How to Become a Professional Blogger: Lessons from Pro bloggers

Table of Contents Who is a Professional Blogger1) A Blogger Who Earns a Livelihood from the Blog2) A…
Woman happy as she becomes a problogger

I keep getting requests from people on social media to guide them about how to become a professional blogger. In fact, some of my fans refer to me as a pro blogger, which is a short form of professional blogger.

Although I respect their views and thank them, honestly speaking, I don’t think I’ve reached that level to become one.

I’ve seen many people use the term “pro blogger” casually. But what do they really mean by that and who exactly is a professional blogger?

Let me put it across to you – do you consider yourself as a professional blogger? If yes, then what do you think makes you one?

These are some of the concepts that I’ll try to clear in this post.

I’m sure after reading through you’d know the criteria you need to fulfill so that you too can become a professional blogger, if you aren’t one already!

I’m also going to ask a few top bloggers some questions, which are specifically about how to become professional bloggers and what makes probloggers different and special.

So let’s go ahead and take the lessons directly from the pro bloggers, about being pro bloggers.

This is a special milestone post on Aha!NOW that you’ll get to know about at the end of this post. Hope you enjoy it!

Who is a Professional Blogger

You know that a blogger is a person who keeps and updates a blog, which is primarily also called a web log.

You also know that every blogger needs to write content and promote it. So, what are the things that a professional blogger does that other bloggers don’t?

I thought from different perspectives and came out with different viewpoints. You might agree with some, and not with others.

Do let me know in the comments what do YOU think a professional blogger is. Here are the different outlooks about a pro blogger:

1) A Blogger Who Earns a Livelihood from the Blog

Here’s what one of the pioneer and popular blogger thinks – Photo of Pro blogger Chris Brogan

When I asked +Chris Brogan, who is a publisher, keynote speaker, and a New York Times Bestselling author, besides a blogger at ChrisBrogan.com, about what makes a problogger different from a blogger, he was very clear about it.

According to Chris, “The only difference between blogger and pro blogger is that a “pro blogger” has quit their day job because their blog now pays for their livelihood.”

That makes sense, doesn’t it? If you want to call yourself a professional, you should be able to relate what you do in terms of money.

I also infer that being a professional, you need to devote all of your time to your blog. If you work part-time, you’re perhaps an amateur, hobbyist, or a part-time blogger.

Well, if I say that, then I might hurt many bloggers, who blog part-time but still earn decent amount of income that helps them in a good way.

I guess they too qualify and deserve to earn that coveted title, don’t they?

2) A Blogger Who is Highly Skilled and Perfect

Some people use the term “professional” to emphasize that the person is highly skilled. I know nobody’s totally perfect.

Such a person is dedicated and does everything that a job asks for – perfectly like an expert, as if it’s his or her profession and not a hobby.

If such a blogger is professional in this respect but does not earn money out of the blog, whether due to lack of skill, interest, or desire, would you still call him or her a pro blogger?

Well, to further your understanding, let’s consider the definition of “professional”, which means “engaged in a profession or engaging in as a profession or means of livelihood.”

So, your definition of a problogger would depend on your outlook whether you consider a profession as related or not related to livelihood.

Digging deep into definitions, occupations too can be called as profession. They can be many activities that occupy a person’s attention, even being a voluntary priest can be a profession!

In that case, a passionate and expert blogger, who doesn’t earn his or her livelihood from the blog, too is a professional blogger! What’s your opinion?

However, there’s one more aspect.

An authority qualified to teach beginners is also called a professional. A blogger with considerable experience is able to guide and lead new bloggers on to the right path.

So, if a blogger becomes a role model to learn from, does that blogger become a problogger?

I guess that is why a few bloggers call me a pro blogger because I know that neither is my blog source of my livelihood, nor am I an expert blogger.

I can only inspire and help bloggers and I’m popular just for this fact. 🙂

But I do not think that makes me a pro blogger.

To come at a definition of professional blogger, I’d add up all the aspects:

I’d say that a part-time or full-time blogger, who becomes an expert authority besides being popular too, and earns a respectful income from the blog, is eligible to be called a professional blogger.

Am I being too liberal in the definition? 😉 What do you think? Which viewpoint or definition of problogger do you accept?

Chris adds more relevant information, as he says, “I am not technically a problogger. My business isn’t built around the blog. The blog is just a great marketing tool for my business.”

It is evident from his words that a problogger is essentially a blogger whose blog is his or her business or prima earning source.

Therefore, if you’ve a popular and successful company and you run a blog to support and promote it, you don’t call yourself a pro blogger, unless the blog too is a major part of the total revenue.

But maybe not all bloggers or probloggers think so. For me, even Chris is a pro blogger.

So, we learned that becoming a pro blogger is not only about writing quality content that go viral, having mass loyal following, or even high ranks.

It is mainly about having a respectable revenue producing blog and being an authority.

But we do have a good matter for discussion, don’t we?

Meanwhile, let’s go by the standard definition, and that connects problogging with the aspect of livelihood. In that case, I don’t know about you, but I’m very clear that I’m far from becoming a problogger.

So, I’m keen to know how to become a professional blogger. Aren’t you too?

A professional blogger man sitting with laptop

How to Become a Pro Blogger

Only a pro blogger could tell me what I should do to be a professional blogger.

So, I went ahead and asked +Yaro Starak, who is the founder and writer of Entrepreneurs-Journey.com, a blog about making money online, blogging, and personal development.

He is very clear in his views, and starts from the basic. Photo of Professional Blogger Yaro Starak

He said, “I believe to become a professional at anything is first the choice to do so, then the dedication to follow through and keep working on it every day.

The fruits of that work – in this case the money you make – is the final stamp of proof that you are a professional, however you should consider yourself a professional long before that.

It’s about mindset first, then outcomes next. You can’t have one without the other.”

Isn’t this good and inspiring to know?

You and I too can be professional bloggers, if we’ve the right mindset – if only we start believing and considering ourselves as pro bloggers.

Pumped up with motivation, I asked Yaro about how he became a professional blogger. Candidly, he narrated his success story.

“I started blogging in 2004 as an experiment for a small business I had at the time, then I created my current entrepreneurs-journey.com blog at the start of 2005.

It was a hobby and I considered it one for at least the first six months. However the moment I started testing methods to make money felt like the switch for me to become a professional and see my blog as a new business, not just a hobby.

I didn’t earn a full time income from my blog for at least a year, so in terms of outcomes, the tangible income was a result of my mindset shift made half a year earlier, which led to me treating my blog in a very different way.

I focused on how I could increase my income and increase my readership, instead of just writing casually when I felt like it when it was a hobby.”

Doesn’t this seem similar to your story too? I can so very well relate to it, because I too hadn’t had the shift in my mindset until recently.

I totally concur with what Yaro says and I take it to mean that the right mindset makes your belief stronger. This gives you the right direction, besides the courage and confidence to carry on.

If you’re persistence, hard-working, as well as smart, you’ll achieve success in becoming a professional blogger.

Adding more to make things easier and explain how to become a professional blogger, Chris says, “Finding a community that you can serve and that someone else wants to sell into. That’s the fastest and easiest path to that.”

Reiterating, Yaro puts in his final words, “I believe mindset is everything.

I’m reading Yaro’s free e-book Blog Profits Blueprint (Aff link) and would recommend the same to you if you too want to transform yourself into a professional blogger.

What Are the Qualities of a Professional Blogger

Now that you know who is a professional blogger and how to become one, you should also know what qualities you should possess as a pro blogger. Photo of Professional Blogger Kristi Hines

I asked +Kristi Hines, who is a freelance writer and a social media enthusiast, besides being a professional blogger at Kikolani.com, and it didn’t take her time to answer that question.

According to Kristi, “The main two things you need to become a problogger are passion for your niche and dedication to make your blog a success. Without the passion, it’s hard to find the motivation to keep working toward your goals.”

Passion is what drives the professionals, whether they’re in the field of sports, music, arts, or for that matter blogging. Isn’t it?

Kristi adds, “The reason you need determination is that problogging is not easy.”

I totally agree with her.

It’s not an easy and smooth road to be a professional blogger. As you move forward, the tasks become more demanding, and if you’re not determined, you might just quit midway.

Not only bloggers and probloggers, but every person who wants to be successful should posses the 4D’s, which are the personal qualities of devotion, dedication, determination, and discipline.

Read more about them here.

Three ace cards of professional blogger

I further believe that probloggers always have aces up their sleeve – in fact, they’ve three of them or possess the AAA advantage!

ATTITUDE. APPROACH. ADEPTNESS.

It’s not that the rest of the bloggers don’t have these qualities, but the professional bloggers have more of them, which become a part of their core personality. 🙂

Right Attitude

Pro bloggers have a strong belief in themselves. They are full of confidence and always helpful.

Professional bloggers are full of passion about what they do. They’ve a problem solving and a go-getter attitude. Of course, they love and enjoy their tasks!

Right Approach

Pro bloggers are highly principled and have great values. They’re assertive or aggressive as and where required.

They plan their blogging career in advance and have a blogging strategy in place. They’ve a road map. They dare to be different and take everyone along with them.

Right Adeptness

Pro bloggers choose an area of expertise for which they’ve an aptitude, and become highly skilled in it.

They keep themselves updated, embrace new technology, and innovatively create new benchmarks and milestones.

Even imbibing and imitating these qualities of probloggers can create a mindset that will help you find a way to be a professional blogger.

Besides possessing these qualities, pro bloggers are very methodical, assertive, punctual, responsible, and most importantly, have great business skills. They are leaders and pioneers who make their own path.

These bloggers have some expertise that makes them shine through. This expertise can be in any aspect of blogging or any other field of work.

When you develop the qualities of a pro blogger, what steps would you take finally to become one?

A woman professional blogger sitting in office.

6 Steps to Become A Professional Blogger

If you wish to be a pro blogger, then you better have a strategy in place. You should know exactly what steps to take and which process to follow.

I asked +Amit Agarwal, who is India’s first pro blogger and blogs at labnol.org, about what should one do to become a professional blogger. Photo of Professional Blogger Amit Agarwal

Amit says, “The thing that helps is consistency and sticking to your niche. Write about topics that you are an expert at and respect reader’s time.”

That’s true, isn’t it?

You become a leader only if you’ve followers. You’ll have followers only if you’ve some value. Conclusively, unless you don’t provide value in your posts, you can’t be a problogger.

Let me remind you that here I’m talking about active and real followers, who’re your loyal supporters and not the ones that are purchased!

