How to figure out if blogging is right for you?

Blogging is one of the most sorted out professions these days. Why wouldn’t it be? The ease of working from home with the coolest perks along with the income reports that claim profits of thousands of dollars a month… Blogging is awesome.

But then a coin always has two sides. Doesn’t it? There are some things which you know about blogging, some things which everyone talks of but there are few important things which NO ONE TELLS YOU.

The dark side of blogging is often unseen. And if I am going to prepare a guide about blogging, I believe this is the first thing you should know of, you need to figure out if blogging is right for you or not.

To make this post a quick read, I am going to discuss everything in form of a numbered list and I would really recommend you to read each point carefully and answer the question I have asked in the end of each point in yes or no.

1. You don’t earn money with blogging quickly

What’s the first question people usually ask when it comes to blogging? How much money can you make from your blog? The answer is disappointing. Blogging isn’t a profession that would fetch you thousands of dollars just like that.

It takes time to build a reputation, attract sponsors and figure out a business model that would work for your niche. Till then, you would be earning in pennies and if you would start out with blogging just for making money online, you would definitely quit before you get successful.

Also, bloggers don’t make too much money from their blogs. The resources for earning money from blogs are somewhat limited unless you are ready to compromise with the reputation of your blog which would ultimately destroy your income source. You would need to work on multiple things to earn money if you are taking up blogging as a full time profession.

For example, I am a full time blogger now but if I say I am earning all the money from just this blog, it would be a big fat lie. Never put all your eggs in one basket and that’s what I work on. Are you ready to work on something with literally no income for a year or more?

2. You need to know everything

Being a blogger isn’t easy. Whether you do it for hobby or for a living, you would want traffic and recognition. This is human nature. You won’t be able to work on something until it promises you some recognition, either in form of money or in form of social acceptance.

To make that happen, you would need to gather information about all aspects of blogging, try and test different techniques, read and update yourself on daily basis… it is nothing less than being a doctor or an engineer (real ones). In fact, it is even more difficult.

Are you ready to upgrade your knowledge on daily basis? Are you ready to take up the challenge of being a “blogging encyclopaedia”?

3. It requires time… hell lot of time

Blogging requires a lot of time. It is not just about writing a post and publishing it. In fact, that doesn’t even cover 20% of the tasks you need to do as a blogger. As a beginner, you can start with giving an hour a day but if you want to make it a full time profession, you would need to put in minimum 8-10 hours a day.

That means for 8-10 hours you would need to sit in front of your PC and work. You would face bloggers block, lack of inspiration and even depression and you would have to get over it all by yourself. This is the life of blogger. Are you ready to live such a life?

4. It requires dedication

No one is going to ask you to do the promotion, seo or even post anything on your blog. It would be all you. You would need to make a plan and follow it. You would need to be regular and consistent. You would need to be active on every platform you join and make a network. Can you do that?

5. It takes a toll on your health

Young people like me seldom acknowledge this thing – health is important. You can work very hard and become a billionaire but what if you just die next day? Would it be worth the effort? Before you go on and fulfil your materialistic goals, you must pay attention to your body and soul.

Sound physical and emotional health is important for success in anything in your life – be it relationships, career or blogging. And if you begin with blogging, you would be sitting all day and banging your fingers on keyboard while straining your eyes. This will have an adverse affect on you.

But you would need to manage your time and make sure you take appropriate steps to reverse that adverse affect. Can you do that? Are you willing to take care of your health while you work your ass off on a blog that doesn’t earn you even a single buck?

6. You would need to deal with people… all kinds of people

As a blogger, you would need to network. You would need to build a community and a community has all kinds of people. Some will be really kind and loyal and some would be planning to take you down. You would face haters as well who would be dedicated to make you feel miserable.

You would need to face all of them. Are you ready to deal with all kinds of people, even with the kind you don’t want to deal with? Are you ready to be a socialista in spite of your extremely busy schedule?

What kind of profession is the right one for you depends all on you. I cannot tell you what you should be doing. I am not your parent. But what I can and must tell you is what you would need to do in case you want to be a blogger.

So, if all the questions I asked in each point (put in italics) are answered in affirmative by you, blogging is a profession for you. Yes, blogging is right for you. If some of the answers were a ‘NO’, think again.