Back to the main topic of mistakes that bloggers make. Just yesterday, I wrote about how the news had reported bloggers that can earn up to $5000 per month. I am almost certain that this will spark some youngster to pick up blogging as a hobby. Some might even do it at the expense of studying or working.
I am not a full-time blogger. But having blogged for a few years now, I thought that I should at least "impart" whatever I have learnt and clear any misconceptions that some may have about blogging. So before you proceed to set up a blog and become a full-time blogger, here are a few things that you ought to know:
Blogging is not as simple as it sounds.
They hype about people making money from blogging always sounds too good to be true. It sounds like pretty easy money. Why not? Just sit at home and type and wala! Money appears in your account. The problem is: It is not as simple as one thinks.
Blogging is actually a lot harder than one thinks. Apart from issues like Writer's Block, you also have to deal with the many other problems that come with it. Bloggers also have to struggle with how much privacy they hope to achieve or whether they want to keep their blog a secret. What if you realise your friends are reading your blogs? Will you still write it? Blogging is not like tuition or some hourly part-time work where pouring in more time equates to more effort.
In fact, writing a single post a day probably makes little difference (in terms of ad revenue) to writing 2 posts a day. In fact, there are article writers out there who are willing to charge $3 for a 300 word article. And why are they not setting up their own blogs to publish those articles? Because a 300 word article will not actually make you $3 in ad revenue. And that is why article writers will sell you their articles. In fact, most people are better off churning out 300 word articles for $3. You would probably earn much more from writing articles for others compared to blogging. So churning out 10 or even 100 posts a day on your blog is not going to translate to a multiplier effect. It most probably will have little effect.
So remember, blogging is not as simple as it sounds. Putting in the time and effort does not guarantee success. Unless you are already a celebrity, it is going to be awfully difficult to reach that $5000 per month figure. It is achievable but I believe only the best bloggers in Singapore are able to reach that amount. And that means bloggers like Xiaxue or people who have managed to amass a huge following. And that usually means hours and hours of hard work. Definitely not as simple as you would like to think.
Blogging Requires Passion.
Blogging also requires a certain amount of passion for writing, sharing, and of course, the topic that you are going to write about. In my few years of blogging, I have seen countless cases of bloggers who beg for a link exchange only to stop blogging after a few months. It is just way too common. The amount of time required to blog is more than you can imagine. And to keep it up for years is even much much harder. Most of these bloggers think they will earn money from blogging but then realised that after 1 year of blogging, they are better off focusing on their jobs and working part time (or perhaps just selling their articles to others). The money is simply better than what they can earn from their blogs. Basically, blogging requires a lot of passion. And that means blogging even if you don't earn any money from your blogs. If you can't do that, you most probably would not make it as a full-time blogger.
