Thinking about starting a blog? You need to read further to decide if blogging is really for you. The term blogging is catching up with everyone. People from different age groups nowadays want to start writing, but not many understand the depth of blogging. It is just like a trend which is going around.

When I started blogging, I myself did not understand what are the elements involved. I went through many websites and most of them insisted on starting to blog as if it was extremely easy. But as I started blogging, I learnt the harsh reality.

So, before you step foot in the world of blogging, answer these questions and be true to yourself.

Q1. Is Blogging just my hobby or I want to convert it into a business? 

This is the most important question you need to answer. Many out there just are interested in penning their thoughts, others start a blog thinking they can actually earn through writing.

Be clear about your goals because each goal has a different approach to take it forward. If your goal is to just write and you do not want to monetize your blog ever, WordPress.com is the way to go. But if you plan on monetizing your site, then you will have to take a different approach. You need to create a self-hosted site with the help of hosting sites.

Q2. Blogging is not free. Am I ready to invest in it?

I have seen many of my friends starting a free blogging site through WordPress.com assuming they will become popular and start earning soon.

If you are writing for leisure, you can use free services, but do not expect much from it in return. If you plan on monetizing, you have to invest in buying a unique domain name and a hosting plan. These are the bare minimum. You might further need to buy few plugins, anti-spam and backup software to keep your site running.

Q3. Am I really passionate about blogging?

A friend of mine started blogging as he thought it was the best way to earn from home. A few months later he got bored writing and started being very inconsistent. Why? Because he was not passionate about it so he could not survive.

Blogging is not a few days or months business. There is nothing called quick money in this field. It takes time to build and once it is stable, it is something for a lifetime. You might be in love with the idea of blogging, but you need to be passionate about it as well. Else, it will not take much time for you to be a failure in the blogging world.

Q4. Do I possess the quality of patience & consistency?

The biggest misconception people have about blogging is it is an easy way of making money. The idea of making money through blogging sounds easy, but implementing is most difficult. Most people start with a lot of enthusiasm and when in a month or two they do not get the response they had expected, they lose hope and become inconsistent. Such bloggers cannot survive long.

Developing a site consumes time as you need to write a minimum of 25 topics to make your content look substantial. Do not expect to be a hit immediately. You need to keep writing and promoting yourself and try various marketing and SEO techniques to make your presence visible. No one can predict when will you be able to earn a decent amount from your blog, but it takes at least 1-2 years to start earning.

So, you need to be patient, very consistent and try different techniques to promote your website.

Q5. Do I have the skills needed to blog?

You must be thinking I am just talking about writing an article because most people assume blogging is just writing an article and publishing it. No, writing and publishing are just 10% of the work. Socializing, advertising, promoting, SEO, etc, consumes the most amount of time. Blogging is tougher than 9 to 5 job as you might need to work 12-15 hours a day initially till your site is established.

Blogging is not just about being creative, but also possess some technical knowledge of SEO and marketing. If you do not have the knowledge and you still are passionate about blogging then you will have to be ready to invest to hire someone to do it for you.

Your question, “Should I start a blog”? If your answers to all the above questions are YES then blogging is definitely for you. If you are hesitant about any of the questions above then you need to pause and think twice before you move ahead in this direction.

 

5 People standing with question marks in their hands - Should I Start a Blog illustration