Blogging ain’t easy. Just ask the hundreds of bloggers that quit within the first three months. You might have lurked around your favorite blogs and thought that you could do it too, so you started your blog. You’ve now you’ve hit a wall and want to quit. So what do you do?
Reflect on why you started
Ask yourself, “why did I begin blogging”? You must have an absolute passion for the idea behind your blog. It has to be something that you surround yourself with, and wouldn’t mind talking about endlessly. Because ultimately, if your blog is to make it, that’s exactly what you will do. If you’re not motivated enough to talk about your topic all the time, your readers will sense it and they won’t come back.
Reevaluate your expectations
If you had hoped to have 100,000 readers a month within the first year, and did not have an absolutely killer marketing plan, your expectations might be too high. Lots of great blogs get around 100 visitors a day after they have been blogging for some time.
If you thought that you would make hundreds of dollars each month in advertising revenue, and you are not, ask your fellow bloggers what they are doing to earn revenue so that you can learn from the best.
Upgrade your knowledge
Increase your knowledge not just in your particular subject area, but on the craft of blogging itself. Sites like Problogger and John Chow make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year teaching people how to blog professionally. There is always something to learn.
Take a break
Sometimes you just develop writer’s block. It happens to the best of us. Solicit guest posts or articles from your fellow bloggers. Good bloggers are always willing to cross promote, and you can gain some new readers from sharing your web space with a new writer.
Is it time to quit?
Stuff happens! Life intervenes, you get busy, you add a new child to your family, you move, or your interest changes. The best part about being human is the ability to make decisions for yourself.
If after taking a break you decide that blogging is not for you, it’s okay to quit! We won’t judge you for it. Just be sure to tell your fellow bloggers and readers good-bye in a post. As bloggers we forget that our readers feel as if they know us, and when you disappear without saying that you are gone, they feel as if you left them standing at the altar.
If you need help, always remember that your fellow bloggers are here to help you. I hit a major wall and stopped blogging for about a month after receiving a whopping tax bill, but it was with the help of my fellow bloggers that I made it through that time. We can, and will, do the same for you. Don’t quit!
Have you ever thought of quitting blogging? How did you get through it?
Sandy runs the blog Yes, I Am Cheap where she is chronicling her methods of getting out of debt and sharing some stories about her tenant from hell in the process.
We have to admit blogging is not for everyone. A blogger MUST know good writing, marketing, he MUST have a good message (based on a good knowledge), and last but not least he MUST have great imagination and creativity running through his veins. These are required.
Really? I can list several blogs that are poorly written and don’t have a strong message. In fact, I can even think of high traffic blogs that have no imagination and creativity to them. Some people have no marketing skills and rely on luck. Others are just tenacious.
Absolutes keep us from taking action.
You’re right, that’s luck. It’s a tragedy we are so full of useless and tasteless blogs. We need to change that.
Let smart and creative bloggers rise up and take over the blogosphere!
I tell people that even if you write detailed and excellent articles, without a jazzy title or some wow factor, they can fizzle easily. Gimmick sells and ridiculous headlines draw attention, it’s sad but true.
Hey Justin,
I make an effort to deliberately write one post a month that is both Gimmick & Ridiculous.
Why? To bring Traffic, so my stats look good.
Does it work? “You betcha.”
My last “Gimmick & Ridiculous” post brought a significant amount of my Traffic this month, and, 3 Backlinks—one from a PR7 site. Not bad for an hour of work.
But honestly, nothing is more frustrating than investing a week or two writing a dynamite article that falls on its face, than slopping together something stupid that brings the majority of your traffic for the month.
