I’ve been blogging about “making money online” since 2013, one question I get asked all the time is why did you decide to start a website over other ways to make money. Today I’d like to explain why creating a blog is My #1 Recommendation and why I initially decided to go down this path.
Let me first make it very clear that blogging is not the only legitimate way to make money online, depending on your skills and the income you’re looking for; there’re many other ways to make money from home.
On this page, I’m going to share why I started blogging and the advantages I found intriguing. Blogging might not be the best fit for you, but know if you’d like to make money online, you have to put in the WORK!
Let’s get started, here’s a bit about how/why I started blogging and still am a few years later!
The Story Of Why I Started Blogging
Back in 2013, I was looking for a legitimate way to make money online. I’d been using what I call “extra income sites” for 3-4 years at this point and was making an extra $50 or so a month, but I wasn’t happy with that income.
I tried a few different systems and internet marketing guru’s products and always ended up losing money or getting completely scammed. I knew that making money online took work; I just had a hard time finding a method that worked.
I then came across a site called Wealthy Affiliate. It’s now My #1 Recommendation. It taught me that building websites and creating content (blogging) was legitimate, it also showed me how to do so.
Since joining, I’ve started a few websites and have been lucky enough to drive traffic to each site and make money with every single one.
Advantages Of Blogging Over Other Ways
Now that you understand why I started to blog, I’d like to cover some of the benefits that made me start and why I’m still blogging to this day. These, of course, are not all the advantages but are the ones that stick out in my mind and helped me jump all in on the idea of blogging.
1) I’m the Boss
My favorite part of blogging is that I’m my own boss. This means I set my schedule; I’m in charge of every portion of my business, and I get to reap all the profits.
Of course, being the boss is not right for everyone. I enjoyed the idea of not having to report to others and being responsible for all aspects of my business.
If the business is going to succeed it’s because of me, but it also means if it fails it all on you. To me being your own boss is an advantage that allows for a lot of freedom!
2) Large Income Potential
It’s no secret that blogging has a huge income potential, but it does require work. Out of all the blogs out there, most aren’t making much money.
Luckily I knew from the beginning that if I wanted to make a large income blogging I was going to have to work my ass off. It won’t happen quick, but if you stick with it over time, your income will increase. Who knows how much you can end up making in 5-10 years!
3) Passive Income
One of the biggest advantages of blogging, in my opinion, is passive income. Let me explain. If I’m using a survey site, I have to take surveys over and over to earn an income. With a work at home job, I have to clock in and produce more work over and over to get paid.
With blogging, I can sit down and write a review in a few hours. Once that post is published, it may get ranked on Google, go viral, and hopefully drive traffic to my site forever. Spending a few hours on a post could bring me a lifelong income.
Some of you may think that it doesn’t happen, but I have 100s of reviews that drive traffic to my website every single day, whether it be from search engines, direct traffic, or social media. Those 2 hours I spent writing a review makes me money every single day and will continue to for many days in the future.
4) I Get To Help People
Honestly, I should have included this first on the list because if you’re not in it to help people you’ll never become successful. Here on this blog, I help people find legitimate work at home jobs, extra income sites and making money online products/systems. I also help visitors avoid online scams.
If I was not in business to help people, no one would come to this blog and would never care what I have to say.
It’s awesome that I’m able to help people make money online, luckily I’m also able to make an income from it.
Disadvantages of Blogging
I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t cover some disadvantages of blogging that are unavoidable in most cases.
1) Start With A $0 Income
The biggest disadvantage of blogging is you start with nothing. The day you start your blog you’ll earn $0 and most likely will for a few months (unless you already have a source of traffic, existing blog, established social media presence, etc.). It could take you several months to make consistent income each day.
This is just part of it but is a disadvantage compared to a work at home job where you’ll have a consistent paycheck.
That’s why most blogs start out as an “on the side” hobby and grow into a full-time business.
2) It Doesn’t Happen Fast
This goes right along with starting with no income. If you put in the time and hard work, you will see results and your income will continue to rise. With that being said, in almost all cases, this does not happen fast.
If you work at it, you can easily increase your blog income each month, but don’t expect to go from $0-$10,000 in a few months.
3) Does Cost Money To Start
Compared to starting any offline business, blogging has extremely low start-up costs. But it does require you to spend a few bucks up front to get started.
The necessary expenses are a domain and hosting. You can usually get started for under $20 a year.
4) It’s All On You
Of course, if you have the financial capabilities you can outsource a lot of your blog work, but most won’t spend money right away. For this reason, the whole business is on your shoulders. For some, this is a major advantage, but for others, this can be a major issue.
If you’re not accountable and discipline enough to make yourself work, you’ll never succeed.
Where Should I Start If I Want To Blog?
To be honest, there’re so many resources out there now that can teach you how to blog, but there’s one that I recommend over any other. The program is called Wealthy Affiliate; it’s the program I first found that taught me how to create a blog, grow an audience, and earn money from it.
If I didn’t find Wealthy Affiliate, I would have never made it to where I am today and continually increasing my online income!
One reason I highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate is they let you join for free, go through some training, and try it out before making a financial commitment. If you’d like to learn more about the process, visit How To Start A Blog, or you can start a free Wealthy Affiliate account now.
Hopefully, you enjoyed my story and understood why I started blogging and highly recommend it. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to leave comments below.