So what’s wrong with starting a blog?
If you’re creating a blog for personal reasons — nothing.
If you’re creating a blog to get rich and famous — everything.
When I created my first blog I imagined it as a huge success. I envisioned tons of traffic, selling advertising space, hiring writers and then kicking back, soaking it up in a hot tub with my soul mate. Granted, it was a fun project, but the dream was to pay the bills. It didn’t. It never will. I’ve accepted that.
The fact is, almost all blogs fail. I’m referring to blogs created with the hope of generating income. If a blog is marketing a service or a business in the real world, it can be a useful tool. However, a blog generally costs more money and time than will ever be recouped. If you get over the hump of more than 50 visitors per day, you’re doing pretty damn good. But nowhere near good enough.
I shouldn’t be telling you this. I create blogs for a living. The nuts and bolts anyway. I soon learned I was better at building blogs than writing them — and it’s good business.
I think most people start a blog with dreams of blogging stardom. I hear so often, “I need to start a blog.” Truthfully, you don’t. Writing with a pen in your private journal is probably good enough.
There are some bloggers making money hand over fist by blogging about how much money they make blogging. It’s ridiculous. Don’t read that crap. Unsubscribe from their newsletter. Unfollow them on Twitter. They’re not going to help you become a better blogger. They are going to try and sell you a worthless eBook about selling eBooks, and waste your time. There’s no magic solution for creating a successful blog. There’s no such thing as getting rich quick — unless you win the lottery. Like anything else, a great blog takes tons of work, dedication and the ability to write entertaining content like a mo fo! That’s the secret sauce.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t blog. But you shouldn’t blog for the wrong reasons. If you truly have a unique idea with original content about something you love — hey, it might work out! Maybe you can publish a book about stuff white people like. I still blog, obviously, but I don’t expect more than a handful of people to read my blog. Those that do, probably already know this stuff.
If you do start a blog, write because you enjoy it. Don’t install Google Analytics. Don’t install Google AdWords. Don’t start planning out your advertising space. The minute you start down that path, your blog is probably doomed.
Hey David!
I’ve been looking into the profile theme for a little while now and I was researching other people who used it and thought what better way to see it in action than by one of the designers of it! It looks great!
As I was digging around and found this post and it really resonated with me. I definitely had some of that “rich and famous” mentality when starting my blog and now that I’ve worked through that I’m enjoying blogging without having to be constantly checking on stats and how often I post.
Good theme, good blog.
Thanks!
Thanks Alex!
Glad you like the theme and blog!
Great post. Honest, realistic, and true!
Really great points made, totally agree with you. If you don’t put your effort into the blog for you then it won’t be as strong. It would be a terrible idea to start a blog for stardom. You should start a blog for your own personal benefit.
I think that this is a great way to let people know that they probably won’t succeed if they have a get rich quick plan. Especially if it involves blogging. Good job Dave. I really like your writing style.
You keep it up now, unrnsdtaed? Really good to know.
I totally agree with you. Blogging shouldn’t be about making money,(beacuse you probably won’t make any anyways), it should be about writing what you think and what you feel.
I agree with this blog that people shouldn’t intent to make there living off just blogging. Most people can’t even get a good enough blog going, let enough to have alot of people look at it everyday. You don’t hear everyday that someones job is blogging. Thats because theres not alot of people who make it blogging. You have to have really interesting things to blog about so interesting you can blog everyday and get alot of people to read it a day. Blogging can be a fun hobbie and fun to do, but I agree blogging isn’t something that alot of people can have for a job.
Very valid, pithy, suntcicc, and on point. WD.
I found this blog entertaining because of the straightforward remarks made by the author. It simply states that blogging can be fun, but it is not a smart choice when it comes to choosing a career. Most bloggers that make money aren’t trying to help anyone and people should probably steer clear of them. You should only blog if you’re willing to read criticism and opinions from other people about a topic that interests you.
Could you write about Phicsys so I can pass Science class?
For beginners, in making a blog can be very difficult, but it can also become really hard for some people. some people make it for the wrong reasoning which obviously this is for an academic response.
I believe that people shouldnt start blogging because its not wroth it, and you must likely wouldnt be famous from it and billions and billions of cash money.
What I find so inineesttrg is you could never find this anywhere else.
Great points were made
I thought this was an eye opener. It told you the reality and what to expect with the creation of your blog. I laughed at the thought David had told, saying: You can basically just write with a pen in a journal and receive the same affect as making a blog. I now realize to not expect much from this blog and not to put a lifes work into it. Thanks for the tips.
Very funny. This reminds me of many books that describe how to get rich. The best way to get rich in publishing is to write books about how to write books to get rich.
Favorite line “I need to start a blog…you really don’t.”