This month marks the fifth anniversary of this blog. In its first five years, the blog has gathered over 10,000 subscribers and now attracts between 2,500 and 4,000 unique visitors per month. That’s not bad for a blog that has used zero paid media to spread the word of its existence and, instead, has relied solely on the power of social media.

The chief lesson I’ve learned over the past five years is that writing a blog on a consistent basis is significantly more challenging than it looks from the outside. I knew going in that it wasn’t easy, and I had discouraged many a client from starting blogs because I knew they didn’t have the time required to do it well. But even with over 30 years of experience as a professional writer, I underestimated how difficult it is to blog week in/week out, month after month, and year after year.

Fortunately, the great partners I’ve had along the way have significantly lightened the load. This began with Laurie Breitner and Karen Utgoff, who subsequently started their own blog. Now I rely on Mark Auerbach and Michelle van Schouwen to produce great posts each month and sometimes more often.

I am extremely grateful to all four of these people for lending their expertise and their personal experiences to the blog. This brings me to the second lesson I’ve learned about blogging over the past five years, which is that a good blog requires authentic voices. People can tell if you’re writing on a superficial level about a topic, as opposed to writing about something you’re passionate about and that you have either experienced personally or witnessed among your clients or colleagues. My belief is that this is what sets this blog apart and makes it a good resource for those of you toiling in the small business trenches.

Thanks to all of you who have provided encouraging and thoughtful comments about the blog over the past five years. And a huge high five goes to those who have shared our posts via social media. That support means the world to all of us who post here.

I hope you will continue to rely on Succeeding in Small Business for help in making your small business or your solopreneur venture a success. If there are topics you’d like to learn more about, please let me know through the Comments section below. The more feedback we receive, the better this blog will be.