W

Why is Blogging the toughest profession in the world?

BLOGGING quotes - STREETTROTTER

Its been more than a year that I left my well paid permanent job, and took up blogging as my full-time profession. As it ends up, I work more than I used to before and earn nothing at all. YES. I am equating ‘Blogging’ to a real profession. Let bygones be bygones, because there is an entire ocean of professional bloggers today. They blog, they earn, and they emerge victorious. And if you thought our road was easy, then let me make you rethink…

#1. Imagine 365 days of daily SELF MOTIVATION. 

Blogging unlike other salaried jobs is a full-time commitment that is totally absent of fat pay checks at the end of each month, and all the other added incentives that come with a typical 9 to 5 job. Self motivation is the only key to success in the world of blogging and trust me, keeping yourself motivated each day to work is not an easy task. Sometimes you go to work because your boss will probably fire you for missing the day, or simply because you need to finish a task that cannot be delayed. But when you are a work-from-home blogger, you are your own boss, and firing yourself for not performing is technically impossible. So, if you thought blogging was all play, and no serious hard work, then self motivation is the first obstacle to sustaining this profession.

apple-691471_1280-001

#2. TIME MANAGEMENT without any set rules is a skill in itself.

Most employed people think that blogging is a pass-time hobby, which can be leisurely done throughout the day, as one pleases. But ironically, it is not. Bloggers don’t have a strict time to wake up and get ready for work, and neither do they have a specific time when their day ends. The downside of this flexible schedule is we often mess up of our time management colossally. Unlike other employed people, we do not have the liberty of putting a stop to our day, and therefore end up pulling countless all-nighters to keep our blog running. Sometimes, what people don’t realize is – that office timings and rules make life easier than your day being all haywire, trying to work out your own timeliness like a blogger does.

#3. SUCCESS, PROMOTIONS and APPRAISALS don’t come easy.

Blogging is pure hard work, with a 0% guarantee of instant success. It is rather a time consuming and persistent job that requires at least 3 to 5 years, to even making you exist significantly among other already famous fellow bloggers. Monetizing a blog can only be achieved once you have enough number of ‘quality posts’ and followers for sponsors to start considering you for a paid collaboration. And the day you end up getting those awaited collaborations, it just becomes tougher and tougher. In short, there are really no shortcuts to success while blogging. You earn every penny, one post at a time, and that is all there is until the very end.

home-office-569359_1280-001

#4. You have to KNOW-IT-ALL.

Unlike other offices where there are teams and designated members for every task and departments, blogging is pretty much a one man army. You are the boss, the writer, manager and back-end support too. A good blogger is someone who knows his or her blog in an out – decoding all those stats themselves. From the most read posts, each and every comment, daily traffic to what’s next  – a blogger knows it all. They do their own SEO, marketing, networking, along with generating their own design and creatives for a well packaged post. Only a few bloggers can even afford assistants – only when they are supremely famous and have grown into a complete business. Simply put, a blog starts with a single person and runs with only that person alone.

#5. CONSISTENT GROWTH is the sole key to beat the competition.

In the Blog World it is all about ‘The Survival of the Fittest’. A person needs to consistently evolve, grow and learn – to even become a blogger in the first place. For instance what would a travel blogger be without travelling? Or food blogging be without exploring great food? Blogging is a profession of continuous knowledge achieved through different experiences. There can never be anything mundane about a blog – because then people will simply won’t pay it a visit. A blogger has to evolve every single day, learning new ways and platforms to reach out to new subscribers and users. They have to brush up their vocabulary, writing style, image editing, and overall quality, along with the changing times – to keep their blog updated and forever interesting.

computer-472016_1280-001

#6. Real PASSION is the only way to blog.

Most people take up jobs that pay well, and offer great success – but are often not passion driven and are rather boring. That is probably why wise men say, ‘do something you love to be really happy in life’ – and this is how bloggers are born. Blogging is one of the very few professions in the world that brings with it great passion and self satisfaction. A blogger blogs to be heard, to write and to share, all out of sheer passion. Most bloggers you will meet are actually obsessed with their blogs, and are always looking for their next story – knowing that they will not get paid for this. So in conclusion, you can be rich and famous with a job you hate, but loving what you blog is the only way to blog!

On a parting note, I pay my respects to all fellow Bloggers out there and wish you all the luck with your little heartfelt ventures. No one said it will be easy, and therefore, slow and steady we all will find our own success story. And if you are a Blogger reading this post, you will most certainly LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE this post – because Blogging was never easy! 