How could I not include +Ana Hoffman in this roundup of pro bloggers! Ana is a successful internet entrepreneur and one of the best traffic generation guide for your blog. As most of you know, she blogs at trafficgenerationcafe.com.

When I asked her the steps to become a professional blogger, she shared her wise insights and practical suggestions from her own rich blogging experience that are going to be your gold nuggets! 🙂

Here are her 6 steps to professional blogging: Photo of Professional Blogger Ana Hoffman

1. Keep your day job – it will take time to “make it”. Don’t be disappointed if your timeframe doesn’t align with reality. It WILL take time.

2. The earlier you discover what sets you apart from the pack and why your readers should read your blog over theirs, the better.

3. Have a great professional (doesn’t mean paid or expensive) design – first impression is everything.

4. Be generous: promote others without expecting anything in return. Link out to others in your blog posts, share their posts on social media, contribute thoughtful comments, etc. – much like Harleena does.

5. One great post is better than 5 mediocre ones.

6. Leverage your content in different ways: do videos, audios, Slideshare presentations, etc. Your readers will appreciate it and share your content more and it’s a great way to establish your presence and authority across multiple platforms.

Wow! This is inspirational, gives you the right clues, shows you the right path, and tells you the right tricks to get going. This is what you expect from a pro blogger, don’t you?

Well, while Ana was about to send her prescription for problogging success, I made my own general points that can help any blogger to go to the next level.

Taking cues from the lessons of all pro bloggers, I conclude that you can become a professional blogger if you take the following 6 steps:

1) Select a Niche and Become an Expert Authority

I understand if you say that I’ve a multi-niche blog so why do I tell others to have a single niche blog. Well, I guess I’ve been lucky to be successful with a multi-niche blog.

You can say I’m a jack of all niches, and master of a few. 😉 But if you want to be a problogger, you need to make yourself valuable or an authority in some specific field.

I got recognition for my compelling content, blog commenting, and social media promotion. However, not everyone can get away having a multi-niche blog, can they?

2) Make a Blog Plan or Strategy

Okay, I’ve said this before. You need to have a detailed blog plan like the one you’ve for your life, a life plan.

Since you want to be a professional blogger, you need to treat your blog like a business. The first thing you do when you start a business is have a business plan.

Know what product or service you can sell, where is your market, how you can make money or become an authority, how long will it take, what will be your expenses, and so on.

I too need to do that, and that’s why I’m reading Yaro’s book as mentioned before. 🙂

3) Choose the Right Tools

When you want to be exclusive and a have a successful image, you can no longer do with the free things.

If not all, at least you need to have a premium theme, self-hosted blog, and a unique domain name.

Apart from these, you can have premium keyword research software, SEO software, expert analytics, email marketing services, and other things to help you enhance your blogging.

Let me tell you that I hardly use any of these myself. I’ve yet to try out the expensive SEO tools and other things..

4) Write Quality Content

This is a no brainer, isn’t it? If you’ve observed, the content that pro bloggers write are appealing and magnetic because they’ve their own opinions and voice.

They’re called professional because their content is professionally crafted. They usually come up with something innovative and different.

Usually, probloggers write from their own experience. They research enough to validate their content and make it informative and useful.

Many probloggers reach to a stage where they outsource their content and later transform it into their style and voice. That’s good if they can afford to, as it saves them valuable time.

The content should be full of resources. It has to be presented in an effective way that it can easily be read.

5) Offer Some Unique Product or Service

I think you can’t be a professional blogger if you don’t have a product or service to offer, whether they are for free or not.

It can be an ebook, a book, a blog audit service, consultancy service, or any other way through which you can show your authority and help your blog visitors.

I need to work in this aspect, and probably this is something that keeps me away from being the contender for the title of a pro blogger. 🙂

6) Develop Relationships and a Loyal Following

You cannot be a problogger by being alone. You need people to support you, follow you, and praise you.

If you don’t have a large following and a good amount of traffic, majority of people won’t recognize you for what you’re.

For this to happen, you need to develop relationships, interact and engage with people, develop a community, and make yourself available.

Of course, all this happens only when you write unique content that people find useful and can relate to.

To make professional blogging easy, you need to master the art of blog promotion to increase your traffic and engagement.

You may like to join Kristi’s Blog Post Promotion course (Aff link), which is an ultimate course that few of my friend’s too have joined. I have yet to read about it in detail, but I know it’s good!

* * *

Remember, that a pro blogger is a leader, and to be a professional blogger, you need to have all the qualities of a leader and a successful person.

You need to understand your community, be able to inspire them, be a role model, be creative and have a positive attitude.

You need to be honest, helpful, focused, self-motivated, and passionate. Besides, be a visionary and a person of action, and most importantly, have your own voice!

But remember that becoming a professional blogger takes time.

Yaro did mention it took him considerable time, and I read some other probloggers mention that it took them about two to three years.

Kristi explained in detail, “In my case, it took a year to find out what I really was passionate about, and then another two years before all of the work started to pay off. Of course, it was worth the wait as it allowed me to quit my 9 to 5 and become a freelance writer.”

Being a freelance writer and a blogger is not easy. You might like to read my post on how I became a freelance writer.

So, if you’ve been blogging for a year and feel the wait is too long, hang on!! Learn from the pro bloggers themselves, who waited and enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

Problogger man and woman happy after achieving milestone mark

Milestone: 200 Posts on Aha!NOW

This was a special post on Aha!NOW  because it is the 200th post, and for me this is a milestone. I know it’s not great an event, and there are probably thousands of bloggers who’ve crossed this level. Still, it means something to me. 🙂

200 posts, 12000+ comments, 3+ years, and about 26,000 Alexa rank. It could’ve been better, but I’m happy with what I’ve achieved.

I may not have earned a lot of money from my blog, but I earned the love from my wonderful blog community that has accepted me as I’m, supported me through the thick and thin, and given me a place in their hearts and minds.

For me, that holds a lot more value than money! It brings me immense happiness when someone tells me my posts inspire them, or they find them useful. It’s like I’ve earned millions in a day 🙂

It’s time I change my mindset. This is the first time you might see a few affiliate links, but now you’ll see more of them, and even sponsored and review posts. If the pro bloggers are doing it, why shouldn’t I try them too? 😉

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it worthy enough.

Now that you know how to become a professional blogger, what’s your plan of action?

Over to You –

What is your definition of a professional blogger? Do you consider blogging as a profession? What qualities and steps would you add to become a pro blogger? If you’re a problogger, share the experiences of your blogging journey in the comments below.

Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos

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  1. Hi Mam,
    Awesome post.
    I don’t think problogging is the task without a regular job. Beacause as you said there are many a one earns good income wi. I think they are also called pro-bloggers.
    Yeah, all the traits you saud about pro-bloggers are true. I think passion leads us to better profession. So inorder to be a problogger, we must have passion in blogging and in our niche.
    I think some pro-bloggers have a concept that least response make them pro. I don’t think that. One who guide newbies with thier experiences is the real pro.
    I have read your another post which has a mention about 4 D’s.
    As Yaro Sir said, I also started my blog as a hobby. But now it has been changed to more than that (not yet the profession). I will download and carefully read that ebook soon.
    I love the idea of AAA. Approach is how we see and act. So we should have a right approach. I often losses self-belief. I know it is much needed. Trying hard ro motivate myself.
    Ana Mam’s advices are really helpful.
    I just created a schedule and thinking of making a blogging strategy. Will complete it soon.
    I am new to SEO. So didn’t tried the tools for it. But I am using some online proof reading tools.
    Content is king. So having unique and helpful content is important. It bring back-to-back visotors to our blog.
    I never created a product. But will create one after 6 or more months.
    This is the era of relationship blogging and reciprocate blogging. Hence it is important to build relationship with our readers as well as fellow bloggers.
    Thanks Mam. I think blogging is my profession. Now nothing except blogging comes my mind. I will blog, blog and blog.
    Thank you so much and keep going.
    Regards,
    Rahul

  2. I think Chris Brogan is right, if you can make consistent money via your blog then you can consider yourself a professional blogger. I’ve been blogging for years and have made a little bit of money here and there but I couldn’t come close to living off it.

    However, I will add that if you’ve gotten paid for doing it that, in a way, you can consider yourself a professional. I look at the years when I used to sing at weddings. Since I almost always got paid to do it and traveled to do it I could consider myself a professional. I couldn’t live off it but I did get paid & I had some folks specifically ask for me.

  3. As I personally think, a pro blogger is he/she who takes his blog like more than just a blog. Who also works to help new-bie blogger, motivate and instruct them how to be a pro blogger.

    A pro blogger is a idol of many new-bie bloggers. We can see every blogger has their idol and he try their best to follow the idol’s every single step to reflect his success.

  4. Full description about pro bloggers. I have been blogging since 2000, till now i haven’t seen such a great explanation. Really GREAT

    Thanks!

  5. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article with all of us here.. All the bloggers u have mentioned are the BIG names in blogosphere… Amit sir has always been inspiration of bloggers in India and i do follow him a lot.. Yaro is another one i like.. I specially like his topic selection guide.. As a newbie it is my pleasure to have such knowledgeable people around me to learn from.. Keep up the good work.. cheers

  6. Hello Harleena madam, just landed here from Google, feels so nice to see our beloved site presented on Google for a search query by me. This is a marvelous post indeed and it really is going to help me in the writing assignment for which I conducted the Google search. Almost all the blogging icons are here and they are explaining the subtle things that you need to become a pro blogger. Thanks for being a help for my project.

  7. Thanks for this blog post. I always enjoy learning lessons from the pro. The best lessons are to replicate the pros in a lot of ways and then do things that are unique to you, at least that seems to be what Penelope Trunk think. I think a pro blogger is someone who makes a living from their blog and then uses that to spread out and take on other opportunities that enhance their life and income. They also make a difference in people’s life.

  8. Hey Harleena,
    First of all want to tell U that I heard a lot about U & following U I m a new blogger in this bloggers world & after reading this post learn a lot thanks for sharing 🙂

  9. Hey Harleena,

    Great content full of useful tips which really help us to become a problogger. yes, for becoming Problogger lots of hardwork, consistency and patience is required. We have to update our blog regularly and also have to make good relations with other bloggers.

    Right Attitude and approach also matters a lot. I learned lots of good stuff after reading this post. Thanks for sharing this post with us. It really gonna help many newbies.

