5 Things to Know Before You Start Blogging

Many people perceive blogging as a dream job: no boss to push you around, you write about things you like and don’t have to lift anything heavier than a coffee mug. Unless you count the work of raking in heaps of money, of course.

The reality, however, is somewhat different. Let’s take a look at what you should know before you jump the gun and quit your job.

1. It Is Hard Work

Blogging may not be hard physically, but it is still work. There isn’t a boss to order you about, but you cannot afford to just slack off.

You are your own boss, and should be a harsh boss if you want to achieve anything. Ideally you will write about things you are interested in, but once you start writing for money it doesn’t matter if you are not in the mood, or don’t have inspiration, or are tired.. If you want to stay afloat, you have to deliver high-quality copy regularly, no matter what.

2. There Are a Lot of Technical Issues to Take Care of

A blogger, especially when he just starts out, cannot fully concentrate on creative side of his/her work – there are a lot of technical problems to take into account. How are you going to advertise? What is your target audience? What will be your connections with other blogs? What platform are you going to use? The choice of the best web hosting for your particular situation, of WordPress theme you are going to use and so on – before you are be able to start blogging per se, you will have to go through a lengthy period of preparation, especially if you have no experience in this area.

3. Money Won’t Come Quickly

Especially if it is your first attempt, so don’t be in a hurry to leave your current 9-to-5 job. Blogging may bring you enough money to support yourself and even more than you could’ve made in an office job, you won’t see this money immediately. You will probably not see it in a year or two. Or at all – it depends on your talent as a content creator, the topic you choose, your ability to attract people, the amount of effort and time you are ready to put into it, the amount of faith you have in yourself, your abilities, and your enterprise.

4. It is Time-Consuming

The image of a blogger as a person who spends half an hour every few days to write a new article and does whatever he/she likes the rest of the time is not a purely fictitious one, but probably applies to a very small number of top bloggers who have been around for a very long time. In other words, they don’t depend that much on their weekly output. For all the rest, you won’t even spend as much time writing as you will spend trying to make a name for yourself: commenting on someone else’s blogs, establishing social media presence, and so on.

5. You Have to Be Passionate about the Subject

The best way to decide if you should start a blog is to ask yourself: will I be willing to go on even if I don’t earn a single cent off this thing? If the answer is no, you shouldn’t probably waste your time. It is extremely hard to get a blog off the ground if you have no motivation other than money. Success may not come soon, it won’t come easy, and if you don’t feel pleasure from the job alone you will very soon learn to hate it just as you hate your current 9-to-5 job.

So, if you are still ready to go on – good luck!

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