Over on Twitter last week @ChrisGuthrie asked me – ‘At what point should you quit a blog and move onto the next project?’
It is a good question and one that I’m not sure that there is any single answer for – however I can certainly talk about what has led me to quit some of my previous blogs. There have been a variety of reasons – in fact in most cases it was more than one reason that led me to quit a blog. The reasons included:
- Lack of Passion/Interest in the Topic – I went through a phase where I decided to choose topics to blog about that I thought would be profitable – rather than choosing things I had an actual interest in. After a few months of blogging on these topics I soon realize that I simply could not sustain them.
- Lack of Traffic – there have been a few instances where I started blogging on certain topics that I did have some interest in – but which didn’t attract traffic. In one case I think it was because the niche was too narrow and people just were not searching for the topic, in another instance there was so much competition in the niche it was difficult to break into but in other instances I think it was probably more to do with my lack of passion for the topic shining through (people can tell if your heart isn’t really in it.
- Lack of Profit – this one tends to flow out of a lack of traffic (which can flow out of a lack of passion….. see how they’re all linked?) but at times I’ve quit a blog simply because I couldn’t justify keeping it running for the amount of time I was putting into it.
- Lack of Engagement/Lack of Personal Satisfaction – one of the blogs that I quit a couple of years ago actually got quite good traffic (mainly from search engines) and actually was quite profitable – however I found the idea of developing a blog purely for search traffic to be quite un-stimulating and unsatisfying. The lack of reader engagement and the fleeting visits from visitors didn’t really leave me feeling I was doing much that was worthwhile – I so I let the blog die to create blogs that were not only profitable but also hopefully more engaging.
- Running out of Things to Say – this one relates to a few of the other reasons however is worth saying. I can recall one blog which I started which I simply couldn’t think of more than a handful of posts to write about. The niche was too narrow to really sustain it over the long haul.
- The life of the Niche Ends – one of the first profitable blogs that I developed (in partnership with another blogger) was one on the Athens Olympic games. While it was an amazing experience to blog about it and it was a very profitable time in the lead up to and during the games – the niche simply ended. We could have possibly extended it with blogs on future Olympics but in the end we felt we could do better by concentrating on different niches.
I’m certain that other bloggers will have quit blogs for other reasons (please share yours below).
Two Extra Thoughts
There’s two more things I want to throw into this discussion:
Don’t Quit Too Early – One thing I do want to emphasize is that I think many bloggers quit blogs too quickly. Not every blog will be hugely profitably or get loads of traffic – however those that do often take quite a few months (if not a year or two) to start reaching their potential.
In having talked to thousands of bloggers over the last 6 or so years I’ve found that most bloggers who quit blogs tend to do it in the first 2-3 months. While you can get a bit of an indication on some factors in this time (factors like your own passion for the topic, whether there’s much to say about the topic etc) it is certainly not long enough time to expect your blog to have reached its traffic potential.
It takes time to build a profile, to get ranked by search engines and to develop an archive of useful content. In my experience 3 months is just the tip of the iceberg of a blogs potential. My own blogs have not really ‘taken off’ for at least a year to 18 months after launch.
It is OK to Quit – The other balancing factor that I’d throw into the mix is that it is ok to quit a blog. I’ve talked to a number of bloggers over the years who ended up feeling trapped by their blogs. They realized early on that the blog wasn’t getting traction and that they might not have had a real passion in their topic – but because they’d been writing content every day for it for a period of time they felt guilty in giving up on it. As a result they continued to blog for years to come despite knowing that it probably wasn’t worth doing.
Hanging in there an giving a blog time to grow is one thing – but continuing to blog on a blog that you know deep down isn’t really going anywhere it probably not a wise thing. In this case I’d be encouraging a blogger to consider either ending their blog, hiring or partnering with someone to help them blog or even selling their blog – all of these things will enable you to move onto something else that perhaps is a better fit for where you are.
Tomorrow: How to Quit Your Blog
In my next post I’m going to continue this train of thought and share a few options from my experience on HOW to quit a blog.
