That’s right, Blogging IS hard!
I guess that’s not what you usually hear from bloggers.
No! The title is not designed to mislead you. Not at all.
This article is going to be a no-nonsense, 100% honest opinion about why blogging is hard, why most blogs (like 99% of them) fails and how NOT to be in that 99%.
Most of the internet is full of ” How easy is blogging” or “Making money from a blog is quick” and whatnots!
I’ve myself written countless times in this site that how easy is to start a blog nowadays because IT IS!
Yes, starting a blog is very easy (thanks to WordPress and other platforms) but running an actual blog and making money from it,
Well… not so much!
Blogging requires you to come up with topics to write about which at times can be exhausting to produce consistently.
Why for some people, blogging becomes such a hard task to keep up with? Why do they quit after a while?
To start, let’s see what are the common fake facts about “Blogging” which starts the whole commotion,
What Blogging is NOT
1: A quick way to start making money-
Right off the bat, this needs to be addressed first because this is the main reason why most people start a blog, to start making money. Right?
Building a blogging business is no cakewalk. Just like any other business out there that makes money, blogging takes time too.
This is not a “Get rich quick” scheme and certainly not going to replace your 9 to 5 anytime soon.
Blogging takes anywhere between 6 months to 1-2 years to start making a full-time income in general, depending upon how fast you grow.
2: A platform to share what matters to you ONLY-
Let me ask you something,
Are you Kylie Jenner? or Elon Musk?
No? Then people don’t want to hear everything about you only. People don’t usually care about you until you have something for them.
This is the main reason why people visit a blog in the first place, to gain something. So you have to provide that “something” for them.
It can be a well crafted written piece, a freebie, a product, a course ar any useful information in general. Anything that might provide value to readers.
Why most blogs don’t make it?
Starting a blog is an exciting phase that is filled with a lot of hope, energy, and determination to do and achieve something.
The sad part is that most bloggers will lose that excitement and energy when they begin to realize that results are hard to come by –
- Getting traffic is not that easy
- Earnings are hard to achieve
- And overall growth just doesn’t seem to occur.
We, Humans, are pretty impatient beings and we quickly quit things when we don’t see desirable results.
Let us take the example of Adam,
Adam: I’ve been blogging for the past 3 months now, and I’ve only made $34 so far!
A Pro Blogger: Ok! That’s a start!
Adam: But How am I supposed to quit my job and start my blogging business like I planned if I only make $11.33 a month?
A Pro Blogger: Well, no one is asking you to leave your job today! Build your blogging business steadily, it will take time.
Adam: But I barely have time, how can I keep doing the same thing over and over if I am not making enough money from it? It is not motivating me to continue.
His concern is Understandable! He needs to be making money to be motivated but he also needs to keep blogging to make money.
It’s the classic “Chicken and Egg” Scenario all over again!
So for that, he should be making a decent income to keep him motivated as well as to keep the blog running. Right?
Correct, but that’s not practical!
“Income” and “writing blogs” do not go hand-in-hand for a new blog. This is the thing that many newbie bloggers don’t get, income can NEVER come first, money is the result of Consistent blogging. “Consistent”, being the keyword here.
When new bloggers don’t see significant income growth, they call it quits!
There is another reason why people give up-
Want To Be a Successful Blogger? Let’s Make It Happen!
Now you know why the Starting Phase of a blog is so critical and hard to keep it running, which certainly does not mean building a successful blog is far-fetched.
Becoming a successful blogger is NOT that hard if you play the strategies right. These are the following points to remember for your long term growth and success in the blogging world-
1: Always! Always Be 100% Original
There are literally thousands to millions of blogs around the globe. And more than 2 million blogs are written every single day (Source: Worldometers). Throughout all these blogs, I feel like most of them are regurgitated (repetition) information.
The last thing you want is to add to these writing repetitions. But how can you make blog shine in the haystack of million other blogs?
Originality!
No two people in the world are alike, you are one of a kind and hence your thought process is Original. Use that to your advantage.
When I started blogging I thought “Why would anyone read whatever I have to write? I might write something that already exists or someone else writes way better than me. So why bother?”
Turns out, I was wrong! People (and other bloggers) actually like a new and fresh point of view on things.
2: Create Great Content/ Provide Value
Ever heard the phrase, “Content Is Key“? I have, multiple times! Good quality content makes the reader feel enlightened and keeps them coming back for more.
When a visitor comes to a blog, they obviously are looking for some something that might help them. If you are able to provide some value, they might stick around for quite a while.
3: Consistency Is Sooo Important
This does not mean you have to publish a brand new post every day. Nobody got time and energy to do that.
If you’re publishing once in two days, keep doing it. If you’re publishing once every week, Keep doing it. As long you keep it consistent, you will have a time goal to chase and hence the urgency to create content will arise.
Consistency implies dedication, which often creates a positive impression on people.
In addition to all of this, create a solid plan with actual time frames instead of “Going with the flow” slowly. Set goals for 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, a year and so on.
I think this is a good way to avoid burning out due to the starting phases of your blog.
4: Invest In Your Blog…When Required
There will be a few moments in your blogging journey where you have to actually pay money in order to grow your blog.
Don’t shy away from such investments.
These investments may be paying for Email Service Provider plans (For building an email list), Blogging and traffic courses, mentorship etc.
I’ve have paid for quality traffic courses and blogging tools and now I can truly say that these investments a TOTALLY worth it.
A large portion of new bloggers thinks that spending money on blog set-up and promotion is a waste. It is quite a shame!
5: Evolve Over Time
Change your strategies, try something new, guest blog on others blog to grow new audience, create a course etc. There are literally so many ways you can expand and evolve your online presence.
It is not an actual necessity for your blog, but it kinda is!
Evolving allows you to further grow your audience, create more quality content and as a result generates more income. Getting traffic to your blog is not getting any easier, and if you can’t grow your blog traffic, you’ll fall behind compared to those who are growing.
Final thoughts…
Some claim that blogging is not for everyone and it takes some impressive writing skills to make it in this competitive world. I beg to differ,
I think that anyone can be a blogger provided that the person has enough exposure and experience in the blogging world and how stuff works here, with or without the writing skills.
But most “Wannabe bloggers” quit prematurely, without getting the actual exposure.
I myself started this blog because I just wanted to try it. But I’ve made almost $130 my first-month blogging and I realized that it is actually possible to make a full-time income from it. So I stuck around even though for the next two months I made literally nothing.
As I said before,
You cannot expect a full-time income just after a few months of blogging, it will take a considerable amount of your time. BUT when you will start making decent money from blogging, you’ll be the happiest in the world for starting it in the first place!
And the growth of your income within the next coming months will put all the traditional 9 to 5 salaries to shame! Major shame!
So are you ready to start a blog (if you haven’t already) and begin your journey to FINANCIAL FREEDOM?
Great insight you gave ! Thank you!
Thank you, Daniel!
Great insight and thanks for the motivation. It gets tough after awhile, it really does. Especially if you’ve been blogging for close to a year and still don’t get more than 1-2 organic visits per day.
That would be us. Our articles are all over 1500 words and some are even up to 7000 words. Our posts are filled with relevant keywords and we update our posts regularly as well. However, we just can’t seem to get anywhere and it’s frustrating.
Thanks for your motivation to keep going though!
I know that it is really frustrating at the beginning, I’ve been through it, every blogger has! Only the ones that didn’t give up are soaring.
If youre having trouble getting traffic to your blog, consider taking some traffic courses such as Pinterest Avalance and/or Stupid Simple SEO.
An investment in your blog growth!