Do you dream of being a successful blogger? Then you need to confront your innate attitudes and limiting beliefs about blogging.
Correcting these beliefs is the one thing that can set you apart from thousands of others who start blogging without having a solid foundation for success.
Pop quiz: what do all “10 super-duper easy steps to starting your own blog” tutorials have in common?
- they don’t reveal what blogging is really like
- they want to convince you to become a blogger so they can sell you their affiliate products
- they miss the most important FIRST STEP in starting a blog, which is: clearing your limiting beliefs about blogging
- All of the above
If you’ve answered “All of the above,” congratulations! You’re absolutely right. But I want you to pay special attention to item #3: clearing your limiting beliefs about blogging.
Why is it so important to address and/or adjust your beliefs before you jump in head first into the blogging world?
Because what you believe about blogging has EVERYTHING to do with whether you’ll succeed.
A lot of people want to start a blog and make a full-time income from their living room. But before they even start, they stop because they’re afraid it won’t work out. Or they start and quit the second they feel discouraged.
Why is that?
It’s because they aren’t mentally prepared for the challenges of blogging and because they expect to fail.
So the main reason people fail at blogging is limiting beliefs.
What Is a Limiting Belief?
A limiting belief is your own perceptions of what you can or can’t do.
It applied to all areas of life, including blogging.
This blog post will
- address the 10 most common limiting beliefs about blogging
- suggest new, more empowering (and accurate!) beliefs
- show you – definitively – that blogging for a living isn’t a pipe dream. It’s REAL. It’s possible. You just have to start believing that it is.
Limiting Belief #1: You can’t make a living as a blogger.
That’s what most people believe, right? And they’re dead wrong.
Here are just a few examples of blogs by real people (not media companies like HuffPost, BuzzFeed, etc.) that make over $100,000 a month. That’s right. A month!
- Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents ($100,000+/month)
- Elisa Larson and Emma Chapman of A Beautiful Mess ($125,000+/month)
- The Reese family of It’s A Lovely Life ($170,000+/month)
- Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income ($200,000/month)
These are just a few names. There are many more others that make 6 figures a month with blogging.
Now, you may be thinking: That’s cool, but those people are one in a million. They are the exception to the rule, not the rule. I’ll never make that kind of money blogging.
As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” The point is that it’s possible.
And even though not everyone will make 6 figures a month, a large number of bloggers are successful in establishing a consistent, handsome income.
According to a recent study of blogging trends, 1/3 of bloggers report getting “strong results”. That means that every third blogger enjoys substantial revenue, rankings, traffic, engagement, etc. resulting from their blog.
That still doesn’t guarantee that you’ll make it. But it proves that blogging success isn’t a rare and magical unicorn. It’s real, and fairly common.
New belief: I can make a living as a blogger. It’s both possible and likely if I commit myself to it.
Limiting Belief #2: Blogging isn’t a real job.
Lots of people think of blogging as a hobby. And it certainly can be. But it can also be a business, and a full-time job, if that’s how you approach it.
This is something I’ve struggled with myself. I could see a blog being my creative outlet, or a side income if I’m lucky. But I just couldn’t see it as a real job.
And when people asked me what I did for a living, I felt embarrassed to say that I’m a blogger.
If you feel the same way, it’s going to hold you back from becoming a full-time blogger with a handsome income.
New Belief: Blogging is a real job. It has a steep learning curve, but also real and substantial rewards.
Limiting Belief #3: There are too many blogs out there.
That was a big one for me. With so many blogs, how can I possibly have anything to offer that’s not already out there? Won’t my tiny voice drown in the ocean of millions of other voices — voices bigger and stronger than me?
It’s true that there are tons of blogs on the Internet. 600 million blogs to be exact, according to GrowthBadger (2019). That number alone can be overwhelming and disheartening.
But look at it this way: there are way more people than there are blogs. And the number of Internet users keeps growing.
