Is Blogging for You?
Blogging is an awesome work from anywhere job that can make a lot of money! But it isn’t for everyone! Find out the right questions to ask yourself before you start a blog to learn if blogging is the right career for you.
Is Blogging the Right Career for You?
Now more than ever, work at home jobs like blogging are getting a lot of attention. And I do have to admit, I’m grateful that my blogging career allows me to keep working, no matter what happens in the outside world.
So if you’ve considered blogging, you might wonder… how do I get started, and is it right for me?
In this post I’m going to go through some of the big questions to ask before you decide to start a blog.
7 Questions to Ask Yourself to Find Out if Blogging is for You
I’ll break down what you need to know to get started, what could be a road block to success, and how to decide whether or not blogging is the perfect career for YOU!
1. Are you self motivated?
Being your own boss means setting your own schedule and making your own rules. And I’m not gonna lie, that’s pretty awesome.
However, being your own boss also means that there is no one else to hold you accountable. YOU are the only one that can make sure you actually get work done.
Putting systems in place to ensure that you’re staying on task can be helpful. I use a daily to-do list and a monthly calendar to plan blog projects and keep track of sponsored assignments.
That way I’m working efficiently, and I get more things done in less time. Isn’t that one of the main goals of blogging after all?
2. Do you have enough time?
Speaking of time…
If you’ve been researching “starting a blog,” then you’ve probably seen a lot of articles that claim blogging is way to make a full time income, working part time hours.
While that might be true for some, it is important to know the whole story.
Most successful bloggers that work part time and make big money are able to do so because they either:
- Have systems in place that allow them to work efficiently on a certain number of hours
- Are a large enough operation that they are able to hire a team to do some of the work for them
When you’re just starting out in the blogging world, you’re going to have to put in a lot of work to get set up, create content, and generally just figure everything out.
And that takes time.
Yes, you can work part time, but it will take longer to become established than a blogger that is putting in 40 hours a week (or more).
So how much time DO you need to run a blog?
That depends on your goals! For myself, my goal was to create a business that would support my family. I had the time (I was a SAHM) to put in full time hours, so I did.
I know many bloggers who have a traditional career and blog on the side. They make a comfortable part time income and are totally happy with that.
So, you can either choose to blog part time or full time. But if you’ve read things saying you can work 5 hours a week and make a full time income, that’s just not how it goes.
If you want your blog to be a business, and not just a hobby, you’ll need to treat it as such. And that means putting in time and work.
Note: This post includes links to products and services that I love and use, to help you grow your blog too (disclosure policy available here).
3. Can you be professional?
Yes, your blog is your voice. That being said, if you hope to work with brands or create sponsored content, it’s important to act in a professional manner.
As a blogger I set my own schedule, I choose projects that are a good fit for myself and my site, and I’m the boss!
However, when interacting with the business community, I do conduct myself in a way that is appropriate for that setting.
Here’s what I mean:
- I make every effort to read and respond to emails promptly during standard business hours.
- When I agree to a project timeline, I always complete assignments on time.
- I use professional language in all communication with other bloggers and brands. Limited slang, and definitely no cursing.
When you are easy to work with, brands and PR agents are more likely to ask you to work with them again!
4. Do you have a budget?
One of the truly awesome things about blogging is that has one of the lowest start-up costs for any business.
Technically, you can start blogging for free on websites such as Blogger or WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org).
However, if your goal is to make money blogging, I recommend starting out as “self-hosted” versus a free blogging platform such as WordPress.com or Blogger.
- “Self-hosted” simply means that you pay a fee (either monthly or yearly) for a hosting company to store all of your content on their servers and display it to your readers.
With a hosting company such as Bluehost (which is who I recommend for new bloggers and who I used for my blog), that cost is usually only a few bucks a month.
For the price of a fancy cup of coffee, you can start a profitable blogging business!
As someone who started out on a free blogging site and switched to self-hosted a few months later, I know the pitfalls of those free blogging platforms. And that it is SO much easier to start out on with paid hosting than switching over later!
