The Hard Truth About Blogging: What I’ve Learned the Last 3 years

The Hard Truth About Blogging: What I've Learned the Last 3 years – Angie Cruise Blog

The Hard Truth About Blogging: What I’ve Learned the Last 3 years

Wonder if you’ve got what it takes to be a blogger? I’m spilling the details here. Read on to learn the truth about blogging that I’ve learned over the last 3 years.

This week, my blog turns 3 years old. I can’t believe I managed to keep this going for three straight years!

Three straight years of posting no less than once a week. Three straight years of putting my life and thoughts out there on the internet to be picked apart by mostly strangers.

Sometimes, it feels like it’s been so much longer than three years. Most often, though, it feels like I’m still a beginner.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a professional blogger? Well, my friends, today I’m going to tell you. Read on to see the hard truth about blogging. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the really, really cool.

It’s a Dream Job… But the Truth is Blogging is Still a Job

Working for yourself from home really is the dream job. You set your own schedule, work when you want to, and have 100% control over what gets done.

Sounds awesome, right?

But here’s the thing. No one is telling you to come to work or helping you set a schedule. No one is telling you what to do when you

to work, either! You have to consistently show up, even when there’s something more fun you could be doing. You have to be totally accountable for your own work.

enjoy many aspects of blogging. I’m a natural born writer, love learning and researching new things, and really enjoy photography. Those are all things I get to do regularly with a blog.

Know what else I “get” to do regularly?

organize my emails

plan an editorial calendar

optimize my site speed

But, even with all of those less fun things, blogging is still my dream job. I

90% of what I get to do, and it still amazes me that I get to earn a living being this happy with my “job.”

Can you really make money blogging?

I know this is a question that’s on a lot of people’s minds, especially when I talk about blogging being my dream job. Can you actually make money blogging?

Now, in an effort to be totally transparent,

I will say that I don’t make a full time income.

While I started this blog with the intentions of using it as part of my business, I didn’t actively start monetizing it until much more recently. I was pretty distracted with the idea of building my income through Young Living for awhile,

but that certainly didn’t work out

There are lots of great articles with advice on monetizing and growing your blog, so I’m not going to go there. One of my favorite bloggers to follow is

Carly from Mommy On Purpose

. I love her emails and her blogging advice.

If you’re curious about the basics of

to make money on a blog, there are a few ways in general that bloggers make money.

This blog earns money through affiliate marketing (where I share company links and earn commissions based on those), ads, and

my own personal product line.

There’s also sponsored posts, where you partner with brands and earn product and payment. That’s a really common way for bloggers and social media influencers to make money, but I personally haven’t had much luck with that.

I Still Doubt I Have What it Takes to be a Successful Blogger

There are some general guidelines for what it takes to be a successful blogger:

engagement with your readers

being authentic and personal

and knowing what your audience wants.

I’m pretty sure I have those things. At least, I know it’s easy to check those types of things off of a list. But what about the things you don’t usually see on a list?

Becoming a successful blogger takes

. It takes a lot of bravery to show up and put yourself out there every single week.

I’m three years into this gig and still doubt myself all the time. There have been a few times where I worked

on a post, only to almost not hit publish when the time came. It’s really scary putting yourself out there for the whole world.

I played it safe for a long time, because I was worried so much about upsetting people. Finally, one day I heard the advice I needed so badly.

The people you upset with your opinion…those aren’t your people. Stop worrying about them, and connect with your people.

And yes…since taking that advice to heart, I’ve upset a few people. I’ve gotten rude messages and dealt with keyboard warriors, and that

But you know what? I’ve also gotten some of the

messages from the most

people. People have reached out to me that I didn’t even know were reading, and it’s been amazing.

I still doubt that I have what it takes to do this some days. But I think the secret is that everyone feels that way on the inside. The real success comes from doing it anyway, even when we’re scared and unsure.

The Truth is, The “Experts” Don’t Know Everything

I’ve blogged about this before. When I got started, I was really hung up on taking

the classes and listening to the experts.

I do think it’s important to learn from some pros when you first get started, but there is a fine line you have to walk.

If you do everything perfectly according to the blogging experts, you’re no longer being