Blogging Isn’t Fun
Ok, that’s a lie. Some parts of blogging aren’t fun.
I had the idea for this post after I heard this for the millionth time: “Man, I want to just blog and have people send me stuff all the time.”
As I typically do to avoid confrontation, I laughed it off with a quick “yeaaahhh…” and smiled.
I figured that this happens enough, however, that I would think out loud on the subject. Just to be clear, I understand the difference between someone saying it from a place of respect and someone saying it with absolutely no idea the work that’s involved. For the latter group — this is for you. 🙂
Here’s the thing. Blogging is WORK. In order for you to have people “send you stuff all the time,” you have to prove that you’re worth sending stuff to. You have to be consistent. You have to show up. Day after day. The blog market is so saturated that if you aren’t visible and putting out quality content, there’s another blogger behind you that will.
The things that I receive from companies are either something that I have negotiated a collaboration with (and then will tell you) or they’re things for me to try out and I am under no obligation to post about. Often times I do because just like I work hard, so do these companies. I’m a big believer that the more positivity you put out into the world, the more will come back to you. If it’s not something I like, I will usually tell you, and the brands I love I will tell you about probably 21564687 times.
Blogging is not my full time job. I’d say at best it’s a part time job that I spend more than part time on. I do it because I love it. I love to write, I love to connect, and I love to share ideas. If I didn’t, I would have stopped years ago — and that’s what many people do. They operate under the assumption that you start a website and BAM — it’s time for free stuff. When that doesn’t happen immediately, people often lose steam and stop blogging altogether.
In addition to blogging (I count blogging as this site and my Instagram account), I
- have somewhere between 10 and 15 sessions of individual personal training clients a week
- teach classes at Sweat
- am the midwest point of contact for a corporate fitness company based out of Portland. To keep it short, I teach 6 classes a week, manage instructor’s schedules, and maintain three corporate accounts
- do social media and freelance writing work on a month to month basis for at least two companies at any given time
On top of all this I find time to get my own hour of the day to exercise and time in the evening to spend with Neil. Any time that I’m not physically required to be at the above jobs I squeeze in writing these posts and staying on top of my social media accounts. There’s really not an hour I’m awake that I’m not doing one of these things (maybe I should work on that).
I’m not saying this to complain or to advertise that I’M SO BUSY LOOK AT ME; I’m saying it to show that writing a blog while living life is hard work. Obviously there are bloggers who are doing this full-time (#ballers) and those who have no desire to. Not everyone with a blog is as scattered around as I am, but this is my experience with it.
The side of blogging that most people don’t see involves deadlines, invoices, content curation, photographing, editing, replying to comments, remedying tech issues, expenses, negotiations, media kits, bookkeeping, emails (SO MANY EMAILS), and likely more that I’m forgetting or blocking out at the moment.
This is the part of blogging that isn’t fun (at least for me). It’s staying on top of your game and treating your blog like a business. Even if you’re not there yet but aspire to be, you still have to put in the legwork to grow your brand in order to get those first sponsorships or collaborations.
It took me a year to grow my Instagram account to a number that started to attract brands. That’s a year of planning content, traveling to new food places just for specific items, planning shots, and making sure I had enough images to consistently post twice a day. It’s a good thing I love food.
While that may seem like a long time, it took me probably two years for that to happen with my blog. It could have been faster if I hadn’t taken so long to update my theme and figure out the direction I wanted to go, but regardless, it took me two years of posting multiple times a week (often five) before I started to get some real attention. Especially with the millions of blogs there are now, the bar for your level of work has risen much higher than in previous years. You have to put out top notch content just to get noticed.
On top of that, in this market you can’t just sit back with open arms and say OK BRANDS HERE I AM. I’M SO AWESOME JUST COME TO ME. You often have to reach out to them with proposals and ideas about how you can improve their brand.
You also can’t exist in a sea of blogs and ideas and expect readers to come to you. Blogging is collaborative. You have to find like-minded people and authentically communicate in order to develop relationships and spread the word. In short, you have to network just like any other business.
If you’re starting a blog with the intention of making any level of income, understand that blogging is a marathon — not a sprint. It takes time, dedication, and ultimately a passion for what you’re doing.
In closing, I’m not writing this to make anyone feel bad for making those types of comments. I only want to draw attention to the fact that bloggers work hard. I have an awesome amount of respect for bloggers and microbloggers because I know how much time it takes.
For those of you who just “want free stuff,” start a blog and let me know how that works out for you.
So true that blogging is real work! Going into it 3 years ago, I never expected just how much work it would be. It’s very rewarding to be a blogger and a priviledge but one that comes with hard work and dedication!
Megan @ Skinny Fitalicious recently posted…Eat To Lose Weight Virtual Coaching – March 2017 Registration OPEN!
Absolutely. And you’re killing it!
Blogging is work, blogging is passion, blogging is more than just a hobby. But it is so worth it.