  10. Hey Harleena,

    I have noticed many bloggers who just stared their blogging career few months ago and they are claiming to be a professional blogger. I mean how can anyone claim himself/herself as a professional blogger even they don’t even have the proper knowledge about blogging. I have started blogging few months ago How can I consider myself in that category of professional stuff?

    May be it just beginners don’t want to learn why they are blogging for? At which stand they are right now? I don’t want to point out anyone but it’s the truth of many newbies. I have learn’t that if a blogger wants to become professional then blogging should be the only thing to concentrate. Devotion is the key and the main thing is to have a good niche for the blog.

    Thanks for this motivational post as always.
    ~Ravi

  11. I have to agree with Chris Brogan on this one. To me, a “professional blogger” is simply someone who earns a living through their blog.

    I think all of the qualities mentioned — desire, passion, dedication, generosity, having the right mindset, being a leader, etc. — are fantastic, but I think tactical steps are equally important. Perhaps more important.

    If you really want to become a pro (in the strict “make a living blogging” sense) I’d say study those who are already pros in your niche — *especially* those who regularly publish income breakdowns. Learn how those blogs earn money (ads? ebooks? affiliate marketing? sponsored posts?) and study how they’re run (posting length/frequency? social media usage?) Then do your best to copy that formula while staying true to your blog’s unique vision/voice.

    This is a lot like your blog strategy suggestion, but with a heavier focus on using what has already worked for others to make your own blog profitable as well.

  12. Became a pro blogger is dream of any newbie blogger.Pro bloggers like amit agarwal are real ideal for any blogger I guess.Thanks for such a great post and guide us to become a successful blogger through this details and such well written post of you.

  13. First of all Congrats for your 200th post !The 200th post really have something great to say 🙂
    It’s not easy to become a pro blogger, it requires a lot of hard work and dedication.And yes, you need to be smart enough. I feel we need to work smart rather than working hard.The AAA advantage that you listed is just superb. It’s always important to have a solid plan 🙂 I still have a long way to go.

    Thanks for this wonderful article 🙂 Keep writing !

  14. Hi Harleena,

    You have some of my favorite bloggers listed there.

    The point you make about choosing the right tools is one that really resonates with me. I have helped people get started in blogging on the cheap, only to have them thank me for my troubles later with complaints. Blogging professionally is a business, and as such has an extremely small investment, when compared with other opportunities. Even when done first rate.

    Premium made-for-WordPress hosting is about thirty bucks a month, a top framework like Genesis or Thesis only costs sixty to eighty, and some customization of the child theme, to make it the blogger’s own, goes a long way in making the experience of blogging a lot less painful for bloggers aspiring to go pro. No need to mortgage the house :-).

    Anyone who wants to make a business out of it, should not be looking for “free” or “cheapest”, but rather “best”, “most dependable”, “used by the top bloggers”, etc.

    – Cole

  15. A Aweome post by a emerging pro blogger . I Liked the point consistency in important by amit agrawal . By the way thanks for sharing

  16. Thanks for awesome advice.. There are many Indian pro bloggers around us. Please do add them also.. Tony John is one such person who likes to teach upcoming bloggers. His methodologies are picture perfect and following him would bring closer to success. I hope you know him. Thanks for sharing this wonderful list of pro bloggers with us. If you want to be successful,one should follow any of the internet marketing gurus.

  17. This article helps a lot to a new blogger. I really enjoyed your blogging tips and this thing some how also motivates me. Must say again that your article is awesome.

  18. Hello Harleena,
    Very interesting and informative post indeed.But do you think one can become a successful blogger to read out these all steps. I think really not if they don’t take their blogging serious. As you add here many interesting points under this posts these are only for serious and hard work bloggers.
    Although post is very interesting and fresh to read. I am just say again and again I am just love your writing style and way to present it.I am always inspire from your blogs and now take a decision to start my on blog related to tech and make money online category.Hope you add this type of informative posts in future those helps all serious bloggers.
    NICE Day!!!

  19. Very inspiring article. This made me worry more about my blog.Because I want to be a professional blogger too. Thank for the list of all the inspirational bloggers.

  20. Hi Harleena Madam,
    Wow. That was an awesome read with a bunch of informative posts. I did visited here a day ago. But back then I was in rush. So I had bookmarked this page. Now I am back and have read it.

    Definition of Professional Blogger was always a debatable one. One could list a dozen of characteristics of professional blogger. But, I don’t think one could ever come with a precise and simple definition for it. It certainly depends on the perspectives of people. For majority I guess pro means someone who does blogging as their prime job. For me, pros are people who are skillful and experts in their niche and owns successful blogs. And, for that very reason, I consider you as a pro.

    Thanks for sharing this post and congrats on reaching the milestone of having 200 posts here. Wish you a nice weekend .

  21. This is an EXCELLENT post, Harleena. I cannot give it enough praise!

    You’ve really struck a chord with me. I am still a bit new to the game, but I’m getting there, slowly but surely. I’m a professional writer, so that helps!

    Nicely done, girl.

  22. Harleena,
    Congratulations on your 200th post! Bravo to you. I haven’t been over in a while due to nursing an achy hand. I always always learn so many fabulous things from each of your blogs. Yes, it has been said before, but bears repeating: Your generosity is amazing. You do not scrimp on information, but instead give bloggers so much to think about!

    This post is exciting to me because I love my little blog. It also challenges me in so many ways. I do not know about my ambition to become a professional blogger. One of your tips was to get that mindset, so I’m going to start there!

    Like many others, I consider you a pro. That’s because you lead the way for many of us in our blogging venture. You bring a no nonsense approach coupled with hard work. Your tireless efforts always inspire me to hang in there.

    Thanks once again for keeping this blogger energized and honing my skills.

    Karen:)

  23. Hello Harleena Mam,

    This article has inspired me to start planning for my blog. Because I too want to see myself as a pro blogger.
    Got to learn many thing from the opinion of pro bloggers.
    thanks for introducing all the pro bloggers at aha-now.com

    Btw congratulation for completion of your 200 blog post.

  24. Hi Queen,

    Very nice article i must say, however in all the points you mentioned I must say develop relationship and a loyal following is the best because if you do not have this, no matter how well you write trust me someday you will be surprised what will hit you i also want to add that humility is key, it helps in any stage of your life not just in been a pro blogger. thanks

    ~Bob

  25. Hello Harleena!

    What an epic post you have put together here. Thank you so much for including me in it.

    What I like about what you did with this post is more than just republish our answers, you weaved everything into one flowing original article that doesn’t just sound like a bunch of interviews combined.

    It looks like the world of social media appreciated it too based on how many shares you have had.

    Great work!

    Yaro

    1. Hi Yaro and welcome to my blog! 🙂

      Thank you so much, this means a lot coming from you, one of the true and pioneer professional bloggers! 🙂

      This post would’ve been incomplete without you, and I’m so grateful that you obliged me and accepted my request to share your personal views.

      I’m glad you like how the post was crafted. I used the answers by the probloggers as tools to sculpt a book of lessons for all bloggers who dream to become pro bloggers. I’m happy that it turned out as per my expectations and liked by all.

      This post has got an awesome response, thanks to the lessons by you all pro bloggers. I appreciate your help to the extent that you also personally shared this post.

      Thanks for visiting my blog and hope to see you around. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time and effort to comment on this post and do have a great rest of the week! 🙂

  26. How on earth was I going to miss this! I read the post to the latter and as a blogger, the best could do is to carefully do the reading as those ‘gurus’ of blogging are speaking.
    They’ve being there and so they know what they are talking about.
    I like what Yaro said especially that everything boils down to mindset.

    Thanks Madam Harleena for always bring us the best.

    1. Hi Emmanuel,

      I’m glad you didn’t miss this and found it worthy enough! 🙂

      Yes, those are good and useful lessons from the ‘gurus’ of blogging; lessons on pro bloggers by the probloggers themselves! 🙂

      Yaro knows the secret and he has revealed it – it is the mindset that makes the difference!

      Thanks for visiting and do have a great weekend ahead! 🙂

  27. The point you made about not being selfish and sharing others content without expecting anything in return is huge. So many people won’t help people if there is nothing in it for them. Help others and the money will come.

    1. Hi LeslieZ and welcome to my blog! 🙂

      I always say that “helping” is a synonym for “blogging”. If you aren’t helping, then you aren’t blogging in its true sense. You don’t have to be selfish all the time. I’m glad you like this point. 🙂

      Thanks for visiting and hope to see you around. Have a great day ahead! 🙂

  28. Hello Harleena,

    Congratulations on your 200th blog post! That is definitely a great accomplishment! Wow! This is an excellent blog post packed with so much informative information. You may not see yourself as a professional blogger but I do. To me a professional blogger is someone who can write exceptionally well and deliver the message in a helpful way. Just like Yaro said it starts with the mindset and that’s not only with blogging but with anything you want to do. This is something the newbie as well as the veteran blogger can use as a reference. Thanks for sharing this with us!

  29. Harleena
    This is an amazing in depth guidelines for those who want to become pro bloggers. You have glorified pro blogger guidelines by citing their quotes in your blog post.you started the post that people call/or refer you as pro blogger but you do not consider,by this post it has certified that you are a pro blogger. Congratulation for publishing 200th post.

  30. Glad to read the opinion from Pro bloggers. I liked the very first one which from Chris where he said that pro blogger is who earns enough for their livelihood and quit their day job!

    Oh God when I will be able to leave my day job? 😛

    By the way, congratulations for 200 posts milestone! Keep writing! Keep blogging!

  31. Hey Harleena,

    First off, congratulations on your 200th post. I know that it’s a great milestone, although you may not think so. But I can tell you that all the posts I read from you was well worth the reading. You have inspired me a lot!

    One day I like to be known as a “professional blogger”, but for me that’s going to take a little longer. I have changed my mindset from last year and I like the way things are going now, although I’m not making the type of money via my blog that I want. But like you, I’m just glad that people find my content valuable which gives me a boost to write more. Im always finding great value and I love sharing it through my blog. I do second guess myself, but my readers and other bloggers give me the support and assurance that I’m doing great so far!

    I definitely love the tips that you and Anna Hoffman gave. Why? Well become I can totally relate to them! It shows that I’m going on the right and to keep doing what I’m doing, making the necessary adjustments here and there.

    Thanks for sharing these valuable tips! Have a great weekend!

  32. Hi Harleena
    I visited first time ever to your blog and really got inspired a lot from you.After visiting your blog anyone wants to become a professional blog, no doubt.
    Thanks for inspiring and boosting me by your tips.