Pffft. But what do I know ;-)
Rick
Agreed on the gimmick factor. I break up my serious posts with at least one gimmick post every two weeks. So I might write about insurance, the mortgage crisis, etc, and then break it up with Charlie Sheen.
you can find template designer having lots of traffic to their website.. they got backlinks easily via their free templates..there are many blogs also who write poor content but i’ll keep them safe..^^
Thanks Sandy,
What I have seen to work for me is to take some time off from my blog or anything about that business. I tend to come up with awesome inspiration during such times.#
Thanks, Great short post
I have been BLOGGING for just 5 months now and I can never imagine myself quiting but maybe time will tell …
As a finance blogger I always wonder when young people discussing seriously about the retirement. In my life, I have already decided there would not be any retirement. Why should I waste only one life by just sitting and doing nothing? Similar way, why should one retire from the blogging if that is his true passion and successful? Instead, be a good example for other blogger by dedicating much deeper into it. Unless you have no way to communicated to others, never think on stopping the blogging that started on a passion and still have the same interest…
Occasionally, I take a day off – especially when the Muse just isn’t tickling. I find that one day off usually rejuvenates me, helps get ideas flowing again, and makes me eager to write the next post.
I only considered quitting blogging entirely one time, when trying to weigh the pros and cons of time spent at blogging, against the time spent on my “real” job, and finding that it was becoming increasingly difficult to balance the two. Should I quit blogging? Or quit the real job? Or find an alternative? I found an alternative, in revamping my schedule and organizing my time better. I also gave my website a facelift shortly after that, which was refreshing and also increased my commitment to the blog.
~MC
I did the same when I wanted to quit. I took time off, gave the site a facelift and entire relaunch. Sometimes just having a “new” site to look at is motivating.
I’m building my blog both as an authority-builder and a launching place for new projects. Seems like a sustainable goal. :)
Hi Sandy,
You have written on a difficult subject in such an easy way. Everyone is excited about starting something but many lose steam in between. People start something because they see someone else getting successful. But soon they realize that they either don’t have the required skills or that they cant invest so much time.
It is not bad to quit when things go bad and one cannot continue. We can come and fight for another day.
Thanks for your excellent post.
Ashvini
The most important thing to remember is that you absolutely, positively, 100 percent need to be genuinely interested in what you are blogging about. If you like what your blogging about there is no way to fail.
I’ve been blogging for 4 years – one blog is personal and the other [6 months old] is for a business I’m developing.
I take breaks from the personal blog for months at a time ad come back to it when I want to.
When I started the business blog I was writing 2 meaty posts a week … and researching all the stuff about creating an online business … and reading/commenting on other blogs … and creating the online course. Oh … and then there’s all the offline life.
Every month [and sometimes weekly/daily] I look at where I need to focus my energy and attention.
I decided that my priority is getting everything written for the online course … so I only read 1 blog a day and am posting once a week. I’ve stopped researching [and driving myself crazy] for the moment. My attention is clearly focussed and I feel less pressured.
Only writing one post a week feels so much better and I’m really enjoying it.
It’s all about readjusting where we place our attention and energy … and that’s deeply linked to what happens to be important in our lives at the moment.
Hi Sandy,
This was interesting. I never really set out to have a blog; it just sort of happened that way.
It all began as an experiment as I came away from a different occupation altogether. And now that I’m 6 months in my blog is fairly successful—at least for the amount of time it’s been around.
But the big question, of course, is What Now?
Ruppert Murdoch says he can’t make a profit from his websites by simply selling advertising. If that’s the case, what chance do I have of making that model work?
A lot of my blogging friends are asking the same questions, and are veering off into Niche Marketing, which I have also been doing for years.
It really doesn’t matter how “passionate” I may be about the the Topic, it all boils down to how many readers I can find that are passionate about my handling of the Topic.
I also write for a major SEO company, and my stuff is very popular. That sounds great until you look at the stats and realize I would need a much, much larger readership to have high enough numbers for Conversion into Sales to make the whole thing a viable ROI.
The Apple iPad is a money maker because there is virtually no competition. But PCs and Laptops have so many manufacturers they are practically a commodity—and that is the situation in the Blogging world at the moment. With several hundred million bloggers out there, it may be time for a different Model if profit is the goal.
Just babbling here ;-)
Great food for thought, Sandy!
Rick
Monetization becomes an issue for those of us that are seeking to make money from our blogs. Lots of people blog and don’t necessarily seek to make money from it.
