16 Fears That Will Stop You From Blogging (And How To Overcome Them)

FEAR. This is something that can hold you back quite easily for no reason.

We experience a lot of fears in our day-to-day life. And blogging (especially for beginners) is not exception!

No matter how smart we are and no matter how good we are at self-development, I can say that there is some sort of fear or doubt inside every person.

Some may fear the darkness, some have the fear to fly, some people fear water and refuse to take swimming classes.

Some fear taking any risks in their personal and business lives, some people fear getting committed to any relationships, so on and so forth.

And now, blogging is not an exception. There are quite a lot of fears, doubts and questions that are in the mind of every blogger.

Both beginner and established bloggers have these fears. The differences are that:

• Beginner bloggers have more fears than advanced or established bloggers, and
• Established bloggers have some experience in anticipating and overcoming these blogging fears/doubts.

But as I said, it doesn’t matter if you’re a newbie blogger or an advanced one; you are most likely to have a few fears and uncertainties with blogging!

This blog post is to help you overcome those fears, put them aside and help you keep moving forward towards success.

This post is to help you make sure you don’t get caught up with the fears but rather move them apart from your path and keep going no matter what.

Ready for the fearless journey? Let’s dive in.

• Did I choose the right blogging niche?
• Should I make an investment in this small business idea that I have?
• Will I be able to create blog content in the long run?
• Can I create good quality content and keep up with the competition?
• Where can I find blog content ideas?
• How will I deal with negative feedback?
• What if I don’t make any money?
• How will I learn and cope with the tech aspects involved in blogging?
• What if it takes too long to succeed?
• I don’t know anything about SEO!
• What if no one reads my content?
• How can I offer expert advice?
• What blog monetization methods do I use?
• How can I be original and how can I stand out from the crowd?
• Will I find the time to blog?
• Should I quit my job or not?

#1 Did I choose the right blogging niche?

This is one of those questions that bloggers get in their early days of blogging.

While many bloggers spends hours and hours in researching for the “right” niche, they don’t get the satisfaction even after they’ve actually started blogging. And this is quite pathetic.

The hours put into choosing a niche earlier are now wasted and also the blogger is much more inclined towards changing the niche, which is not a promising thing to do!

This fear or uncertainty occurs in the earlier or later days of blogging for business because bloggers don’t understand the concept behind choosing a blogging niche.

In my opinion and from my experience of starting close to 50 sites, I find two things to be really important when you choose a niche:

• Your passion for the niche
• The profitability of the niche.

Out of the close to 50 websites I started, not all of them are running right now. I’ve had some failed niches and I had to dump those websites. So I can talk from experience here.

You’ve got to have the right combination of passion and profitability.

Having 100% of one and 0% of the other will cause you to crash or will push you into fears while you have already started and are running a blog.

The most common pitfall here is that passion is overrated.

Yes of course passion is necessary but going after a niche that you’re totally passionate about and not caring about the profitability of the niche will get you in trouble. You have to find the right balance.

Also “passion” is usually mistaken these days. When bloggers are reading through the information available on the internet, it is pretty common to get excited about a niche.

For instance, when you’re thinking about starting a blog, it is quite common that you’ll research on the topic. You naturally read a lot of “blogging tips” blogs to gather information on the topic.

Since by now you actually “know” quite a lot about blogging, you could be excited that you know some stuff here. That doesn’t really mean you should start a blog on blogging.

Rather you should look at how profitable the niche is and what expertise you have to build an authority site and a business in the blogging niche.

If you’ve just been reading about blogging and having no experience, it is hard to teach people to succeed with blogging or it is hard to write books on the topic.

#2 Should I make an investment in this small business idea that I have?

Yes and no! First of all don’t be in an urge to jump in and start a new business.

If you do not carefully think about the pros, cons and other aspects of a business idea, it is more likely that you will fail.

I know this sounds discouraging. But I am not trying to scare you. I’m giving you a little bit of warning here.

The phrase “don’t be afraid to take risks” is overly over-rated.

If you invest in a wrong business idea, you are the one who is going to face the consequences. So think about it at least two times!

Having said that, if you have the guts to start a business (financially and have moral support), and if you have done enough research on the market, then by all means, invest!