  33. It’s good to know it’s possible! Not sure I have what it takes to be a successful blogger.

  34. Hi Harleena,

    Congratulations on your 200th post. That is a milestone and you’ve only just begun. Look at you now my friend and just think what the next 200 will be like.

    I don’t blame you at all not seeing yourself in this light. I was talking with a blogging friend just today and we were talking about how others see us. I don’t see myself like others see me and I know you feel the same. I can’t stand the word expert either because things are always changing so I just don’t think that’s a good word anyone should use.

    We know that any type of success definitely starts with the mindset and I’m not really sure how I view what a pro blogger is either. To me blogs are mostly tools for building your business so anyone who is able to make a really good living from this should definitely fit in that category. That’s just my opinion of course on how I view them but it’s obvious that everyone you asked sort of had a somewhat different opinion as well. Thank goodness we don’t all think alike right!

    Great post Harleena and thanks for bringing this up and asking some top bloggers their opinions on this.

    Enjoy your weekend and Happy Spring!

    ~Adrienne

  35. Hi Harleena

    Wow 200 posts, congratulations. Super Alexa ranking also!

    Yaro was one of the first bloggers I came across and don’t even remember how I found him but he definitely had a lot to share.

    One of the biggest statements in all is that we need others to become a success. Without others we can never be successful at anything we do. We have never got to where we are at in life without the help from others and the more we interact with others the more our chance for success will transpire.

    Lots of super people and great information.

    Mary

  36. Hi Harleena,
    I am sorry I missed this, sorry for the delay in reaching here.
    Here comes my Good wishes to you and your blog page on this happy occassion of completing 200 posts at AHA Now space!!! CONGRATS!! Keep Going. Oh! this one selected as the 200th one is really amazing! good to know more about from the experienced Pro bloggers, well, you brought out the top personalities in the field of blogging of course few are i know and one can pick up lot of things from their pages, and I am sure help one to improve or can help to reach to that level of pro. blogging LOL 🙂
    Many lessons to pick up from their pages, surely will visit their place to pick it up 🙂
    Wonderful and Amazing Going !!!!
    Keep it up Arleena
    Thanks again for collecting these data from those busy people.
    Best Regards
    Phil

  37. Hi Harleena!

    I found this very interesting to read even if its just in english. I am from Sweden so thats not as simple as it should be if reading in Swedish. Anyway take care and have a nice day.

  38. To be honest with you, this is indeed the most comprehensive information that I’ve ever read on a blog. For a while, I thought I’d mistakenly landed on a HubPage (this website usually publishes in-depth and well-researched articles). I intuitively feel that preparing so in-depth information is an exhaustive writing chore. And, you did it with flying colors. Congrats!

    I’ve just bookmarked your site as an effort to give my unquenchable journey as a writer a food for thoughts.

  39. Hi Harleena, Congratulations on your 200th post! That’s a fantastic milestone. You’ve done so much not only with Aha Now, but also with your incredible support of fellow bloggers. I don’t believe any other blogger gives as much support as you do to so many!

    I am purely an amateur, though I do treat my blog as a profession. I stick to my posting schedule and try to publish only quality content. I like what Ana said, one awesome post is better than five mediocre posts.

    This article will help many people who want to make money from blogging. Too many people think they will start a blog and the money will start pouring in. That won’t happen.

    I don’t offer any product or service. I give plenty of help to my readers who ask for my advice but I don’t charge for it. I’m fine with not being a pro blogger, it’s not a goal of mine, but this is a wonderful, comprehensive article for those who want to go pro!

    1. Hi Carolyn,

      Thank you for your wishes and yes, it is a milestone for me. Every post is a great effort for me and making 200 of them is something that I didn’t think of when I started blogging. But of course, these include the guest posts also, especially yours, the very first one and how can I forget that! 🙂

      I’m glad I’ve made so many friends in my blogging journey. And friends are all about loving, caring and supporting each other, right? I read my first tweet after reading your post about it, and it was sent on the day I started my blog, and there I stated my desire to make many friends – and it was answered! 🙂

      You’re a true professional, Carolyn, and you know that! Whatever you’ve stated in this comment makes you a professional blogger, who treats the blog as a profession.

      I do hope this post helps other bloggers. You’re right, making money through your blog is not an easy task and definitely not an instant one.

      You’re being very modest and even if you don’t offer any product or advice, you blog like a professional and that what makes you a problogger, even if you don’t want to. 🙂

      I’m glad you like the post. Thanks for visiting and sharing your wonderful views. I really appreciate them. Do have a great weekend! 🙂

  40. Hi Harleena,

    WOW!!!!! What an AWESOME post!!! 😀

    First of all, let me congratulate you on your 200th post – CONGRATULATIONS!!! You are simply just AMAZING!!! Hard working. Dedicated. Humble. Genuinely love to help others. Shows TRUE engagement with your readers and followers (without the B.S.), and you are HONEST. These are the real BIG and authentic qualities of a professional bloggers in my dictionary.

    I’m surprise you don’t consider yourself a professional blogger because to me you are ONE. Far more BETTER than any of these “famous blogger celebrities” you’ve mentioned in your post just now. There’s a saying…

    “Money doesn’t necessarily mean success.” …because there are many money makers in this world who are great in making money but they are born failure as human being. To me, success means you have reached your destination without stepping your brothers and sisters just to get ahead so you can get to the top and be number #1.

    What do I mean by that?

    Let me illustrate to you this story. I’ve read a book once about the story of a caterpillar. It was a very short book. But it has a compelling message that till this day in age, I still cannot forget. Somehow it stuck in my mind. Once upon a time, there was this caterpillar travelling. He asked, “What do I do to get to the top?” While travelling he saw stacks of caterpillar. What are they doing? He joined the crowd. Everyone seems too busy to get to the top. One step the other to get ahead. The other tried to stir themselves to get on top of the other caterpillar, stepping one’s head, just to reach higher and higher. He didn’t want to join them but instead he hid himself in a cocoon and became a butterfly. While flying he could see the tears in other people’s eyes. One caterpillar got to the very top, but very unhappy. Guess there was nothing much on top. The higher you are the lonelier you get.

    What I’m saying is, some professional bloggers will get there on top “just for the money” just for themselves and nothing else. While money is the measure of success in business, its not all that.

    Like Mayura said, to me, the people I see who are professional bloggers are YOU, Adrienne Smith…who are really out there to help others unconditionally. People like you who are genuinely love to engage, honestly without string attach.

    Funny thing though, me and Adrienne were just discussing some of these professional bloggers, quote and quote, who call themselves successful. When the real bottom line is the TRUE successful bloggers are really not out there just to USE their audience, readers, followers for their own advancement. But they are there to have a REAL relationship with you. As vague as this might have sound to you, I will not name names but keep it to myself. But I hope you get my drift what I’m trying to convey to you.

    You are more professional blogger than any other celebrities I’ve seen. Your HONESTY with us counts more and more valuable than any money can buy. To me, this is the TRUE success and with that “honesty” behind your business reveals the true VALUE of you as one GENUINE professional blogger.

    Angela

    1. Hi Angela,

      Wow! What a comment!! 🙂

      Thank you for your wishes and kind words that have really taken me to cloud nine!!! 🙂

      You’ve been very generous with your compliments and I must say I’m really flattered and grateful for bestowing me with such an honor. Angela, even you’re what all you’ve mentioned, and I guess great minds think alike! 😉

      I agree I’ve many qualities of a professional blogger, minus the earning of a livelihood from my blog. I believe in what you’re saying, money is not the yardstick of success, in general. But first, it all depends on your definition of success.

      I understand what you mean and your definition of being successful. I respect your feelings and the beauty of your thoughts. It’s a beautiful story of the caterpillar and I’ll always remember it. You’re so right and this is what happens in the realistic world, people uses others to get ahead, crush them or pull them down to rise above, and all other tactics to be successful.

      It’s very true when you say that the higher you are, the lonelier you get. This is what has happened with many celebrities. And then you need to develop sophistication, which in fact is artificiality or falsehood, and portray a different image of yourself than what you really are. I’m sorry that it is not my cup of tea. I’m what I’m, and I like to remain simple, common, and friends with all.

      Adrienne is definitely a pro blogger and you can observe her professionalism in every way she carries herself and the way she blogs. Yes, I do like to do all the good things that you’ve mentioned, and it gives me immense pleasure and real happiness. But as you said, money too is an aspect of the measure of success in business, and I do not want to ignore or downplay that fact. I guess that’s the missing piece to make me a complete pro blogger I might add.

      I totally agree with what you and Adrienne believe about successful professional bloggers. Being true to your relationship is very important, no matter what kind of relationship is there. In this case its the relationship between the blogger and audience. I understand there are many who only look to satisfy their needs by using their audience and that is really not a good thing to do. People are not fools, and once they get to know the real picture, the word can spread like fire and you’re gone.

      I don’t have enough words to thank you for all your appreciation. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your loving support. I accept your compliments with great reverence and they’re indeed more valuable than any amount of money for me. These are just pure pearls that I’d like to treasure for life. 🙂

      Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting on this post to share your true and beautiful thoughts. I admire you and appreciate you taking out time from your busy schedule to convey all this so well. Do have a great weekend and be blessed. 🙂

  41. Hi Harleena,

    You’re too humble, if people are seeing you as a problogger is because you are one and your results are showing.

    Congratulations on you 200 posts and all your achievements.

    Have a great day!

    1. Hi Sylviane,

      Thanks for your kind words and I’m really grateful to what you and others feel and say, and I really value it. I know I’m realistic because I think I’m just one step away from proclaiming myself as a pro blogger – I really do need to make my blog a source of good income. 🙂

      Thanks for your wishes and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  42. Hi Harleena mam,

    Love to read your post whether the collection of words are 3000 roundabout. I do learn always from your blog and inspire me to excel more.

    My god I dont know when that day will come I will also be pro blogger. Everybody has different perception of pro blogger. According to me the one who is leader and number of fan following immense and have a position in the rank status is cslled pro blogger.

    Your writing leave a spell over your readers. Thanks for sharing your nicest post.

    Last but not the least congrats for 200 post with commendable job.
    Hats off.

    1. Hi Shiwangi,

      Well more than 3600 words to be more accurate. 🙂 I’m glad you like the post in spite of its length and that it inspires you as well.

      It all starts with the mindset, so you become a pro blogger when you make up your mind, and then take the right steps to manifest your desire. Yes, each one to own definition and you’re good with yours.

      Thanks for your wishes and kind words. I’ll be more happy when this post helps you in becoming a pro blogger!

