This post, from Jan Felt, originally appeared on his Cyber Footprint site on 4/29/09.
I bet you have thought about running a blog at least once; then you decided against it citing at least one (or more) of the reasons below.
Myth #1: “No one will read it anyways.”
You might have given your readership a lot of thought. Or not. Then, in a better case, you might have tried running your own blog for a while and finding out you were right – no one actually read it.
Ask yourself these questions and try to answer truthfully.
- Did I provide an incentive for the readers to visit my blog?
- Did I tell my readers something they are interested in / don’t know about?
- Did the readers feel good after they have read my blog?
If you answered no to at least one question, you know why the readers didn’t come to your blog – your content was not relevant enough to them. To get people to read your weblog you must provide high quality content.
It doesn’t matter whether you are blogging about fashion or market analysis. What matters is when the reader wants to know something about the hottest clothes to wear to a party she turns to your blog, because you provide her with ideas so good she can’t resist trying them.
Morale of the story: write well and learn to market yourself online.
Myth #2: “I don’t get anything out of blogging.”
Yes, we humans living in the 21st century are materialistic beings. If I have nothing to gain, why would I bother to put out some content on the Internet?
Actually, you can make money from your blog. Try looking at AdSense, Text link ads, or Amazon’s affiliate program. These programs provide you with a steady stream of income depending only on how many visitors click on the ads. The best part of this scheme? It works without your presence, so you may be partying and still making money.
In the first 6 months, you will hardly make any profit, but if you won’t give up, chances are that you will be able to make a decent income out of your blogging efforts.
The list above is not at all exhaustive. There are many other ways to make money from the blog and it’s not that difficult to discover them. When your blog starts being influential, I recommend to look at our ethics section.
Myth #3: “I suck at technology, so I can’t blog.”
There is a widespread opinion that in order to blog, the author must understand the technical aspect of the Internet. That’s not entirely true. Check out content management systems like WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. They are easy to use and require very little technical capability to master. And did I mention they are free?
However, to do things justice, there are some knowledge requirements you ought to meet before plunging into blogosphere. You should be at least knowledgeable about what a server, domain and hosting services are and how they work. That might not be easy for a beginner, but in case you get into a trouble, feel free to tell me about it. I will do whatever I can to help you out.
Myth #4: “I don’t have time to blog.”
Being busy studying during the day and working during the night (hope I got the order right) is a hassle. Add some parties, friends and general life to that, and there is a mayhem into which blogging simply does not fit.
That is one of the lamest excuses anyone can come up with. It demonstrates a lack of discipline, which is a rather unfavourable trait nowadays. If you feel that dedicating 20 – 60 minutes per day to self-promotion online is a waste of time, then you are losing a major competitive advantage. Those who care about their online presence will network more easily. Later on, blogging and networking online may transcend even to job offers.
Myth #5: “I don’t have anything to say.”
Are you sure about that one? If you are a university student, young professional or an experienced ‘tiger’ of the corporate jungle, there is definitely something that you are interested in. Do not be afraid to turn your hobby into a focus for your self-promotional, money-generating weblog. Besides, if you are really passionate about your focus, chances are that you will do well.
As you can see now, the discussed myths are not as crucial hindrances to blogging as they seemed to be in the beginning. In conclusion, blogging is easy and the resources you put in are tiny compared to the enormous benefits you get out of this activity. It is certainly worth a try.