5 Signs Blogging Isn’t for You (& 1 Sign You Should Start Today!)

5 Signs Blogging Isn’t for You (& 1 Sign You Should Start Today!) – If you’ve ever thought about starting a blog, here’s how to tell if you’ve got what it takes!

I’ve said it a million times and I’ve heard other bloggers say it too: blogging is a great way to earn money from home. It is, there’s no question.

But recently, I’ve seen some interesting posts on blogging: “THIS is the way to get rich when you work from home… ANYONE can do it!” But… what if blogging isn’t for you?

Before you go and spend any money at all on a blog (even if it is as low as $2.95/month), there are some things to be aware of; some signs that blogging isn’t for you. As much as I want everyone to be able to work from home and live a life that they love, I don’t ever want you to waste a single dime on something that you just don’t think is for you.

The whole reason that I got started blogging was because I read one-too-many blogging income reports online and thought to myself “hey! I can do this too!” It was so much harder than I ever could have imagined, but I kept going because of the one thing that kept reminding me why I had started…

Signs Blogging ISN’T for You.

1. “I want to be rich tomorrow.”

While, yes, you can get rich (my friend Rosemarie made $24,000 in one month, and my friend Michelle made more than $100,000 in one month!), it doesn’t happen overnight.

In fact, most bloggers have said that they had to blog for at least 6 months before seeing a profit. And even then, it was a very small profit. I mean to the tune of $25-100/month.

The good news:

You can earn a part-time, full-time, or even gigantic income from blogging. It won’t happen overnight, but the earning potential is there! With the right training, you can start to earn quickly. You can get the free ebook 7 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight here.

Related: Check out my latest blogging income report.

2. “I only want to blog an hour a week.”

I love blogging because it lets me make my own schedule and work when I have the time to do so. But I don’t work just an hour each week. No one that I know who is a successful blogger does.

It looks like fun and games, right? Spend time on the computer and get paid. But there’s a lot of work that goes into it. I know, I didn’t believe it either when I first started out.

Back in the early days of my blog, I spent more than 8 hours each day trying to get everything that I needed to get finished and polished. I was exhausted.

Blogging is just like any other entrepreneurial venture: you are the company so you have to do all of the work. Believe it or not, starting out, this was a blessing. It let me get to know every facet of my business before I ever had the means to outsource it.

I learned coding, web design, graphic design, social media marketing email marketing, and customer service all in a very short amount of time. It was like a crash course in how to be an online entrepreneur.

The good news:

You still can make your own schedule and make it fit your life. I don’t know any other job that would allow me to have this much control over what I do.

Especially with kids! I get to work before the kids get up, during nap time, or even in the pick-up line for school.

I usually work 20 hours each week, but I still make as much as I would in a full-time position outside of the home.

Related: How to Start a Profitable Blog the Right Way

3. “I don’t want to deal with Pinterest or any other kind of social media.”

It’s true that we can all get sucked into the time vacuum that is Facebook. Or spend hours pinning dessert ideas to Pinterest when we only got on there to find a new idea for a kitchen redesign. I know, I know. BUT wouldn’t you rather get paid for the time you spend on social media? I know that I would!

Not all of blogging is sitting on Facebook all day trying to get your brand out there. If you’re spamming Facebook groups with your Facebook page trying to get likes, that will do more harm than good for your blog and will likely put off a lot of people who could have been your friends.

There are many bloggers who got their start from Instagram or Twitter, but if neither one of those are your “thing,” don’t force it. I can’t stand Twitter! And I’m lucky if I remember to take out my camera once a week to post to Instagram! Facebook still kinda hates bloggers and is just where I go to post funny memes anymore.

But I don’t stress out about it! trying to get the most likes or follows can really take away from your blog and your writing and it’s just not worth spending 100s of hours each week trying to grow if you don’t even have anywhere to send people who want to check out your stuff.

The good news:

You don’t need to be on social media all day every day to be a successful blogger. I really promise, you don’t.

The time I spend of social media is to grow my business, connect with others, and share ideas with my readers. It’s not like you live and breathe Facebook the second you become a blogger. In fact, I think I spend less time on Facebook and Pinterest than I used to before I started blogging!

Especially when you are just starting out, social media can be very overwhelming and can basically make you want to throw in the towel. Don’t go crazy with social media until you have all of the technical things with blogging figured out.

I wish I would take credit for all of the great ideas that have made my Pinterest grow so quickly, but I really can’t. Here are the best resources that I’ve found for social media strategies:

• The Facebook strategy that took her from 5,000 likes to 100,000 likes in less than a year! (What?!)
• The very best Pinterest Strategy out there that will show you have to get your posts seen by hundreds of thousands (even millions) of people while spending 1 hour a month setting it all up.

Related: Best Tips for a New Blogger From a Blogging Pro

4. “There are already hundreds of thousands of blogs in my niche.”

Yes, there are. There are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs in each niche out there. I know that in my niche, personal finance, there must be a million blogs out there! The same thing can be said for food, DIY, fashion, decor, and parenting blogs.

The good news:

But there are so many people in this world that there is someone out there who is looking for your particular story or voice. The internet is a big place. There is plenty of room for all of us to succeed!

The best thing that you can do is to be true to yourself and use your own voice when you write. This will help you stand out and find people who want to read content from you.

If you are sarcastic in person, be sarcastic online (although sometimes it’s tough to read sarcasm online… I know! 😉 ). Maybe you have a potty mouth. Or you like to be very direct. Maybe you are nurturing. All of these are qualities of your personality that come out in your writing.

Those little things set you apart from all of the other bloggers in your niche and will help bring your own people to you.

Related: How I Made a Full-Time Income From My Blog in 2016

5. “I don’t think I’m good at writing.”

I don’t think I know a single blogger who would say “yes, I’m a great writer!” There are some bloggers who have degrees in journalism and English. The rest of us are just over here trying to figure out if there’s supposed to be a comma in a sentence.

The good news:

You don’t need to be the best writer in the world to have a great, profitable blog. Especially starting out, your writing will likely need to be polished.

Thankfully, as you grow your blog and write more, you will be able to make your writing more polished. Once you find your voice in your blog, your writing will get better and better.

The truth is that none of us are pros! We’re all trying to figure it out as we go. 🙂

The ONE sign you should start a blog today.

There are a lot of signs that blogging might not be right for you, it’s true. But there’s one one sign that you shouldn’t ignore to start.

It’s that you think you want to try to start a blog.

If you have even a tiny feeling that you want to try, then you should go for it. No, I’m not saying that to make money. I’m saying it because I wish that I had started my blog when I first ever thought that blogging could be something for me.

The worst thing in life isn’t failing, it’s always wondering “what if.” What if I had started my blog back in 2011 when I first came up with my blog name? What if I could have started bringing in a very much-needed second income into my family so we weren’t struggling?

Blogging has been more of a blessing to me than almost anything in my life (aside from, ya know, my kids I guess 😉 ). I still feel silly telling people that I’m a blogger, but I know that it’s provided me with more of an income than I ever thought possible. From blogging, I’ve found a latent desire to work and create and help that I never knew existed.

So why start a blog even if you think you’d be no good?

Because we all think that we’re no good, too! You’re in good company there. But also because even with all of your fear, it’s the best way to get started doing something from home that could truly change your life (and I don’t say that lightly).

Of course, blogging is hard work. You should look at putting in more than 20 hours each week, especially in the beginning. But it’s so well worth it!

If you’re still not sure, give blogging a try for a year. Just one year. And if it’s not for you, then at least you can say that you’ve tried and you’ll never wonder what if.

What’s your biggest fear about blogging?