As someone who’s been blogging as a side hustle for more than a decade, I can say without a doubt that it’s one of my favorite ways to make money. The blog world looks much different than it did when I made my first WordPress account back in 2007, but the basic fundamentals of blogging are pretty much the same. The only difference is that now, there are way more people who have done it who can let you know what to expect, what works, and what doesn’t.
If you were to ask me if I think blogging is a good side hustle, I’d be lying if I said no because I’ve made a lot of money with it. I also know people who have made considerably more than me with their blogs, and others who have launched entire careers thanks to the doors blogging has opened for them. So yeah – I can’t really say it’s a bad thing to do when it’s brought so many good things to my life.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s a good side hustle for everyone, or that your blog will do anything but take up space on the internet. If you’re unsure of whether blogging as a side hustle is right for you, here are some reasons why I think it’s a great way to make money online, plus a few reasons why you might want to choose something else.
Why blogging is a great side hustle:
There is always a demand for content.
Go back to the last time you were sitting on the couch scrolling through your phone while the Great British Baking Show played in the background (extra points for you if you’re doing that right now). What were you doing on your phone? Were you reading news articles? Scrolling Twitter? Watching a basket weaving tutorial on YouTube? Looking for new podcasts to listen to in the shower? Chances are you were reading, watching, or listening to some form of content because content is the steering wheel of the internet. It’s everywhere, and you will never escape it. The ability to create quality content is powerful.
If you have something to say or knowledge you’d like to share, you’re qualified to create content, whether it’s through blogs, videos, or podcast episodes. If you think there’s nobody out there who wants to hear what you have to say, remember that the world is overpopulated. There are too many fucking people on this planet. There is always someone – if not millions or billions of someones – who wants to hear from you and will benefit from your knowledge.
Blogging will teach you all kinds of high-demand skills.
Writing for the internet was not yet a thing when I was in Journalism school – it was right around the time when media started going digital, but the department still needed us to know exactly how to write obituaries for newspapers (I even wrote Tim Allen’s obituary for an assignment and had to make up his cause of death – sorry, Tim, but you passed in 2005 from high cholesterol).
Imagine you own a company and someone applies for a job. Their resume says they have experience with writing, editing, graphic design, SEO, sales, email marketing, social media, content calendars, maybe even some video editing and email marketing. After confirming they’re not a unicorn, you’d probably want to hire them, right?
I’ve learned just about everything I do to run my business by winging it on the internet. Blogging was a big part of that because it meant I always had somewhere to write, look at data, and tinker with code, which forced me to learn what everything does and how to not break it. It also taught me that you can Google literally anything when you’re stuck, and someone will have a video showing exactly how to do what you’re trying to do. So much more useful (and cheaper) than obituary class.
The point: Blogging will teach you high-demand skills that can make you lots of money. It’s one of the easiest, cheapest ways to get in the trenches and go to “how to use the internet” school. That’s how we’re all doing it, so don’t overthink it or allow technology you don’t yet understand stop you from starting a blog. You’ll learn as you go.
There are multiple ways to make money blogging.
- Affiliate marketing – Share custom links to products and services that pay you a commission when someone makes a purchase through your link. Read more about affiliate marketing here.
- Advertisements – Banner ads can be placed on your blog sidebar, header, footer, and throughout your content. Google AdSense and Mediavine are the two most common companies content creators use to make money with ads.
- Sell digital products – If your readers want to learn how to do something, get paid by creating a digital product that helps solve their problems. Here’s a list of 20 digital products you can sell through your blog.
- Sponsorships – Partner with brands to promote their products in your posts, on social media, etc. This usually requires a certain number of page views, followers, and social proof that shows you’re worth sponsoring.
- Attract clients or customers – You know the old (ridiculous) saying “dress for the job you want?” Fuck that – your pants aren’t going to make you money. I say “blog for the job you want.” You can set up a blog or website in a few minutes and start creating content related to what you want to do. Use it to show off your writing/designing/research chops by taking on the exact topics you want to cover, and covering them however you want, with absolutely nobody telling you what to do, using your own voice. This is a great first step in showing you’re serious about what you want and that you know your shit.
Blogs are infinitely scalable.
You have ultimate flexibility and control with your blog, and as we just went over, there are so many ways to monetize and grow your influence. The money-making methods you use will likely vary depending on your niche, goals, and how you can best serve your audience, but most blogs have potential with all of those monetization methods, which is huge for your earning potential and ability to scale it like a business.