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  43. Harleena,

    Amazing article. It looks like you followed Ana’s advice on ONE excellent article instead of 5 mediocre articles. I guess that will make this post more “evergreen”!

    Congrats on your 200th post!!! When you have a good-sized following that respects you, then are well on your way to considering yourself a Pro Blogger!!!!

    I think that a solid following, being considered an expert in your niche and earning a significant “part time” income would make one a professional blogger, in my opinion. To say that ONLY someone that earns a FULL Time income from blogging is a “pro-blogger” is ridiculous, in my opinion.

    You are doing an awesome job with your blog and an inspiration to the rest of us!!!

    Thanks!

    ~ Jupiter Jim

    1. Hi Jim and welcome back!

      It’s been a long time since your last visit and I’m glad you like this post. Ana was right on spot with her advice and I happened to create one that could catch the fancy of everyone! 🙂

      Thanks for your wishes, and I clearly remember you were here for the 150th too! Thanks for making my milestones more memorable. 🙂

      I’d really like to consider myself a pro blogger when I believe I’m a perfect role model for all bloggers!

      I totally agree with your definition of a professional blogger. I really don’t think there are plenty of such pro bloggers who solely depend on their blog for their livelihood, do you?

      Thanks for those kind words and they’re so valuable coming from you. I’m so happy that I’ve been able to help and inspire people through my blog.

      Thanks for visiting and adding value to this post. I appreciate it very much. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  44. Hi Harleena,

    I think, pro blogger is a blogger who makes blogging as life. They got a livelihood from there, just from blogs they manage. I totally agree with Chris Brogan. I think it’s great and I also want to be like that.

    If someone wants to become a pro blogger, they should dedicate their lives to it. I’ve heard these words: “If you are half-way of doing things, then you have to live 2 times to finish it!” 🙂
    I think these words are nice.

    Thanks for the post and keep your hard work, Harleena.
    Have a nice day.

    Regards,
    Nanda

    1. Hi Nanda,

      Yes, I too agree with Chris and the way you’ve put it up.

      Thanks for sharing that great quote and you’re right that you need to be devoted and passionate to be a pro blogger.

      I’m glad you like this post and thanks for visiting. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  45. Hi, Harleena!

    Congratulations on the double century!! 🙂 I wish there are lots and lots more milestones to celebrate on your blog!

    I wasn’t going to comment because your post got me thinking about my blog, how serious I’m about it and what I actually want. Maybe a plan is needed because I want to be a pro-blogger :-). Post scared me a little too, initially but I’m glad, like always, I continued reading and realized fear certainly can be conquered. Thank you for the detailed information on how to be a pro-blogger.

    Wishing you lots of luck!

    Regards

    Priya

    1. Hi Priya,

      Wow, you make me feel like Sachin! Lol 🙂 Thanks for all your wishes!

      It’s good you commented because you should not hold back your thoughts and feelings, especially when the other person is welcoming and receptive. I’m glad that you realized that you need a plan, and that itself is a big step towards success, believe me.

      It’s normal to be shaken a bit when you come to know that there are lot of things that you should do but are not doing. But it doesn’t matter. You can even start implementing now – better late than never, right?

      It’s good to know that you’re serious about your blog and have a desire to be a problogger. If you take the right steps, Priya, you’re going to be one! Definitely, there’s success beyond fear, so better get rid of that creepy creature. 🙂

      I’m glad you like the post and thank for commenting here and sharing your valuable thoughts. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  46. Excellent post. The quality and content matter a lot and rest will follow. I have more than 200 posts but no where close to comments and following when compared to you. Keep up the good work.

    1. Hi Anil and welcome to my blog!

      Glad you like the post. You’re absolutely right – the quality of your content matters a lot. I’m sure if you promote your posts and blog well, you too would have good number of comments and followers on your blog!

      Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you around. Do enjoy your week ahead! 🙂

  47. I agree professionals earn an income from what they do.

    It’s like when people claim to be models. Anyone can just say they’re a model because they’ve taken a few pictures. But people don’t take you seriously until you’ve booked a job and received a check.

    Congrats on your milestone! I think you’ve done wonderfully, it’s all quite an accomplishment!!

    ~Lea

    1. Hi Lea,

      You’re very correct on your thoughts about professionals. The modelling example very rightly fits in as a good example. You need to earn a living to be called a professional blogger.

      Thanks for your wishes and for your visit to this post. Do have a great Sunday! 🙂

  48. Hi Harleena,

    This is a great post and I love reading this kind of posts where top bloggers share their opinions. I got to know of this post so late when I arrived at your blog, so I just subscribed to your blog just now in order to get notifications of such great posts first.

    In this article I loved what Chris Brogan said, “The only difference between blogger and pro blogger is that a “pro blogger” has quit their day job because their blog now pays for their livelihood.”

    The journey from a blogger to a pro blogger is very very tough but the satisfactions is great.

    I hope to come and visit you soon on your next blogging articles. 🙂

    Cheers,
    Mainak

    1. Hi Mainak,

      I’m glad you like the post and that you subscribed to the blog. 🙂

      I too think that Chris was right on spot and he differentiated bloggers and probloggers in the best possible way.

      The problogging path is definitely not easy, but then success doesn’t come easy, does it?

      You’re most welcome here on Aha!NOW to share your views and feelings. Thanks for commenting and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  49. Hello Harleena!

    First, let me congratulate you on your 200th post! That is such an accomplishment! Secondly, yes ma’am you are a pro blogger because you exemplify the very qualities you shared here. 🙂

    You have picked some awesome bloggers to share their advice. I really appreciate the feedback they shared.

    I think I have the steps in place it’s just a matter of continuing to see what is working and what’s not so I can make any adjustments.

    Thank you for sharing all this advice Harleena. I hope you’re having a great week my dear!

    ~Cori

    1. Hi Cori!

      Thanks for your wishes! Yes, it is an accomplishment for me, though I know it’s not a great deal. 🙂 Thank you for your kind words and for making me a pro blogger, lol, but you don’t have to call me “ma’am” as it sounds so embarrassing to me. 😉

      I’m so glad that my choice of pro bloggers was good as they really shared some great pointers and value. You’re a pro yourself, Corina, with the way you’re going and being so organized and consistent – that’s the mark of a professional, isn’t it?

      Thanks for visiting post and adding value to it. I really appreciate it. Do have a great Sunday! 🙂

  50. Hello Harleena,

    Congratulations on your 200th posts :)…

    I wonder who is a pro blogger. Well, this is how i view it; pro bloggers are those that willingly helps other bloggers (with no strings attached). Pro bloggers are those that makes good amount of money with their blogs without extorting others.
    If you ask me if i am a problogger? I’ll simply tell you yes, because i love helping people and my blog was the only source of income i had (Not until i created my own company now 🙂 )…
    Every blogger can classify him/ her self as a problogger, as long as they have those criteria.

    P.S. You are a pro blogger Harleena because you posses much of these criteria. Please don’t say you’re not and don’t doubt yourself 🙂

    Thanks for the lengthy post and the interviews from all the pro bloggers. Do have yourself a best week ahead…

    1. Hi Babanature,

      Thanks for your wishes. 🙂

      I like your definition of pro blogger and especially the part “without extorting others”! 🙂

      I agree that you’re a pro blogger and its right that you consider yourself so. It’s great that you’ve your own company now, so you’re not only a problogger but also an entrepreneur!

      That’s right – there’s no body that gives the accreditation, and you can call yourself whatever you like. If you think you’ve the qualities of what it takes to be a problogger, then go ahead! 🙂

      I don’t at all doubt myself. I just feel I’ll be a better role model if I start earning money from my blog, and then I won’t object to anybody calling me a pro blogger! 🙂 Having said that, I still respect your views and feelings.

      I’m glad you like the post and its contents even though it become a bit lengthy, but I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for your visit and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  51. Hello Harleena,

    At first, congrats to your 200 post. Its a great milestone. There are lots of bloggers who achieved this milestone but they don’t get this type of huge popularity as you already achieved. Your blog age is only 3 years but it seems more.

    Today you choice an excellent topic to be a professional blogger. Its easy to be a general blogger but to be a professional blogger, he must have unique quality & above all punctuation, discipline & dedication to be a successful blogger.

    The main reason of your success, you only think to be a good & true blogger by which you want to share your thought & help the world. You never think of money.

    Your advice will be excellent way for every blogger to follow.

    Happy logging & congrats on your success 🙂

    1. Hi Ahsan,

      Thanks for your wishes. That’s right, 200 posts is no big deal. And, I’ve seen plenty of blogs that reach greater heights than my blog and even take less time. I just have the blessings and support of my blog community that makes me feel happy and on top of the world even with 200 posts! 🙂

      I think this goes for just any field or area of work, doesn’t it? To be special and be regarded as a leader, you’ve to make special efforts. And yes, you need to have all the qualities of a successful person.

      I think it is very important for a blogger to be helpful and provide useful content. You become a true blogger when you’re true to your community and give priority to good work over money.

      I wish all bloggers benefit from this post to become good and professional bloggers.

      Thanks for your visit and sharing your views. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  52. I think money is the most tangible yardstick to check if someone is really a pro blogger. I remember once a blog mentor asked his class of 50 students who of them already have a blog. Almost all of them rose their hands saying yes they already have a blog. But when he asked who of them earn more than a few dollars per month from their blog. Almost all the hands got down with a little desperate smile on most of the faces.
    It means is so easy to become a blogger but damn difficult to be a pro. This rule applies to every field. Becoming a teacher is not so difficult but becoming an authority in teaching is heck of the task.

    Those who continue blogging eventually become pro bloggers. So consistency is the key requirement to be a pro blogger. In this post the most unique lesson I got is from Amit Agarwal; RESPECT YOUR READERS’ TIME. After reading this now I am seriously thinking to cut short my posts on one of my blogs. 🙂

    1. Hi Mi Muba and welcome to my blog!

      Well, yes I agree that this is the most accepted proposition – money is the yardstick. But again, the amount of money that makes you eligible to be a pro blogger too would vary from person to person and place to place, wouldn’t it?

      Not earning money from your blog may not be a failure, and earning money may not be accounted as being successful as these concepts depend on a person’s perspective and the final results. However, if you get worth in terms of money of the amount of time you put in the blog, its good, and that’s when you can call yourself a professional blogger, right?

      I’m sure that its not only money but various other aspects like authority, popularity, following, ranks, etc. that too need to be taken into account for being a pro blogger.