I guess you have to ask yourself what it is that you are seeking to accomplish. When I began my blog it was just to keep my honest in my quest to get out of debt. As I learned more about the potential power of blogs to make money (and honestly, which person in debt doesn’t want to make more money) I’ve explored different ways beyond advertisements for monetizing my site.
Some people go the information product way with ebooks, print books and courses. It works from Ramit (I Will Teach You To Be Rich) and a few others. Some develop iPhone/iPad apps like Pat Flynn at Smart Passive Income. The lots of the mommy blogs have developed coupon matching services. You have to decide what product works for your niche since a one size fits all solution would not work for everyone.
Good luck!
Rick,
Speaking from years of experience working with highly saturated markets, I can tell you that you can be extremely successful in competitive markets if you build the best product, the right people know it and your determined to win.
Ruppert Murdoch is right, he can’t make a profit from his websites selling advertising. Even the smartest minds are ignorant when it comes to preconceived ideas.
I can tell you that unlike Ruppert Murdoch, I make a profit selling advertising on websites. It’s not that hard, but then I don’t have or need the overhead that Ruppert Murdoch is used to.
One last point. Sites like John Chow’s would easily do well on advertising sales alone. I’m sure ProBlogger would fit in that same category.
Don’t limit yourself based on what the “experts” say. If you do, you’ll never be the next guy on top.
It seems normal to hit a point where you feel like quiting blogging. But if you stick with it, after a while you fall into a grove, and you find a way to integrate blog writing into your daily life. It does seem to get easier as time goes on, at least that’s what I’m experienceing in my niche. I also don’t post daily, I usually try and post at least once a week.
Thanks for the encouragement Sandy. All very valid points. I’m currently struggling with 2nd guessing myself. It’s a roller coaster ride as I keep telling myself, believe it’ll work and then back to who are you kidding, it won’t work. Maybe I’m schizophrenic?
I keep telling myself keep plugging away and celebrate the small victories, even if its just getting a tweet out or posting a YouTube video. Cheers.
I’m there right now. I’ve blogged for almost two years non stop and now I’m dead. A lot of it has to do with increase business at work as well as the addition of a new child to our home. You’d think the addition would give me plenty of new stories since I have a parenting blog. I tried changing the site up, but I’m still not feeling it. I don’t want to quit because I feel it’s a part of me, but right now I feel like taking a sabbatical.
If you still have the drive, then continue it..if not then hang it up..
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
well this comes at times when you see a fall in the income or the analytics graph but at the same time it gives a boost that you have fix it. great post
I always feel less motivated when my traffic takes an unexpected drop or when I start losing comments on the posts I write. The first few months were easy – lots of ideas – all my friends and family were new to it as well as various forums. Nine months since I launched my blog I’ve seen my traffic peak and crash and struggle to get back up – quitting is just not for me, but I do feel like I need to do something to help gain readers back to my site.
You have to market yourself.
When my traffic fell off I embraced Twitter and found a very active community in my niche. I also joined a group in my niche of like-minded bloggers that shared what worked for them in gaining more traffic. I also started to give away (gasp!) articles to different resources and have been picked up by MSN Money, US News and local newspapers. Just last week Prosper.com asked me to be on their media contact list after I wrote extensively about their product.
When I first started blogging I had no idea how much really went into the “branding” of your blog. Every day I’m starting to realize that there is a lot more to creating a blog with just quality content. You make some very good points and I’m set for the long haul.
I enjoy the traffic spikes that I get from various outlets like facebook and twitter and I’m sure as time goes on those spikes will be greater and more consistent. Just a matter of continuing to promote and market as you say.
superb post. i started a new blog and was inactive for quite a time but have now taken blogging for a pleasure and is goin gud!!! :)
I frequently hit ‘the wall’ Sandy and feel like quitting, and that’s after 2 1/2 years and my story travelling the world via the media!
I think many non-blogging people do not understand the time and energy it takes to run a successful site, so we have to protect ourselves, as one commenter mentioned; sometimes we need to take a step back, admit we’re not in a creative space and recharge our batteries plus it’s vital to have effective time management at our fingertips.