Thanks for the post, the timing, for me at least, was quite good. I had recently closed down one of my blogs, and merged it with my primary blog, and wasn’t sure if I made the right decision or not.
I think that what you’ve said about passion, motivation, and ability to write on the topic really apply to my situation. I don’t believe I had saturated the topic of my secondary blog, but I didn’t have the passion or motivation to continue.
The blog that was closed down (you can see it here: http://www.optimalupgrades.ca/stockBlog) actually got a fair bit of traffic, some from subscribers, others via search engines. But I found that I kept diverging from its stated topics, leaning more toward the topics of my primary blog which discusses issues that small and medium sized business owners face on a regular basis (http://blog.optimalupgrades.ca).
So I merged the two.
Some background – the primary blog was started in January 2009. The secondary blog was started in October 2009. I merged them in February. There was a small dip in traffic shortly after the merge, and is now starting to pick up again.
I think lack of passion is the biggest one. If you lose the love for what you do, don’t push yourself just to keep going. You won’t be helping yourself and probably not your audience, either.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s post. I’ve let a few blogs die and always wondered how to go about it in the best way. Most recently I simply 301’d a blog to another and I think that has worked out well.
This is great advice Darren. My current blog is the only one I have stuck with for any amount of time and it’s because every factor you talked about is there. The passion, the traffic, the profit (well, haven’t really monetized yet, but the possibility is there), lots of engagement, and I have a never ending string of topics to talk about.
Thanks for synthesizing this into words.
Karol
Lack of traffic and profit usually leads to lack of passion…
Maybe a look at what your goals are and how you are meeting them before just quitting. Even better, maybe a professional consultation before quitting or “giving up”.
I am glad I didn’t give up!
Really interesting every single idea in this article, I started blogging 4 months ago and I am dealing big time with attracting traffic and sometimes with the content. I think the keys are be yourself, be creative (how to get traffic, your mood, etc.) and have fun.
One more time, excelent article!
@davidriglesiass
http://www.davidiglesiasonline.com
Thanks for the post!
For me the most important things that would make me to quit my blog are lack of traffic and lack of profit. Other factors I think won’t be a problem.
You state
“Don’t Quit Too Early – One thing I do want to emphasize is that I think many bloggers quit blogs too quickly. Not every blog will be hugely profitably or get loads of traffic – however those that do often take quite a few months (if not a year or two) to start reaching their potential.”
I believe a lot of us never take the time to reach our potential, and most of us give up at the point of the “tip of the iceberg”, plus if you do it for passion, I believe you don’t need to solely worry about doing it for money, which keeps your engine moving.
When I first created my blog I made sure it covered a range of topics that I could talk about forever and I also set myself a two year deadline. Haven’t even finished the first year yet, but I still see myself writing until the day I die.
Great topic here, Darren.
I think the all of them are the exact reasons why people quit their blog. However, I think taking time off from blogging in general without feeling the need to write on occasion is very helpful.
I recall having other blogs in the past, and getting burned out trying to keep up with them all. I only have two and they are about anything and everything which doesn’t limit my options on what to write.
Personally, blogging can be much like a job and one needs to breakaway from it in order to be refreshed. I’ve had times where I thought of stopping, but then taking time away from it refreshed me and my way of thinking about it. That might be something for those people to think about.
Hi Darren,
Interesting idea for a post. It’s always cool when you get new blog material from a real conversation, isn’t it?
Hey – a few more things to add – 1) Quitting because having a blog wasn’t as cool as you thought it would be; 2) Quitting because it’s more work and more of a commitment than you realized; and 3) Boredom.
Thanks!!
Mike
Sometime it is too confusing when I read a few top bloggers. The other day, one A-list blogger, while discussing the 80/20 rule of productive work, espoused the idea that commenting on blogs falls under 80%, i.e. it is not very productive work. The irony is that the same blogger is inviting others to comment on his blog.