      I don’t think I can agree with your statement that those who continue will eventually become pro bloggers. You may find people who’re blogging for 7-8 years, but they aren’t so called probloggers yet. But I agree that consistency is one of the key factors.

      That was a golden nugget from Amit. Now, you don’t have to cut short if your long posts provide better value, which not only your readers will like but even Google will reward you for that! 🙂

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your valuable views, I really appreciate it. I hope to see you around and wish you’ve a great rest of the Sunday! 🙂

  53. Hello Harleena,

    Its a great article for inspiration. Now, I know the difference between pro blogger and blogger like me. Thanks for sharing such a great information with all of us. You are a gold and you have collected diamonds and put them in this article.

    Waiting for new stuff from your side 🙂

    Thanks
    Gagan

    1. Hi Gagan and welcome to my blog!

      Glad you like the article and find it inspiring. Yes, even I find the information shared by the probloggers as important and helpful.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views. Do have a great weekend! 🙂

  54. Hi Harleena,

    Wow! Congratulations on 200th post dear 🙂 Quite an accomplishment in blogosphere, eh?

    Excellent and kind of a different post I’d say. Composed with professional bloggers’ experiences to help us all 🙂 That’s very nice of you to reach them out and get their valuable thoughts on it.

    I’m not even close to a professional blogger 😀 The word ‘Professional’ itself gives me the impression of a full-time job, Harleena. I feel awesome being casual in my terms. Blogging isn’t the best of me 😉

    You know, you are right about yourself not calling a pro blogger. I don’t think it should entitles to you, dear friend. Gosh… You offer your blood, sweat and tears for blogging so much and take it so seriously where I don’t see many other pro bloggers have been doing so. Well, I don’t know about the pro bloggers you have mentioned in this post though 🙂

    I agree, they attracted most attention but some don’t even care what happens after publishing their content and the comments they receive. But you are even reaching out to your community and their blogs consistently. There’s a big difference between pro bloggers and you 🙂 You are so much ahead of many pro bloggers and in different ways.

    However, the bloggers who solely depend on their blogs for income may call themselves pro bloggers, but I believe who devoted / passionate and experts will naturally praised as professionals from their audience. We can see many and even newbies are using Professional term in their tagline. Anyway, good for ’em.

    As in the pursuit of finding the best definition for a Pro Blogger, I prefer the one you came with. Authority, Popularity and Income are core variables to be satisfied if they call themselves pro bloggers and on top, he / she should be a wonderful human being, right? 🙂

    Yet, I don’t think pro blogger is the best achievement in blogging World though. Well, from my perspective. Hence I keep you, Adrienne and such fantastic bloggers above ’em.

    Well, I’m not focused on being a pro blogger but I really appreciate the expert advice, Halreena 🙂 Professionals have been there and done that, so who else best to talk about pro blogging than ’em? I like to take their advice on improving my blogging aspect while keeping it the way I wanted to be when I started off. Especially, I love couple of tips what Ana shared. I’ve followed few steps mentioned above on blogging, but that’s definitely not for me. Not as a blogger, I’m afraid 😉

    I hope you will reach the day you feel yourself as a pro blogger, Harleena 🙂 I can see you are working on it. I wish you all the best for your best accomplishments in mind!

    You have a wonderful week there dear 🙂

    Cheers…

    1. Hi Mayura,

      Thanks for your wishes! Though it ain’t a great achievement having 200 posts, but for me it’s great since I never thought I’d be able to continue for so long. 🙂

      Different perspectives do help, don’t they, and more so when they are from probloggers themselves on a post about probloggers, it adds value.

      It does – professional is literally taken as working full-time, but then there are other concepts too that I mentioned in the post. If you’re an expert in what you do, you’re a pro too, aren’t you?

      Gosh, you scared me! I thought you wanted to say I’m no good. 🙂 Thanks for your concern and understanding, and I value your intentions, but its true that you relate success to money. May be for these probloggers, what I do is a waste of time, which could be put in to earn more money. So, its different perspectives, but you need to go by the accepted definition of a pro blogger, and I don’t exactly fit in – but I’m not saying that I can’t ever! 🙂

      You’re right Mayura, but may be they too started off like me and with time became so busy that they can’t find time to answer individually or get involved with the community. Actually pro bloggers are like celebrities – they don’t have a community, but a fan following! There’s a difference.

      The pro bloggers have a different route to take, they’ve to put themselves on a podium, out of reach, so they are valued, else if they mingle up with everybody, they make an impression of a common person and loose authority – basic human psychology, my dear friend. 🙂

      I agree that money shouldn’t be the sole criteria of considering a blogger professional. Everybody is free to use the term “pro blogger” but it gains value only if people accept it, right?

      Absolutely correct, you need to be a good human being if you want to be considered a good leader or problogger. I also agree that you don’t have to be a problogger to be a good blogger, its not related in anyway. Adrienne is really a pro blogger, and you’re being kind to consider me too in the league. 🙂

      Yes, the professional bloggers gave good tips and imparted the value, and its up to us to take or leave it. Experience does count, and valuing it is being wise, isn’t it? I’m glad you found a lesson or two to help you improve as everyone needs to do that. You should take what suits you and Ana did share very useful tips.

      I’ll, one day, and I’ll let you know when I consider myself a problogger. 🙂 Yes, I’m working on it and trying to make the best of my blogging journey.

      Thanks for this kind words and encouragement as well as your candid views on the post. I really appreciate it. Do have a great weekend and enjoy! 🙂

  55. Hello Maam,

    Very amazing post. Really, Amit Agarwal is a very inspiring blogger. I have also written an article about him on my blog. I hope you will read it.I truly consider Amit Sir as my “guru”. There are many things to be learn from these probloggers to build a successful career in blogging. I watched a video of Amit sir “life in a day” and all that I can say it was an ultimate video. I truly agree with Amit Sir’s words that we should respect readers time by writing the quality content. Just posting anything crap will’nt work. Really this is an amazing article. Today I am like a student of all the bloggers you mentioned and I keep learning many things from the probloggers including you.

    BTW congrats for your 200th article and successful career in blogging. Thanks for sharing this effective article.

    Happy blogging 🙂

    1. Hi Nikhil,

      Glad you like the post.

      Yes, Amit is an inspiration being the first problogger from India. Good that you told me about the article you’ve written on him, and I’ll surely come to read it.

      I think we should treat all pro bloggers as gurus and take the best from them, isn’t it? If they become successful doing certain things, its highly probable that we too would meet the same good fate if we just follow them!

      Amit is absolutely right about respecting the reader’s time, and provide such value or takeaway that the reader feel the time was worth spent. I’m so glad you found this article worthy of your time reading it. 🙂

      That’s the attitude – be a student of all the pro bloggers. I’m glad I was able to help you in someway. Thanks for your wishes.

      Thanks for visiting and do have a great weekend! 🙂

  56. Harleena,

    This the first time i am commenting in your post and i regret not getting your link earlier! Anyway, I can see the reflection of your hard work and dedication in this post. keep up the good work, so that amateurs like me can learn from experts like you!
    And Congratulation for the 200th post! May yo touch the 1000th mark soon! 🙂

    1. Hi Tuhin and welcome to my blog. 🙂

      I’m glad you like the post. Hard work and quality does pay off, isn’t it? I’m glad you could learn from this post.

      Thanks for your wishes and for stopping by. Hope to see you around and have a great rest of the week ahead! 🙂

  57. Interesting article, i was glued on it till i read the last sentence.

    You really took your time to gather useful resources from established bloggers who have made names for themselves and built brands that can easily be identified. Why wouldn’t anyone believe what they have to say?

    I find it interesting to see how they all almost mentioned the following – Consistency and high quality content. This is encouraging indeed and at the end of the day its all about the money right?

    Congratulations on your 200 blog posts milestone, recently i just published my 700th blog post in my over two years of blogging. I hope to get to that stage someday where i will be regarded as a pro blogger as well. Keep sharing the good stuffs, its great to see how great your engagement is and how fast your blog is growing.

    1. Hi Desmond,

      I’m glad you found the article interesting and so engaging! 🙂

      Yes it took me time to create this post but it was all worth it, isn’t it? Yes, they’re the top persons of blogging and whatever they say holds great value.

      At the beginning and at the end, through out it all depends on your personal qualities – determination, consistency, passion, dedication, discipline etc. Since blogging takes most of your time, you need to make money out of it.

      Thanks for your wishes but hey, you’re way ahead of me! I can’t even think of 400 posts and you’re there at 700 posts! You must be blogging daily!

      Of course, you too can be a problogger. We all just need to follow the leaders and we too would be on the path to success.

      Thanks for all your kinds words and I’m glad you like this post.

      Thanks for visitng and have a great day ahead! 🙂

  58. Congratulations Harleena on your 200th post.

    It seems all of the professional bloggers have a PASSION for what they write and do. Consistency is another huge factor. I’ve seen too many bloggers quit before they became professional or consistent.

    It really takes a commitment to yourself and to your readers. It’s about a mindset and lifestyle too.
    Thanks for sharing the tips with us via some great quotes from professional bloggers. Enjoy the rest of your week Harleena!

    1. Hi Lisa,

      Thanks for your wishes.

      That’s right, not only pro bloggers but even all successful people in any field are known for their passion of profession! Amit rightly mentioned consistency as a major success factor in blogging.

      It’s not just one thing but a combination of many factors that bring you the problogging success. I’m glad you like all the tips and thanks to the pro bloggers for sharing them.

      Thanks for your visit and do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  59. Astonishing information as always my dear Harleena.

    I’m shocked you didn’t mention John Chow, Darren Rowse, Zac Johnson, if these guys aren’t pro bloggers than nobody mentioned here is so-called PRO Blogger.

    I know all bloggers mentioned here, each one of them are successful because they share high class piece of information on their sites like you do 😛 , and that’s Pro Blogger profile in my opinion, a website where I found up to date blogging tips and more.

    Congratulations on your 200 my dear! I hope to be able to read 1000 times more in future, I also hope to get better, I just got a nasty flu, I can’t believe this happen to me, my nose is like Rudolf Santa’s reindeer nose. 🙁

    1. Hi I.C. Daniel,

      Glad you like the post. 🙂

      I only mentioned the probloggers who responded to my questions. Obviously the names that you mention are all great probloggers, and there are plenty of top probloggers and I couldn’t possibly mention them all or get their views. I hope you understand that the quotes I cited from the probloggers are not taken from any site but they’ve personally answered to my specific questions, now you know my limitations. 🙂

      Sharing useful content and helping people are the mark of true professional bloggers. Thanks for including me into that class, but I just wish I were! 😉

      Thanks for your wishes. I also hope and wish that you get well soon.