I think it’s a good point (as you mentioned in number 1) to remind ourselves why we started blogging in the first place; mine was certainly born of passion to be part of the solution and no longer part of the problem. It’s a bit like any relationship isn’t it? After 12 years of marriage sometimes you need to stop and remind yourself why you fell in love and spend some time rekindling your passions and feelings; writing is just the same to me!
I think we should never underestimate the power of sharing openly. When I’ve had ‘quit’ feelings I’ve shared them openly and honestly with other bloggers and it’s good to share, support and encourage because we have ALL had those feelings. So being part of a buddy network is a great resource, not only for bouncing ideas for for sharing the joys and downside of being a busy blogger.
A network is an awesome thing. I joined a network of personal finance bloggers and when I hit the wall I solicit guest posts and ideas from them. They’ve taken me through the highs and lows of the entire blogging experience.
If you are not a part of a network within your niche, you should consider joining or starting one. Another of my network members wrote a post here on how to build a blog network from the ground up that you might find useful.
I had 4 years in internet marketing when everything collapsed. I love my niche and I’m not giving up on my blog. My current job is in construction and it is day to day and I need additional revenue. It can be tough at times and one of things that can be a pain, is figuring out all the behind the scenes stuff. Like, adding code, header upload, speeding up your blog, all of which I tried to outsource with disastrous results. I still need my header design uploaded, but I’m at a point where I can just blog. Off to work to set some tile and later blog!
Thanks Darren You are one of the best resources on the web for blogging and you have helped my blog grow. I still have a long ways to go.
Amazing timing on this story, I just wrote a post titled: http://mtnweekly.com/editors-rant-and-roll-14731 where I sort of thought of giving up the Mountain Weekly News blog entirely. After taking a day off to think and decompress I realize we have fun project going on that will give lots of people amazing opportunities to cover live music and sport events.
I can’t seem to figure out Adsence or how to really make money on our site. If anyone has suggestions I am all ears. But I didn’t start the blog to get rich, simply wanted an outlet to share my photos and writing..
Thanks for all the great post, I love this site!!
If we take a blogging as a hobbie then i think we go for long. I start blog 2 year before now it become passion for me. I take it for long.
Great post, and great food for thought!
I’m only 2 years into this adventure, so may feel differently some day. But for me, there’s a difference between hitting a wall and just down deep not having any fun any more. I can work my way through the wall (sort of like Heartbreak Hill in the Boston Marathon), but when it’s just plain not fun anymore then it’s time to stop. It’s reasonable for that to happen at some point, but hopefully not for a long time for me.
When you just don’t have it in you anymore then it’s okay to quit! That’s why I tell people to revisit why they started the blog in the first place. Sometimes things just run its course and there is no reason to torture yourself by continuing.
I remember giving the same advice to a friend who wanted a blog with a million readers in a few days without actually giving dedicated time to it. I had to tell him that “Blogging is just not that into you” :)
Thanks so much for this post, Sandy! I’m new to the blogging world – it’s been a mere 2 months since I launched my site. When the idea came to me over a year ago, I was working with a flexible schedule in the middle of our local wedding industry. Since then, I have taken a full-time office job and have quickly realized that the motivation to write is much more difficult to find when I’m not communicating with brides and vendors on a daily basis.
What keeps me going, and gives me hope that I can keep going, is my dream to work from home and enjoy life in a way that a typical office job will not allow. I am aware that I will need to put in a good two to three years of building the site and readership before it would ever be possible to leave my current job, but the idea is enough to spur me on when I feel exhausted. It’s encouraging to know that my time will not be spent in vain; even if this particular site does not become what I am hoping for, the knowledge I will gain and growth I will experience through the challenge is priceless!
Posts like this are just what I need to continually remind me of why I’m doing this!
Well I won’t be quitting blogging anytime soon, since I got a good subject to focus on and that’s collecting and with a small figure photography hobby I have, not to mention a large Collection, well I won’t be stopping for anytime soon since I keep getting stuff in.
A kid I used to talk too asked me if he should get a blog, I told him he shouldn’t. Blogging to me hasn’t gotten boring but at least it’s a nice hobby.
I think I’ll only quit when I run out of things to take pictures of and write reviews on, looks like that won’t be happening anytime soon for sure.
