Over the past two years I have been fortunate enough to have worked with many bloggers who have turned their hobby into a job and lifestyle.

Some of these bloggers have become very successful making annual revenues well into six figures. By observing what these individuals do and the attitude they have, I have learned a lot of lessons about what works and what doesn’t, what makes a profitable blog, and why people fail.

Here are the top 10 characteristics, which I believe, are common across the best-of-the-best in the blogging world.

They are:

1) They are Passionate About Their Subject

Without exception the leading bloggers are passionate about their subject. Most of them have turned their hobby into their business. Others are using experience and expertise they have gained during their career.

2) They Focus on Becoming Number One in Their Niche

The top bloggers research their competitors before launch and plan from the outset to become number one in their niche.

3) They Create Authority in their Niche

In order to become number one they have to establish themselves as experts in their sector. They do this by ensuring that the content on their sites is consistently excellent, accurate and relevant to their audience.

4) They Participate in Their Broader Community

The second way they create authority is by being active members of their online community. They seek out the important forums and blogs in their niche and regularly add insightful comments. However they tend to also be very disciplined about the amount of time they spend on these sites, ensuring they don’t waste their day.

5) Their Marketing is Focused on Building Inbound Links

One of the reasons they are active in their community is to build inbound links. They understand the importance of proactively creating links to their site and allocate time to link building. For those new to internet marketing, inbound links bring traffic directly to a website, whilst also improving the page ranking.

6) They are Determined

The top bloggers all have dogged determination. They are not looking for overnight success, but are determined to end up successful. Many of them have been through periods of disappointment and self doubt, but none of them gave up.

7) They Make Money from Multiple Revenue Streams

All of these successful web businesses have multiple revenue streams. These include advertising and affiliate marketing; an online store selling ebooks, tools, DVD’s etc; subscription to premium content; and the promotion of offline events, including webinars, tele-seminars, workshops, etc.

8) They Outsource Non-Essential Activities

They know how valuable their time is, so they offload as many non-essential tasks as possible. This includes the technical management of their website, book keeping, design, podcast editing, etc. Some of this can be done at the outset (for example using a service like SubHub to run your website). Some services, like book keeping, can be added once money is coming in.

9) They Manage Their Websites Like a Business

It is easy to lose track of costs and revenues when building a website business. Most (but not all!) of the top earners make sure they track their costs and revenues and regularly review how they are doing and set themselves goals for improving.

10) They Test, Test, Test

11) They Reward Themselves for Success

Conclusion