      Thanks for your visit and do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  60. Congrats on your 200th post Harleena! I like Chri’s take. We are pros when blogging pays the bills 😉 Awesome resource here. Tweeted!

    1. Hi Ryan,

      Thanks for your wishes.

      Chris is absolutely right! Once your blog becomes a major source of your livelihood, you can call yourself a problogger. 🙂

      I’m glad you liked the information in this post and thanks for sharing it with your friends and followers.

      Thanks for visiting and do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  61. Phew!
    What a way to celebrate 200 Harleena! It’s a great achievement. Knowing the quality of your articles, one can say it’s a bank of pure knowledge. Congratulations!

    I read between the lines and loved the conversational way of this post. The way you broke down the response from this experts shows you are one yourself.

    I want to agree with the fact that probloggers are those who milk a considerable income from their blogs – full time or not. To me, being a professional is being able to deliver excellence in commitment. There must be that element of commitment – doing it constantly and responsibly with satisfaction. It might not necessarily be full time. You can still be committed to it while maintaining your day job.

    I love these 6 steps. They bundle everything one needs to be pro. While these are all top points, I have come to know that without point #6, it will be difficult to excel in blogging. Every step should be taking to capture every single blog visitor into your community. I think that’s the secret of the big boys.

    Did you notice the phrase “make yourself available” is so powerful? That’s the core of it. That’s being active in the industry. The more available you are, the more you grow.

    Probloggers have the habit of helping others in their communities grow. There is no way you can deny that you do this and that means you are one pro. And there are a lot of ways to do this. Everyone around you knows you for constantly sharing, tweeting and even linking to their contents from your posts. How do you call that? Well, not all pros do this but I think it takes the mindset of a pro to do it.

    I can keep writing more here Harleena but I know you have other comments to moderate. Permit me end here 😉

    You are a wonderful writer

    1. Hi Enstine,

      I’m so glad you like this post. Your compliments mean a lot and thanks for saying all those kind words.

      I’m happy that you liked the style of this post, I intentionally tried to keep in conversational because stories make a better impact on your mind, isn’t it?

      You’re right, blogging is a time-consuming job, and time is valuable and also money for most of us grown up bloggers. If you’re going to invest so much of time, and getting no returns in terms of money, then how do you run your family and account for your expenses. That’s why, you become a problogger only when your blog earns you a considerable part of your income.

      I understand that many bloggers including you and me work part time on our blogs, and yet we’re able to create great blogs. So, being full-time or part-time is not the major issue, but how much productive you’re able to make it. And as you mentioned, this requires commitment.

      I also like the points that Ana gave, those are very practical ones that can help any newbie blogger. Yes, a community is essential for success in blogging, and every single visitor is important.

      Recently I started visiting Neil Patel’s blog, and liked the way he makes himself available and interacts with everybody. He knows what he’s doing and understands the value that you’re talking about, in spite of the fact that he’s very much on the top.

      Blogging is the synonym for helping. 🙂 If you aren’t doing that, you aren’t blogging in the real sense. If your blog does not have a community, something is wrong somewhere, right?

      I don’t deny that I’m travelling on the problogging path, but it’s just I don’t feel I’ve reached there yet and I don’t want to create a fake impression. I’m sure once my blog is properly monetized, I’ll be able to give more time to it, and be more confident of carrying out the tasks and responsibilities of a problogger.

      Sharing, caring, and helping are a core part of my personality and my blogging strategy if you want to call it that. But I love doing that, and yes, not all pros do it, so that habit of mine all the more doesn’t make me a pro! 😉

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your wonderful thoughts and it was really nice to know them. You’ve made this post more valuable with your views, and I appreciate it. I’m so glad that you like my writing, and you’ve made my day with your compliments. 🙂

      Have a great week ahead! 🙂

      1. One other thing I forgot to mention is that fact that you are open now to sponsored posting and affiliate marketing. These are the 2 ways I love making money with my blog.

        I hope you’ll make quite impressive amounts here viewing your traffic and engagement

        Good luck to you 😉

        1. Thank you for your kind suggestions, Enstine! I do hope to make the best of the sponsored posts and affiliate marketing, and use some of the methods that you mentioned in one of the guest posts here. 🙂

          Thanks again for your concern and wishes, I appreciate them. Have a great weekend! 🙂

  62. What a masterpiece Harleena,

    You are such a pro-blogger. The way you present the post, inspire through your post and give a proper guidance at right time create a new fan for you. That’s me. I become a fan of your post.

    Thank you for sharing this wonderful masterpiece of content on your blog. Is s great guide for everyone. Inspiring, truly inspiring. The way to become pro-blogger… 🙂

    Thank you.

    1. Hi Nikhil and welcome to my blog! 🙂

      Thanks for the compliment and your kind words.

      You can say I’m trying to be a problogger. 🙂

      I’m happy that my efforts in this post were successful enough to inspire you. I’d love to have you as my blog community member. I’m glad you like the post.

      Thanks for stopping by and do have a great weekend ahead! 🙂

  63. Before reading your post, I would have defined a professional blogger as someone who makes a living blogging – related to livelihood. However, I am now inclined to include those who are an expert in their field, blog consistently and make some sort of income from their blog. Since I just started blogging in January – I am a long way from being professional. However, my mindset is shifting even in the very short time I have been doing this : )

    1. Hi Machelle,

      I personally feel that your blog has to be a major part of the total revenue that you generate through all your sources of income. Unless your blog helps you financially, you’ll not be able to devote quality time to it in quantity, which could adversely affect its quality.

      Of course, expertise and authority cannot be compromised if you’ve to be a problogger. It’s good to know that you’ve created a positive mindset from the near beginning time and I’m sure it’ll help you in the long journey.

      Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead! 🙂

  64. Hi Harleena,

    First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on crossing the 200th milestone on this blog of yours! You’ve done a marvelous job with this blog and with this post in particular. Thank you for such a detailed post.

    It’s amazing how you have put together the whole post and blended this with answers to the questions with many pro-bloggers from around the world. That is awesome!

    I think this is certainly going to help a lot of people and especially people who have been blogging for a while and want to take it to the next level.

    I believe you can make anything you do a hobby or become a pro at it. Cricket, soccer, running, shooting, acting, blogging…. you name it. Being a pro in anything requires passion, focus, consistency and perseverance. Those who can have discipline to pursue these things, will become a pro in anything and blogging is just another thing of 21st century.

    Have a great new week and thank you for sharing!

    Regards,
    Kumar

    1. Hi KUmar,

      Thanks for all your wishes! I’m glad you like the post.

      I had this idea for a long time and I’m happy I was able to put it together and that you liked it this way. I’m very grateful to all the probloggers who seeded to my request and cooperated with me to make this a special post. 🙂

      I’d like to be honest with you that I too have learned a lot from this post! I’ve read that teaching is one of the best forms of learning, and while I compiled and created this post, I developed new understandings and perspectives. I feel that if it’s going to help me, it’s going to help any old or new blogger.

      You’ve got it right – you’ve to be a professional if you want to be successful in any field of work or aspect of life. And that requires the same set of personal qualities and positive habits.

      Thanks for visiting and contributing to the post, I really appreciate it. Have a great week ahead! 🙂

  65. Hi Harleena,

    Great post, very thorough and I love that you brought some other bloggers in to answer what is a very good question. I have thought about doing that but haven’t worked up the nerve to ask! And, I am glad to see that you are working towards monetizing your blog, because you are a pro-blogger!

    I haven’t been at this long myself, and I have quite a ways to go, but I am enjoying the journey!

    Congratulations on your 200th post, that is amazing!

    1. Hi Sabra and welcome to my blog! 🙂

      Glad you like the post. I’m happy that you like the involvement of other probloggers and reading their views.

      I think you need to give some force to your ideas and make them pop out into the real world! lol. That’s what I did – I had this idea for a long time, but this time I forced myself to actually do it.

      Thanks for your kinds words and I’d say that I’m on the problogging path just like you and yes, you’ve to monetize your blog if you’ve to be a problogger.

      The journey always starts with the first step and there’s always a beginning, so if you did that, you’re on the right path – I wish you all the best for your problogging journey! 🙂

      Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you around. Thanks for your wonderful views and do have a wonderful week ahead! 🙂

  66. Wow.

    A Great post about Pro-Blogger and how to become professional in blogging. As a blogger, i will have to follow all the steps mentioned here. I didn’t heard about those list of pro-bloggers before, i know only Amit Agarwal from india.

    Thank you very much for sharing such an inspirational post. Have a beautiful day mam and also i wish you all the best for milestone of 200 posts, 12000+ comments, 3+ years, and about 26,000 Alexa rank. And also, I pray the almighty for your great future in blogging.

    1. Hi Nirmal,

      I’m glad you like the post. I do think the tips and steps mentioned in the post will surely help you in your blogging journey.

      It’s good that you now have come to know of these probloggers so you can learn more from them. I’m happy that this post could inspire you.

      Thanks for all your wishes and prayers. Thanks for visiting and sharing your beautiful thoughts. Do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  67. Hi Harleena,

    This is a very detailed description of a professional blogger and I appreciate the efforts you have put into this post, by getting the quotes from famous and committed bloggers but I disagree strongly on one point. If you are not a professional blogger then who is? You too are! Don’t underestimate yourself and the hark work that you put into every post and above all, your blog is one of the MOST organised blogs. Earning respect, following and popularity is far more honourable than earning money…not that I am saying that is not important.

    I blog just because I have a passion for writing, never thought beyond that! Lets see when my mindset changes! Wishing you more success at blogging. Have a nice week!

    1. Hi Balroop,

      I’m glad you like the post and understand the efforts behind putting this together. Getting quotes from persons of authority was something new I wanted to try, and I’m grateful to them for their cooperation.

      Ah.. you know my views as I’ve candidly put them in the post. It all depends on your outlook whether you want to call me a professional blogger or not, but I personally feel I’ve lot to do to be assured that I’ve reached the level.

      It’s not about underestimating myself. This has lot to do with the finances because you can really do justice with blogging if you earn through it, unless you’ve some other benevolent source of income that doesn’t need much of your attention. I want to do a lot for my blog, but I also need to do my freelance writing to earn a living. That’s why, when your blogging becomes the source of your living, you truly become a professional and can spend full time on it. 🙂

      But as you mention, I’ve no doubt enjoyed the love and respect of my blog community and I hope they will continue to do so with my new changes on the blog.

