The Art of Blogging: Business or Pleasure?

By Alan Johnson
(This article appears at CopyBlogger)


Nowadays, everyone seems to think that making money as a blogger is a piece of cake. A lot of people make the mistake of starting out by picking a niche they are not exactly passionate about simply because it pays well.

In other words, they are just in it for the money and somehow consider this a sound business model. It’s easy to show up day after day if the pay is good, right?

No Pleasure, No Gain

Sorry to burst your bubble there, but you couldn’t be more wrong. If you don’t like what you’re doing, your writing will reflect that, no matter how hard you try and this especially applies to blogging.

Sure, if you just launch a static website which will depend on traffic from the search engines then, why not, you could simply hire a few writers, optimize your website and there you have it. Even in that case, maximizing results will prove to be a challenge (let’s face it, you are always more productive when working on a project you are passionate about) but you could get away with it.

When it comes to blogging on the other hand, things definitely stand quite a bit differently. As a blogger, you are establishing a bond with each and every reader. And how will you be doing that? Exactly, you will be establishing a relationship or building upon an already existing one through each and every post.

Readers Think, Readers Judge, Readers Decide

No matter how well you try to hide something from readers, they are quickly able to determine if you are passionate about what you’re doing or not based on your writing style. You can try as hard as you want to, but the fact remains: if you don’t like what you are doing and if you are treating it as a chore then readers can and will pick up on that.

As a result, convincing them that your blog is worth following on a regular basis will prove to be next to impossible. The same way, building a community around your blog (yet another aspect which makes blogging special in the first place) will also be out of the question.

If you are not genuinely passionate about your work, your writing style will reflect just that and you can rest assured that readers will not exactly be thrilled about returning or about commenting and being active members of the community.

Business or Pleasure? Why Not Both?

People often associate the idea of making money as a blogger with a person who works and works, but is only in it for the money. The same way, more than a few folks associate the idea of blogging for pleasure with a person who is having fun, but not earning anything. Why people tend to see things in black and white is beyond me.

Mixing business with pleasure is not only possible, but it is also recommended. Yes, you can make money by doing something you love and, even more so, you will also see your personal productivity skyrocket if that is the case. If not, then let’s just say that maximizing results will prove to be quite a challenge.

Take advantage of the opportunity to make money as a blogger, of the opportunity to earn a living online by doing something you are passionate about. It won’t be easy and there will be a lot of work involved, but if you manage to mix business with pleasure, you will enjoy every minute of it.

About the Author: Alan Johnson is the author of The Online Business Handbook.

Source: http://www.copyblogger.com/art-of-blogging/