never learn this blogging or internet marketing thing. Too overwhelming. I was paralyzed with information overload, under stress financially and just about ready to do something different when her reassuring voice gave me the first confidence boost I needed to keep going.
4: Struggle…..Success…..then Some Struggling Again
These years were interesting. I failed terribly for years. But then I experienced some success too.
I failed again, then, some success.
I eventually learned that blogging success flows to folks who work on their energy, first, then move into action, backing their actions with a kind, generous, loving intent. Then the learning, studying and practicing happens, and you begin to see rocking results with your blog….over time…..but only after you feel and clear fears, so you can blog mainly for fun, with love.
Getting My Energy Right
Since I am not prepared to write the next War and Peace sized tome on Joy’s fabulous blog, let’s just say that the peaks and valleys in my career were ample.
I went from getting 3 visitors a day on my blog 10 years ago to being featured on Richard Branson’s Virgin blog a few years ago.
I struggled with writer’s block a decade ago. But again, a few years back, I wrote and self-published 126 bite-sized eBooks, 90 of which I wrote during a 3 month stretch.
The difference maker? I gradually faced, embraced, felt and released my fears around life, blogging, making money online and all that stuff, so I could blog mainly from a place of love and fun.
You may find 1 out of 100 bloggers who actually do this. Even bloggers who have seen success still blog predominantly from an energy of fear, not sitting down with their terrors, feeling them, and clearing them out.
All of my struggles with traffic and profits and all of my money struggles online and offline were the product of me doing things from a fearful space, because I resisted feeling my fears.
When I did feel my fears – through a series of unpleasant circumstances which triggered those fears – those screaming, grieving and crying sessions were the energetic purges I chose to experience, which inspired me to be prolific, creative, generous, more detached, helpful, more fearless and a bunch more loving in all I did, blogging-wise.
I still fear, but also, am largely fearless with my blogging activities, namely because I faced my fears through trigger events, and also, through some zany stuff that happened during my world travels.
When the fear went, the struggles went too, because instead of sitting around and worrying about myself and my problems all day long, or instead of just trying to survive, I feel super duper inspired to write 5 guest posts daily, to read and comment effectively on 20 plus blogs daily, to do a live broadcast on Facebook, Twitter and Periscope daily, to promote my eBooks and course, to help my clients, to sell courses, to promote other bloggers on social media and to fulfill interview and more guest posts requests.
So many bloggers wonder where I get my energy; I don’t get it anywhere. I am simply not encumbered by the fears most bloggers cling to, so I move around more effortlessly and get to helping folks freely, while most bloggers are carrying around fear-energy-anchors,that they could quickly shed if they felt their deepest fears versus resisting these energies.
Hey I get it; I was in that fear-energy-anchor boat for years. But it makes no sense to carry around what cripples you when you could quickly release the fear-yolk by feeling these unpleasant energies and moving forward from a lighter, more loving, more fun energy.
5: Finally….Success
After:
- Purging some deep fears during intense sessions
- Following my morning routine of meditation and taking an icy cold shower for a long time
- Being a blogging student
- Practicing my writing skills daily for years
- Creating helpful content on my blog
- Building blogging friendships with successful bloggers from my niche by promoting them and by commenting on their blogs
- Generously helping people through various channels online
I began to see increasing success.
The energy preceded the success though.
Almost every blogger you meet misses this point; they believe that building an email list, or guest posting, or blog commenting is the sole reason why they succeeded, or is the only way you will succeed with blogging.
Not true.
If you don’t change your predominant energy from fear to love, you will be blind to sound practical advice, you will resist practicing the skill of blogging and you will have a terrible time seeing even scant success.
No magic formula exists for successful blogging.
I became an island hopping pro blogger not by buying flight tickets with my wife to travel to Bali 6 years ago. The decision to travel was a quick, clear choice to hit the road. That was easy enough. Buy tickets. Rent places. Or house sit.
My blogging success rested on choosing to help people, to practice my blogging skills, and to follow these 2 steps persistently, daily, for years.
Why did I choose to help folks and to practice my blogging skills?
I shifted predominantly from fear to love, energy-wise, in all I did online and in much of what I did offline too.
The purges preceding this shift were not too much fun in some cases but those moments of discomfort helped a broke security guard become an island hopping pro blogger.
You can do it guys.
Whatever your blogging dreams, these experiences are waiting to meet you.
Dive in.
Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Do the energy work through meditating, exercising, yoga, prayer, or whatever organic practices that resonate with you.
The purge precedes the profits.
The energetic dredging precedes the dreams.
Are you ready to live the life of your dreams through blogging?
About the Author
Ryan Biddulph is a blogger, author and world traveler who's been featured on Richard Branson's Virgin Blog, Forbes, Fox News, Entrepreneur, Positively Positive, Life Hack, John Chow Dot Com and Neil Patel Dot Com.
He has written and self-published 126 bite-sized eBooks on Amazon.
Ryan can help you build a successful blog at Blogging From Paradise.
Thank-you To Ryan From Joy
It has been really fascinating to hear about Ryan before his pro-blogger, island hopping, days and I thank him sincerely for sharing these experiences on my blog.
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