The Downside of Blogging

Have you ever wondered why there are so many people writing about the Upside of Blogging and nearly nobody blogging about the downside of Blogging?  

There is a lot of ‘yada-yada’ out there about the importance of blogging and frankly, if you are competing in today’s business world your business needs a blog.  

If you are an expert in a field that is wildly popular, you need a blog.   Even if you have only your experience in something you want to pass on to the world…you need a blog.  The fact is, if you have something worth something to others, you need a Blog.

The truth is, blogging is the thing to do.   Blogging is fashionable right now.  However, you’re only seeing one side of the story.

There is no doubt about the fact that blogging is an amazing way to grow online traffic, build relationships online and, in rare cases, make some extra money.  The making money part of blogging is not without it’s problems which is one of the major reasons why there is a Downside to Blogging.

With that now being said,  allow me to dig in to the problems, downsides and issues surrounding blogging.

#1 Success Comes Slow 

Right out of the bag, let’s talk about success and how success from blogging is measured.  The two major measurements for determining if your blog is successful is:

1. How large of audience has been built
2. How much money have you made from this audience

There are just a few exceptions to these measurements of a success blog.  

Yes, there are people who say they do not care if they do not build a large audience or if they make any money blogging.  These are people who are apparently independently wealthy or incarcerated somewhere with a lot of time on their hands.  

And there are some people who blog on such a microscopic niche of a subject, or interest, that they are the only people in the world who know what they are talking about.  I found that there are significant number of these people..which in itself makes wading through all of the blogs from these people one of the downsides to blogging.

To say “success from blogging comes slow”, is an epic understatement.  

There are a number of reasons for why success comes slowly to those who blog.

It takes time to build your reputation as an authority in your niche.  Here is where the Catch 22 starts.  

You have to post blogs that outline what you do, then post more blogs on the details of what you offer and then more blogs on each of the components of what makes you an authority.  Very rarely does anyone post their first blog and BAM..ten million people are now subscribed to everything they post.  Not to say this has never happened, but for the regular guy who does not have the resources and funds to back a huge brand development campaign focused on creating an immediate popularity is just not going to happen.

It takes on average at least 25 Blogs of 1000 words packed with keywords.  All this just to get a blip from Google.  But then, you have to keep the blogs coming on a regular basis, or all that work is only going to get you to that “Blip” stage.

Yes, that is a lot of work and is the #1 Downside of blogging.

#2 SEO: Lot of More Work

There is a slight possibility that if you build your authority on a subject correctly you may get lucky and find that you will successfully win a few top-rankings in the first few weeks, or months, of blogging.  It will likely take a lot longer to get anywhere on the Google rankings until your blog starts to build up the levels of authority necessary to rank for slightly more competitive keyword phrases.

It is very difficult to rush the SEO process.  Actually, it is recommended not to rush this process without relying on questionable techniques and putting your whole venture at risk of receiving a penalty from Google.

You have to keep in mind it is going to take time to build up a list of subscribers and regular readers.  SEO is only a tool you use to get to a level of sustainability.  

In reality, once you start a blog you should expect it to take months of effort before you really start to see the pay-off.

If you start to gain any level of traction before the six month benchmark after your launch then you’re very lucky.  Most bloggers find it can take a year or more before a blog really starts to produce some kind of meaningful results.  All this work on keeping your blog’s SEO in order is anther one of the many Downsides to Blogging.

#3 Lack of Results Can Demotivate

Getting involved with blogging and launching your first blog site is a very exciting experience. I have launched 7 blog sites for myself and dozens for clients.  Each time I launch a new site I get all hyped up over the possibilities the blog could achieve.

The first few weeks are fun as you publish your first few posts, start networking on social networks and get to know other bloggers in your niche.

But..then the shine wears off.  Especially when nobody comments.

Sooner or later many bloggers experience a significant drop in their motivation, mainly due to their lack of receiving any type of results to their blog posts.

After all you have likely work hundreds of hours setting up your blog, creating content and promoting your site all before you start to see any real return on that investment.

It can be all too easy as the weeks roll on to look at all the time and money you’re pouring into your blog, sacrificing evenings, weekends and vacation time in order to keep on hustling – and hopefully keep growing your digital footprint.