And today, Daren is saying the we should abandon a high traffic, revenue generating blog just because it’s not getting comments.
If it is unproductive work, according to the other top blogger, why should we expect our readers to waste their time commenting on our blogs?
Can anybody please explain this dichotomy?
Lack of traffic but also not quitting on early both are very important advices that I personally like from this post. Thanks Dareen
I had two major times when I thought it’s time to quit. Good I haven’t done so, I just launched my new blog and the oldest one which I thought was a big mistake is now breaking my personal records.
The bogs that I have quite were over a year old. CloudWeekly.com. I had a corresponding podcast with interviews. It was a painful to quite, because I enjoyed it so much. The reason I quite it was there was just little traffic and no profit.
Thanks for tips…
I believe that our focus on getting traffic will destroy everything, patience is an important factor in blogging (in everything)
Great blog Darren ;-)
I am not sure I agree that quitting is a good option if you’re still passionate about a topic.
Now if you hate the topic and the thought of writing about it makes you want to curl up into a fetal position… OK, maybe it’s time to pack it up.
But, if you’re passionate about the topic and only have 10 daily visitors… so what. Keep pumping out good content and those 10 will grow to 20 and then 30, etc.
Also, instead of quitting, perhaps a small “tweak” to the message or niche will open things up.
One of my favorite quotes sums my thoughts up well:
“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” – Napoleon Hill
It is surely OK to quit a blog if you can see no future in that. It is better to try another thing instead do blog when there are no future in it.
Hi Darren,
its true, there will be time when you feel that you have nothing more to write. At this stage, most would upload pictures, telling everyone what they do everyday. Well, that work with personal blog, not those who seek for traffic or blogging for money. I’m 8month old in blogging in still climbing from every fall. there is a lot pof tips out there but some lots of them says about wordpress. I know the SEO potential wordpress have but you know, when you’re new, blogspot account seem to easier than others.
I’m not planning to quit my blog, but looking it as a field to learn and learn. Its worthy trying when it still blogspot.
Thanks Darren for the nice advice ;)
Hello Darren,
I used to a run a blog for 5 or 6 years, it was about my work as a freelance translator. Then came the time when I was posting less and less and finally I decided to quit. I definitely ran out of passion for the blog and the profession as a whole, but have remained a ‘private’ blogger over all the years. The commercial side of blogging never really bothered me – I didn’t make any money out of blogging at that time – but I still felt sorry that I had to abandon all the content and the comments that I had gathered over all these years. Unfortunately, I deleted everything on that blog, which retrospectively was a huge mistake. I’d love to see some sort of service that takes over abandoned blogs and gives them a sort of retirement place where people can still leave comments if they want to.
Not quitting too early is a great tip for many new bloggers. My blog is a little over 3 months old and is slowly building traction!
Too many bloggers jump the gun early and give up. Thanks for sharing!
I think once you lose interest in that blgo and it becomes a daily headache to just write a post then it is time to dump it.
You can’t hide your lack of interest and your readers witth see it in your writing.
Great post Darrenn. I’ve experimented with many blog and stuck with this one: http://oriolesprospects.com
– Jordan
I am very surprised and grateful that this topic came up. I never gave it a second thought that a blog can run out its course; mostly because of all the effort bloggers usually put into the blogs.
However, I definitely see the validity of your point – sometimes, the best course of action is quitting.
My challenge is to know when that point is reached.
Best,
Ana/YourNetBiz Attraction Marketing Cafe blog
If there’s anything I agree with here, it’s the lack of passion. Once that is gone, then it will become very obvious to the audience of readers that you’ve built. It’s funny you mention the 1 year to 18 month mark because I’ve been around for a about 2 months short of a year and just started to pick up some big momentum.
In addition to passion, if personal satisfaction runs out then you really are missing the boat of why so many of us do this. I think there’s an intrinsic benefit to creating something that you can call your own.
Very interesting Darren.
I think the biggest factor that affects the success and longevity of a blog is the author’s passion for the chosen topic. True passion is very difficult to stifle and when it is found, the author can summon powers within that will enable him or her to reach beyond their creative limits.