Yes I know my grammar sucks but really, I could care less.
The biggest crime is a blogger disappearing without saying goodbye. But I won’t name names.
Well written post. You’ve mentioned some important points like “Thinking why I started”. I’m happy that I’ve crossed the 3 month mark (7-8 months) & I’m on the right track :)
I really liked the blog to the point you mentioned John Chow. You lost all credibility on that very sentence.
John Chow may or may not be making 40Gs a month, but it is all based on lies and being fake. Heck, 30k+ of his twitter fans are fake and purchased, take a look, all those people ending with numbers and random letters like CC or QQ are all fake, it is funny because they all have the same bio as well. Those are purchased fans, you can get them at fiverr.com. Also he makes money by promoting useless junks he has never used himself, just because he got some sort of compensation for it. His last promotion was a facebook ad system for 37$ that didnt teach anything about facebook ads.
Anyways enough bashing him. This is not the place. Just next time you want to grab the readers attention do a little more research.
Hey Duke,
Now, I never mentioned his METHODS. I just said that the made money. I put the two sites on there for a specific reason because I find them to be the book ends of marketing. They are as far away as left and right field, but I respect that it takes all types and viewpoints to make the web go ’round.
Sometimes taking a break needs to include taking a long walk or doing some physical activity for a while. This blood stimulation can help get your brain back on track. But I think unreasonable expectations is the main reason people quit blogging. That’s why passion is so important, as you say. Because even if your income totally tanked, you will keep writing because you enjoy it.
I did a similar post last year about when is it time to call it quits blogging and my conclusion was that you don’t quit if it is something you like to do and want to succeed at. You just adjust tactics and shift focus to things that work and trim out the parts that don’t. I have seen numerous bloggers vanish in a puff of smoke over the past 2 years, some with entire sites that just go offline. The number 1 reason I have seen bloggers drop out is because they were losing too much time with the family and had to sacrifice their blogging endeavor or risk family issues. Make no mistake blogging takes time and commitment but if you are a part time blogger like I am, family comes first. Make sure you are efficient and not just sitting on your computer for hours reading or conversing in social media but not actually blogging.
I love the dialog here. I found the article and the comments all very interesting. I am only 5 days into my blogging journey and I think it is going well, though I have nothing to compare it to. I do worry about burn out. I often dive in head first then bail when the water gets cold. Now at least I have some tips for when I start to feel the chill.
I have been blogging for as long as I can remember. About a year ago I was able to refocus and basically start over from scratch. I quickly learned that if you are not completely passionate and absolutely love what you are writing about, it will be short lived.
You have to be consistent, energetic, and it has to be rewarding for you to make it in this business. They are correct in saying people do not understand that blogging is like running a business. I love the ProBlogger. Keep up the great work!
-Chad
I agree with you 100%. They were a couple of times when I was starting out, I thought of quitting. But this strong desire and determination to succeed kept me going. Today I’m glad that I didn’t quit. Thanks for a great motivating post.
Great advice! It’s easy to get consumed by all the little things within blogging. You just have to keep things in perspective and not get overwhelmed by all the extra stimuli. Earlier comments hit on senseless popular blogs. The same can be said about popular singers or actors who are lacking in talent, but somehow are successful. What is it, a good press agent? Perhaps we need blogging agents! :)
Such a great post. Its important to always want more, however having a blog which you enjoy writing and that gies you an opportunity to communicate with peeeps you may never have normally met is worth way more than a couple of hundred dollars a month… in my opinion anyways!
Maybe stepping back and taking some time off will help to refresh the mind and spirit. Blogging is fun to me even though I have only been at it a couple of months.
There are a lot of ” junk ” type blogs out there with high Google rankings though. I got into blogging for two reasons, to share useful information and to earn passive income.
Blogging is the least passive activity that I know of. If you have a site that you’re constantly updating (I do every day), use social networking for, and read competitor blog, then it is taking SERIOUS time.
