The Pros and Cons Of Blogging.
So you want to get into blogging, ey? Well, having been through that process of wanting to start a blog myself but not being 100% sure of whether or not it would be a good idea or even worth it at all…I know what you might be going through.
So in this article, I’ll be going over some of the pros and cons of blogging, that I’ve personally been able to find and recognize.
Let’s check them out!Ā
There is so much you can do with blogging, that It’s ridiculous.Ā
- Blogging can be a very fun and interesting hobby that can turn into your fulltime job,
- It can be something that you do on the side in addition to your job
- It can be a way for you to tell your story and connect with like-minded people.
- It’s a complete valuable and powerful skillset that you can add to your repertoire.
With blogging, you can:
- Build up and flip affiliates sites for profit.
- You can sell your own products.
- You can run your own business and sell your own services.
- You can create a following and make money with ads.
- You also can build partnerships with brands, a brand of your own, an online store and so much more.
But also…blogging is NOT for everyone.Ā
- Blogging can take a lot of work, it can take anywhere from 6-24 months of grind to see any real traction (if you’re not building backlinks and aren’t promoting your content).
- There is a lot of competition on some of the biggest niches (which are the ones that will be recommended to you)
- There aren’t even any guarantees that anyone will read your content, or that you’ll make it through.
Amongst other things…
First off, and before we begin, I’d like to remind you that this is just my personal opinion on the pros and cons of blogging. You might find something elsewhere that I didn’t include, or you might find something here that’s not anywhere else.
You might find that some of these aren’t “pros” or “cons” necessarily, from your point of view, but then again it’s up to you to decide, if you consider something a “pro” or a “con”.Ā
So, without further ado, here are the pros and cons of blogging.
Pros Of Blogging
It’s Very Cheap.
Getting a domain name and hosting, to start your own blog… is absurdly cheap. A domain name costs around $13 per YEAR (you can get one for 1 year from BlueHost for free here) and hosting you can get for around $6/month).
And yes, you do want to buy your own domain and not use a free subdomain. If you decide to start blogging for free, and something happens to your subdomain…you’ll not have control over anything.
In the past, not only was it more expensive to build a blog, it also was a lot harder to create and manage a website, than it is today. You’d have to learn coding and HTML and web design and this and that…
Today, you can literally have your blog started, within a few hours. For real.Ā
If you compare blogging to any other type of business out there, it’s extremely inexpensive. You don’t have to buy any supplies or inventory, you have no overhead, you don’t have to pay rent (outside of hosting, in this case) of employees (you can get team members later) or none of that.
One of the mistakes I made in the beginning, was thinking that it would be hard to do. I also didn’t want to spend the $5 or $7 per month or whatever, because I didn’t want to pay any monthly subscriptions…
That’s just dumb.
Today, I own multiple websites, and I’m thinking of buying even more in the future.
Start a blog TODAY, It’ll change the following years of your life, for sure. Not tomorrow. TODAY!
You Can Make Money In Many Different Ways
A reason why a lot of people want to start blogging, is because they’ve heard that other people have made money with their blogs.
It’s 100% doable. You can make money with your blog, and there is a bunch of different ways you can accomplish this, which is great. The more income streams that you have, the better.
You can:
ā
Make money off of ads on your blogs. You can sign up to different ad platforms (once you have a relevant amount of traffic built up) and you can place them on different parts of your blog, to start earning.
ā
Create your own products. This is how a lot of bloggers make most of their money. It’s a way to create something useful, for their readers, of which they are 100% in charge. They create the product, deliver it and make 100% of the money. You can sell courses, trainings, coaching, private group access, 1 on 1 mentoring…the sky is the limit here.Ā Ā
ā Selling services. This ties into the last option, but it would be for services and not products. You can sell services like article writing, you can sell an article post on your blog (you’ll charge someone to post on your blog), you can sell services like keywords research, banner creation, consulting, video creation…whatever it is you’re good at doing!Ā
ā Affiliate Marketing. Another very well known way to make money from your blog, that a LOT of bloggers use (and is a big chunk of their income) is affiliate marketing. This is where you recommend someone else’s products or services, for a cut of the product revenue. Almost every company out there has an affiliate program associated to it, make sure to check!
ā Sponsored content. This is where companies reach out to you to collaborate in promoting their product and service. You won’t necessarily make tones of money off of this, and you’ll probably want to negotiate a deal…but it’s still something to consider, for sure.
It’s Your Own Asset.Ā
Your website is your main hub.Ā
Even if your Facebook account, your Instagram profile, your Youtube Channel your Tiktok page or any other of these social media sites and accounts, change the way they work or ban or update or whatever…your blog is something that you own and have control over.
Like I was mentioning, having social media accounts isn’t 100% safe because you’re building something in someone else’s land (so to speak) and if they decide to change their algorithm…you’re toast. Whereas with your blog, you can download and reupload the files, as you please.Ā
Plus, you can redirect all the traffic and accounts, over to your website through multiple other accounts, which can make them all grow between each other…and without a doubt, your website or blog, will be one of the strongest digital assets you’ll have.
