Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

5 Reasons You Might Fail As A Blogger

View Comments | Posted In Life & Mindset by David

Blogging is cool. Obviously, it is a big part of my business. However, it isn’t for everyone.

Not everybody should be a blogger. Some people aren’t a good fit for it. Others just end up doing it for all the wrong reasons.

I compiled what I believe are the big 5 reasons why blogging might not be your thing.

#1 – You’re just in it for the money.

I’m hoping that all of my readers understand this by now, but blogging is sure as hell no easy meal ticket. It is not a fast way to make a buck in any stretch of the imagination.

With a header like this one, you might think I’m going to go down the road of saying “follow your passion”, yada yada. But, I’m not. Instead, I’m going to hit you over the head with the fact that blogging alone for money is a dumb idea.

I feel compelled to remind everyone that blogging is not a business. Blogging is a way to bring attention to a business, but in and of itself, it isn’t a business model. One has to ask the question: What am I selling?

Most bloggers don’t ask this question, so they end up blindly starting a blog because they think that is all people like me do – write. Not true. Writing is actually a minority activity for me. Besides, blog posts aren’t a product. You don’t sell them. They make you no money. Unless, that is, they are written and published with a strategy in mind. That strategy has to be aimed toward answering that question – What do you sell?

So, blogging alone is a SLOW way to make money. Most fail at it, if you must know the truth. The alternative is to develop a real business, backed with something to offer and decent marketing. Then, the blog is just one of many tools in your marketing arsenal.

That’s the difference between being a blogger and being an entrepreneur with a blog.

#2 – You don’t really like people all that much.

To be a blogger, you’ve got to be willing and able to deal with people. This is a people business.

If you don’t really care about other people’s problems or their happiness, don’t engage in blogging. If you feel that interacting in comments or engaging on Twitter is a waste of your time, then don’t blog.

Obviously, you CAN blog regardless, but this is going to affect your success at it. People don’t like to engage in one way flows for too long. They want to know the blogger. Besides, it is open communication with others which is going to put your blog on the map. Even though anybody can blog, the successful blogs have people behind them who are generally willing to talk.

#3 – You expect short term gratification.

Even if you’re doing everything right, it still takes time to build up a successful online empire. These things don’t happen overnight.

If you come from a time-for-money mentality, where you expect a good day’s pay from a good day’s work on your blog, then don’t go into this business. If you cannot shed that mindset, you are destined to be somebody’s employee for the rest of your life and you’ll never be any different. Because an entrepreneur has to understand the concept of time investment. The payoff comes later – IF you make the right moves. There is no guarantee of success anyway. If you are risk averse, just don’t try to start an online business.

When I get emails from people who tell me they need a new income stream in 2 or 3 months and ask me what blogging niche they should go into, I just want to pound my head on the desk. This stuff just doesn’t work that way. With that mentality, go be somebody’s employee. Because you won’t make a good entrepreneur.

Or just blog for fun and don’t worry about the returns.

#4 – You’re blogging just because you see other people do it.

Blogging is not a necessity. There are numerous ways to make money on the Internet without a blog.

There are times when running a blog does nothing but get in the way. For example, building a list is usually the #1 priority of any online entrepreneur. Blogs usually hurt opt-in conversion rates. Squeeze pages perform far better. Now, it is true that a blog can serve to attract new eyeballs which you can then get onto your list (this is what I do). But, it doesn’t mean you HAVE to blog.

It could be that your site will perform much better with just a simple list-building squeeze page and no blog attached to it. Or perhaps you run an offline business and lead generation is your biggest priority. You need a page which is designed solely to get somebody to call you on the phone. A blog might just be a huge distraction.

You have to blog with a STRATEGY in mind, not just because you see other people do it and decide to follow the mob. It is far too easy to assume other people know what they’re doing out there, while the reality is often that they’re grasping at straws like a lot of other people. :)

#5 – You Don’t Like To Write.

Even though a blog isn’t necessarily a requirement for a business, the truth is that you have to write for it if you do decide to start one. If you’re one who finds writing to be a laborious nightmare, then perhaps you need to find something else to do which is more suitable to your style. Perhaps podcasting or video blogging is more up your alley.

In my view, this comes down to a few things: (1) You have to like writing, (2) You have to be reasonably quick at it, and (3) You need to truly care about what you’re saying. All these things make up good writing.