So, i say; find the passion before spending the time to start the blog.
Thanks for this article. I have been revisiting the reason I started a blog in the first place to see if it still resonates. I began mine to build visibility and expert status in the world of print management. As the opportunities in this declining job category/industry become fewer and farther between, and as my interests expand to other areas, I now wonder: Should I continue this blog? Should I morph it into new topic areas as I’ve seen some do? Or should I start a different one in my new areas of exploration? I haven’t decided, but your suggestions are helpful. Perhaps you can touch on these questions in your follow-up article on how to shut down a blog. Thanks, ~Nani
I’ve quit blogs… For every reason above. The most recent one, I transferred a lot of my content (not all) over to my new blog.
Why? Lack of passion for the topic… I found myself writing completely off topic of the blog… So I changed the name of the blog and the focus…
BTW, here’s a shameless plug… it’s for a VERY good cause… Making your blog Carbon Neutral. That’s my post for today, if you have a blog… Check it out.
Darren,
Thanks for the helpful reminders of not quitting too early. I struggle a lot with wondering if all the work I’ve put into my own site is truly worth the time and effort. But then I always have to take a step back and realize I’ve only been at this for a month. It will be nice when I start getting some dedicated readers..but like you said, it could be a year or two before I get established.
I have the passion, and there is always something new to talk about in regards to singing – so I just need patience to endure the baby stages. Thanks for your encouragements! It’s nice to know that 3 months is the tip of the iceberg and I’m already starting to rank for keyword phrases within the first month! You give me hope to press on for the future!
Thomas
Hi Darren. Thanks for the post.
While I am not planning on quitting my blog, your point #6 made me think. Considering that it takes time to build a blogs reputation and readership, how short a term can you look at feasibly for a blog?
In South Africa we are hosting the FIFA 2010 Soccer world cup and I thought about blogging on it but that it would be too short a life time for the blog. (and now it is only 3 months away)
Is this, in your experience, viable? How long before the games did you start your blog?
Thanks Dave
I agree. I love my topic and I think it shows. I wish I had more traffic. It’s growing slowly and I feel like I’m getting better at understanding what readers want. I only recently added any monetization. Although making money would be great, it’s not the reason I started my blog.
I wonder, when people talk about “a lot” of traffic, what kind of numbers are they talking about? I don’t get that much traffic (about 100-150 hits a day, 5500 page views a month) but I do get comments on every blog post, my bounce rate is about 56%, and avg. time on site is 3.5 minutes- I think that’s good.
Looking forward to how to quit… got one out there I want to quit.
Hey Darren, you posted my question thanks!
Yah, this is advice I wish I had for a blog I closed down a year ago. If I would have really taken the time to analyze if it was worth it financially to keep going I would have stopped it right then, but instead my posting frequency dropped off until I slowly just stopped.
Good advice
Chris Guthrie
Loss of passion? Loss of love? Sounds like a divorce. This is just a sad story.
Thanks, Darren. I’ve been blogging for two years now. I have passion for writing for baby boomer consumers, but it’s hard to find the time to figure out how to monetize.
I do a reader blog on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Web site for no pay and no advertising possibilities. I gets a lot of traffic and brings traffic to my other site. I’ve also been doing it for two years.
I also blog once a week as a guest blogger for Boomer411.
All this takes a lot of time, more than I thought it would when I started blogging.
As a journalist, it’s fun to get consumer information out to people. It’s my passion. Blogging is like having my own newspaper. But I just can’t see myself working this hard for another five years.
Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide
Thank you for the timely subject. I have been wondering when it’s time to part ways with a once treasured blog. In my case it’s a website that I wanted to start. Now I need to convert it over to my blog because I don’t have the interest or energy to maintain both sites any longer.
Thank you for giving such a clear cut criteria to help a writer decide when and if it’s time to cut ties and move on to something more relevant.