Then one day, bam… you go to turn on your computer and you realize that blogging has become a huge obligation rather than the fun it was intended to be.   You then get to the point where you attempt to force yourself to write a new post or promote your site when you are actually sick of the blogging.

Don’t worry – not only does it happen to the best of us, if your blog site does not become successful it will happen to you. 

The key, of course, is to find ways to push through to the other side – even if it involves taking some time away from your computer while you start to live life for a little while.

The internet is littered with hundreds, if not thousands, of unloved and forgotten blogs where a blogger has reached the burnout point and given up altogether. All their hard work is left to rot and fester until finally the domain expires and all that effort is dumped.

What would turn this around would be if people would actually post a comment on your blogs.  Not getting any response to your blog is a reality all bloggers face.  Unfortunately, there is no one answer to getting people to respond to your post.  In a dream world, everyone who opens someone blog should feel obligated to make a comment.  But, there is no dream world.  The fact is, 90% or more people who read your blog would probably make a comment if you blog theme makes it easy to make comment and if making a comment to a blog was not like waving a red flag to all of the trolls who roam the internet to teardown people’s character.

Lack of getting anything out of your blog is one of the biggest downsides to blogging.

#4 Consistent Effort Required

Blogging requires consistent effort in order for it to be effective.

New posts must be written and published frequently.  A blogger must remain active on social networks and interact with the comments section of their site. It is these small actions, repeated day-after-day, month-after-month which allow you to, slowly, grow your audience which is the major part of building a successful blog.

Very rarely does a blogger go from being a nobody to established authority in a matter of weeks.  If they do..I would guess they have joined the Darkside.

The amount of time needed to be a blogger is another part of the downside of blogging. 

Once you set up a blog you will need to be willing to invest time and money on a consistent basis.

There are tools like Buffer that will allow you to share social media updates all day long, even when you’re away from your computer. But comments will still need to be moderated and posts will still need to be written.

If you do not have the available time or the self-discipline to lock yourself away in your office for hours a day to write blogs, share posts, and network then your blog is unlikely to never become a  success.

Be aware of the time-requirements before you set up your blog or you’ll soon find yourself getting depressed with the results.

#5 A Lot of Competition

The competition is very intense in some niches but the fact is that pretty much no matter what niche you select you’re going to have to crawl your way to success.  Another downside to clogging is the competition and how many will attempt to discredit their competition.

Whenever you start a blog it is important to appreciate not only how much battling you’re going to have to do in order to be successful and outcompete the wealth of other blogs in your niche but in addition how important having a unique angle really is.

To help you beat your competition it can pay to have something unique about the slant of your content. Such a unique point of view can help you to stand out from the crowd.

#6 Bunch More than Writing

Of all the groups of people who consider starting a blog are “writers”.

For this group of wordsmiths there a nasty surprise awaiting them when they start blogging.

Building a successful blog is about so much more than simply writing.  Even being an effective writer would not necessarily prepare a writer for writing effective blog-posts.  Blog posts require a process which is rather different to producing other types of written content.

Of course, it is possible to pay someone to set up, maintain or run your blog, but it is still wise to at least understand the process you are trying to outsource. This way you will at least have an idea of how to instruct your outsourcer, and will know the difference between a good job and a bad job.

Here are a few of the tasks associated with blogging:

• Technical aspects of WordPress, plugins, themes and web hosting
• Content marketing to help boost the traffic your blog is seeing
• Building a following
• Creating effective posts to encourage sharing content with others
• Link building and, unfortunately, there is no getting around understanding SEO

All of this is a lot to take on and is one of the Downsides to blogging.

A solo blogger has to wear a lot of hats.  If all you do is simply write blog posts – without any of the promotional or technical activities that work alongside producing epic content – then your blog is likely to take time to become a success.

BOTTOMLINE:

If you really enjoy blogging then the weaknesses of blogging are greatly outweighed by the benefits.

I felt it only fair that I reveal the downsides of blogging. Hopefully this will help you to make an informed decision about whether or not setting up a blog really is right for you.  

Now tell me..what do you like the least about Blogging?  

Let me know how I can help!