Let me just start by stating the obvious – and the reason I am writing this post in the first place – blogging is hard freaking work. No, being a blogger is not the same as being an influencer, and no, you don’t just write a little article once a week, post some cute pictures and suddenly make a ton of money. It takes dedication, skill, commitment, and passion to maintain a steady stream of articles and build your following.
More than just an Article
Having a blog is more than just writing articles about various things you enjoy and posting them up on the world wide web. There are lots of costs, learning hurdles, and skills required for you to be a blogger… not to mention the patience and vulnerability you have to possess as well.
When you’re first starting out, you have to prove yourself. You’re learning new lessons every day, and are opening up your heart for the world to judge. If you are sensitive, you have to get over it quickly or you’ll never make it. Heck, I haven’t “made it” anywhere and I still have had to grow a bit more of a spine due to mockery and people thinking it is “easy”. At this point, this is a full time side job to me, and, believe me, it takes every minute of that time.
The Commitment
It takes discipline to get your blog up and running, including time commitments you never saw coming. You’ll need to be able to say “no” to social engagements and be willing to wake up early and stay up late in order to get your blog off the ground.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say I write one article I want to publish this week…
The Before Process
It’s a short article, so it only took me about an hour to write.
Now I need photos to post with the article, which means I need to either 1) teach my significant other how to properly use a camera (no) or hire a photographer. Another hour.
Before the photoshoot, you have to get ready, do your hair and makeup, pick a location, pick what you are going to wear… give or take, let’s give that 2 hours.
Now, before you’ve even thought about posting the article, you’re at 5 hours. Yes, you do multiple outfits at a photoshoot, so you can probably cut that time down a tad, but this is just the “before” maintenance needed. Let’s continue…
The During Process
In order to post, you need to make sure all of your postings are consistent in color, style, etc. You then post and lay out the page for your article. One hour. Done? Oh no… that would be too easy.
Once you post to the page, you also need to post to the category page so it can be found on the main menu. 30 minutes later, that is done.
Now, you’re still not done, because guess what? SEO exists. I’m not going to get into SEO (Search Engine Optimization) completely, because that would take too long, but let’s just say if you’re skilled at SEO you can do this in about 20-30 minutes. If you’re not, you’re spending at least another hour on this before your post is ever complete just on the blog and searchable on Google. You’re now at 7 hours, give or take, for one article, without ever linking anything to LikeittoKnow.it, optimizing with Pinterest, or sharing on any social media platform.
… that is essentially a solid work day worth of work just to get a single article out the door.
I’m not here to tell you there aren’t ways to cut down on that time, because that would be a lie. But when you’re first starting out and learning the basics, if you want to do things correctly, that is the common time commitment.
The Cost
They say it takes money to make money, and having a blog is no exception. You have to be very financially savvy and budget correctly, otherwise it is very easy to spend a ton of money on plugins, courses, etc. just to get your blog off the ground.
So now, before hiring an assistant, buying courses, clothes, tripods, anything else you may need, you’re at $3400. You can write some of this off as a tax write off, depending on how your business is doing, but not all. Before you can take your blog full time, you need to be able to pay off the annual costs in addition to being able to support yourself financially. Which can take years of blogging.
The Income
There are a lot of rumors and misguided information about how much a blogger truly makes. Yes, the ones that make it big and have agencies are making a great deal of income, but that takes a long while to get there. For a long time, you are writing simply because you have a love for it. Personally, I like to share my voice with the world. Though making an income off of this one day would be nice, I enjoy this right now just for the creative outlet it allows me.
Another HUGE misconception is that the links we send out for Likeit bring in big income. Let me put it this way – if I get $1 off of your purchase from my link, you bought something pretty substantial. We take the time to find these links and share them. Giving us back our 50 cents as a thank you really is so appreciated.
This goes back to the thought that influencers and bloggers are the same, and that we are all just full of ourselves. At a certain point in every bloggers career, our Instagram feed, Pinterest, and blog become our brand. The opinions of others no longer can matter. What our followers want to see is consistent, informative content.
The Support
It is the easiest thing in the world to support a blogger. Like and comment on their pictures. Repin their pins. Go on their blog and comment on their articles. Make them feel loved. What takes you 5 minutes of your time took them hours of their day to prepare. You have no idea how much your one little gesture can make their whole day – no matter the size of their following. Without following, bloggers would not exist.
About Me:
HANZA
Hannah “Hanza” Stephens started blogging in 2019 as an outlet to share things she loves with the world. She enjoys writing, wine tasting, cooking, and playing with her corgi, Winston.
Hanza,
I wanted to tell you how amazing this post is. It’s so amazing the time and effort you put into something you are so passionate about! This was extremely inspiring and informative! I hope you continue to follow your passion and I look forward to reading more!
Cheers!
Modern.Blonde.Travels
(a.k.a) Jeri