9 Hard Truths You Must Know Before Starting A Blog

Hello, my friend and a very warm welcome back. I’m going to share with you some things I wish people had shared with me Before Starting My Blog.

These are going to be 9 Hard Truths You Must Know Before Starting A Blog

I have been blogging for almost 2 years now and this is my second blog, I have made mistakes and I have also made money, I have written over 280 posts for this blog alone in the last 10 months so I have a bit of experience with content creation as well as learning about SEO.

What I aim to share with you is the cold hard truth, you may not like what you read and it may upset you, however, that is not my intention.

Having a lot of knowledge about blogging is great and it is my duty to share it with you if I feel it can help you on your journey to success and helping you is my aim for this post.

One thing I’m certain of when you get to the end of this post you will know 100% if blogging is suitable for you or not?

Let’s begin:

This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase I will receive a commission. The price you pay will not be affected.

Blogging Will Not Make You Rich Overnight

Blogging is not a way to get rich fast! There I have said it.

Is it possible to make thousands of dollars blogging? Yes, it is, But not straight away!

This may come as a nasty shock to you but it can take between 6-12 months of consistent hard work before you get paid! There are obviously exceptions sometimes, But don’t bank on it.

People are told not to give up their jobs and this is the reason why. I know you feel that if you could just spend more time doing it that it will come quicker.

Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Blogging, in the beginning, is not about money it’s about helping people and laying foundations, if you build a house without foundations it won’t stay up for long and blogging is no different.

I personally know bloggers who are making over $250,000 a month so the hard work is totally worth say a year of no pay.

Well, it is for me! (I have made money in the last 10 months so I have been paid for some of the time)

If you need money now, then blogging is not for you!

You need to have a lot of patience and if you have that and you are prepared to work hard then dive in and start a blog today!

Thousands of blogs are started every day but not many have the guts to stay the course. Which camp will you be in?

Blogging Is Hard Persistent Work

Blogging is truly hard persistent work, there’s no sugar-coating it as that would be misleading!

If the idea of working hard in your spare time scares you and you would rather be out with your friends having fun then blogging is not for you and you may as well quit this post now!

However, if you are not afraid of work and sacrificing time now to enjoy being your own boss and earning money when you are sleeping then keep reading.

The majority of people spend between 20 and 70 hours working every week and don’t have much spare time because they are busy in other ways.

Here is the thing though there is always pockets of time that you can dedicate to learning to run your own business. ” We can do whatever we set our minds to “!

When I started blogging I did training after work, after dinner and instead of watching TV. Once my training was complete I wrote posts as the tasks set for me dictated.

To be honest it was fun and exciting! I couldn’t wait to get started each day and now 2 years later I still feel the same way!

A lot of my blogging friends are early birds and they got up an hour earlier each day and worked during that quiet time to make their blogs successful.

This is going to be your business and as long as you treat it like one it will work for you.

Starting A Blog Costs Money

As I have said above it takes an investment of time, but not only that you do need to invest the money as well.

There are free routes you can take but they are not recommended because you can’t make money with the restrictions they place on your website.

The other issue is you can’t make the blog look like you want it to. The customization is just not there.

2 things you absolutely must pay for are a domain name and hosting.

Domain names are cheap no more than $16.00 a year and there are many places you can purchase one.

Hosting is a must, I use an all-in-one platform that provides training, hosting, domain names, privacy protection, spam protection and SSL certificates as well.

SSL is a must because if you don’t have it, Google will flag your site as “not secure”, which pretty much kills your website in terms of rankings and traffic.

Building A Website Takes Time

The actual shell of your website can be up in only 30 seconds inside Wealthy Affiliate. However, getting it to look how you want the world to see it can take quite a few hours.

Some say simple and not fussy is better as it loads faster and the user experience is superior.

Others say a good looking website looks more professional and you can use plugins like WP Rocket to speed it up.

How your website looks is up to you and there are so many themes to choose from. This theme is called Generate Press Premium

Blogs Require Content

Content needs to provide value to the reader. There are realistically only 2 types of content, it is either awesome and provides a ton of value or it is mediocre.

Valuable content offers something of value to the reader. Usually, that is in the form of explaining something to the reader, guiding the reader on performing a task, or entertaining things that the reader simply enjoys.

Mediocre content on the other hand is something that tries to be valuable but fails to offer anything substantial to the reader. 