Susie @ Suzlyfe recently posted…Ice Cream, Tree Hugging, Madness! (Thinking Out Loud)
All day.
YES! I’m giving you a standing ovation over here hahaha 😀 <3
Heather @ Polyglot Jot recently posted…March Goals & Intentions
Hahaha I hope you did for real 🙂
I love this! It really annoys me when people see that I am given something for free and say I should start a blog. I’m like it’s not that easy. The blog is 100% a job and I’m not even that serious about it. I could grow it a heck of a lot more if I were able to commit more time to it. Thanks for sharing this.
Jen @ pretty little grub recently posted…Thinking Out Loud #98 – Thoughts on Turning 30 and Sport Chek Women
Absolutely. I almost want them to to see how much time it can take
Girl, this came at the perfect time. I just re-deisgned my website and I am getting back into blogging at a hiatus… I know it’s going to be a lot of work and it’s pretty overwhelming right now, but I’m stoked. It’s nice to hear you get REAL about blogging and how it isn’t as ‘easy’ as people think. There’s a LOT more work that goes into it than readers think.
You’re going to do GREAT during your re-launch! 🙂 But yes, it will take work!
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West recently posted…What you should know if you don’t love fitness and what you can do about it
Just take it one day at a time. Also don’t let yourself fall into the comparison trap!
WOW. Yes; I had so many of these misconceptions before beginning to blog; and you put it all so perfectly Erin; thank you for keeping it real. Thank you for working so hard; you’re one of my motivators/inspirations.
Emily recently posted…How One Runner Found Food Freedom In An Unusual Way (Podcast #9)
Aw thanks so much Emily!
I recently started to blog to hopefully grow a brand/business and I am already finding it to be more difficult than I anticipated. Loved this post.
Don’t give up though! If it’s something you want, keep working for it!
Yes! Amen. I loved this post. I’m not a “big” blogger, but I do get my fair share of product/collabs and sometimes it makes me uncomfortable in front of my friends and/or family because they don’t get that I put in hours of hard work on those posts and to get those collabs. They just think blogging is easy (and probably a bit silly). It’s also something they just can’t fully understand unless they have experienced it themselves.
Brie @ A Slice of Brie recently posted…Currently // March
Totally. It’s a newish type of job too so a lot of people may not understand. Keep doing you Brie!
Blogging has it’s fun moments. I could never do it full time. But it is for sure work!
Sana recently posted…What I Eat The Entire Day On Weight Watchers!
But so worth it!
I love that you have integrity and are honest. I am equally impressed by all you accomplish in a week ! I know of one horrible blogger in Texas, who brags about all the “free stuff” and even got her IT husband to promote her blog shamelessly on line putting it first on Google and such- she advertises as something she is not, which is a popular blogger ( not ) when she is just a trophy wife that does it for “stuff”. she got a free Audi car, bicycles and a constant bragging about all the free stuff with nothing of value at all in her blog. She did not have a regular job and bragged that “getting free stuff” was her only job. She is truly awful ., She ended up getting sued for a million dollars for lying online about a company and the company won ! So that turned me away from reading anything related to blogging except for about 3 I consider with real integrity like your blog . Thank you for your honesty and integrity . Hugs . You must need a nap every day as busy as you are !
Oh man that doesn’t sound attractive at all. Different people like different things haha. Thanks for the kind words!!
Erin, I subscribed to your blog for two reasons: 1) Because I feel like we have a lot in common what with our difficult pasts surrounding eating disorders 2) (Mostly #2) Because I am thinking of starting a blog and wanted to see how others do it.
You’re one of a few that I’ve subscribed to, and I must say, yours is by far the best. Your ‘Five Things Friday’ and ‘What I Did on the Weekend’ emails are something I look forward to every week. Your posts clearly have a lot of thought put into them, unlike others that are clearly only doing it for the volume and daily hits. It’s truly hard to believe that you only do this during those fleeting spare moments. Kudos!
I am still on the fence about my blog, but this post has been very helpful. Thank you!
Thank you so much Amelia! I’d say start it! If it’s not something that works for you you don’t have to continue, but you won’t know unless you try 🙂
It’s MUCH harder than it seems, that’s for sure! Keep up the great work over here, Erin. 🙂 It’s paying off! In more than just free stuff hahah!
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West recently posted…What you should know if you don’t love fitness and what you can do about it
Ahh so true. I had a little bit of a “glory days” time where I had a lot of extra time to devote to awesome content and “blogworthy” posts and time spent on social media but these days I do it just to me. I would say the brands reaching out has slowed down but occasionally I’ll get a great opportunity. I like it better this way!
That’s great! Everyone has to find what works for them!
I absolutely love this post! I just started blogging and enjoy it but it really is hard work! Thank you for sharing your experiences so us newbies know what to expect if we ever want to grow.
Anytime! Congrats on your blog!!
Oh my gosh is this the truth! haha – like you, I’m managing a million other parts of the day and need to work on more time for myself! As bloggers, I think we love being constantly busy, but is that a good thing?