Is blogging worth it? The question most wannabe bloggers want to know.
There comes a time, but usually about 3 times throughout the year that are really popular, that wannabe bloggers start searching the internet high and low with the question: “is blogging worth it?” or “is it worth starting a blog?”.
I don’t know what kind of answers they’re looking for but I can tell you those questions comes right down to the money.
These wannabe bloggers join groups, ask questions on forums, do a tiny bit of research, just to find out if during the time their thinking about starting, if blogging is really worth it or would it just be a waste of time?
I wanted to write a post for those wannabe bloggers, beginner bloggers, new bloggers, and the future bloggers that will actually make it.
I wanted it to be the type of post every new wannabe blogger actually needs and finds answers too.
The one post that will give newbie bloggers the real expectations of what to expect when starting a blog.
The kind of post that future bloggers are searching: what every blogger should know when starting a blog or where should I start and so on.
I want it to be the posts of all posts, that will help a beginner figure out if starting a blog is worth it to them.
Now this post might be a little extra long, but you want to be a blogger, and you want some straight answers, right?
So, you should read it because it’s only going to benefit you when you do your research properly.
Do I think blogging is worth it?
Here’s a little story on me, how I got here and why?
Stay with me now!
I started a food blog with a friend and she bailed on me right after hosting was purchased.
And I thought, “I paid for a year”, I can do this.
Well no I couldn’t.
That’s right, I couldn’t.
I was always frustrated, upset, overwhelmed and I cried.
Hosting renewal came around at the speed of light and I quit.
Blogging at that moment was not worth it.
But, I had a plan because I’m determined!
I took some time off to stop being mad at blogging and spent a year researching what I needed to know to blog.
And found out, that every post I read about what I needed to know, was not telling me what I really needed to know.
I mean it’s out there, but you need to search for it.
I mean a really good thorough search, a dig down deep search.
But most importantly to do that search, you need to know what things are, so that you can search for it.
And when you find it and it all starts clicking together, and you start actually understanding blogging, that’s when starting that blog starts to be worth it.
You see, there will be those times when you’re frustrated and overwhelmed because there is so much going on IN blogging.
One thing leads to another, that leads to another, then something else pops up, that leads to something else and it just keeps going.
And you know none of this, because all you read was how to start a blog in 4 easy steps.
Get a domain, find a web host, write some blog posts and BAM make money.
But that’s far from how it works, FAR!
And that’s what brings me here.
During my time of researching, I found I really liked this kind of stuff and the reason I liked it was because I enjoyed learning about it and I wanted to tell new bloggers the who, what and why of blogging and what to expect.
So, in this post I’m not writing about how it’s worth blogging if you build a brand, choose a specific niche, write quality content, create an email list and whatever else is involved with starting a blog.
Because those are all things involved with actually starting a blog and we’re not doing that here.
I’m writing this blog post to answer the questions that appear in search results that future bloggers might want to know.
So, that you yourself can decide if blogging is worth it.
Is Blogging Worth It Q & A
Is blogging hard?
Heck yeah it is!
Not even going to try and sugar coat it, blogging is hard.
And I’ll tell you why.
Because you know nothing!
People, well most, ok a lot, start a blog to make money, with the dream of becoming a full-time blogger so they can be their own boss and work from the beach.
But here’s the thing, if you’ve never owned a business, then you have no idea how hard a business owner, who is their own boss, works.
Just because you have a business doesn’t mean you’re not going to work hard.
It means you’re going to work harder.
Because unless you have tons of money to pay other people from the beginning to do every single thing that needs to be done, you’re going to be the one to do it all.
Yes, the point of becoming a full-time blogger is to work from home, be your own boss and have lots of money, right?
I mean why else would you be doing it?
BUT
You have to get to that point of making money.
And it’s not all peaches and cream, because there is a lot to do.
So, if you want to get to that point of making money, you’re going to have to learn the ins and outs of blogging.
