5 Misconceptions About Being a Blogger
I often find that being a blogger comes with a fair few questions being asked by those who have either:
a) Never heard of a 'blogger'
b) Heard of a 'blogger' but has little understanding of what it is they do
c) Know full well what a 'blogger' is and find it interesting to hear about your experiences
d) Know full well what a 'blogger' is and assume you're paid megabucks and get given a load of free bits and bobs
Whenever I come across the latter, I always find it slightly more difficult to fully explain that bloggers do what they do because they enjoy it and not for monetary purposes/sponsorship deals. Although this can be a perk of the job, it wasn't the sole reason for starting my blog in the first place. In fact, I didn't even know that you could get paid for writing posts or be 'gifted' things by companies/businesses.
Where you often get people commenting about your financial situation as a blogger, you also get those who would like to start a blog but feel pressured by common misconceptions, so much so, they don't bother. This post is mainly for those guys. Starting and writing a blog shouldn't be something you're scared of, because there's no right or wrong way to do it! If you're in it purely for sponsorship deals then you're starting a blog for all the wrong reasons. You have to really love blogging for it start yielding some results. As I've said, I started this blog seven years ago, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. Although it has enabled me to do a few sponsored posts and I have benefited from it financially, that's just a bonus!
An authentic voice is key when it comes to this industry, and you shouldn't let anything scare you away from something you're passionate about. If writing is your thing, and you love doing it, then what's stopping you? I asked a couple of people on Twitter, and their reasons for not starting a blog (with the exception of the 's**t tonne of money' point) were as follows:
a) Never heard of a 'blogger'
b) Heard of a 'blogger' but has little understanding of what it is they do
c) Know full well what a 'blogger' is and find it interesting to hear about your experiences
d) Know full well what a 'blogger' is and assume you're paid megabucks and get given a load of free bits and bobs
Whenever I come across the latter, I always find it slightly more difficult to fully explain that bloggers do what they do because they enjoy it and not for monetary purposes/sponsorship deals. Although this can be a perk of the job, it wasn't the sole reason for starting my blog in the first place. In fact, I didn't even know that you could get paid for writing posts or be 'gifted' things by companies/businesses.
Where you often get people commenting about your financial situation as a blogger, you also get those who would like to start a blog but feel pressured by common misconceptions, so much so, they don't bother. This post is mainly for those guys. Starting and writing a blog shouldn't be something you're scared of, because there's no right or wrong way to do it! If you're in it purely for sponsorship deals then you're starting a blog for all the wrong reasons. You have to really love blogging for it start yielding some results. As I've said, I started this blog seven years ago, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. Although it has enabled me to do a few sponsored posts and I have benefited from it financially, that's just a bonus!
An authentic voice is key when it comes to this industry, and you shouldn't let anything scare you away from something you're passionate about. If writing is your thing, and you love doing it, then what's stopping you? I asked a couple of people on Twitter, and their reasons for not starting a blog (with the exception of the 's**t tonne of money' point) were as follows:
1. Each and every post has to be perfect
I like to think of each and every blog post as a piece of art. Where painters have their canvases and sculptors have their clay, bloggers have a blank document that can be used as they wish. Whether you're writing about the latest beauty products, fashion trends or detailing recipes, or using it to showcase photographs you've taken or poems you've written, the premise is the same.
There's no such thing as 'perfect' in the world of blogging. The idea is, you write about anything you want regardless of what other people are interested in. So don't worry about making every single blog post perfect. If you don't want to proof read it, then don't...if you don't want to edit your pictures, then don't...it really is simple! You'll always have people who are interested in what you post, and you'll often find that they come back again and again to see what you'll publish next!
There's no such thing as 'perfect' in the world of blogging. The idea is, you write about anything you want regardless of what other people are interested in. So don't worry about making every single blog post perfect. If you don't want to proof read it, then don't...if you don't want to edit your pictures, then don't...it really is simple! You'll always have people who are interested in what you post, and you'll often find that they come back again and again to see what you'll publish next!
2. You get rapid results
You can't expect to publish a post today and then see fantastic results on it the next day - it simply doesn't work like that. The idea is you keep social media updated, engage with other bloggers and build up a following. Rome wasn't built in a day and the same goes for your blog. You can't rush things, so don't start posting something every single day, just take things easy, write when you feel inspired to and people will soon flock to your site!
3. It's all about me, me, me
If you're blogging purely about yourself, then that could make it a tad boring for your readers if you continue to publish that sort of content. Where I haven't come across any bloggers in my time doing this, there could well be some that do that, and that's ok! But blogging is just as much about helping others as it is about keeping your own site up to date.
Whether you're promoting other people's blogs on Twitter or writing a blog post which will help others, blogging is rarely about 'me, me, me'. It's not a selfish industry - the blogging community may well be vast, but the support for each other is overwhelming, so get stuck in and help each other out!
Whether you're promoting other people's blogs on Twitter or writing a blog post which will help others, blogging is rarely about 'me, me, me'. It's not a selfish industry - the blogging community may well be vast, but the support for each other is overwhelming, so get stuck in and help each other out!
4. You get paid a s**t tonne
We've already been through this one, but not all bloggers get paid for doing it. For many people, blogging is a hobby and it's something they just enjoy doing. Getting paid or receiving gifts is a nice bonus to it all, but it's often not the reason why people start a blog in the first place. If you're lucky enough, you'll get paid a decent whack and then you can take it full time. But if someone can live off running their own blog, then fair play to them! It's hard work to build a blog up like that and I take my hat off to those people, but I bet they didn't start their blog knowing it would end like that!
5. You need to have a niche to gain an audience
This simply isn't true. You don't need a niche to run a successful blog, so don't let that put you off. Write about what you love, you could use a blog to post some awesome photos you've taken or to publish some poems or short stories, almost as a portfolio. You could use it to post anything from recipes to beauty reviews and your blog still wouldn't be worth any less than someone else's site. Authenticity and passion are all you need to start and run your own blog, keep going and your following will soon grow.
***
I hope you found this post useful. Let me know if I've now convinced you to start a blog, and I will see you again very soon with a brand new blog post.
***
WHERE TO FIND ME
PREVIOUS BLOG POST
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Comments
Post a Comment