Blogging is perfect for introverts (and the blogging community is filled with them)
When I started my first blog, I was working 10 hours a day at the front desk of an automotive company. Even though my job involved sitting and waiting for the phone to ring 99% of the time, I was so exhausted when I got home that I thought there was something medically wrong with me.
Turns out, you don’t have to be physically active to drain all of the energy from your body. You just have to spend 10 hours a day in a box surrounded by people you wouldn’t hang out with otherwise. I knew I had to figure something out if I ever wanted a life where I could like, go to the bank during business hours, or not have to be at a desk chair at 7am everyday to sit and do mostly nothing. I couldn’t understand how everyone seemed cool with this shit, to the point of doing it everyday for 25+ years.
I started blogging from my desk while bored at work. My first affiliate commissions were the first signs of hope that I could make money outside of traditional office work. Like maybe I could make an income without having to listen to racist Sharon in accounting brag about her grandkids all day. Blogging is what taught me how to write for the internet, which is how I started freelance writing and eventually figured out how to make enough money online to quit my job and work from my couch. An introvert’s dream.
I have met tons of people through blogging and various internet adventures. I’d say the majority of friends I’ve made in the last 10 years started as internet acquaintances that turned into real-life friends. If you’re passionate enough about a topic that you’re thinking about starting a blog, you’ll inevitably become connected with people who are as passionate as you are, which can open doors you never thought were available to you.
Why Blogging is NOT a Good Side Hustle
You’ll make faster money panhandling than you will by starting a blog.
Just because it’s possible to make shitloads of money blogging doesn’t mean it’s an easy or quick process. It’s not. Blogging involves lots of persistence and learning as you go to turn it into an efficient money-making machine. You need to have some of the best content available in your niche, and if you want people to keep coming back, you have to churn out new content on a regular basis.
Statistically speaking, you’re more likely to not make a living with a blog than you are to turn it into a livable income. If you’re in a position where you need to make money fast, this is not a side hustle that will solve your problem. Here’s a list of side hustle ideas that will bring in money more quickly than a blog.
Writing can be difficult and mentally taxing.
Writing is hard, even if you’re good at it. It’s even harder when you’re already drained from your full-time job and don’t have the mental energy to dedicate to creativity. You have to enjoy writing in order to succeed as a blogger.
I know several people who have talked about starting blogs, and the reality of the work that goes into writing content usually hits as they sit down and get the words on the page. This is the case even if you’re writing about something you’re an expert in and could talk about all day. Some people just aren’t writers, and that’s fine. You can always start a podcast or YouTube if you discover that writing isn’t your thing. They’re no easier to monetize, so be prepared to keep playing the long game if you’re switching mediums.
You have to be consistent even when you feel like a failure, you don’t know what to write about, and you’re convinced you’ll never have an intelligent idea again.
I can’t even tell you how much time I’ve spent learning this lesson the hard way while busy not writing for my blog. The main difference between a blog that makes money and a blog that doesn’t is consistency. All the “competition” you’re looking at who are chugging along, publishing fresh content every week while you haven’t opened your WordPress dashboard in a month? Their visitors, page rank, and engagement rates are going up while yours are nose-diving into irrelevance as you “take a mental sabbatical” and stop writing for a day, which turns into a week, which turns into a month. That’s like a year on the internet.
The consistency part is harder than the writing part, and the only way to get better at both is to do the work – write consistently.
If it helps, start writing without the goal of ever publishing it. Remove the pressure of writing for other people and allow yourself to write whether it’s good or makes sense or not. Write badly, and then go through and make it better. Weed out the good ideas from the fluff. You’ll realize you forgot about some of the things you wrote, and you’ll feel grateful that you wrote it down so you can remember to use it later. This is how all of my posts begin – as a stream of consciousness dumped onto a page that I can always look at later and turn into something better. I trust that my ideas are worth at least jotting down into the notes app, and I trust that I will, at some point, have a piece of content worth sharing. Trust yourself to do the same, and it will be easier for you to turn your notes into content on the days you’re ready to give up.
Those are my top reasons why blogging is and isn’t a good side hustle. If you can create quality content that’s valuable to your readers on a consistent basis, there’s no reason why you can’t make money blogging.
Ready to start your blog today? Check out my step-by-step tutorial on how to set up a WordPress blog like this one in less than an hour.
What do you think? Do you blog as a side hustle or just for fun?
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