Planning to start a business (based on a wonderful business idea) and hesitating to invest is a plague.

If you treat your idea like a business, then treat your real business like a business too.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Starting a professional business DOES cost money” quote=”Starting a professional business DOES cost money” theme=”style4″]

If you want to start a business for free, you are not doing it professionally, and you are not treating it properly/seriously.

Any business start-up costs money – but if you are starting an online business, the costs can be much lesser compared to a brick and mortar business!

But by all means, invest!

#3 Will I be able to create blog content in the long run?

This depends on the basis on which you chose the niche. If you chose a niche in which you are passionate about and a niche that’s reasonably broad, then you can create content in the long run, for sure.

Even if you get stuck, it is easy to get inspired by looking around – the comments in your blog posts, your industry blogs, reading books, watching television and so on.

BUT if you chose a niche on which you have no interest on, and/or if the niche is too small, it is not surprising that you will get stuck.

Here arises two cases:

• If you chose a niche in which you are not passionate and if you’ve done it knowingly, you can always hire writers to continuously create content for your blog.
• If you’ve chosen a niche in which you’re passionate about but have no knowledge, then you can always invest some time in getting yourself educated on the topic.

Either way, the answer to this question greatly depends on your answer to question #1.

#4 Can I create good quality content and keep up with the competition?

Yes – if you can create good quality content that gives you an edge to keep up with the competition.

But don’t settle down on creating good quality content alone. You need to promote your content strategically.

You need to spend more time and effort on promoting your content than creating it.

If you spent 2 hours writing and publishing a blog post, spend at least 3-4 hours in promoting it.

Now, don’t get me wrong when I say “promote it” – don’t jump into social media and start posting links to your content.

It doesn’t work that way in the current age (it could have worked long ago, but not anymore).

#5 Where can I find blog content ideas?

There is too much information out there on the internet that could choke us, seriously. This question used to make sense over a decade ago.

Now, there’s really too much information on any given topic and there are also too many places to look for inspiration and ideas on any niche.

Your own niche blogs (or competitors), forums, social media, content syndication sites, blogging communities etc. are places where you can find content ideas.

I personally focus on the comments in posts on my blog.

And I also ask my newsletter subscribers about what’s stopping them from blogging or what problem they have right now – I send this email as soon as they subscribe and I get real problems from real bloggers.

These responses from my subscribers act as source ideas for blog posts or products or short e-books.

My second top source of ideas is DoSplash, my blogging community.

I get exposed to a lot of niche blogs there and I can instantly get inspired for a post idea by looking at the stream of posts there.

My third source is social media.

#6 How will I deal with negative feedback?

When you’re out there doing something in public, you will certainly get feedback. There will be all kinds of feedback – the good and the constructive ones; the bad and the negative ones.

First of all you have to train yourself to understand that not all feedback is bad. I’ve had many constructive feedbacks from my readers and well-wishers.

At the first instance it may sound discouraging to read those kinds of emails, but listening to those feedbacks and implementing some of those suggestions have made a big difference in my business!

So, yes, you don’t have to “deal” with all the negative feedback since all are not negative at all.

Secondly, if you really do come across a negative feedback, again in this case too, you don’t have to deal with it – you don’t have to react to it.

If you get emotional and start responding to negative feedback, you will let unnecessary stuff into your head that will harm your productivity.

Also you might ruin your reputation due to bad mouthing.

#7 What if I don’t make any money?

You won’t make fast money with blogging. There is no overnight success and there is no push button.

No matter how many shiny, over-hyped products you buy, it won’t change the fact that you need to work your butt off to make money with blogging.

But you should think strategically about monetizing your blog before you start a blog.

Don’t start a blog in a niche without thinking and researching and then scratch your head about ways to make money. This won’t work.

Writing blog posts, publishing them, and putting up ad banners on your site won’t make you enough money as well!

Your blog needs to be backed up by a business – you should have something to sell through your blog. It can be your product or a service or someone else’s product.

Unless you start a blog on a really lonely niche, you should be making money. It does take time and strategic thinking – but it is not impossible!

