Look, I’m tired of coming across these phony blogs that post their income statement online. Or sometimes, they claim to make $10k in the first year of blogging. Didn’t your mamma teach you it’s not nice to discuss salary? Look, I’m not saying it isn’t possible. People have the chance to win the lottery but neither usually happens. Here’s what these bloggers fail to tell you:
They are making money off of telling you how to make money. You know how when you can’t sleep so you turn on the tv to find a conference coming to your city to teach you how to make money flipping houses? Perhaps it’s an investment course. These people make money off of telling you how to make money. These bloggers are the same snake oil salesmen and women.
I’d like to see their income statement if they were challenged with making money by not talking about how to make money blogging.
I’m just so absolutely annoyed by these ass holes. They aren’t telling you the whole story and the whole story is this:
- Blogging is work and even if it’s your baby (like Hot Mess Memoir) and you think you’ll get out of it what you put in, guess what? You won’t; at least for a long time.
- You won’t make $10k the first year, the second year…..or ever.
- Blogging is full of peaks and valleys. Most bloggers give up when they hit a few valleys too close to each other.
- You must post all the time as well as engage with other bloggers and have a presence on social media. And not just Facebook. I’m talking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and social bookmarking sites like Mix, Flipboard and Google+.
- Your posts may be too boring to succeed. I’m sorry but I’d rather be honest then make it sound like every single person can tell a good story.
- Blogging isn’t for the lazy. You need to put together great images to go along with your posts and check for grammatical errors. You need to be actively working on your blog. Why do you think I’ve gained weight? Because I’d rather put my time towards my blog then a dumb gym.
- I’m almost celebrating my 3rd year of blogging and though I’m starting to get offers to review products and make pennies from Google Adsense, I lose money every month. I don’t look at it as loosing however as this is what I enjoy doing and is my outlet. So yeah, I’ll show you my income statement, here’s Septembers:
Go Daddy: -$12.99
Tailwind: -$14.99
AdSense income +$1.49
Product value I reviewed +$60
So Why the Hell Should You Blog?
There are lots of reasons to blog and though it may eventually lead to income, you never want to get into blogging just because you think you’ll become rich and famous. Here are 5 reasons to blog:
- You make friends from all around the world! I now have friends in Canada, England, Germany and all through the U.S. and its super cool.
- The blogging community is very supportive and helpful. We share each other’s successes and learn from each other. Trolls are rarely lurking.
- You learn how to write better. I am going to sound like a simpleton when I say this but honestly, I’ve learned a ton of big words I would have NEVER needed nor attempted to learn. I’ve learned how to spell better too.
- I’ve taught myself enough social media management to rival any marketing grad going into their first job.
- It’s pure therapy. When I couldn’t take antidepressants because it cancelled out the effects of another medicine (life-saving), I wrote.
This post is dedicated to all my blogging friends. This is for all the struggles you go through and when you want to give up. It’s for when you come across those annoying ass holes who con someone into reading their post because it promises the secret recipe to a successful blog.
P.S. The graphic I used was to mimic the typical graphic you see when bloggers claim to show their income statement. It’s girly and clean and overused.
All so true! It’s fun isn’t it?
Blogging is SO.MUCH.FUN! I love it so much that I still do it without getting paid. And yet those stupid bloggers (yes, I called them stupid b/c they annoy me) lead newbies down a fools path. I don’t know why but even when I started blogging I realized that their claims seemed phony and stayed away from their advice since my blog wasn’t about blogging.
I’m with you on all of this, I think some are lucky to make money but it’s not from blogging it’s from providing a service and that’s not blogging. It’s damn hard work to keep it all going…
Thank you! Yes! It is all hard work. And for anyone to think they’re going to bang out 3 posts a week and 30 days later turn in their 2 week notice is barking up the wrong tree. I’m just so annoyed by these con artists that mislead newbies, all to sell their $49.95 Blogging 101 Kit.
I know it doesn’t work like that and even if what they did say worked it would be like a years work in a few months – totally unachievable.
And that’s why they are snake oil salesmen of the blogosphere. That’s actually what I should have named this post. Damn it!
Go back and rename it…
Nah, that will be the name in a year when I forget I wrote this post then write it again. Lol!!
Haha… That’s funny.
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Awww I can’t see your graphic when viewing on my phone!! ?
But this is a great post HM! And so true. I have a girl on my twitter who posts her income statements every month and I’m surprised how much she earns but I lost interest in her blog when she switched to self hosting and posting them so I don’t read it anymore. I hope that yours goes off the tracks and makes you butt loads of money!! Butt loads!!!
Ah, so true! I’m so over the blogs that are all about blogging. It’s all the same crap and self-selling … buy my course and you too can make boat loads. Utter B.S. Thanks for sharing the realities.
Ingrid, yes!!!! It’s all these courses when in reality, you have no idea how many followers most of them have. They entice newbies with “my free blogging how-to” print out. Please! It’s so damn annoying! These are the people that probably use the dirty technique of following people on Twitter so you’ll follow them, only to unfollow you days later.
This is the perfect post! Thank you for saying what we all think!
Hi Robyn! Thank you for stopping by! Yes, so annoyed by those types of bloggers.
You are so right!
The worst ones are selling courses for new bloggers, with information you can easily find out for free. They’re making money, but at other newbie bloggers expense. 🙁
Exactly! And that’s all I want new bloggers to know. Dont fall for the gimmicks. Hell, we are a wealth of info for any newbies. I just hate how they take advantage of them.