Are you thinking about starting a blog? If so, then you’ll definitely want to consider the pros and cons of blogging before you start. And it’s especially important to consider all the pros and cons if you’re considering starting a blog because you want to make money!
It’s so easy to see all the big name bloggers out there who seem to be making money with complete ease…and it often makes people think “Blogging is easy!” or “All you have to do is write a few posts and you’ll start making money.” But that’s not often (or really ever) the case. So if you’re considering starting a blog, especially for money-making purposes, read on to learn some of the biggest pros and cons of having a blog!
Pros of Having a Blog
There are several pros and cons of starting a blog, and here are the biggest reasons you might want to consider starting one for yourself!
1. Starting a blog is easy and low-cost
One of the biggest advantages to starting a blog is that it is fairly easy and is definitely a low cost investment (moneywise, not necessarily timewise). You need only a little bit of cash to get started!
When you first start out, all you really need is a domain name and hosting. Domain names are usually anywhere from $8-20 and hosting can be around $35-55 for the first year (depending on the host you choose). All in all, you really only need around $100 to start a blog, which is a steal!
Of course there are lots of other things you could spend your money on (like logos and branding, pretty themes for your site, and more). But you don’t really need these to first start out, so it is pretty cheap and easy to get started with a blog!
2. Blogging is flexible
One of the top reasons people want to start a blog is because of flexibility. Especially if you’ve been working a 9 to 5 job for many years, this might be a perk of blogging that you are especially interested in.
Why? Well, you can work on a blog whenever you want and you don’t really have to worry about any deadlines that you “have” to meet. For people who need flexibility in their lives because of specific situations or for people who just want more flexibility, this is a big perk of blogging (although you will quickly find that you should give yourself deadlines so you actually get things done and don’t just get lazy!)
3. Blogging may bring passive income
Passive income is another HUGE reason people love blogs. Of course, passive income isn’t exactly passive…you do need to do a lot of work up front to enjoy the returns on your work later. It’s really more like delayed income, as you don’t get paid upfront but instead may continue to earn from blog posts, products, etc. for years and years after you make them.
But there really isn’t anything better than waking up to find you made money while you were asleep! So passive income from blogging is a huge pro that might push you toward starting a blog.
4. Blogging offers lots of ways to make money
Speaking of passive income, another advantage of blogging is that there are quite a few different ways to make money blogging and you can focus on the ones you like best. Some of the best ways to make money through your blog include placing ads on your blog, affiliate marketing (linking to products where you get paid when someone buys them), selling your own services or products (both physical and digital), and sponsored content (being paid by a company to write a post).
My favorites tend to be affiliate marketing and selling my own products, but the good news for bloggers is that you can pick and choose which ones work best for your blog and your personality type. And once you figure out a method that works, just keep doing it and you’ll be bringing in that sweet blogging money!
5. Blogging creates a community
Another perk of blogging is that you can create a community around your blog. It is really special when you can blog about something you love, and impact the lives of others by sharing what you love with them! If you decide to blog, you’ll soon learn how exciting it is to have a community of people who comment on your blog posts or send you emails or messages thanking you for helping them!
6. You become an expert
Blogging is a great way to become an expert in your field, because the people who land on your website can explore all the knowledge you are sharing with them. Then, when they have more questions about whatever you write about they may remember you and come back for your help again!
Beyond this, blogging also helps you become more of an expert because you may learn new things about your blogging subject as you go along. As you do more research to write more blog posts, not only will you be helping your community but you’ll also be helping yourself to stay at the top of your field and the top of your blogging niche!
Cons of Having a Blog
In our quest to consider the advantages and disadvantages of blogging, it’s now time to consider the disadvantages. Here are some of the cons you’ll want to consider before you start your blog!
1. It takes a lot of time
One of the biggest cons of having a blog is that it takes a lot of time. Once the initial setup is done, you still have to write and create lots of quality blog posts…and quality blog posts are usually more in-depth than just a couple hundred words long. If you’re curious just how much time it takes to write a blog post, check out this post that explains what goes into writing a quality blog post!
2. Blogging requires a lot of writing…
For those who don’t enjoy writing, a con of blogging is definitely that it requires a lot of writing! If you are not a fan of writing, you might want to skip the whole blog thing and instead go with a different platform. For instance, if you hate writing but love (or at least wouldn’t mind) creating videos, then definitely consider going with YouTube as your main platform instead of a blog. Or if you don’t like videos, but still enjoy talking instead of writing, you could consider starting a podcast!
3. It can take a long time to make good money
If you’re going into blogging thinking you’ll get rich quick, think again! There are a few outliers who get lucky and start making good money quickly, but blogging takes time and lots of effort…and gaining an audience takes time and effort…so you shouldn’t expect results overnight.
Following good blogging practices like learning SEO and how to use Pinterest can help speed up your journey to making money from your blog. But on the whole blogging is a long game and will take time to start bringing monetary returns.
4. It’s easy to get lazy…
While flexibility is one of the pros of starting a blog, it can most definitely also be a con! Since there often aren’t any real “deadlines” for blogging, it can be easy to put off tasks and end up not giving your blog 100%. Getting yourself into a good routine and setting goals can help you in your blogging journey immensely, but it’s important to know going into this that if you want it to work you have to work too.
5. Blogging sometimes requires you to be tech savvy or willing to pay for help
If you are at least slightly tech savvy, it shouldn’t be hard to get your blog set up, especially if you follow a step-by-step guide to setting up your blog. However, if you aren’t very tech savvy then you may have trouble even with the basics of setting up your blog.
But even if you are tech savvy, it’s likely you’ll run into technical problems at sometime in the future while working on your blog. If those problems are related to hosting, then you can often contact your host and they can help you out. But if the problems aren’t related to hosting, then you will need to either have some tech knowledge, be willing to spend the time to figure it out on your own, or be willing to pay a tech-savvy person to help you out!
6. You may be hit with imposter syndrome (or haters) from time to time
Blogging can be an emotional rollercoaster, especially if you find yourself struggling with imposter syndrome. Putting your thoughts and your hard work out on the internet for all to see can be daunting…but just remember that a blog is never finished, which means you can always go back and edit whatever you want later on! All bloggers look back at their early work and think “what was I thinking?”…and then we usually fix and re-write and try to forget our embarrassment 😉
Additionally, if you blog for long enough, you’re guaranteed to come across a hater or two (or more). When this happens, just remember all the rest of your community who loves you and needs what you share with them. Don’t let the haters get you down!
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