As of January 2023, over 600 million blogs exist worldwide, according to Ahrefs.com.  Have you been thinking of starting a blog yourself? It is important to consider both sides of the blogging coin, so you know exactly what you are signing up for with a blog.

Let’s look at the compelling reasons to start a blog, and the reasons that you may want to reconsider. We’ll walk the fine line between the promise of personal growth and the bombshell that your blog isn’t actually about you.  This is all in the name of helping you make an informed decision about starting your own blog. So, if you’ve ever been curious about the blogging life and the balancing act it requires, read on to discover the highs and lows of it all.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see my full disclosures page for more information.

See my blog post here, explaining the possible monetization methods for your blog.  The most successful bloggers have mastered all of these methods (for multiple income streams) and can quit their full-time jobs to become a full-time blogger. 

The key is to set up automation for your monetization methods, so you can make money, even in your sleep.

The Blog Planner was created to help other bloggers who have encountered any struggles with their blog, and teach other bloggers how to overcome those struggles.  I wanted to really make a difference in the lives of others.

Imagine YOUR written words inspiring others, helping others, and improving their lives.  You can create something that you can be proud of AND that helps other people, no matter your blogging niche. 

Just the fact that you are making a difference in someone else’s life is something to be proud of.

Copywriting is writing persuasive text to inspire the reader to take action. That was not something that came naturally to me. 

I found a few Copywriting courses on Skillshare that really helped me learn the psychology behind well written copy, and the necessary elements to include in your copy. 

Writing everyday will improve your writing, but you also need to know the mistakes you are making in your writing, so you can correct them in future text.  Practice and learn from others. 

More often than not, when I write a blog post, it is because I want to learn more about that topic.  I learn with you as I go. 

I do extensive research before writing each post, and gain enough of a solid foundation on the topic that I am able to share it with you.

Consistent blogging with high-quality content positions you as an expert in your niche.  Folks will start looking to you for guidance, and earning their trust is the solid foundation of any future sale.

More and more businesses are creating blogs to promote their brand, and it’s one of the smartest things they could do. With each blog post that you write, you are creating a new piece of content for Google to rank.

Each piece of content contains new keywords that you can rank for. Blogging increases your chances of exposure and introduces your brand to new clients. 

Related: Pinterest Marketing for Bloggers

When I started my first blog, I was not tech savvy in the least bit.  I was the kind of person that if something on my computer didn’t work, I just turned it off and turned it back on.  If that didn’t work, I was fresh out of troubleshooting ideas. 

Fast forward to now and I am pretty proud to tell you that I did everything on my website myself. I still have no idea about CSS code, or web design, but I have come a long way from where I started. 

I am even working on an online course right now, to TEACH other blogging beginners how to start their blog from scratch!  Sign up for the course waitlist here:

Your tech skills will develop too as you grow your blog, even if you are starting with no tech experience.

Related: How to Start a Blog in 2024

It is also fulfilling just to be such a positive force that you also enable the success of others.  Gets me all up in my feels.

I am an introvert.  Would you have guessed it?  Social interactions make me nervous, because I don’t want to be perceived as dumb (I don’t know why, that’s just a weird fear of mine).  But blogging has given me the confidence to happily seek out interactions with my readers and genuinely enjoy it.  In fact, put me to the test.  Email me at [email protected], and let’s get started as new besties.

This reason is perhaps redundant, because reasons 1-9 have contributed to my personal growth. But if you put forth your best effort into creating high-quality blog posts, you can’t help but to have exponential personal growth. 

I love blogging, and everything that it entails.  I love taking blogging-related courses, writing blog posts, and organizing my content strategy.  Blogging does not feel like work to me.  It is actually what I do to relax and decompress when I’m stressed.  So how fortunate am I that I get to turn that passion into a profitable business? 

Are you tired of working so hard for someone that seemingly doesn’t even appreciate it? Do you wish you could spend more time at home with your kids, instead of at work?

Blogging allows you to become your own boss.  This doesn’t mean you can slack off though.  It is even more important to work hard and remain consistent with blogging.  But, blogging teaches you motivation, because no one is going to tell you when to put your big-girl panties on. You just have to do it yourself.

The blogging community is incredible.  I am astounded at the support that I receive for my blog content, from people that I have never met before. If you are on the fence about starting a blog, I’m telling you that the community alone makes blogging worth it.  Come on over.  We’d love to have you!

My full-time job is in healthcare, so it is pretty rigid about what I can and can not do.  There isn’t a lot of room for creativity in my practice. 

Blogging allows me to exercise my creativity, in ways that my full-time job does not. I get to decide on what topics to blog about, copywrite blog posts, and select relevant graphics that I have made or found online. 

I am the decision maker in my blogging business, and I love the opportunity to be a creative.

I know I am not the best writer.  I like to write in a passive voice and include a lot of adverbs, and I don’t even realize that I’m doing it. 

The best writers will tell you that the only way to improve your writing is to consistently write everyday, and I sure as heck do it.  I’d like to think that even though I have room to improve with my writing, that I am better than when I started blogging.

My blog has also given me so much knowledge about SEO best practices, and digital marketing.  And let me tell you, I used to not know how to write copy for a sales page AT ALL, and I have even learned how to do that now. 

You will also learn new skills, like how to create sales funnels, develop your own content strategy and how to become a skilled online solopreneur.

You have to be cautious when talking about yourself on your blog, because nobody really gives a hoot. Your website isn’t actually about you at all, it’s about your readers.  But you can really inspire your readers by sharing relatable information about yourself.  If people know you have been in their shoes and overcame your setbacks, they are more likely to listen to you and trust you (and hopefully become a client!).

