Recently I was part of a discussion around the move from bloggers to doing more and more sponsored content and giveaways. Sharon mentioned that blogging is not free, so I thought I would share the real costs of blogging, for those non-bloggers or those who are considering blogging because the thing is, blogging is not free and sometimes there can be more costs involved than you realise. So what is the real cost of blogging?
Domain and hosting. So if you want to move over to self-hosting (which is recommended) then you have to purchase a domain name and pay for monthly hosting. These costs aren’t astronomical and you buy your domain name once and then renew annually. You can also pay hosting annually (or 3 years at a time) or monthly depending on your hosts and the package you chose.
Design work. Branding is more important than you think, especially if you want to grow your blog because your branding represents who you are. I saw a huge difference when I had HarassedMom’s branding done by a professional. (On that note – I can recommend Andrea, just wait for her to have her baby). You can do it yourself, there are loads of programmes you can use but honestly I would invest in proper branding and get a professional to help you out.
Data. You can’t blog without data, whether it is wifi at home or through your phone. That costs money. Yes, most of us have wifi at home but the fact is, if you don’t you need it. This costs money.
Time. Do not underestimate your time. Many bloggers do not take this into consideration at all and it is the biggest mistake. Blogging takes time, it is irrelevant that you love it, it still takes TIME. You need to think of a topic, write, edit, take pics, edit those pics – all takes TIME!
I am also going to add in a little bit about attending blogging events because people see us attending these and think “WOW that’s so cool” and it is, really it is SO awesome. But they are not for free, we don’t get petrol to go to the events, again it requires time out your day (or sometimes more than a day) and there isn’t always free wifi so any sharing you do is done using your data.
I have blogged about the fact that there is no such thing as a free lunch, blogging comes with costs and while they are totally worth it, the fact is you need to be aware that to start a blog doesn’t just take time, it costs money and it you have to weigh that up before you really start putting yourself out there.
Disclaimer: I LOVE blogging and I LOVE attending events and am not complaining or whinging about the costs involved but I think it is important to be aware that blogging is not done for free.
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I am a newbie blogger and was under the impression that it would not cost me a cent. I soon came to realize that if I want my blog to be successful, I need to invest by spending the bucks.
So true Laura! I would also add Training and Marketing costs. e.g. It costs to build an email subscriber list. Using free applications can be limiting.
On the time issue – wow! It’s amazing how much time it can take to make some (barely noticeable) tweaks to your website. I’ve spent hours, even days trying out different wordpress themes and plugins to improve site speed or mobile friendliness. Verifying my one site on google webmaster was a mission! Research also takes up a huge amount of time. And I find it takes as much time (if not more) to build an online presence through social media and site comments as writing actual content. Phew!
It actually prefer to think it is a labour of love but it has all changed in the past three years.