If you’ve read any of my posts on Zanita, you’ll know I’ll be the first person to tell you blogging is incredible.
It’s not only the future, it’s what’s happening right now and there’s enough to go around for everyone. But I’ll also be the first one to tell you blogging is hard, especially since the market is so saturated. There are no ifs ands or buts about it if you want to “make it” you better be ready to work your face off. Seriously.
With that said I really wanted to go over some amazing perks that I’ve personally experienced along with some not so glamorous aspects of the job.
So let’s start with the bad stuff, shall we?
The worst part about being a blogger
When you decide to blog you’re basically deciding to share your entire life to hundreds, thousands, and potentially millions of strangers. You are in the public eye and that’s just how it goes. With that comes some enormous pressure - pressure to be the best, pressure to please everyone. Pressure to say and do the “right” thing. It’s a lot.
If you’re just starting to blog, I’ll give you the heads up now… Someone, if not multiple people, will get offended by what you say/do. You wear faux fur and some people still think it’s real. You’re honest about your feelings and some people judge you. You take a selfie and you’re narcissistic. Like really? Come on. Can we live?
Regardless if you “offend” one or one hundred people, it still doesn’t feel good. No matter how out of line or ridiculous the other person is being. You still can’t help but think ‘Is it me?’
Not to mention when people watch your Snapchat or Instastory, they think you just prance around town all day and sip lattes. Remember social media is the perception people want you to see. There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears - real life stuff that goes on behind closed doors. I’ll say it again, can we live?
And then you have the kicker: fear of being a failure. In my experience, the #1 thing that holds most bloggers back is fear of failure. So all these bloggers start blogs and then a few months in they stop, or they’re back and forth for a year all because they’re afraid of failing. They think by not doing anything it saves them from doing something and potentially failing.
But let me ask you something… Isn’t not doing anything worse than if you try? If you at least try, you’ll know it’s for you or not for you but either way, you’ll know. Not trying = not knowing and not knowing can result in regret. And nobody wants regret.
The best part about being a blogger
As a blogger, you’ll most likely influence and/or help at least one person along the way. That’s incredible. Some people may disagree with me, but I genuinely believe bloggers have their hand in every aspect of the job market (fashion, health, beauty, lifestyle, etc.). Like, we’re it, people! So you better be blogging about something meaningful that will impact your audience for the greater good.
Whether that’s helping curvy women become confident in their own skin or showing fitness gurus how to get past their plateaus, or helping bloggers grow their blogs and businesses (cough cough), there’s nothing more rewarding than someone telling you that you’ve changed their life.
Once you find out how to blog with a purpose, the other perks fall into place like free gifts, paid for trips, getting paid to do what you love, etc. But I genuinely believe that you must first blog about something bigger than yourself. Something meaningful that has depth and not just the surface stuff.
You can add meaning and value to fashion, health, travel, beauty, business, etc. For example, if you’re a fashion blogger, instead of just posting your OOTDs, show us how to style a certain piece or help women shop on a budget or how to know when to splurge and when to save. There are tons of ways to be a valuable fashion blogger and not just an #ootd #beachvibes kinda gal.
Another great part about being a blogger is watching your blog baby grow. You’re essentially starting a business from scratch. Do you know how hard it is to start and continue to run a business? There’s something to be said for someone who can do that and be a mom and have a full-time job and take care of themselves physically on a daily basis. It’s a very very cool accomplishment in my opinion.
And then last but not least the best part about blogging is it allows opportunities to open. Whether that’s the free stuff, discounted vacations, meeting experts in the industry, or making a living doing what you love. Like if you love to blog, you can 100% make a living doing it! How amazing is that?
There’s always good and bad, yin and yang. You have to decide whether the good outweighs the bad or if the bad is worth tolerating. I can go up and down about how blogging is great and not great but it doesn’t matter. That’s something only you can decide, no one else.
What would you say are the best and worst parts about blogging? Tell us in the comments!
xx Britt
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