This article, on the 5 painfully obvious truths you should know before starting a blog, is my attempt to give you a thoughtful and honest explanation about blogging.
Before I got involved in this business, l was super-impressed by those bloggers who seemed to have become millionaires overnight.
Of course, I subsequently discovered that overnight success is just not possible, especially in blogging. Rather, it involves commitment and work.
So, here I will aim to give you the essential facts for consideration before you get started.
1. Blogging Is Not A “Get-Rich-Quick” Scheme.
In fact, there is no such thing. Before I started this blog, I, like many others, had been sucked in by some scams.
You know, they promise many $$$$$$ for working less that half an hour a day. Do not believe them. They are definitely SCAMS.
One thing you do need to know is that it will take some time before you see any money coming in. Maybe between 12 and 18 months.
Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule, but they are unusual. You should be prepared to do a large body of work before you start generating some income.
In the first instance, the aim of your blog should be to answer questions and solve problems being posed by internet searchers. You need to make your blog posts informational – become an authority in your niche. Monetization comes later.
While I am not personally in that league, I know bloggers who are making six figure incomes. So it is possible. Just not straight away.
You may be wondering how you can get noticed online with around 7.5 million blog posts being published every day worldwide.
But when you consider that Google attracts 5.6 billion daily searches and Bing has 900 million, it does not seem quite so challenging.
Nevertheless, you will need to get some training in understanding how to get noticed. And we’ll go into that a bit later.
Read on for even more about 5 painfully obvious truths you should know before starting a blog
2. The Only Place “Success” Comes Before “Work” Is The Dictionary!
Most people start blogging as a side-hustle. And that is a great way to begin because as I have explained, you won’t see any income straight away.
You will need commitment to do the work, and you must really want to work for yourself. There is a lot to learn.
Such as setting up your website, conducting research, creating quality content, understanding SEO (search engine optimization).Using social media to promote your business and certainly how to make money online.
These are only a few of the topics you must learn about to become a successful blogger.
Always Remember that what you are doing is starting your very own online business – work from home.
Therefore, you must treat it as such from the start. If it is a side-hustle to start with, make sure you set aside time to complete your business tasks.
It may be that you are an evening person and can get started with your blogging business after you get home from your day job.
Alternatively, perhaps mornings are best for you, so consider getting up earlier and putting in time before going to work.
Of course, if you are already retired, you should have no trouble in fitting your blogging business into your lifestyle.
Figure out what works for you to enable you to build your business. Make a commitment to do it!
3. I Have Plenty Of Time But Not Much Money.
We have talked mostly of the time commitment to start your own online blogging business. Now I want to talk a little about financial investment.
Before I do, though, you can check out my article on How To Start Affiliate Marketing With No Money.
While you can definitely start a blog without investing any money, if you want a successful business, you will certainly need to invest some money as well as time.
The very least you should invest is for the purchase of a domain name for your website, and for hosting. Your domain name is actually the name of your business.
Domains cost around $15 annually. You actually lease the domain on an annual basis for as long as you want it.
Website hosting can cost you anywhere from $3 to $10 per month. There are a few free hosting services if you shop around, but this is not recommended for a business.
To run a successful online business you should ensure that your website has:
- High speed loading.
- SSL Certification (This tells search engines that your website is secure to visit).
- Site Protection ( For privacy and blocking Spam).
- 24/7 Site Support Desk.
Make sure that your hosting provider can deliver these features for your website.
4. Building A Website Is Quick – Making It Work Takes Time.
You can build a website quite quickly. Most of the hosting companies, such as BlueHost and Wix, also have website building tools and templates for design.
The website you are reading now is hosted on an all-inclusive platform that provides all the above features. In addition, there is some amazing, comprehensive training available on the platform.
You can learn everything you need to know to become a successful blogger – see how to get started right here.
While your website can be operational in about 30 seconds on this and other platforms, the real work begins after this.
Creating quality content in the form of blog posts and pages is what you must do. Your readers will generally have questions they need answered, or problems they need solved.
Your content should be written in a way that is informational and will answer those questions and solve those problems. With 5.6 billion searches daily on Google, you should never be short of something to say.
You need to be publishing posts on a daily basis, more than one if you can. The more keyword rich posts you have, the more likely it is that you will be “found” by search engines.
This brings me to the topic of keyword research.
5. Bloggers Must Be Expert Researchers.
One of the most important activities you will ever undertake as a blogger is research, especially keyword research.
Whatever a person searches for online can become a keyword. Such as the title of this article “5 painfully obvious truths you should know before starting a blog”.
Keywords can be as short as one or two words or as long as 10 words – the latter are known as long-tail keywords.
In fact, it is better for new bloggers to use long-tail keywords rather than short ones – there is less competition for these.
You need to choose a niche for your business. A niche is a small segment of the online market.
If you have decided to focus your niche on, say, something like golf, you should research the “best of” for golf balls, clubs, other equipment for men or women, or both and write reviews.
Perhaps you want to focus your attention on the online niche. Then you will need to research the latest trends in blogging, affiliate marketing, dropshipping, pay-per-click advertising and many other areas.
When reviewing products/services, bloggers need to do significant research about the product or service being promoted. There must be total honesty – include the good and the bad about the product and why you recommend it.
It can sometimes take more than a day to do adequate research for each blog post.
Always begin your search with Google and then fine tune your keyword using a keyword research tool. We use Jaaxy for this purpose.
Keyword research tools give you details on the actual number of searches to expect, along with the competitiveness of the keyword and its SEO value.
Final Thoughts On 5 Painfully Obvious Truths You Should Know Before Starting A Blog.
If you have read this article and still wish to start a blog to set up your own online business, then I am proud of you.
This was not meant to scare you off but to make you aware of the challenges you will face if you decide to go down this path.
I have been blogging for just over a year. – haven’t made much money yet, but I love what I am doing and I’m committed to succeeding.
It is so important to have what I call “stickability”. Never give up. Don’t quit.
It is really great to get up in the morning and just get started without the commute. The flexibility of working for yourself at home is amazing.
You have more time for family and for your favorite hobbies, time to do what you wish when you wish.
So, if you think you can encounter these 5 stumbling blocks and not stumble, go for it!
- Blogging will not earn you fast money.
- You have a commitment to do the hard yards.
- Invest both time and money in your business.
- Write some amazing content.
- Become an expert researcher.
Are you ready to take the plunge?
You can go here to get started with your FREE TRIAL of
Wealthy Affiliate.
Just like you when I first started blogging, I thought I could make money right away. I was wrong!! Blogging is hard work, and I didn’t start making money until around the 1-year mark. But, that feeling of earning your first commission is great. It’s really rewarding and it motivates you to keep going.
I wish I had known these 5 obvious truths about blogging before I got started, as I really believe it helps to see the realistic side of blogging, not the get-rich-quick version that everyone falls for.
I have been at this for just over 3 years, I don’t see myself giving up because I enjoy my niche and I focus on helping people rather than trying to sell to them.
Jenny, thank you for your comment on my article about the painful obvious truths about blogging. I think we all fall into that trap of wanting to make money straight away. The interesting thing, though, is once you start helping people to solve their problems, the money starts to flow. Stay focused on your niche and the success in brings. Best wishes, Jenni.