And between researching how to start your blog and making you’re first few cents there is a lot going on.
So, the question here is, is it worth working hard to start your blog to get to where you want to be?
Can a blogger make money?
Yes, if you’re determined, consistent and persistent.
So, you’re hitting the net reading about all these bloggers incomes because you need some motivation to do your thing.
The thing is, their thing is not your thing.
You can make money blogging, but how much, I couldn’t tell you, no one can, that all depends on you and what you do and how you do it.
But there are some things you should consider when reading these success stories of other bloggers.
- What is the blogger blogging about?
If I’m not an attorney who blogs about legal things that bloggers need, why would I care what a blogging attorney makes.
I can’t make that, because I’m not an attorney and that’s not my niche.
Of course, they’ll make a lot of money, because there are not a lot of blogging attorneys and there is a big demand for what they provide.
Or how can I compare what I might make with a finance site, if I’m not into finance?
So, think about the niche that someone’s telling you about.
- How long has the blogger been blogging?
You’ll come across these success stories of bloggers making big bucks.
- What year did they actually start blogging?
- And how long did it take to actually start making this money their talking about?
Because starting a blog and making money are two different things here.
And blogging is different from way back when someone started in 2009 or 2013, when these bloggers didn’t have all the competition that we have now.
And you also have to consider, that the bloggers that have been blogging from way back when, have grown huge audiences and are very established.
These are things I think you should consider so that you can have some realistic expectations of how long it takes to make money blogging.
Is it profitable to be a blogger/is blogging profitable?
Two-part question with a two-part answer.
- First, is it profitable to be a blogger?
Profitable means to get a gain, it’s what’s left over after all the taxes, costs, bills, employees, you, vendors, contractors, sub-contractors, affiliates, fees and whatever else it takes to run your business that needs to be paid during a certain quarter has been paid.
So, if someone is asking, are they going to get some profits from their hard work, they might.
Can it be done, sure, anything is possible, right?
If your goal is to make money, then you have to grow that money to make a profit.
Is blogging worth it enough to you to make it happen?
- Second part, is blogging profitable?
The bloggers who make profit are going to tell you yes.
And the bloggers who never made anything, well they’re gone so you’ll probably never hear no.
And remember, we’re still talking about a gain, the left overs.
There is money that can be made blogging, but being profitable means that you will have to make more money than what you need to cover everything.
Can it be done? Well, the ones who are making it, say it can.
But can it be profitable for you?
Every single answer comes down to you and what you’re going to do to make that happen.
Can a blogger make a full-time income?
When bloggers talk about full time income, it’s the income that you we’re making before, that can be replaced with blogging.
So, there is no set income for all.
If I had a job and made $32,000.00 a year and I could make $32,000.00 a year blogging, I just made my full-time income.
And if I made $100,000.00 a year and could make that while blogging, I just made my full-time income.
And if you had no income and made enough to pay yourself to be able to provide for what you needed to provide for, (and that’s before the profit) then that is your full-time income.
And when you consider full time income, a full-time job is 40 hours, and a part-time job is 25. Let that sink in.
How much money can a beginner blogger make?
Well, the answer is not the same for everyone.
But since the question is about beginners; how beginner are they, how far are they willing to go?
I mean are they going to give up after a month, or 3 or a year?
Because newbies do quit because they’ve made no money during any of those time frames.
So, I’m just going to say this; some, ok a lot of beginners get an idea that blogging is a get rich quick thing and it’s not, it can take years.
And your site, niche and experience are not the same as someone else’s.
But when beginner bloggers are looking for an answer of how much they can make to see if it’s worth blogging, they’ll get a lot of hopeful answers based on what someone else is making.
So, think about this:
- If you took someone’s site that makes $3,000.00 a month and were able to replicate exactly everything they have and do, you would probably make $3,000.00 a month.
Then someone could say, “you have a really good chance of making $3,000.00 a month.”
