The Truth About Being a Full-Time Blogger
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Being a full-time blogger sounds like it’s all fun and games. And, it can be a lot of fun. But there are a lot of things behind the scenes that you won’t see, or may not even think about.
So today I want to talk about the truth about being a full-time blogger. The reality of what goes on behind the scenes.
1. WE DON’T WORK FROM THE BEACH
I know, I know. This one is shocking! We don’t actually work from the beach as those Instagram posts would suggest.
Why the hell anyone would even want to work on the beach is beyond me. If I’m going on vacation, I’m going to enjoy my time in the sun, not be on my laptop!
But, I digress.
Blogging is a lot of hard work. There are lots of late nights and early mornings involved.
You’re either sitting at your desk, in your at-home office, by yourself, typing away at a computer.
Or I’m sitting on my couch, still in my pj’s at 5 pm because I was too busy or too lazy to change.
Hey, don’t judge. It’s just comfier that way!
2. IT’S LONELY BEING A FULL-TIME BLOGGER
As I mentioned, you spend a lot of time sitting at your desk typing away at your computer.
That gets lonely after a while.
Even someone as home-bodied as me (is that a word?). Or someone with the social anxiety that I have… blogging gets lonely.
You spend a LOT of time by yourself.
But not only that, it’s hard to find friends in this industry! The number of times I have found myself in a group chat with a bunch of other bloggers who just “want to find friends!”
Each and every time the chat has died within a week or two.
Yet, I keep trying!
I find the people working in this space are too busy to make friendships. They think they want friends, but then they realize they have to actually reply to a chat and give up.
3. GROWTH ISN’T LINEAR
What I mean is, one month you’ll be on top of the world and have your best month ever in terms of income, or blog views, or whatever it is that you’re measuring.
Then the next month, an algorithm may change and you don’t get as much traffic as normal, causing your views to plummet.
Or you don’t get the income you expected.
As a new blogger, I expected once I started to gain traction that it would always be that way.
If I made $100 one month, I’d be guaranteed $100 the next month. Then I could increase from there.
And while there are some things you can do to ensure a consistent income, growth is not linear.
There will be ups and downs no matter what.
4. THERE IS NO STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO BLOGGING
Now, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of courses and resources out there to teach you how to blog. I have put many of those resources online myself.
However, the success or failure of your blog still relies on you.
I can teach you how to write a blog post but there is only so much I can teach you. You still have to write a good one.
I can recommend you the best Pinterest course for bloggers but if you don’t actually implement those strategies correctly, it’ll never work for you.
While there is so much help on the internet, it can only get you so far. You still have to put the pieces together and do the damn thing yourself!
CONCLUSION
Now, don’t get me wrong. There may be 4 things on this list for things you don’t know about blogging. They’re kinda the downside or negative parts of blogging.
But don’t let that discourage you from starting your blog. Blogging is the best job I’ve ever personally had and I hope I get to do it for a very long time. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
And if you still want to start a blog after this, check out my free How to Start a Blog email course to help you get started!
Originally published at https://www.businesswomenthrive.com on April 3, 2021.