I write a lot of content on here encouraging people like you to start blogs. And I do it because I truly LOVE blogging!
I love blogging because I get paid 5-figures a month to do something thats fun, creative, and completely independent. Not to mention, it’s all passive income, so I continue to earn while I take time off or focus on other priorities.
Blogging has changed my life! I believe it’s an amazing job for so many people.
But it’s not all sunshine and roses. This journey has been full of uphill battles and challenges, and I think often in the online blogging community, those things don’t get talked about enough.
In this post, I wanted to share some hard truths of blogging that I’ve learned over my 4+ year blogging journey.
I’m not telling you all this to discourage you, I just think a healthy dose of reality can help you stay motivated and realize your feelings are normal, wherever you are in your blogging journey.
Let’s get into it!!
1. It can take years to make money
People starting a blog will sometimes say things like,
“I’ll give this a go for 6 months to see if I can actually get results.”
And I go… Months?!
For most people, this is not going to be enough to see real success with a blog. You might think you’re a special snowflake that can get results faster than other people, and maybe you are! But probably not…
The truth is, the majority of successful bloggers have to put in years of work to seeing results.
I’d recommend you adapt a mindset of, “If I work hard at this for long enough, and am always learning new things, I will eventually succeed.”
This is what I did… I told myself I didn’t care how many years it took, It would be worth it if I could make a career out of blogging.
And guess what? It took longer than I thought!! 4 years in and I’m finally consistently making enough to consider leaving my full time job.
But It’s soo worth it to me because even though it took a long time, having the opportunity to live on passive income and free up my time is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m so grateful I started 4 years ago when I did and stuck with it, rather than giving up.
To be successful, you have to think about blogging as a long term investment in your time and freedom, not just something to make a quick buck.
2. You’ll deal with a lot of rejection
I’ve been rejected for nearly everything I’ve applied for when it comes to blogging, sometimes multiple times.
Rejected from Google Adsense, rejected from multiple affiliate programs, rejected from Mediavine.
And I’ll be honest, that feeling of rejection just never gets easier. It hurts deep down.
But for each rejection, I got back up, took whatever feedback they gave me, and tried again. And it worked!
This amount of rejection is not uncommon. There is not a successful blogger I know that has not encountered rejection at least a time or two. The difference between those of us that succeed and those that do not, is that we keep going and try again.
As a blogger, you’re going to have to learn to take rejection and use it as fuel to keep going. If you quit at the face of rejection, you’ll never succeed in the blogging world.
3. If you want this to work as a career, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices
The average blog post takes over 4 hours to write. I spend around 2 hours each week making content for Pinterest. Creating a website, even with the best theme or drag and drop builder, can take multiple weeks.
What I’m saying is, it takes a lot of time. Valuable time that you could spend doing other things: hanging out with family & friends, pursuing hobbies, etc.
If you’re like me and you want to start a blog while working full-time, this trade-off is especially difficult.
Because the reason you probably want to start a blog in the first place is that so you can take back control of your time!
So it can be frustrating in the beginning feeling like you’re doing the opposite coming home from your 9-5, and working more than 40 hours a week instead of less.
Simply put, you’re going to have to sacrifice a lot of time to succeed blogging.
And to make this kind of sacrifice worth it requires a leap of faith and a lot of grit.
4. When you tell people about your blog, they might not take it seriously
When you tell people you have a blog, you might here something to the tune of:
“oh, so you’re an influencer?”
or
“Do people even read blogs anymore? It’s not 2010 anymore…”
or
“oh, very cool…”Dead silence (They don’t know what blogging is)
Some people don’t know what blogging is, and others have negative stigmas about it.
And it can make it difficult to talk about!
This is one of the reasons why I blog primarily anonymously. I didn’t want my friends and family to think I was trying to become an influencer or join some sort of weird pyramid scheme. (Not that there’s anything wrong with being an influencer!)
Basically, you’re going to have to learn to not care what people think about your blog, or not tell them at all.
5. You’ll have to get comfortable with constant change and uncertainty
One day last year, Google released an update to their search algorithm that caused tons of bloggers to lose almost all traffic to their site overnight. And with that, their paycheck.
People were calling it the blogging apocalypse and some people still haven’t recovered.
