To be clear, this is not an attempt to discourage anyone from starting a blog of their own, far from it. In fact, I would encourage anyone one who wants to start one to do it. This is just to make sure they haven’t made that decision acting on wrong information. And as a result, not knowing the full extent of what they are getting into.

If the information made available to me was anywhere near the truth, blogging was supposed to be a stroll in the park. But I can tell you, they lied. Blogging is not as easy as they said it would be. Seeing how I have a couple failed blogs to my name, four to be exact, you can take my word for it. That is four failed attempts at blogging, whew. Three of those four failed blogs were hosted on free platforms – and blogger.com – so it didn’t hurt much. The fourth was hosted with a foreign hosting company – during the dollar hike – meaning it cost me money. The money I wasted on this fourth blog made me have a rethink about blogging. If I was ever going to do it again, I was going to have to do it right.

I have heard speakers at financial forums talk of blogging as a means of getting passive income. They always mention it and make it look so easy. These speakers paint blogging in an excessively beautiful light. They make it sound like you could start a blog today and with a little effort you’d be cashing in almost immediately. As a result, a lot of people have decided to start a blog on impulse.Don’t be deceived, that is very far from the truth. In fact, the next time speakers mention blogging as a source of passive income to you, challenge them. Tell them I said to do so. Ask them if they run a blog of their own. I can assure you, the answer would most likely be no. If indeed running a blog was that easy, everyone would own one.

Running a blog is like taking care of a baby. You can’t just ‘do it on the side’ like they say. A blog requires a whole lot of critical thinking and strategic planning. It is time-consuming and requires a high level of dedication. I’m sure you must have noticed some bloggers publish apology posts for their unannounced absence from their blog. Trust me; it has nothing to do with being lazy – maybe for some. Truth is, a lot goes into running a blog. It is not as easy as they told you it is.

If your decision to start a blog is based on such hearsays, I can assure you of a rude awakening. Blogging is not a stroll in the park, it is serious business. If you are not ready for the work, it is advisable that you stay as far away as possible. It is a go hard or go home affair.

You’d be amazed at the number of hours bloggers spend writing, editing drafts, designing. Sometimes, bloggers have to go an extra mile to see that they don’t let their audience down. The blog might require that they have sleepless nights, absent themselves from social gathering etc. Bloggers also have to invest significant time into learning how to enhance their blog and market it.

You would be amazed if you found out the intricacies of running a blog firsthand. The simplest looking post on a blog might actually be the most demanding to have been published and vice versa. Don’t be fooled, blogging is not easy. Therefore, if you plan on starting a blog, you have to be ready to give it your all.

Like I said earlier, this is not an attempt to discourage anyone from starting a blog of their own. Accordingly, I will be sharing some tips for would-be bloggers in my next post.

If you really want to start a blog, don’t hesitate to do it.

I blog at http://biyitolu.com.ng