So although there’s a lot of supply, there’s also a lot of demand. If you offer something of value, there will always be people who want to read your stuff.
New Belief: When I write with passion and sincerity, I will always find an engaged audience.
Limiting Belief #4: I’m too old.
Nonsense! Lots of people start new ventures when they’re in their 30s, 40s, 50s or even 60s!
Larry David created Seinfeld when he was 42.
Martha Stewart’s first book Entertaining! came out when she was 41.
Arianna Huffington started “Huffington Post” when she was 55-years-old.
Julia Child wrote her first cookbook at 50.
Harland Sanders started his mega-successful franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken when he was 62.
You get the point. You’re never too old to learn something new or to start a new business. In fact, most people start their businesses in their 40s, according to an MIT study of 2.7 million business founders. The same study found that a 50-year-old business founder is twice as likely to be successful as a 30-year-old.
Besides, blogging is less about natural talent and more about your life experience. So the older (and wiser) you are, the better!
New Belief: My age reflects the richness of my life experience. It is my most valuable asset.
Limiting Belief #5: I’m not a good writer.
I’ve been a freelance writer for over a decade, and I struggled with this belief.
You see, English is my second language. So I was always insecure that somehow it’ll show in my writing. That to a native speaker my writing might come off as broken English.
It took me years to get rid of this insecurity. You know how I did it? By reading lots and lots of blogs.
And you know what I realized? Very rarely did I go: Wow! She (or he) is an amazing writer! Most blogs I’ve read were written by average writers, at best. A lot of them had grammatical errors, too.
And I can’t tell you how many times a day I see Pinterest graphics with misspelled or grammatically incorrect titles. (I always check the number of followers that blogger has — and they’re always in the thousands!)
Maybe comparing yourself to others isn’t the best way to go about it. But that’s what worked for me. It allowed me to let go of this idea that I have to be perfect to succeed. Perfection isn’t what matters.
The thing that matters most to the readers — and that’s the way it is for me, too — is authenticity.
If you can be yourself and connect to the person reading your blog, it will make a greater impact than the most elegant Nabokovian prose.
Now, don’t get me wrong, good writing helps. You will definitely increase your chances of being a successful blogger if you improve your blog writing skills. But it’s totally doable, and it shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your dream of blogging for a living.
Here are a few easy-to-follow tutorials so you can skip years of hard learning and get to the nitty-gritty of blog writing:
- 10 Simple Ways to Make Your Blog Posts More Reader-Friendly
- 10-Step Process For Writing a Quality Blog Post, FAST
- How to Write an Engaging Opening Sentence For Your Blog Post
New Belief: I can be a successful blogger even if I’m not a great writer.
Limiting Belief #6: I’m not tech-savvy.
I’ve struggled with that too. Come to think of it, I’ve had a lot of limiting beliefs! That’s why it took me so long to start my own blog.
You see, for almost a decade I was writing and publishing posts on a content-sharing platform (they call them “content mills”). It took years before I saw any money. Even then, it was never more than a few hundred bucks a month. Still, I kept on writing for them because I was scared I wasn’t tech-savvy enough to start my own blog. With a content mill, you just write and hit “Publish.” Everything else is taken care of.
Finally, I decided to take a plunge and start my own blog. I’ve read tutorials. I watched YouTube videos. Stuff I couldn’t figure out I outsourced on Fiverr.
Pretty soon I started seeing my first signs of success, and it was really bitter-sweet. Of course, I was happy to see that my relatively new and small blog was getting a decent amount of traffic. But I was also filled with so much regret! All I could think was: I WISH I’VE DONE IT SOONER. I wish I didn’t waste all this time being afraid, and being “safe.”
This is an example of how a limiting belief can hold you back from real success. Don’t make that mistake!
New Belief: I have all the resources I need to figure out the technical side of blogging.
Limiting Belief #7: I’m not an expert.