There are a few BIG ways that free blogging sites can prevent you from making money:
- Most free blogging sites place strict limits on monetization, so if your goal is to make money then this is not the option for you.
- On a free blogging service, your website URL (aka address) is usually long and complicated. Example: www.yourblognamehere.wordpress.com — yikes! Not only does it look less professional, but it will be harder for readers to remember.
- A self-hosted blog gives you control over your content, and you don’t risk losing everything if that platform closes or decides to shut down your site for any reason (rare, but it does happen). Essentially, with a free blogging site, you don’t totally own your own website and that is NOT ideal.
- If you start with self-hosted, you won’t need to pay to switch over later or try to figure out how to do it on your own. Because real talk, if you’re serious about blogging as a career, you will need to be on a self-hosted website. So much easier to just do it from the start!
With paid hosting, YOU are the boss!
My Recommendation for Blog Hosting: Bluehost
So why Bluehost versus all of the other options?
- They are the #1 recommended hosting company. When I started blogging, many bloggers that I knew and trusted were also hosted by Bluehost. More importantly, a good friend who’s been in the computer programming industry for decades highly recommended Bluehost.
- They provide 24/7 service. Seriously…you can call Bluehost tech support any time of day or night (and believe me…I did!!) I remember my first “attack” on my website a few years ago…it was scary! It also happened at 1:00am (bloggers sometimes work late. Bluehost got it stopped and my website secured within minutes.
- You can’t beat the price. This was the deciding factor for me. As a new blogger and a stay at home mom, my budget was really modest. Fortunately, Bluehost offers starter plans as low as $2.95 (a special price just for my readers!) and a FREE domain name (when you sign up for 1 year hosting plan).
My experience with Bluehost was 100% positive. My website was safe, secure, and reliable, even with 200k monthly visitors. They can handle serious traffic!
When my website hit over 500k monthly page views, I moved to a specialized host, but I still start new pages on Bluehost because the value is impossible to beat!
Click here to sign up with Bluehost through my link and you’ll pay LESS than their regularly-listed plans PLUS get a free domain name!
Still have questions?
- Find out more about why I chose Bluehost hosting here!
- Get a breakdown of all the blog hosting features you need here!
5. Do you crave stability?
Some people do better in jobs that offer a steady, dependable paycheck. And that’s ok!
The thing with blogging is that every month is different. Some months can have wow-worthy income levels. There have been months that my business brought in $40,000!
However, there will be down months too. When things shut down in spring 2020, a lot of bloggers took a hit. And that’s just one example.
Blogging is not for the faint of heart! Just as much as you’ll enjoy the awesome months, you have to plan ahead for the lean times too.
If you can handle the excitement (and actually thrive on it) then you might just be a blogger!
6. Do you need steady health insurance?
This is one of the not-so-fun topics about being self employed, if you live in the United States.
Health insurance options are much more limited for bloggers and entrepreneurs. If you or someone in your family has any conditions that require extensive medical care, then this is definitely something to consider before throwing all your chips at blogging.
If you’re generally healthy and don’t use your health insurance often, then it may not be as much of a concern. But it’s something I definitely wanted to bring up because it is a reality for small business here!
7. Do you love it?
This might be the most important point of all…
Like any job, you’re going to be more successful and happy if you LOVE what you do!
Now, I don’t love every aspect of my job. For example, setting up video shoots is not my favorite part of blogging. That’s why I put together a team of video creators to do it for me!
As a new blogger, you’ll probably be doing everything yourself, and this is a good way to figure out what you like best! That way when you’re a successful blogger you can create your own team to do the parts that are not your favorite!
But overall, you’ve got to enjoy what you do!
If you love your job, well, the rest will fall into place!
Want more blogging tips?
Check out more of my popular blogging posts:
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- The Secret to Writing a Blog that People WANT to Read
- 6 Reasons You Need an Email List for Your Blog
- How to Start a Blog in 5 Steps
- 4 Reasons Your Blog Won’t Make Money (and How to Fix It)
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