But we know that would never happen because we don’t ever copy or take someone else’s stuff.
- But you just started and your new with not a lot of content, no readers, no strategies, no SEO knowledge, a slow site and no digital products and on top of that, what little content you have, isn’t even indexed.
How much do you really think you’re going to make? I can tell you all of a sudden blogging doesn’t seem worth it, right?
- Now, it’s a year later and you have 100 posts, you’re using keywords, created some digital products and think you’re site it amazing, but you just can’t seem to move up for whatever reason and you can’t figure out why.
How much do you think you’ll make? Is it still worth doing?
- Now it’s the two years later, and you came up with a completely different approach to your blogging strategies and you’re hitting the top every time and knocking it out of the park with 1000’s of views a day and everyone wants to be you.
You set your own goals and your achieving them.
How much are you making? I bet it’s worth blogging now, right?
You see; what you do, what you make, what your goals are, how far you go, is all up to you.
Sure, looking at what someone else makes is hopeful, but it’s not you and to many new bloggers think that’s what they should be making and then start comparing themselves with that.
What you should be saying is, “I’m going to make more than that”, if you want some motivation.
Then make it happen.
How hard is it to make money blogging?
It could be hard or it could be easy.
First thing is, once you get your site up and running, you’re going to have to wait it out for a bit, views just don’t start magically appearing.
Second thing is, what are you going to do to make that money happen? Because you have to do something.
You see that the majority of these questions are about money, because that’s what everyone wants to know about and that what everyone wants, money.
But you need to realize that it’s what YOU DO, that will make that money happen or not.
We could have the same niche, same amount of posts and the same amount of traffic.
But we’re two completely different personalities with different audiences, which means one us could make more than the other or one of us could succeed and the other one not.
You are the one that’s going to make it easy or hard for yourself.
And that’s why blogging is all about having a plan to get you where you want to be.
Someone could tell you, “yeah, sure it’s easy to make money”, but it may not be easy for you.
It’s a completely different blog, with completely different everything, no two blogs are the same.
This is your blog, it’s you and only you and the only way it’s going to be worth it, is by the amount of work you put into it.
Is blogging a fast way to earn money?
No, uh huh, definitely not.
It’s going to take time to get it up, then getting content on it, then building that content up, then getting that content indexed and served, and this could take 6 months to a year.
Then consistently adding content to build up your site, so that you can be worth of being acknowledge by search engines to build up an audience to make money from.
So, no it is not a fast way to earn money.
Is there a downside to blogging?
Yes.
So, here’s the thing, everybody wants to make money but not everyone can or will.
You read that right, not everyone can or will.
And that could be for any number of reasons, I mean you’ll never know if you don’t blog, right?
But to get to that money there are a lot of things that need to happen and if you’re not prepared to do learn those things, there’s your downside.
Are personal blogs still relevant?
If you’re just having a hobby blog, then it might still be relevant to someone.
But not for a money-making blog UNLESS you are providing something the user absolutely needs.
You see, you’re going to realize when you start blogging that people will only need to visit your site when they can get something out of it.
If it’s not something that’s going to benefit them, what do they need you’re blog for.
The internet has changed from way back when people used it as a personal diary.
So, if you just want to blog for fun then do a personal blog.
But if you want to make money you need to create a blog for users.
Is blogging saturated?
Yes, it is.
BUT
That doesn’t mean there’s not room for you.
Everyone has something different to say in their own way.
And that’s where your uniqueness comes in.
How long does it take to learn blogging?
Now if we’re talking about learning how to actually blog, like themes, keywords, plugins and so on.
It’s a continuous learning process, there’s always something new or something changing and always something to learn.
And if we’re talking about learning how to blog for you’re specific niche, it’s the same way.
You should always be learning and researching your niche to give what you’ve learned to your users.
Is there a lot of jargon I need to know to start blogging?