Most bloggers aim to write between 3 and 5 posts a week and as long as it provides real value then traffic will come and read it.

The best way to make the posts valuable is to write about a subject you know a lot about.

Also, try to find subjects that don’t have a lot written about them like a low competition niche.

Many people think that to start a blog you need to be an expert and that is not the case. You can write about anything that you have an aptitude to learn more about!

Blogs Require A Lot Of Research

To run a marathon you need to put in the work and do the training in order to run for 26 miles and you may have to put in research so you don’t cause yourself an injury.

To write informative entertaining blogs you have to carry out a lot of research, which is why you don’t have to be an expert to get started.

With my first blog I didn’t put in enough research and it did receive traffic but not the right kind.

What is the right kind of traffic?

 It’s the targeted, high-quality traffic that you need.

Where do you find this traffic?

You use search engine optimization (SEO) and keywords.

The benefits of using these techniques are that you will be found in Google and that’s where the best traffic comes from.

Once your posts are indexed they are there for the world to see and let’s face it that is what we want our blog posts to achieve.

Pro Tip: Always check the first page of Google before writing a post to see what competition you are up against as well as the keywords that are being targeted.

Use LongTail Keywords To Rank Higher In The Search

Longtail keywords rank higher in the search engines so they are easier to target and plentiful.

Don’t use the same keywords as everyone else, look for phrases that don’t have as much competition.

There are several methods that you can use to find them, you can use google search or a keyword research tool like Jaxxy or Ubersuggest.

By being unique you will rank at number 1 the only rule here is to make sure the keywords are being searched for!

Don’t Be Sucked In By Shiny Objects

You will find thousands of programs online that promise to make you rich overnight or within a week. They will have a big mansion and a couple of flashy sports cars to make you believe their BS.

A start-up cost of only $17.00 and when you get inside you will be faced with upsell after upsell and before you know it you have spent $617.00.

All of this so you can get to the secret hidden inside!

That secret is normally a way to make money that doesn’t actually work!

I have written over a hundred reviews on programs just like these and even though they are not all out and out scams the vast majority are hyped up rubbish that works if you are extremely lucky.

Don’t fall for the fake promises.

One thing about blogging is there are no shortcuts. 

Many have learned this the hard way and that also includes me, don’t make the same mistakes save yourself a lot of pain, heartache, money and time.

The only thing that has worked for me after 6 years of trying to find a way to work online is the all-in-one platform that I invested in nearly 2 years ago!

I haven’t made a fortune yet with this 10-month-old blog, but I have made over 4 figures so far through affiliate marketing.

Don’t get me wrong I have put in the work but this is only the beginning.

Anyone Can Start A Blog And Succeed

If it sounds like I am trying to scare you away from blogging then that wasn’t my intention. In fact, the opposite is true I love blogging.

It is the best decision of my working life!

You have to be prepared and most bloggers just tell all the good bits and none of the bad.

Having big expectations is normally what kills your blogging future, you expect too much too soon and that is just not going to happen!

I want all of my readers who start blogs to be successful as well as fully prepared.

You can find a lot of free information about starting blogs and that is what I did in the beginning, a lot of research.

Once I made up my mind that I was serious I joined The trial for 7 days to test out everything.

What I found was simply amazing to me and within a few days, I upgraded to the premium membership which is $49 a month.

Choosing to fully invest in the education and giving myself some breathing space I chose to pay the yearly fee which saved me money over the monthly fee and it was Black Friday so it was discounted even further! Bonus.

The point is anyone can be a blogger, If you can write and do research then blogging may be just the thing for you.

Success comes if you stick at it for the long term and that is what you must be willing to do. Stay the course.

Conclusion 

A, part of me really thought that it wouldn’t work, No one would read my posts, and I wouldn’t make any money!

The community kept telling me to keep going and it will happen and they were so right!

Traffic started as a trickle, then a flow, and now it is getting to a flood.

Can you picture my shock when I opened an email and it said congratulations you have made a commission of $48.24!

I was jumping up and down like a lunatic!

Now emails like that arrive daily!

Keeping the faith was hard at times, but I stuck to it and kept going and there is a big glowing light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope I have explained the massive gains, as well as the pitfalls of blogging to you and you, are raring to get your blog started?

Let me know what you thought of this brutally honest post in the comments, Is there anything else you want to know?

Lisa. CEO and founder of mistakesbloggersmake.com