Why I started blogging? Cause I came here:) Have I wanted to quit ? Yes, since I don’t get traffic, but so far after 8 months I just keep going the best I can even if I don’t blog daily. But I maybe will when I move into a new home(used its 100 years old lol) at the end of April and have a small yard. It may help with my garden blog.
Now after reading this and some of the comments left I don’t know if my blog is good enough now:( But I still come and read here daily.
Tony
Not to sound unsympathetic but… if someone is that unsure about whether or not they want to blog… maybe they should call it quits. It’s just that, to me, blogging is a passion. If someone isn’t all in, then maybe they’re not cut out for it.
That’s not to say that it’s not worth giving it a good try, even if your heart isn’t totally in it… I’m just saying that without passion, it’s going to be MUCH harder to maintain a high-quality, high-value blog.
Hitting the wall is never a good feeling. Although my blog is only a few months old, and has been more successful than I could have hoped for, I still have days where I struggle to stay motivated. Then, usually out of the blue, comes and idea that inspires me to push on, usually because I have stalled on the blog, but I still have the passion for the subject. That’s what gets you through.
The earlier days of blogging were definitely the hardest! You go back to your site every day, only to be met with a pretty small number of posts to greet you — even though you know full well you’ve been working your butt off to produce. So where is all the time going? Argh!
Then you pass a threshold, and your number of daily visitors goes up a little. And then a little more, as Google starts to realize you’re serious.
The little successes start to rekindle the fire you felt before you started sloughing through your first few months of blogging on your site, and you start to try some fun stuff with your blog. Maybe a new idea for a post, maybe a new header design (if you had one at all, before this.) And with every little improvement you make to your blog, your daily visitors start to creep up that much more….
If you’re thinking of quitting, at least do yourself the favor of giving it 6 months. (Unless, of course, you weren’t that motivated to start with — in which case you may just be torturing yourself.)
I, for one, HATE to stop a thing when I haven’t yet achieved the success I was aiming for. And once I start to realize that success, I REALLY don’t want to stop!
I know I am just a Newbie Blogger, but I just want to share my opinion on this topic. In my opinion in what I know that, the main recent blog exist for the first time is that most of the webmaster just get bored with the static website. And then they create a blog which is a more interactive site. A site that talks and communicate with other site. A site that is alive and they enjoy it.So therefor I believe each blog have their own uniqueness and values. Their values vary among their audience. This kind of value can not be just, standardized nor categorized. It is a webmaster work of art. When it is fun to do, then it become a passion something you enjoy and you will give all your energy happily.
Happy Blogging
Oh i think you should have good content, guides on your site and some marketing skills, then your site will be well-known with link bait.
Blogging is very easy so one shouldn’t quit just because it’s not a tough thing to do. If you make money doing it then good for you, if not then it’s a nice hobby or interest to have and you can learn something by doing it.
Great post Sandy!
Actually, I think some people rush into blogging because they want to make money blogging forgetting they need to be passionate about what they do in helping others rather than putting money first. I guess newbies would learn from this. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, Just started blogging recently so I have found reading these posts very interesting. I guess like all things in life it’s just a matter of keeping at it to see a result. I must admit I enjoy putting words down to share thoughts. My main desire is to help others gain insight to subjects they may struggle to find information on elsewhere. All the best for your blogs future, it looks bright from what I hear.
It is never time to quit blogging…Even if sometimes you feel like you are out of material and are spouting seemingly pointless blather, someone somewhere may find it useful for something. Then, after a stretch of meaninglessness, you may find that the blather you were blogging about, has inspired new ideas to think about…..
I don’t want to quit blogging because I enjoy the topic I have written. if we enjoy the topic it’s hard to stop blogging. so I think before blogging it’s better to find out topics that make us enjoy to write.
I’ve only just begun my blogging journey but this is useful advice to bear in mind.
Person who is truly passionate about blogging will never quit :)
Hi
I am Doing That But Till Now an Not Got Success If I Got Success In Blogging
Hat’s Off To All Blogging Guru’s
Thanks
Regards
Gaurav
I love blogging!
It has gotten me speaking gigs, helped promote my books and writing projects and connected me with wonderful new people.
The key is to be focused in your content, and to engage with your readers.