Grow your blogging influence by collaborating with brands on social media, guest posting and affiliate marketing.

If you are interested in writing for brands or sponsored posts, you can use material from your blog to create a portfolio of your work.  A portfolio will give you a competitive advantage over other bloggers.

Nothing exercises your productivity and organizational skills like blogging, and ALL the many tasks that go with it. It’s alot to keep up with, and you want to make sure you don’t miss anything. 

My free blog planner has checklists galore and templates to keep you organized.  You can check that out here:

Related: ADHD Digital Planner

But I also urge you to create a content calendar to schedule your blog posts, social media posts, Pinterest pins and more.

I’m a mom and it’s my favorite role in the whole world. But if you’re a mom too, you also know it can be overwhelming and exhausting at times.

Sometimes I need “me” time to recalibrate my attitude. This is when I reconnect with who I am as a person, beyond being a toddler mom.

Blogging gives me the chance for an identity besides “TF’s mom”, and stimulates my mind beyond the constant tunes of Cocomelon. Blogging challenges me to learn new things, try new things and it exercises my brain. I need that to stay sane in motherhood.

Now that you have stars in your eyes for blogging, let’s look at reasons that maybe blogging is not for you.

I listed this first because I think this is so important. I never stop learning.

You can always learn something from someone else and you can never learn enough. Learning is a journey, not a destination.

This is especially true in blogging, as algorithms and best practices are ever changing. You are constantly having to adapt to stay relevant, and the only way to do this is to continue learning.  If you aren’t constantly learning how to improve your blogging, your competition is getting ahead.

If you expect to monetize your blog and for it to replace your full-time job income, you better be treating your blog like it’s your job.  If you treat blogging like a hobby, and only do it when you want to, you will not be successful at monetization. 

Not only do you have to work at blogging consistently, but often you are doing the roles of several people on your own.  You are the creator, writer, editor, publisher, designer, marketer, and social media manager.  Are you willing to wear all of those hats and more?

Good grief. Becoming a successful blogger is such a long, drawn out process. Sure, there are those bloggers out there that you see on Pinterest that made thousands of dollars in their first week of blogging or whatever.  That does not happen for the majority of bloggers. 

Establishing yourself as a person of authority and a trusted figure in your niche first, takes time and alot of effort.  Only then are you able to begin to monetize your blog. 

Whether it’s affiliate marketing, digital product sales, or sponsored posts, you have to have traffic coming to your blog for people to click on your products and for you to earn money.  Traffic takes time.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there are over 600 million blogs that exist (Ahrefs, 2023). It doesn’t matter what your niche is, someone else is already doing it.  You have to learn (see bullet point #1) how to create a competitive advantage for yourself and apply it.  It’s hard, I’m going to be honest.

A hard pill to swallow with blogging, is that income may vary from month to month.  There is no fixed income, and therefore, you may not always have a steady revenue stream. 

It can be a scary facet of blogging, especially if you are wanting to completely replace your full-time job income with your blog income.

I have a full-time job where I work 12-hour shifts and after my shift is over, I am done with work. I don’t have to work outside of those scheduled hours, and that aspect of my job is necessary for me, because my full-time job can be intense. 

However, with blogging, there is seemingly no work/life balance.  Because I do work full-time and I am a wife and a mom, I am busy, independent of blogging. I have to fit my blogging tasks into pockets of time throughout my day and week, so there is no cutoff time. 

I have a toddler, and often I wait until he goes to sleep to work on my blog, so I can actually focus on blogging, and not on my kid trying to burn the house down.  If you want a set work schedule, blogging may not be the best fit for you.

Everytime I tell one of my family members or friends that I blog about blogging, they laugh at me.  They don’t get it.  They also don’t understand why I willingly spend alot of my free time working on my blog. 

That means that weekends and late nights, when everyone has gone to bed, I am up working.  Why?  Because I freakin’ love it.  But if you are a social butterfly that is going to be upset about missing the family meal or going out with the girls, you may want to re-think this whole blogging thing. 

People don’t understand why you love it, and they don’t understand why you take time away from them to do it.  It’s not an activity that others can do with you, so it can get lonely.

I spend HOURS, days and weeks, researching content ideas.  Then I have to create the content, edit the content and market the content, all online.

Social media alone can be stressful, because there are so many channels, that it can become overwhelming to market to all of them.  Then if you find yourself comparing your own progress to that really successful blogger you follow on Pinterest, you are setting yourself up for some disappointment and discouragement.  It can get to you.

Sure, maybe people used to be successful, using their blog as a digital document of their life. But for the most part these days, nobody really cares.

Ouch, right?

If you expect to monetize your blog, it can’t be about you. The reader always wants to know, “what’s in it for me?”.

You can talk about yourself in limited amounts, but it must be in a way to let people relate to you, let them know you understand them and have been in their shoes.

Your blog is also not about your products. When talking about your products or services, people don’t care about their features. They care about how the product/service can benefit them.

See, even when it is about you, it’s never really about you. Capiche?

The time commitment is years.  YEARS, before you start to see the benefits of your blog.  That means you are going to have to put in YEARS of work before you see any return on your investment.  Is it worth it to you?

Does all of this sound discouraging to you? It’s something you should really consider before starting a blog. But remember, I listed more reasons why you should start a blog, than reasons why you shouldn’t.  It is the most rewarding adventure I’ve ever taken on.