#8 How will I learn and cope with the tech aspects involved in blogging?

There is indeed a learning curve with everything – if you are going to do something new, you need to be prepared to have some learning time.

You can outsource certain complicated tasks, but knowing what is what will help you in the long run.

As far as blogging is concerned there isn’t much tech involved and we are lucky and blessed.

Publishing blog posts is fun and simple. But still you could get hiccups with the initial set up before you start rolling.

Check out the helpful tips and videos in this page to set up your blog the right way.

Also check out the technical aspects of starting a blog!

I’m sure you can figure out most of the initial setup using this guide. If you still have problems, I can help you with that!

#9 What if it takes too long to succeed?

Sometimes it does take a while to succeed. It really depends upon the niche you choose, the strategies you implement and the amount of time and money you are willing to invest in your business.

In some niches things start to catch up and get shape quite soon, but in some competitive and sluggish niches, making money is really a time consuming process.

If you’re smart enough to take up the “good” niche, you’re lucky.

But even if you’ve picked up a niche where the competition is relatively harder and if success does longer, you just have to hang on and try smarter.

With blogging, most successes happen right at the time when the blogger is about to lose hope and quit. I’ve thought about quitting a couple of times.

I’ve even thought about quitting blogging and just get back to concentrating on my (then) day job. Things were really hard sometimes in the past.

But the fact that I decided to stick and to try smarter is the sole reason I’m running a successful business right now and you’re reading this work of mine 🙂

#10 I don’t know anything about SEO!

I know I know. SEO is scary! And the search engines like Google are always changing the rules of the game.

So it might sound tedious and overwhelming to keep up with the changes. But I’ve got good news for you.

The changes are happening for good, seriously.

Earlier, you have to know so many jargons, so many short cuts and you have to be buying so many software/plugin to compete with the big names and get your rankings in the search engines.

Nowadays all you have to do is find out what your audiences are interested in, and create top-notch, highly useful content. That’s it, really.

That’s SEO. It has all come down to be being useful and I don’t think that’s hard or tricky.

You don’t have to please search engines, you just have to please and be useful to your audience who are real living people.

I highly suggest you to read this post I wrote on this topic.

#11 What if no one reads my content?

This is serious and you need to find out why! There could be several possible reasons, and I highlight a few of them below:

• Your content is not interesting
• Your content doesn’t offer anything of value
• You don’t know what your readers want
• You are in a boring niche
• You have no expertise to provide useful content in your niche
• You are not good at writing content with a voice
• You try to rehash others content and publish it on your blog

… and so on.

This list is not complete. But this will give you a good idea as to where to look for issues.

Once you figure out what’s wrong, just fix it and you should be good.

#12 How can I offer expert advice?

You really got to become an expert then. You cannot fake it until you become an expert.

The only easiest roundabout way to achieve expert status fast is to start an online business and a blog on a topic on which you are already an expert (OK I cheated you on this!).

Other than that you need expertise.

You can develop expertise by not only reading or gaining knowledge on your topic but you should have experience – you need to get your hands dirty.

For instance, if you want to offer expert advice on blogging, it is not enough that you read about blogging.

You should have started a blog and you should have succeeded in blogging – if you have to teach about making money blogging, you should be a success at that first!

[clickToTweet tweet=”Knowledge is not enough. You have to have experience(and that’s why the term expertise)” quote=”Knowledge is not enough. You have to have experience(and that’s why the term expertise)” theme=”style4″]

Also, you should get enough testimonials from others before you can offer yourself for expert advice.

In order to do this, you might have to do some consulting or provide your service (not necessarily consulting, but can be any service) for free in return for a testimonial or customer feedback.

This will create a positive feel about your service and it then becomes easier to get new clients.

#13 What blog monetization methods do I use?

There are lots of ways to make money blogging.

It is really your personal preference as to which means of monetization you’d choose. Also you have to take stock of what items you can sell.

It can be your personal services, products, or making money via third party sales.

When you are in the hunt for monetization methods, do not pick one method and stick to it.

If that method ever fails or stops to generate income one day for some reason, you’ll go broke.

You want your business to generate consistent income and you can only do this by spreading your monetization strategy over various income streams.