      There’s always a time for everything, and I hope and wish your passion turns your blog into a success story!

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your wonderful views. Have a great week ahead! 🙂

  68. wow… wonderful article.. it’s something i recommend all newbies like me to go through and know how pro blogger did it and how we can do it… just a few differences and we will be on the great journey of our lives… SPECIALLY RECOMMENDED

    1. Hi Rahul and welcome to my blog! 🙂

      Glad you like the article. Yes, you can also be a problogger, just know what others did, what you should do, and then just do it!

      The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful only lies in the mind. Once you learn how to use and control it, and the main aspects of your trade, you cross the barrier. 🙂

      Thanks for visiting and hope to see you around. Do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  69. Great post, Harleena.

    It’s full of fantastic tips and links! As far as professional, it can be a mindset and is often correlated with earning $ as your examples show. The only way to earn money blogging though is through services or advertising, unless I’m missing something?

    I like to think of myself as a pro but I’m really not earning any money from it. I’m only earning the pleasure of helping and meeting great people!

    As for content, I’d like to add that sometimes people want really simple stuff. It doesn’t have to be ‘amazing’ or ‘brilliant’ but just real. One of my posts that got the most attention was “Put Your Lipstick On”…go figure. Sometimes my readers relate to the fun stuff.
    Thanks Harleena! It’s such a pleasure coming over to your blog. You are an inspiration and a pro!!

    1. Hi Lisa,

      Glad you like the post. I hope the tips and links help you.

      True, to be a professional you need to have the right and particular mindset and then all the qualities as mentioned in the post. Money would be a byproduct, but yes you need to create avenues for it, which I didn’t in my blogging career.

      That’s it, advertising, sponsored posts and reviews, affiliates or your own products and services and any other ways of helping other people promote themselves on your blog.

      I think that’s the first step as Yaro says, create the mindset and start believing that you’re a pro, and start acting and working like them! It takes time to make the money flow, only if you’ve created the right channels. I didn’t but that wouldn’t keep me from making those efforts even now.

      If you’ve invested in creating relationships, that has been a wise investment and your relationships will help you achieve your aim.

      You’re right, a pillar post once in a while is good that is full of everything and awesome, and the rest can be simple that can relate to your very daily and real life, isn’t it? I’m sure your simple post touched the right chords or spots of your audience, so coming to think of it, it wasn’t really a simple post. 🙂 You understand your audience well and you know what and when to give them, and that’s very good.

      Thanks for your kind words and I’ll be happy if I helped you in anyway. Thanks for visiting and contributing to the post. Do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  70. Hi Harleena;

    Interesting that you don’t consider yourself a pro blogger. I wonder if this is something common to a lot of otherwise successful bloggers. I have made sales on my site because of blog posts, so I guess I have that part of it down. I definitely have the passion and put in the time and effort every day. And friends of mine have been telling me for a while now that I inspire them with my story and willingness to overcome being blind to build my online business. So I probably still wouldn’t call myself a pro blogger even though I meet all your requirements.

    Thanks for sharing the posts including the input from some very impressive top bloggers. Take care, Max

    1. Hi Max,

      I’m certainly not a problogger if you consider making a livelihood through the blog as the primary factor. But I do have the mindset and the desire, and I wish to earn revenue now from the blog, as you want, so that I can devote more time to blogging.

      You’ve all the reasons to consider yourself as in the making of a problogger – you write great content, you develop relationships, and you make the sale! Now, if you also have the passion, which Kristi says is the foremost quality that a blogger should have to even think of becoming a pro, and you make the efforts too, then nothing can stop you from achieving your aim!

      You’re truly an inspiration for what you’re and what you do, Max. I’m sure like myself other people too marvel at that. I guess if you do like what Yaro says that you need to consider yourself a professional blogger even before becoming one, that will make your task easier. I believe You just need more traffic and following, and you must keep working on that aspect.

      Thank you for your visit and sharing your views. I’m sure you’ll learn more from the probloggers, and do wish you’ve a great day ahead! 🙂

      1. Hi Harleena,

        Well, I didn’t see myself as an inspiration until recently. so maybe I am a pro blogger just in denial. smile so, at what point would you say the traffic and rankings make you a pro blogger. I know that my over all site rankings and traffic seem very strong to me but potential advertisers keep telling me they aren’t good enough yet. thanks for the kind reply. take care, max

  71. I liked Chris Brogan saying that the blog is just one of the tools. This is my model. My blog is free content that I give away to create my platform as a though leader. But I’ll be making money on the products and programs that I’m working on. (Soon to be released!). Hopefully soon I can decrease the hours at my day job…

    Great thorough post Harleena!

    Thank you!
    Jodi

    1. Hi Jodi,

      What Chris says is right, but that’s because he already has a business, so he doesn’t feel the need to be a problogger anymore. If you do not want to make your blog your primary earning source, you can afford to treat it just as a marketing tool to support your main business.

      Yes, you’re a thought leader and a counselor and you use the blog to promote your services and help people too. That’s great news that you’re coming up with products and programs on your blog. Now, that will make you and put you in the category of probloggers, and you’ll have to do that if you want to maximize the sale of your products! 🙂

      I’m glad you like the post and wish you all the best for your venture!

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts and do have a great day ahead! 🙂

  72. Hi Harleena…Wow!

    You have shared the most comprehensive information I have ever seen on the web about how to be a professional blogger. Right off the top of my head I can’t think of one thing to add. In fact your post was so good that it made me realize that I’m not really sure I want to be a professional blogger. I consider myself an author and writer primarily and while I love doing my blog and have been at it almost as long as you–I’m not sure that the goal to take it to that next level is what I want to do. But now that you’ve included such great info I certainly have all the right questions to ask myself. And thank you for the links to the very successful blogger you mention.

    As you say, none of us does it alone and I’m constantly looking around to see what works for others. And good luck on your next step as well! ~Kathy

    1. Hi Kathy,

      Glad you find the post informative and I feel good that I was able to deliver what I really wanted to. 🙂

      Being a professional blogger is a choice that not necessarily every blogger has to make. I guess you need to have your own strong reasons for that. If it suits you doing what you do, you don’t have to change it just for the sake of getting a coveted title. However, in the end it all boils down to money – problogging is all about earning money and replacing it with your primary source of livelihood.

      I think being an author, you already have an expertise and a platform that you can use to create better revenue by writing books, and the blog can be like Chris says, your promotional and marketing tool. It’s not that you can’t be a professional blogger, but that you’ve got better ways to earn revenue by doing things that you like better, isn’t it?

      I never intended to dissuade or demotivate anybody, but I just wanted bloggers to have the complete and real picture in mind and know that its no easy task being a pro at blogging.

      Content + Relationships always work, and there are various ways to develop and leverage them. Blogging is all about others, except for the celebrities, who can only talk about themselves and still find a loyal audience.

      I’m sure the visits to the probloggers would certainly be fruitful and you may learn more from them.

      Thank you for visiting and sharing your views, and they really add value to the post. Thank you for your wishes, I do need them and hope you’ve a great day ahead! 🙂

  73. Hi Harleena,

    Good post and lots of great info. As for myself i am not there yet, but very determined to get there.
    One thing i say it takes to be a pro blogger is when you help enough people get where they want to be, you always get where you want to be.
    What ever your niche is you can teach others to be as good as you or better by the information you give them.

    This is one thing that you do Harleena is give others information that is going to help them be a better person. In turn they keep coming back for more, because you have built trust with them.

    And what can set you apart from others is you being yourself. As I always say, ‘some of the people are going to like you all the time, but others are only going to like you sometimes. And the last group my never like you’ In the end don’t try to be something that you are not, because NO one likes a phony.’

    Congratulations on your 200th post is is a great and wise one. And yes, to be a professional blogger you have to have a business plan.
    thanks you and have a wonderful week.:)
    Debbie

    1. Hi Debbie,

      Glad you like the post and find it informative.

      I like your spirit and the determination to excel in blogging.

      That’s so true. You can’t take a selfish route to become a problogger. You’re nothing without the people and they’ll help you climb the ladder of success only if you genuinely help them.

      I believe this is the sole purpose of blogging, to share your expertise and your experience so that others may benefit from them. You can be a problogger in any niche, if you’ve the expertise and authority to give people what they want.

      Thank you for the kind words, and yes, I think being a better person comes first and that is what people should try to become before being a problogger.

      You’re right, if I don’t provide value, there are millions of blogs out there and why would people come to my blog. There are only two aspects that can bind people to your blog; content and relationships, isn’t it?

      Even, you can’t buy people with freebies you give or bribe them with attractive offers just to stick with you. I don’t have any product or service but yet you come to read my posts. However, if I have a product, I’ll be able to give you extra value with that, and I need to work on that.

      You’ve hit the nail on the head – being yourself and having your own voice is so important. Your blog should reflect your personality, shouldn’t it? If I try to pretend, you’ll come to know of it with time, and if you know I’m fake, you’ll never come to me.

      I believe that you can’t please everyone, so you shouldn’t be bothered about that. No matter what you do, how hard you try to help people, how good you’re, there’ll always be people who criticize you, blame you, and not like you. It’s okay and its their personal choice that wouldn’t make me change my way of working or stop me from doing good or even improving myself.

      I had to make this a special post, because such events should be memorable. 🙂 Definitely, planning is a must to do thing, not only to become a professional blogger, but also in life, and that’s why I started this year with a post on creating a life plan, if you remember.

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it and do have a great week ahead! 🙂

  74. Great post on who’s a blogger and a pro-blogger. I am certainly not a pro-blogger but would like to be one. I do have many blogs but I suppose that’s not the right approach. Certainly blogging is not my main income and have other real life financial activities hence I am not classified as a professional blogger. But certainly like to think I have the qualities.

    1. Hi Shalu,

      I’m glad you like the post. I think you’ve got what it takes to be a pro blogger, and it all starts with the desire. You’ve already taken a step towards being a pro blogger by expressing your desire, and now all you’ve to do is plan out and take the next few steps.

      I don’t think having many blogs is not good, in fact, I too should have more blogs and not keep all the eggs in one basket. But the thoughts of increased task of social promotion scares me.

      Neither am I a professional blogger as of now, but we can always modify our way of working, blogs, and keep improving to make the mark, isn’t it?

      If you believe you’ve the qualities, then I’d say don’t stop yourself and take the plunge. Like me, take a pledge to make your blog the main source of revenue. 🙂

      Thanks for visiting and sharing your views. Do have a great day ahead! 🙂

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