I've been doing it since 2004 and have no intention of stopping.
Before you start, here's a list from the DLM blog of 10 things you should know:
Posted: 14 Mar 2011 10:33 AM PDT
With job satisfaction rates at record lows and more and more people looking to enjoy a higher quality of life, millions of people are desperately trying to leave their miserable jobs and are flocking to the world of blogging and Internet marketing.
If you're already a blogger, chances are you've heard of Darren Rowse, Brian Clark, and Leo Babauta. These names are synonymous with blogging success and the dream of living the "Internet lifestyle".
On the surface, blogging as a business seems like a dream job. You get to set your own hours, work from anywhere with little more than a laptop, connect with fascinating people from all over the world, and potentially have an impact on the entire world.
Now THAT'S a job!
The Truth
Don't get me wrong, blogging does offer all these things and more and beats the hell out of sitting in a cubicle working for the man every day of the week.
Given how many people are drawn to this lifestyle, the competition to stand out and become noticed is enormous. Millions of blogs are started each day and cover every conceivable topic imaginable.
What often begins as the thought of a life working on your iPad while sitting on a sandy beach, slowly transforms into the harsh reality of what goes into building a successful and profitable business from your blog.
Before you embark on a journey to quit your job and become the next pro blogger, you need to fully understand what goes into creating a sustainable business.
10 Things To Consider Before Committing Yourself To Blogging For A Living
- Time
Blogging takes time, A LOT of time. If you want to get rich on the Internet, it can be done for sure. However, blogging is not the quickest way. Not even close. Be prepared to spend months or even years just learning the basics, building significant traffic, and becoming an authority in your niche.
You need to really think long and hard and be completely honest with yourself about whether you are going to be wiling to invest your precious time into building your blog. The statistics show that most bloggers quit within the first 6 months and I think one of the main reasons is that the time required of them is too demanding. - Patience
If you were not blessed with an inordinate amount of patience, then you need to learn how to become so quickly. Blogging success will not come easy and if you think it will, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Does rapid success happen?
Yes, there is always the chance you will hit the lottery and your story will be picked up be some huge player, but that's a rarity. Plan on the process of becoming successful as a long journey and if it happens quickly, then all the better. - Commitment
If your goal is to blog part-time and you just want to build it when you have the time, then that's just fine. Blogs can certainly be turned into profitable businesses by taking this approach; it just takes much longer.
However, if your goal is like mine, which is to build your blog into a full-time income producing business and leave your job, you may want to consider making a stronger commitment.
With this type of commitment, I'm talking about jumping in with both feet. And that often means living, breathing, and sleeping your blog. Personally, I think this is instrumental to blogging success. The funny thing is that when you really love what you're doing (which hopefully you do), you want to be completely enveloped in your blog.
It doesn't even feel like work when you are passionate about it. Just remember, this is YOUR empire you're building, you should be committed like none other. - Passion
You had better be 100% sure that you have a burning passion for your blog and what it's all about before you jump in head first. One of the biggest reasons people fail as bloggers is that they choose a topic that they are lukewarm about.
That's not good enough if you are going to become the leader in your industry and a sought after expert. You need to love what you talk about, period.
Just take a look at people like Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferris, they LOVE what they do. Their passion is contagious and your needs to be as well. - Support
This is something that you need to consider before attempting the long road to blogging success. You will be sacrificing nights, weekends, and sleep in the quest to create an incredible and profitable business.
There is also a very good chance you will alienate friends and family in your quest for blogging greatness. If you are single, you should surround yourself with like minded people. If you can, join social groups, become part of a mastermind group, or build a closely knit network of peers.
If you are married or in a committed relationship, you will have a much smoother journey if they are on board with what you are doing. The problem is that many non-bloggers don't understand what we do at all.
Trying to explain all that goes into a building a successful blog is like trying to teach someone a new language. If your significant other doesn't get what you're doing, your job is to show them.
One method is by showing them results. If you start bringing in revenue, they might not even need to understand what you're doing. They might just be happy by knowing that you are making money.
If you're not making money yet, you will need to help them understand what blogging entails. Believe me, this is not an easy task.
There is a very strong chance that their eyes will glaze over as you start talking about the importance of the placement of your opt-in box. Explain things a little at a time. The language bloggers use makes no sense to most, so take it slow. - Balance
Blogging can be all consuming. It can literally eat up all of your time. If you are in a relationship, it's imperative that you find time for your significant other.
I can speak from experience here when I say that a marriage can suffer because of a lack of balance. It's incredibly easy to get wrapped up in your blog and forget about everything else. Don't do it!
You must force yourself to spend time away from your blog and spend more time with your family. I have 2 small children who I love more than anything, but I often find myself so intent on working on something that I forget all about spending time with them. Setting a schedule will help with this.
For example, set a timer for 2 hours and when time is up, you're done, period. Many choose to blog only at night after everyone is asleep. This is hard to get used to, especially if you have kids who like to get up early, but there is always a way to make it happen! It's all about sacrifice. - Sacrifice
Be prepared to sacrifice many of the things you have grown accustomed to if you are truly committed to become a professional blogger. Gone are the nights of playing xBox, watching tv, and partying.
OK, it doesn't have to be this way, but you will need to forego many of these luxuries in order to give your full attention to your business. And why wouldn't you?
Ask any business owner who is passionate about what they are doing and they will tell you that they would much rather be working than goofing off. Unfortunately, many people are not willing to give these things up and find themselves spending less and less time on their blogs.
This usually results in an abandoned blog.. just another statistic. - Learning
The Internet is evolving at lightning speed and we need to be willing to keep up. If you think you have it all figured out, you're wrong. Any successful blogger (or business person) will tell you that the in order to remain that way, you need to be in a constant of learning.
Internet marketing, the means by which most bloggers will build their business, is changing rapidly. Many of the core principles remain the same, but in order to gain a competitive edge, we need to be in the know.
If everyone is marketing a certain way with their email newsletter, you need to do it better. How? Learn what everyone is doing and do it differently. Teach people something they don't know already. Cover stories that just broke. Do reviews on products that were just released. Use your imagination. Become THE expert. - Trial and Error
There is no manual on how to blog successfully. Scratch that, there are thousands of manuals on how to blog successfully. The problem is that they all work and none of them work.
The ingredient that changes everything is YOU. These how-to books don't know you, your style, your voice, or your passions.
Therefore, it's impossible to create a product that you can just plug in and become an overnight success. What you do with it will make you a success or failure. Blogging, like most other things, is a trial and error process.
The good news is that we need this process in order to learn, understand, and grow. The experience we gain from this process in invaluable to our success.
Ask any blogger who is earning a living online and you will find that they have tried (and often failed) at multiple different ventures. That's how we learn to be great, we try to figure out, through the trial process, what works the best. - Positivity
If you are by nature a cynical or negative person, you need to work on changing that immediately. With all the obstacles in our way to success, it's absolutely critical that we remain positive and actually believe that we will succeed.
We will all become overwhelmed at one point and doubt and fear will want to overtake us. This is a normal part of this business. However, we need to keep our eyes on the end result and remember that we CAN do it.
The only thing stopping us of from being a huge success is US.
Keep your mind sharp and your vision strong and you will be well on your way.
 | Written on 3/14/2011 by Steve Roy. Steve is the owner of EndingTheGrind.com, a blog about escaping the daily grind of a 9 to 5 job, building an online business, and living your passions. You can also find him on Twitter at @EndGrind. | Photo Credit: Annie Mole |
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