If you’re having the impostor syndrome, you’re not alone. I guarantee you, almost everyone struggles with that!
When you’re young and stupid, you feel like you know everything. But as you age, you start realizing that your knowledge is limited, and that there are others out there with far greater expertise.
While that may be true, it doesn’t mean that you have nothing to offer.
As most successful bloggers will tell you, if you know slightly more about your topic than the average guy, you’re qualified to blog about it. Maybe you don’t know everything and you’re still learning yourself.
But if you can help someone with a word of advice, or see two steps ahead and save them from the mistakes you’ve made, you know enough.
New Belief: I know enough about my topic to help someone who needs this information.
Limiting Belief #8: It will take years before I can start making money blogging.
That’s what I thought, too. Maybe that’s why it took me years to start making money blogging.
But I’ve read about a billion blog income reports, and I know that it’s not necessarily true. It may take years. Or it may take a few months. Some bloggers even report making a full-time income after only a year or two!
Now, I’m not talking about making a full-time income right away. Blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick gig. But it’s entirely possible to start making something pretty soon after launching your blog.
It all depends on how serious you are about blogging, your blog niche, and your monetization approach.
New Belief: With the right strategy, I can start making money blogging within the first year.
Limiting Belief #9: Most blogs fail.
That’s a tricky limiting belief to defeat…because it’s actually true.
Yes, most blogs fail. It’s a fact. But here’s the #1 reason most blogs fail: because people quit before they see the results.
So when you tell yourself: “Most blogs fail” as a reason not to start a blog, you’re not telling yourself the whole truth.
Blogs don’t fail because there’s only a few special, super-talented, anointed bloggers out there who can make it happen. It’s not even because some blogs are better than others. It’s because some people decide to stick with it no matter what, until they succeed. And others become discouraged and give up.
Think about it. That’s the only real difference between those who make it, and those who don’t. So while most blogs do fail, it shouldn’t stop you from starting your own blog. Because you’re not going to quit, right?
35 WEEKS. That’s how long it takes for a new blog post to mature. So whatever you publish on your blog, it’s not going to get much traffic for almost a year.
But if you’ve done your homework and optimized your blog for search engines, you will see organic traffic eventually. And once it starts getting organic traffic, it’ll grow exponentially.
Think of it this way: 35 weeks is almost the duration of a pregnancy. So don’t throw in the towel before your baby blog has a chance to mature.
New Belief: It may take a while, but eventually my blog will succeed.
Limiting Belief #10: The blogging industry is on the decline.
The internet is buzzing with the latest news: blogging is dead. Is it though?
Sure, the blogging industry is different than it was 10 years ago. Gone are the days when you could post a “Hi guys, I’m not feeling great, how are you, say hi to cheer me up” and receive hundreds of comments and views.
Now you have to write really great content AND be a SEO wizard to rank in an increasingly competitive online world where search algorithms are becoming more complex and more intelligent.
See – I’m not just telling you everything is great, carry on to my “How to start a blog” post. I’m being honest. It’s harder now than it was 10 years ago. But just because it’s more competitive out there doesn’t mean blogging is dead!
In fact, quite the opposite. Blogging isn’t going anywhere. It’s not a trend, and it’s not a waste of time.
So if you want to start blogging, now is the time! (Because the longer you wait, the more competitive it’s going to be.)
New belief: Blogging is a great industry that’s full of possibilities and rewards. The longer I wait, the more competitive it’s going to be.
Final Thoughts
OK, you’ve done it. You’ve unearthed and confronted your limiting beliefs about blogging. You learned a ton of useful stuff, and you’re ready to dip your toe in the blogging pond.
And if you really want to start your blogging journey right, start by clearing out your physical and digital space. The process of organizing and getting rid of the junk allows for the new, exciting chapter in your life to begin.
When you “make room” for positive change, it prepares you for success. Here’s the guide to help you do that:
What are you waiting for? There’s no time like now.