I don’t write this to scare you, I write it because it’s a reality of being a blogger. Things are changing all the time, and those changes can be difficult to deal with.
This change didn’t affect me personally so much, because I rely on Pinterest for a lot of blogging traffic. But Pinterest changes their algorithm frequently, too.
Whether it’s Pinterest, Google, or something else, I always feel like I’m on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next big change I’ll have to adapt to.
It can be a fun challenge, but very scary when you rely on blogging for full time income.
6. Writing into the void
When I first started blogging, I can vividly remember the feeling of spending hours on a blog post, publishing it, and waiting for people to read it.
I can remember checking in days, weeks, or months later only to find that my post had only reached the eyes of a single person.
Did they read it? Was it useful?
Was that even a person? Or could it have just been a bot?
Sigh..
When you start out blogging, it can feel like you’re writing into the void.
Sometimes, you are.
Be prepared to write thousands of words that no one will ever read.
7. Perfectionism will hurt your progress
I am such a perfectionist. When I started my blog, I wanted every page, every post, to be perfect.
And I had to learn a tough lesson— I didn’t have time to be a perfectionist.
I had to accept the fact that my blog would not be as perfect as those who have invested thousands of dollars into the perfect WordPress theme or social media content, or had full time writers on staff to constantly churn out content.
I had to to overcome your perfectionism in favor of moving quickly, and you will too.
I recognize this might be controversial advice, but I really believe that in blogging, done is better than perfect.
I don’t necessarily agree with the phrase quality over quantity. Because, honestly, blogging requires a balance of both quality and quantity.
Find ways to be efficient and still create content you are proud of. When you start a blog, you have to wear many hats. If you try to be perfect at every little thing, the details will drive you crazy.
8. You don’t just get to write all day
If you want to start a blog because you love to write, unfortunately, that’s not all there is to it.
In addition to writing, you’ll have to learn to become an armchair web designer, graphic designer, email marketer, social media manager, amongst other things.
Writing is probably less than 50% of what I do as a blogger.
Blogging is a unique careers because it doesn’t hinge on one single skillset. Somedays, you’ll spend the whole day writing. Others, you’ll need to setup something on your website or try to promote your posts.
If you’re a great writer, it will certainly be helpful in your blogging career, but be prepared you’ll have to rely on several other skills as well.
9. Blogging is lonely
When my site goes down, or I get rejected from an affiliate program, or Pinterest changes their algorithm, I have very few people to talk to about these things and commiserate with in real life.
My poor husband knows all the in and outs of having a blog, and he doesn’t even have one! I don’t know what I would do without him, because blogging can just be so lonely.
It can sometimes feel like you have no one to talk to who will truly understand.
You’ll spend a lot of time by yourself working on your blog. Even when you do share, it’s likely most people just won’t understand what you’re talking about.
This can be really difficult! Luckily, there are a lot of blogging communities online on Reddit and Facebook that can help ease the solitude.
10. No one cares about your diary entries
If you’ve read my guide to starting a blog that makes money, then you already know this…
If you want to be successful with blogging, you’ll have to write about things people want to read, not just what interests you.
Of course, you can have a blog that you use as a diary or journal, but don’t expect it to generate a lot of traffic or money.
Writing about what people care about requires research and careful planning, you don’t just start writing about whatever!
You ever wonder why so many blogs feature list-style posts like this one? Because people like them! They are easy to read and summarize.
It’s an important point because in my experience, writing a personal essay or journal entry is completely different than a blog post that targets a specific need of your audience. You’re going to have to test out if you like writing this way, because it’s super important for having a successful blog!
After all this, is it even worth it?
For me, the answer to this question is absolutely. I am a life-long learner and I have found the challenge of creating and building this blog to be a great learning experience.
Not to mention, it’s been so rewarding to see my hobby turn into a business that generates thousands of dollars in passive income.
Even with everything on this list, I still recommend blogging to people who ask me about it! But I send them here first, because these are things you need to be aware of.
If you’ve made it to the end and I haven’t scared you away (which I hope I haven’t!!) It’s time to start your blog! In my guide to starting a blog, I’ll walk you through the exact steps to start a blog that makes money.
If you’re not ready yet, or something on this list is discouraging you, please reach out to me! I’d love to help offer any advice, tips, or encouragement where I can. My email is rachel@daysinspired.com