I share the monetization methods that I tried and tested on me and have found to be working in my e-book “Can I Really Make Money Blogging?” – I strongly suggest you to pick up your copy!

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#14 How can I be original and how can I stand out from the crowd?

If you are original, you have already stood out from the crowd. So let’s just talk about being original.

When it comes to blogging as a business, you have to be original and unique in everything possible. Here are a few things that need originality:

• Your blog’s UVP.
• Your content.
• Your marketing moves.
• Your blog’s design
• Your voice (not just on your content but while you market it too!)
• Your products/services

… these are a few areas where you should maintain originality.

As to content when I say original, I don’t mean creating 100% Copyscape proof content. I mean original ideas.

All the content you create and the tips/strategies you share need not be new but you can always add your own spin, your opinions and thoughts on the subject and make it original.

#15 Will I find the time to blog?

You won’t “find” the time to blog, EVER. You have to make the time yourself. “I don’t have time to blog” is a very popular excuse made by lazy bloggers.

Don’t ever make that excuse.

As I said, instead of complaining you need to make the time to blog. Blogging is not just about creating content – you have a whole lot of other things to do.

You have to research on hot topics in your niche, you have to find out what interests your readers, you have to connect with your readers (both on your blog and outside) and there’s social media, promotion, product creation and so on and so forth.

The list can go on and on to fill your plate. If you’re not going to have clear goals you will be time wandering.

You will be wasting your time focussing on pointless tasks and worrying about useless stuff. This is why you should have clear blogging goals.

Set both long term and short term goals and keep yourself constantly reminded of them.

In order to accomplish each goal (short term or long term) you need to accomplish a set of tasks.

Write them down and take care of them.

You might need to use a “system” to keep everything in one place – your task list, your to-do list for the day/week/month, your short term and long term goals, and you should also be able to see your progress in each goal.

Also you need to set deadlines for the jobs to be completed – you cannot take forever, right?

I use a combination of Asana, and Wunderlist to manage my tasks.

Every month, I write down my monthly plans in a diary (paper+pen) and then feed it to the system. This works well for me.

You could use these tools or something else.

The key is not in the tools we use but how effectively we use them and how effectively we get things done. If you have a “system” in place you can’t complain about lack of time!

So far I talked about getting blogging tasks done. Now let’s talk about distractions.

Distractions also keep you from doing your blogging tasks and leave you with a question “when will I get the time to blog?”

When you have goals and you keep yourself constantly reminded about it, you should not be distracted.

You should stay focussed in order to accomplish those goals, no matter what!

Do whatever you can to stay focussed and stay productive. Again I use the Pomodoro

If I find I’m slacking I immediately get back on track. You can use a timer to finish tasks. Pomodro technique is great in this sense.

You also need to carve yourself a working schedule – it doesn’t matter if you’re a full time or a part time blogger, you need a working schedule.

#16 Should I quit my job or not?

Well yes or no – depending upon various factors!

Starting a blog, and making some money over a few months doesn’t mean you can quit your job! Not at all!

Here are certain things you need to analyse before you can think about quitting your day/regular job.

• How much income does your blog/business generate?
• Is the income consistent? Do you earn $2000 one month and $200 the next month?
• Is your blogging income more than your current regular income?
• How long have you been blogging? – If it’s just been 6 months, you should wait longer to see if things are consistent.
• How much time you spend on blogging now? And how much will it be after you quit your day job? – (Remember, working from home doesn’t necessarily mean more blogging time! I’m talking from experience here).
• Does the income from your job support/cover your blogging expenses?

I hope you get the idea! Don’t jump into taking decisions without giving it a deeper thought.

Blogging for beginners: Blogging fears and dealing with them

Fear is something that will hold you back by all means.

If you have a doubt about something, just get it cleared. There’s always someone else who has successfully done it.

Connect with that someone and seek advice. Do not ignore expert blogging advice.

If you simply get your doubts cleared and overcome fears, nothing can hold you back.

But if you just allow the fear(s) to dwell in your mind, it won’t allow you to take one step further.

Hope this blog post helped you overcome some of your blogging fears and doubts. Now it’s time to take action. Just move forward.