“I think many bloggers quit blogs too quickly. Not every blog will be hugely profitably or get loads of traffic – however those that do often take quite a few months (if not a year or two) to start reaching their potential”
I am very interested to know if you’ve ever been able to collect some statistics on what type of traffic a new blog can expect. Any stats would be helpful as a measuring stick.
Either visits, unique visits or Alexa Rating would be great.
This would make a great future blog post!
I think Darren reads mines lol. I have two blogs and neither one has good traffic, however this is the only two things I know and do, so for now they will stay. As usual Darren always has great ideas, etc. This is why he gets so many comments :). Just incase my other blog, http://www.thatcraftyguy.blogspot.com. Oh also can’t decide if I should leave my second blog on blogger or move it to wordpress, sometimes I get confused using wordpress.
oops a wasted post sorry, meant to say minds, not mines lol.
I’m glad that my first blog I quit was very young and I didn’t invest too much time into it, because i knew that if I wasn’t enjoying it after the first month then I wasn’t going to enjoy it in a year. Now I’ve been working on my new blog for the past year or so, but it’s felt like just monts because I really enjoy writing for it.
Thanks for the article. But, if it’s a proven profitable niche, I’m sure we can make it works.
It might just be that we don’t put enough effort in it, or as one of the reasons you’ve put here, you lose interest in the niche.
I continue to get people giving me good feedback about my blog, yet it hasn’t really taken off yet… it does ok, just not thousands of readers or anything. This after nearly 4 months now. I am not at all ready to give up because I really like my subject and I would write for free… well, I guess I am. Still, I am looking forward to the day when I get over 1000 page views each day. That’ll be really cool.
If you like what you write about, hang in there a while.
Passion and interest for the blog’s niche really plays a major role in a blog’s existence and sustainability. I think that if you are genuinely interested in your niche, you would see it in more than one perspective and would continuously find topics to write about.
Old blogs never die, they just fade away. You might not have the mojo to blog now, but maybe one year from now, you may want to again. So don’t delete the blog.
I think best sign of quitting blogging is if you do not want to add new posts on your blog.
Everyday you seat to write a new posts and than you postponed for the next day than this is the time of quitting.
Great topic, Darren. In fact, the advice can apply to quitting anything really, not just blogs. It’s a hard decision, no doubt, especially if you’ve put a lot of heart and effort into something.
It’s even harder to quit something when you didn’t have clear goals for a project when starting out. You can always re-evaluate and make some shorter term goals before quitting. Sort of a last hurrah.
posting less and less and finally I decided to quit. I definitely ran out of passion for the blog and the profession as a whole, but have remained a ‘private’ blogger over all the years. The commercial side of blogging never really bothered me – I didn’t make any money out of blogging at that time – but I still felt sorry that I had to abandon all the content and the comments that I had gathered over all th
According to your reasoning I have two reasons (number 2 and 3) to quit. But I’ll not quit very early. Trying to get more traffic to fix reason 2. If someone can fix reason 2, reason 3 will automatically fix.
Thanks for the advice, sometimes I also think to quit my blog, there are many reasons why I want to quit, one of them is because I feel overwhelm to divide time between blogging and offline job, but I think I need to give my blog more time and chance, just let my blog grows up and see the result for the next one or two years.
I tend to be a think first, plan later sort of gal, so I’ve started and stopped a plethora of blogs over the years. And yes, you’re absolutely right–the main reasons why I stopped were A) Wasn’t interested in the topic anymore and B) There wasn’t any traffic.
But my current blog, a sort of how-to help resource for online writers, has been going strong since August. I seriously thought about quitting around Christmas, but I told myself to stick with it. Since that time–and after really putting an effort into creating quality content–my traffic has doubled. If you love your topic and pour enough love into it, the effort WILL pay off.
Hey Darren. Thanks for the content. I never think I should quit a blog. But these days I am too busy with affiliate marketing and sometimes just let my blog sits there and basically doing not much work….
Anyway it is good you talk about the exist strategies and I do look forward into.