You Own A Piece Of The Internet
One of the most awesome things about creating a blog, is that you’ll start ranking in the search engines (if you do everything correctly) and for as long as people search online for the things that you’re talking about you’ll be there somewhere!
Naturally, you’ll want to continue to do this, over and over and over. By creating more content and ranking for more keywords and by putting more stuff out there, you’ll be expanding your own “web”.Ā
The more good content that you create, that is meant to satisfy a need in the market (or simply fill in a gap that is missing in the top Google pages) the stronger your website will become and the more traffic and money you’ll be able to make. It compounds over time, and it’s there for the taking.Ā
Build A Following And Work When You Want To
Another great reason to get into blogging, is because you can work from home, and at whatever time in the day that you choose to. And who doesn’t want that?
You can also create a following of people who’re interested in the same things you are, you can build a brand, become an expert in your specific field, you can create a community you can interact with other experts and people, which can open up doors and huge opportunities for you.Ā
Plus, you get to say that you’re a “blogger”. It’s something that you can add to your CV (or just to your life achievements section, heh) and add as a valuable set of skills or valuable experience. There are, at the end of the day, more consumers than there are creators out there, and the world is in need of more creators.Ā
Cons Of Blogging
It Takes A Lot Of Work.
Old school blogging, takes a lot of work.
Unfortunately, the days in which you could just create a little short article, and have it rank easily on Google and have it bring in tons of traffic and sales and whatnot…are over (I wasn’t blogging then either, so yeah).
Nowadays, you’ll have to create the very best piece of content that you can. It has to be thorough, interesting, it must solve a problem, be very detailed, have multiple resources, videos and images AND it must be better than what the rest of your competition is doing, not to mention the fact that you’ll probably want some exposure to you site, in the form of guest posting and the likes.
So unless you’re this guy who strategically creates his content and does outreach and link building and just massive useful articles all around…it takes a LOT of work and time.
But heck, anything that is worth anything in this world, takes time. Right?
People have gotten too used to getting everything, instantaneously. So you’re not willing to invest the time, blogging is not for you.
Blogging Also Takes…A Lot Of Time
Like I’ve mentioned, unless you’re actively promoting your blog, doing collaborations with other industry leaders, getting backlinks from higher authority blogs and creating the best content that you can on a certain subject matter (I’m talking tens of thousands of word articles here)…It’ll take some time.
You can outsource the work, eventually… But most people who blog, will want to do things themselves in the beginning. They’ll want to learn everything they can, before they delegate the tasks (if at all).
So, if your intention is to start blogging from zero, be willing to put in the work beforehand.
There Is A Lot Of Competition
Did you know that there are now more than 1 billion blogs online? That is 1 blog for every 7 people. Do you really think that there should be THAT many blogs out there? Do you really think that there should be THAT many blogs, publishing the same stuff over and over…Probably not.
It’s not that it’s impossible to start a blog, like I mentioned there are a few industries and niches here and there that are not so competitive, that are lacking when it comes to good content…What I do mean, is that personally, I think that the “golden age of blogging” is over.Ā
Nowadays, you’ll either need to go all-in on your blog BIG time, create something better than the competition, or do some sort of hybrid between a blog and maybe a Youtube channel. Yes, a lot of people rely on their blogs, and they’ve been working them for years…but for a lot of the newer folks, it can be challenging.
Something that is concerning me, personally, is that now since the attention span of people is so short…and people bearly read at all, it’ll be more and more difficult to start and keep a successful blog going, because a lot of the younger generations (which will be the next adults) would rather watch a Youtube how-to video, than read a how-to blog.
Your Idea…Might Not Be Worth it
Another heart-breaker.
When you start blogging, you’ll want to make sure that there are people actually searching for what it is you’re writing…otherwise, what’s the point?
Right now, I’m not so sure I would have managed to build a successful blog on “Third Culture Kids” and their experiences, that I wanted to create in the past, because I’m not even sure that there are enough people looking for these topics. I might have started a blog, had it failed, and quit forever!
You have to try to find a balance between something that you’re interested in, and that there is actually a market for.
Otherwise you’ll run out of things to say (if you’re not interested enough) or you’ll be tearing your soul into your blog posts, without getting any return because people are simply not interested in the niche you’re in.
So:
- Make sure someone is actually looking for whatever it is you’re writing about. If there is a big problem you can solve, you’ll be of more value, and more people will be interested.
- Make sure there is at least 100 pieces of content that you can create in that topic, without getting bored. The last thing you want, is to have blogging become a chore.
- Look around for other successful blogs or websites on that topic, if there is good competition, you have a chance.
- Do some simple keyword research on your topic and subtopics. This will give you more insight into the competition and how likely it is for you to insert yourself in.
Conclusion
So there you have what I consider to be the pros and cons of blogging.
I hope that you found it interesting, and that it helped you make a decision.
Blogging can be a very worthwile activity if you like writing and you’re not afraid to be patient. It does take a lot of time to build up, but just like everything else, if you stick to it, it’ll eventually pay out.
