Is a blog worth starting these days? Having a blog can be a fun hobby, a full-time business, or anything in between, but you need to know what goes into starting and running your own website.
I’ve had a blog since 2013, and I love creating content. But it’s taken a long time to get to where I am, and I’m the first to say it’s not always worth it.
Before we get into it, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
Why a Blog Is Worth Starting
Starting a blog can be a worthwhile project. You probably won’t see results overnight, but that’s normal, so don’t give up if you don’t succeed right away. Instead, consider a few reasons why you starting a blog is still worth it.
Express Yourself
One of the best reasons to start a blog is as an outlet to express yourself. You can write about almost any topic under the sun, so it’s a great way to get your thoughts on paper (or the screen).
Now, if you write just to write, you probably won’t get any readers other than your loved ones. But the goal of blogging doesn’t have to be getting traffic and earning money.
When I started my first blog almost a decade ago, I just did it for fun. As I learned more about blogging, I implemented a few strategies to grow my online presence.
But even in a business context, a blog can still be fun. Odds are you probably like the business you have, so you get to write about something you enjoy.
Build a Portfolio
Starting a blog is worth it if you want to get into freelance writing. You can use your blog as a portfolio and individual blog posts and writing samples when pitching clients or applying to freelance gigs.
My blog helped me land my first consistent freelance client. Of course, you can pitch article ideas to clients without having a portfolio, but clients won’t be able to see what you can do.
What’s more, if you start your own blog, you can also track metrics like traffic. So if you want to get SEO writing clients, you can showcase how your SEO tactics have resulted in page views.
Make Extra Money
Starting a blog can also be worth it if you want to make extra money. Now, HUGE disclaimer here that your blog probably isn’t going to make any money right away and maybe not even for the first year.
However, if you’re in it for the long haul, you may eventually be able to make a sizable income from your site. You can monetize your content with ads, affiliate links, digital products, and more.
Some bloggers can even make all of their money from their online businesses. Again, this can take months or years to achieve, but if you have patience, it can be a good option.
Learn New Skills
Another excellent reason to start a blog is to expand your skillset. If you’re not good at writing but want to learn, what better way than to learn by doing?
Not only does blogging require you to write, but you can also learn how to design a website. And if you want to get people to read your blog, you need to learn social media and digital marketing.
You can use all of these skills to get a job if you don’t want to work for yourself. Plus, your blog can act as proof of what you can do when applying to jobs or pitching clients.
Can Be Free (or Cheap)
Starting a blog can cost money, but it can also cost you $0. You can use a free blogging platform, like Blogger or WordPress.com to get your first blog up and running.
So if you’re tight on cash or aren’t sure if blogging is for you, you don’t have to invest any money. However, you can always upgrade to a paid blog once you decide to stick with it.
And even if you pay for your domain and hosting, there are other free things, like WordPress themes. That way, you can keep costs down and still publish a professional-looking website.
Why a Blog Is Not Worth Starting
As much as I love running my various blogs, it’s not for everyone. A lot of work goes into starting and running a website, especially in the beginning. Here are a few reasons why you may want to hold off on launching a blog.
It Takes Time
Starting a blog is one thing, but running it is a whole other beast. Sure, you can start a blog in a few minutes, but you have to keep up with a lot of tasks to keep it going.
You have to write and publish blog posts regularly so that search engines can start to index your content. And unless you want to wait years before you get traffic, you’ll need to spend time marketing your blog posts.
What’s more, you don’t just do these things one. You have to keep doing them every time you want to write and publish a new post. It can get exhausting really quickly.
Results Require Patience and Consistency
Not everyone wants to turn their blog into a business. But if that’s a goal for you, starting a blog requires that you follow a consistent upload schedule and marketing plan.
You’ll also need to be patient before you can expect to get good results, such as traffic and income. If you’re looking for overnight success, you won’t find it with a blog.
Prepare to spend at least a year working on your content without getting much (if any) money. If you can’t commit to that, you shouldn’t start a blog (or if you do start a blog, it should be more of a hobby than a future business).
More Than Just Blogging
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about freelancing for agencies is that the provide the work. All I have to do is take an assignment, write it, and submit it for editing.
But when you start and run a blog, everything is on you. You have to write the blog posts, edit them, and publish them either right away or on a chosen schedule.
If you want to run your blog like a business, you also have to do some marketing on social media. Then, there’s setting up products or services to sell to make extra money and promoting those things too.
No Guarantee of Results
One of the worst things about starting a blog (or any business) is that there are no guarantees or results or success. You could dedicate hours, weeks, or months to something and not see anything come of it.
Before you start a blog, you have to be okay with the idea of it being a failure. Of course, you can learn from your failures and make your next venture more successful.
However, it’s still going to take time and effort (and sometimes money). Even if you don’t pay for anything other than a domain and hosting, you’ll have to invest a lot of time that you may not get back if things don’t work out.
More Competition
It seems like every week a blogging guru shares how they just launched a new website as part of their business. There are so many websites already out there that it can be hard to compete.
You’ll need to find something that makes you and your blog different if you want to get traffic. You can choose a small niche or a sub-niche of a more saturated market.
If you can’t find a way to set your blog apart, you can’t expect anyone to care. And unless you’re a major celebrity, you can’t rely on your personality to bring in an audience. They have to care about the topic already.
Do Bloggers Really Make Money?
Some bloggers make six figures or more in a year. A lot of these bloggers have massive website traffic and have been in business for years to get to where they are.
Others make most of their money through services or digital products. But the bloggers that do make money are patient and stick with it until they achieve success.
What Blog Niches Are Most Profitable?
The most profitable blog niches tend to fall under the categories of finance, health, and lifestyle. However, these are also some of the most competitive niches.
Instead, I’d recommend finding a niche that you have experience in. That will make it much easier to create content consistently, and that will give you better odds of building an audience and making money.
Final Thoughts
You’ve been wondering, is a blog worth starting? Launching a blog can be a great way to express yourself and build an online presence.
But it’s not for everyone, and you can’t expect to become a millionaire overnight. If you do want to (eventually) make money with your blog, enroll in Affiliate Marketing Superstars.