Much of this comes with practice. However, I have to invite people to rethink their approach when they tell me after many months that it still takes them multiple hours to produce a single blog post. That’s just not a workable formula. Once again, blog posts don’t get you paid, so why dump multiple hours into something with no payoff? If writing is so slow for you that it leaves you no time to engage in the other important aspects of this endeavor (like marketing and product creation), then you need to re-think some things.

My Thoughts on Blogging For Money

I sure hope that nobody reads this post and thinks I’m down on the income potential of blogging. I’m definitely not. I think that this business model is truly equal opportunity. The potential is huge. That said, the only barriers there are come from within.

Not everybody makes a suitable blogger. That’s just the truth of it.

It has to be a match for what you want and how you want to get there. If it isn’t, there are other ways to go. And they have income potential, too.

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  • Joshuahoughton1
    You brought up some really good points. The one that stands out the most to me is the writing aspect. I don't consider myself to be a great writer even though most people think I'm pretty good. It usually takes me hours to write one post, but it's usually a quality post.

    My biggest problem is that I want to make sure everything I say on the post is how I see it and view it in my head. I'm very much an internal thought type of guy and I know this can hinder me sometimes. Still, I've been blogging for over 5 years and just within the last year have I've started to make pretty good income. So I agree...don't blog for the money or you'll be very lonely lol

    Great article
  • StuartMcMinigal
    Blogging is a very slow process and may not provide such a good incentive but when you start to see the number of subscribers roll in and even your first few dollars, this provides drive and a push to work harder.
    So what you need is push and drive to focus on your goals to try and reach them.
  • eblogr
    You cannot be more right when you say it is a slow process.... really sloowwww.. you migh get the outliers and see headlines like "1000 subs in 1 month" but for the large bullk of the blogging population, it is a slow process... which brings back the argument that you really have to love what you do to make it work.. Thanks for bringing us back to earth, David.
  • Well, there are plenty of things you can do to speed it up. But it entails going beyond the usual blogging and doing things like product launches. Even if the launch is for something free, the buzz you can generate with the right marketing behind it can really put you on the map.
  • eblogr
    true, a launch with the right product and the right backers. reminds me of the purposeful product campaign...
  • Agreed. Blogging just simply makes online surfing and information dissemination a fun thing to do (my opinion by the way). Everyone has to deal with people sometimes in their lifetime. But to make money out of it is another matter. Blog to spread the word and communicate with readers. Convert them to clients and then you can be happy. And just as David had said, this doesn't happen in a day, no. It happens in a long stretch but if done well, anyone can then enjoy their fruits of their labor. Just not in a day but probably by the end of the long 3 months or more.
  • I agree with the first point. Things like a) focusing on your customers b) focusing on your internal processes, doing things more productively and c) focusing on growth/learning are also very needed.
  • omajoe
    Great post, David. I wrote a post with a similar theme a while back about how blogging is a waste of time for many business owners unless it actually fits in with their marketing plan. It's not something to do just because you think you have to. You need to put some thought into whether it's going to be worth the investment in time and money.
  • Absolutely. It doesn't make sense for all businesses.
  • Question for you, Dave. How long does it take you on average to write a post? I know you work in batches, so how long does it take you to knock out 5 posts?
  • Well, these days, I've been averaging 3 posts per week rather than 5. The average post is written in under an hour - sometimes well under an hour. Every now and then a post takes me longer. But, once I've come up with an idea, I usually just start writing. I just don't over-think things and out it comes. :-)
  • I also think that you first need to love the topics you are going to write about. It's either you like what you're writing about, or you don't write it at all
  • True.
  • Great post, I especially like how you break down the difference between a blog and a business. You're awesome, great content like this is the reason I'm a subscriber to your list and a twitter follower and I believe a Facebook Fan!! Lol!! But not a stalker (just realized how creepy all that might sound, lol!) Thanks so much and God bless!
  • Great minds DO think alike.

    I just posted something around blogging (Of course I referenced you) and I talk about not doing it just for the money. It's gotta be a business man.

    I see the blog as just the store front in my eyes. The blog gives people really good value. Almost like standing outside your store front and giving people samples of your very best wares to experience in order to earn their trust to come in and check out the rest. Imagine if offline businesses operated more like that?

    "The only barriers are the ones that come from within." -True story. I've always said we don't have problems creating what we want, only self imposed limitations.

    As far as writing? The size of my posts and the amount of content should show I certainly must love writing lol (And I find I DO love it)

    I don't mean for them to be so big, but I just like jam packing them with content. Not to mention I'm posting once a week now. I think it takes that long for some people to digest it all lol.

    Good post brother.
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