With the re-rise of blogging and many solo-bloggers making large amounts of money from it every month and being able to quit their jobs, many people are wondering if they too should start a blog. I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t start a blog.
10 Reasons You Should Not Start A Blog
The purpose of this article is to tell you why blogging may not be for you. If you get to the end and are still convinced you need to start a blog, then you probably should. I just want to make sure you are choosing a path that maximizes odds of success in achieving financial freedom.
1. There Are Only 2 Types Of People That Should Start A Blog
If you are not one of the two types of people listed below, do not waste your time on blogging. The only 2 types of people that should start a blog are:
- People who love to write You might even say people who are obsessed with writing. How do you know you love writing? Let’s put it this way: people who love to write cannot not write. Meaning, even if you don’t have a blog or a book to work on, you would still be writing. You would write in a journal, write in a notebook, write in the margins of papers. This was me for a long time before I turned my hand to writing. Another big clue is you love reading. That’s where we all start before we start writing.
- People who are obsessed with a particular subject and like to write In this category you have people like Tim Urban from the Wait But Why blog, where he is fascinated by big ideas, and blogging is the best way to express, explore, and structure his thoughts of the particular subject he is currently obsessed with. I would also put Disney bloggers in this category.
A third group of people who used to be successful in blogging, but no longer are, are the I don’t like writing but I wanna grab the blogging cash people. Blogging used to be much lower hanging fruit and it was a path to riches even for people who didn’t like to write. That door closed. 500 word blogs posts written for SEO and not readers doesn’t work anymore. This is also the group of people screaming in forums “Blogging is DEAD.” Which is partially true, blogging is dead…for them.
Blogging as a viable path to make money is only open to people willing to learn and master the craft, which this third group of people are not.
2. If You Need Fast Money, Don’t Start A Blog
If you need to make rent, blogging isn’t the answer. Door Dashing or getting a part time job at the Amazon warehouse is the answer. Bussing tables is the answer. Waving around the $5 Dollar Car Wash!!! sign on the corner for $13 bucks an hour is the answer. Blogging is not the answer.
There’s no shame in taking “lowly” jobs on the side to make ends meet. I’ve been there, working like an animal to make ends meet for my family. It was probably the best moment of my life. If you need fast money, that’s the way to go. I was working a full-time job and putting another 30 hours a week in at an Amazon warehouse, picking and packing boxes into delivery vehicles. Do what you gotta do, which isn’t blogging, blogging won’t get you through that.
Blogging is the long game. You won’t make a dime your entire first year. It will take 3-5 years before you make anything consistently. Probably 5 years before you can go full time. Is it worth it? Of course it is. But it takes a long time to get there. If you need fast money, don’t start a blog.
3. If You Lack Persistency, Blogging Isn’t For You
A blog requires determined persistency. It requires you to show up every single day and to type words and post articles that nobody will read for a long time. There is no instant feedback. There is only you, the keyboard, and the screen. The conditions of blogging make it easy to fade away, which is what happens to most blogs–they f a a a a a d e.
One cannot approach blogging with a haphazard mentality. It requires that you show up every single day. And that’s too hard for many people.
4. Blogging Requires VISION To Achieve Success
The greatest bodybuilder and movie start of all-time, Arnold Schwarzenegger, talks repeatedly about how you must have a VISION for what you want to achieve. It’s his greatest “secret” to success.
If you have no vision for your blogging endeavors, blogging is not for you. If you cannot picture yourself standing victoriously on that podium, you aren’t going to make it. Where there is no vision you will perish. Your blog will perish too. Only go where you have a vision.
5. If You Can’t Ask Somebody To Give You Money, You Should Stay At A Traditional W-2
The only legal way to get money is to get somebody to give it to you. If you cannot ask somebody else for money, you will not be a successful blogger. The art of asking somebody for money is called sales. You will have to get comfortable with sales, or as it’s called in the internet marketing world–copywriting.
6. If You Are On A Daily Time-Crunch You Won’t Have Time For Blogging
To be a successful blogger requires a lot of time. If you are unable to dedicate four hours a day to blogging, you won’t be able to make it in the blogging game. You won’t be able to make it in any other kind of business outside of your day job either. Winning in life requires sacrifice.
If you think you’ll do maybe 30 minutes or an hour of blogging per day and somehow make it to full-time status, you are delusional. Building a successful blog requires the same care and dedication as any other business endeavor you may try to launch on the side. 4 hours per day minimum, 7 days per week.
7. You Must Have A Unique Angle Or You Will Not Stand Out
The blogging market is saturated and not saturated simultaneously. If your plan is to blog about personal finance you are wasting your time. If you plan to blog about personal finance for millennial mothers who have large families you might have a decent idea. It’s all about the angle, even if the angle is kinda boring.
My angle is standing out using the .blog domain (which I think is the future of blogging) and blogging very personally. “Be the niche” is some common old school advice, which is still good advice. I write for people who are like me, I know I’m not a unique snowflake and the problems I face are faced by millions of people just like me and they are looking for answers.
8. If You Believe You Can AI Prompt Your Way To Blogging Success, Blogging Is Not For You
If people want to read AI, they will go to an AI chatbot. If people want to read real human thoughts, they will go to a blog. If you think you will be able to create a blog by copy and pasting articles from AI bots, nobody will ever read you and Google will eventually penalize your blog into oblivion, as it should.
AI chatbots have their place. But their place is not among blogs.
9. If You Don’t Want To Master The Invisible Work Of Blogging, You Cannot Win
Blogging is much more than writing words. You must master (or at least have a strong working knowledge) of many programs and internet strategies in order to get your blog read.
Here’s my short list: Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, WordPress, Bluehost, Thesis/Focus, SEO, GEO, Image Optimization, Schema, Sitemap, Canva, Pinterest, YouTube. Winning the blogging game takes a comprehensive approach.
10. You Must Have Determination To Blog
The #1 factor in winning the blogging game is being DETERMINED to win the blogging game. A man (or woman) who is DETERMINED to win the blogging game will, quite simply, win the blogging game. (It doesn’t hurt to be outrageously optimistic, either.)
The determined man will do everything and anything that is required to be successful, to go full-time, and to quite the 9-5 jive forever. Blogging is a wide open path that will lead to freedom for many (see point #1). But you must decide it is what you are going to do and then don’t look back. Only relentless focus on climbing to the top of success mountain is what matters.
Most People Should Not Be Bloggers Because They Do Not Have What It Takes
Too many people are too horrified at the thought of not being able to keep up with Netflix or not being able to endlessly scroll through Instagram influencers or not being able to be on the cutting edge of breaking news by mindlessly monitoring X. While this sounds like hell to me, most people don’t wanna give it up!
Success is going to require all of those things are sacrificed to the vision you have set for your life. I strongly doubt the vision you have involves you scrolling social media with your hand down your pants. Wake up and follow your vision! If blogging is part of your vision you are in the right place! And if you made it to the bottom of this article it’s a strong hint blogging may be for you.
To start a blog you need two things 1.) a domain 2.) a hosting platform. I have partnered with Bluehost to give all of my readers the lowest available price. I personally use and recommend Bluehost. I use it for every single one of my blogs. Use my Bluehost partner affiliate link to get the lowest possible price and a free domain. When you click the link just choose the cheapest tier option for hosting, it’s all you need and then you are on your way.
Once you get set up, I recommend reading all the articles on this blog to maximize the speed of which blogging success will be achieved.
Until next time, friend. Blog on!