To many, the world of blogging for income seems like a fantasy world. Internet marketing “gurus” are a dime a dozen and it seems like everywhere you look online, there’s a website claiming they can teach you the secrets to creating financial freedom. It all look so easy…but it’s not. Not even close!
The profession of blogging is often misunderstood and gets far less credit that it deserves. People assume that all we do is sit at home in our underwear, surf the Internet, and write an article now and then.
Now, this may be true for recreational bloggers, but for those who are trying to earn a living from it, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Blogging is a process, a very long process, and if you don’t agree then you are obviously NOT a blogger.
On the surface, blogging may seem like a laid back, easy way to make some money online. In actuality, it’s ultra competitive, especially in the Internet marketing space, requires a massive time commitment, and for most bloggers, offers little or no monetary reward.
The upside is that you get to write about what you love (hopefully), work from anywhere you want, build a huge social network, and have the possibility of earning more in a month that you ever did in a year at your day job.
The Internet Lifestyle
The lure of the “Internet lifestyle” brings millions of new bloggers out of the woodwork and into the blogosphere every month. Getting paid to write about something you love while sitting on a white sandy beach is what most new bloggers probably envision their life will be like.
Unfortunately, that rarely happens, and if it does, then consider yourself blessed. Blogging is a grind and while there is nothing wrong with having to spend countless hours working on building your blog, it’s still a long, often tedious process.
One problem is that people get so wrapped up in the idea of being a superstar blogger and living the good life that they miss the bigger picture. And that’s creating a valuable resource for their readers, writing entertaining and/or educational content, and properly marketing their blog.
Statistically, very few bloggers will earn more than $500 from their blogs and the main reasons are
- They don’t treat it like a business
- They write infrequent and/or random posts
- They have no idea who their target audience is
- They have no clue how to effectively market their services
- They have no strategy for their business
These things all need to be considered before you even think about trying to build a business from your blog. Fail to understand any one of these and you may find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be. And that place is frustration.
Blogging For Income Isn’t Easy
The path to success for a blogger is not a straight line. What works great for one person may not work at all for another. There are many different ways you can achieve online success, and even more ways you can achieve failure.
When a new blogger starts out, everything seems great. We have a seemingly infinite number of ideas, are writing tons of great content, are getting involved with multiple social networks, are creating a buzz for our blogs, but it eventually wears off.
This is when frustration rears its ugly head. When you have just thrown your absolute best out into the blogosphere and you see very little being returned, it’s disheartening. This is why it’s vital that you have a strategy for your blog. Just trying to figure out your business plan or marketing strategy as you go does not work!
It’s very important to figure out exactly how you plan to earn income from your blog before you try to do it. If you don’t, you may end up being one of the blogging casualties we hear about all the time. These are the people who have a great blog, are doing exciting things, and then one day they are gone. They forgot one important thing-planning.
When we eventually realize that making money online is not easy, it can be a shock. Many bloggers think that building a list, putting a few Google AdSense ads up, and adding affiliate links to their site will make them a bunch of money.
While these are all techniques that actually do work, they do not work for those without a clear plan.
So before you decide that you are going to be the next Darren Rowse or Brian Clark, do some research first. Make sure you fully understand everything that goes into blogging for a full-time income before you set off to do it.
Otherwise, you may end up like millions of other “wannabe” pro bloggers, disappointed and broke.
About the Author: Steve Roy is the owner of EndingTheGrind.com, a blog dedicated to helping people get out of their miserable jobs, build an online business, and live with passion!
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