– Issued in Blogging Interest by The EDITOR. 

STREETTROTTER

StreetTrotter is a Travel, Culture & Lifestyle blog, inspiring people everyday with real stories to look good and travel even better. Founded in 2012 by Shraddha Gupta, Founder & COO, this space is all about experiencing new things in life, be it a daring mountain trek, a frugal backpacking trip, a runway look made local, or simply anything that scares you enough to live a little more deeper.

  1. This is so very true!! I have started to take up blogging seriously since around 3 months!! And yes..every word here..I can relate to it!!

    But on the positive side…I feel like I am being 100% myself and just because of blogging I have even become a better person in terms of my organization skills, my time management and lots more…being a mommy and a blogger is even tougher!! But loving every bit of both 🙂

  2. Laurenuren says:

    With every point in this article I was like YES!!! It’s so true. Especially #1. I write my travel blog, but also another blog and write for about 3 other blogs during the week as a guest writer. It’s exhausting and so tough to stay on top of it all!

  3. Kanika Kalia says:

    You have rightly said “There are really no shortcuts to success while blogging. You earn every penny, one post at a time, and that is all there is until the very end.” So true.. great to find your blog 🙂

  4. Holly says:

    This is so true. I should send this to everyone that doesn’t blog so they understand all that it takes for bloggers to do what they do and then some.

  5. So refreshing. I started because I needed a “creative outlet” and it turns out it takes all my energy and most of my free time. I’m not complaining of course – I love it! But it is only fair to give us some credit for it 🙂
    Valeria @ romenewyorklondonworld.com

  6. I never dreamt it would be so addictive or open so many doors. It’s taken over my life! While I still work part-time for someone else my role there has changed and I’m now writing, tweeting and blogging for them, and of course working 24/7 on my own blogs (2!!) I’ve never worked such long hours as I do now and I love it!

    1. It is a little discouraging in the beginning. But if you can withstand and sustain your blog for 2 years, I guess then you can start really enjoying it and reap the benefits too. Its a hard journey, and most give up after an year, but I guess that what also maintains the balance between a good blogger and a not so serious about it blogger.

  7. Maria says:

    oh… well I am a freelancer updating content, doing story writting and I am struggling so I understand… well your blog has lots of interesting stuff to read for sure. I met someone who said he is back after trekking Himayalas all happy and remembered your post on Himalayas trekking…so you make me a more interesting creature getting to know so many things in the world. I would always be there to support your blog anyway I can… true time management, after taking up tasks as freelancer I hardly go out the house because I keep working on the computer, though I know must give rest to eyes and head and exercise to be healthy but just forget that thesedays. Also if you have many tasks, its hard to schdule it so you concentrate equally to finish multi tasks. Its not all easy going anyway…

  8. Pingback:BLOG+WORK Balance? How do bloggers with full-time commitments do it? | STREETTROTTER

  9. I agree with Rob — time management is tough. I’m brand-new to trying to make an income from my blog, so I’m still figuring it out, but yes, it’s a ton of work that most people don’t see :(.

  10. The Bonfire Dream says:

    Haha, this is a comparable to ‘Why is being a mother the toughest profession?’ The reason why people still do it though is that they are allowed freedom and that they love it! Which makes it, in the long run, rather hobby than a profession 😛

    1. I agree, because being a mother is a super tough job too. But I guess it solely depends on people, how they look at their blogging careers. I know some who take it so seriously that it is a full time profession for them, and they do earn their living from it. Then I know a lot others too who do it because they want an outlet for their free spirited traveling side. I am not sure if I want this to be my profession, but I would love it, if I could. 🙂

  11. Priya says:

    Can totally relate to everything here! If you are driven by passion then .. Only then can you make it. And don’t compare your 6 month journey against someone who has been blogging for 6 years ( has been my mantra)

    1. I agree. Its been three years that I have been blogging, and every month I saw it evolving, and I was earning all the time, simply because to do it full time is still a challenge for me. I still look at people who are famous bloggers, only with a learning spirit, and that helps a lot in catching up, rather than useless comparison.

  12. Yoko Meshi says:

    Really interesting and great post, my blog is simply a hobby at the moment and it can already be quite stressful with time management! I can only begin to imagine how hard it would be if it was my full time profession.

  13. Kinga says:

    This is exactly the type of post I have been looking for recently. And that’s because I am considering doing this myself in a year’s time.. I see it’s not all roses, but I guess you would still NOT want to go back to 9-5, would you?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.