Do you want to blog for a living so you can wake up every day and work on the beach – or not work at all? Do you want a life of endless adventure and limitless luxury with very little effort?
Well, read this next part carefully…
…because blogging for a living is probably NOT the right choice for you!
As a full-time blogger, I can guarantee you that you can blog for a living. Unfortunately, it does not look like this – at least, not at first! After two years of full-time dedicated blogging, I have finally reached the point where frequent vacations are a reality… but it’s been a long, hard road to get here.
If you want to blog for a living, you need to understand it isn’t a get rich quick scheme.
I absolutely love that I can make money online and support my family with my website revenue. However, I am not going to lie to you and sell you on some “get rich quick” scheme. I’m also not going to tell you that blogging is easy or that everyone can do it because that’s not true, either.
Although I’m going to show you guys a shortcut by revealing all the secrets to my success, the fact remains that it is surprisingly hard work to set up, develop and maintain a blog as a full-time source of income.
It takes perseverance, patience and determination. It takes research. It takes a small up-front investment of cash and a huge up-front investment of time. You will spend a lot of hours earning no money before you ever spend no hours earning lots of money. It was nearly two years after Low Income Relief’s viral takeoff that I could confidently expect $150-$200 per day while I was on vacation.
I have provided personal coaching to nearly a dozen friends who wanted to become successful bloggers. To my knowledge, only one of them is still working on their websites. Since I cannot continue to invest time coaching people who aren’t fully committed to their success, I decided to make this information public for everyone!
Blogging is not a viable income stream for everyone… but it is a tremendous opportunity for those who have what it takes to become successful niche bloggers.
Do you have what it takes to become a successful blogger?
Successful bloggers are generally strong writers who have enough time to produce consistent content. They are visionaries who identify great niches, write compelling content and market their content.
However, your actual writing skills are not nearly as important as your attitude.
Your attitude will make or break your blog. Remember when Thomas Alva Edison said “Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration?” He wasn’t kidding.
You need to be self-directed and able to stay focused.
Even more important than your writing skills is your ability to be self-directed. When you blog for a living, you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck. You are in control of your own hours and your own time. To succeed, you absolutely need the self-discipline to force yourself to keep going even when you want to quit.
Even for a Type A personality like me, it’s way too easy to loaf around and play Hearthstone instead of actually getting your work done. Don’t ask me how I know that.
You need to be able to rely on intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is internal and doesn’t require external validation. Since blogging is not a get rich quick scheme and takes a while to pay off, you will need to be able to rely on that intrinsic motivation to keep you motivated and focused on your work while you build your fledgling empire.
For me, the ultimate intrinsic reward is knowing that every hour I spend on LowIncomeRelief.com is helping low income families across the United States. I know that I’m doing something worthwhile even though there is no immediate payoff. That sense of achievement keeps me going even on the difficult days.
Extrinsic rewards are external and include praise and pay. Those rewards do come to bloggers but it usually takes a while. I received supportive comments long before I started receiving regular checks.
You need to be patient and consistent.
It can take two or more years of consistently posting content to your blog before you will see significant cash flow. You will need self-discipline and intrinsic motivation to keep you moving forward during this slow startup period.
Usually, bloggers fail within the first year of starting their website. The lack of instant gratification can be wildly unnerving.
If you stick with it, you can blog for a living and make some serious cash.
As I said earlier in this article, Low Income Relief is two years old and now earns $150-$250 dollars per day regardless of whether or not I’m working. I didn’t post anything for almost an entire month in January and my income continued to grow. My income has consistently grown month-over-month for the last two years with no sign of slowing!
If you can press through the initial start-up struggle, amazing things can happen… but if you aren’t prepared for the long, hard start-up phase, you will inevitably fail.