Maybe, it depends, ok yes, there is a lot of jargon to know when you start blogging.
Here is a piece from one of my eBooks.
Then their other words like: Page Rank, long form keywords, pillars, sub-pillars, evergreen, website architecture and canonical just to name a teeny teeny teeny tiny few and these are all different things.
So, while your learning to blog, you will learn and need to know what all these words mean.
Are blogs a waste of time?
Maybe to the person not making money.
Or maybe to the person who thinks they’re just going to breeze right through it and end up quitting.
But I can guarantee you, not to the person who pressed on and is making a full-time income and profit!
What percentages of blogs fail?
80%.
That’s 8 out of 10 people that will fail in the first 18 months of blogging.
Why do most bloggers fail?
Here’s what I’ve seen.
Most fail because when they started they had no idea of all that was involved, believing 6 easy steps to starting a blog to make money.
Why are there posts out there with 3, 5, 6, or 8 easy steps to starting a blog and I have a post with 21 steps?
No one tells you about themes, till you get there or SEO, till you get there or duplicate content till you get there.
These headlines, that you’ll find out about when you get there, are made for getting clicks.
But wannabe, newbie or beginners are not told, informed or directed to what is next or told why blogging is so tough.
It’s because you know nothing about blogging and it’s because you’ll have to learn on your own.
And you can’t learn on your own, when you don’t know what to do, right?
Unless you do that deep-down dig into research.
And is it worth it to a blogger to do that? I think not, or so many wouldn’t fail.
Another reason and this kind of involves two.
Money, they’re not making it and blogging takes up too much time.
Seriously, blogging is a full-time job with overtime and if you can only do it part-time, on top of the life you have, it takes longer.
Then on top of not making money, is worrying about what everyone else is making and comparing themselves to that.
“A blog that started after me is making money and I’m not.”
“XYZ started a blog and made a full-time income in 2 years but I’m not.”
And waa waa waa.
That’s why they’re not, because they’re too busy, being up in somebody else’s business that has nothing to do with them.
That energy spent complaining about it, should have been spent creating a new plan of attack for their own blog.
What every blogger should know when starting a blog?
It’s hard, it’s time consuming, it’s not a get rich thing, there is a lot to learn, it’s not quick, easy or simple and you will need to invest money.
You will need to be patient and create good plans to follow through with and give it at least 2 years before you give it up.
And when you hit those blogging groups with questions, everybody has something to say, when they shouldn’t.
Where should a blogger start?
If you don’t want to be like me and be a quitter the first time around, start with a pen, paper and some research.
Create a list and take notes.
Write down anything that you come across that you want to go back to and read later.
Now when you start researching steps to starting a blog, you’re going to get basically the same steps from different posts.
When you come across someone who is saying something different, write it down and research it or just head over to my 21 steps to starting a blog.
Now if you don’t want to do the work and just want to jump right in and be overwhelmed later, you start with a niche.
Does blogging still work in 2023?
People still need blogs.
They still want recipes, they still want to learn how to do things and they still need help training their pets or want to know how to save money, pay off debt, eat right, exercise, start a blog and whatever else they can get from a real person.
So, yes, blogging still works in 2023.
Conclusion for is it worth blogging?
It’s a new year and starting a blog can be worth it in 2023.
But is it worth blogging to you?
This is what you need to decide on your own.
You have to do your own research and know what your getting into and what you’re going to do.
You can’t go by what other people are saying.
Everyone is different and everyone has their own story.
Now if you’ve gotten this far and thought I busted your bubble.
No, I didn’t.
If you’re bubbles busted it’s because you don’t want to do all that hard work.
I’m all for success and I’m all for that person that is going to press on.
The one that is going to do what they need to do, to not be included in that 80% number, but chose to be the next success story a future blogger reads.
That is the blogger that blogging will be worth it to.
Someone else’s success story is not your story, create your own.
So, tell me, what did you think of this post? Is it worth blogging or not?