Last Updated on May 4, 2020 by ellduclos

10 Blogging Myths Busted

As you can probably imagine from this title, I am about to lay out some truth here. There are many “blogging myths” that have been spread about the blogging community. I wanted to address these myths by sharing my personal experiences that prove these myths aren’t true.

I feel as if I need to throw in a disclaimer here: I am in no way, shape or form trying to make anyone upset. I am just sharing my experiences as a full time blogger and how they relate to proving that these statements aren’t the whole truth. You will either agree or disagree with me. A bit hesitant to post this, but felt it needed to be said!

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Disclaimer: Affiliate links are used! You can find my disclosure here.

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1. To be a successful blogger, stick to ONE niche

I think this blogging myth bothers me the most. There are so many out there telling others that in order to be a successful blogger you should only focus on one niche. FALSE. There are many bloggers out there who have proven this theory wrong.

Think about Michelle from Making Sense of Cents. She doesn’t just blog about one specific topic and she is SUPER successful. I blog about multiple topics and I am blogging full time. It’s possible to have a money making blog with multiple niches.

The great thing is, you can create categories and make it easy for your audience to search and find exactly what they are looking for, so having multiple niches isn’t a problem! Another helpful hint, most email list builders allow you to segment your email list so your subscribers are only getting emails on topics they are interested in!

This is me saying: go ahead and blog about whatever your heart desires!

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2. You need a lot of traffic to make money blogging

This is so far from the truth!!! It’s not the traffic that matters, it’s the relationship you have with your audience that matters! Does your audience trust you? Do you engage with your audience? If your audience doesn’t have a relationship with you and your writing, they most likely won’t trust you enough to want to go out of their way to purchase via your affiliate link or buy your product.

Yes, your chances of making a sale might increase a bit as your traffic grows, but if you never build trust and a personal connection with your audience, sales will be tough.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”It’s not the blog traffic that matters, it’s the quality of that blog traffic that matters. Instead of stressing numbers, focus on building a personal connection with your audience.” quote=”It’s not the blog traffic that matters, it’s the quality of that blog traffic that matters. Instead of stressing numbers, focus on building a personal connection with your audience.” theme=”style3″]

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3. You should wait for brands to come to you

HECK NO! Brands are SO busy, and there are loads of bloggers out there. Don’t wait for them to magically find your content. Have the confidence and pitch to that brand! You will be so surprised at how many brands will actually respond back. & if they don’t, it’s okay! Don’t get discouraged. Brands are usually given a set monthly budget to work with bloggers. You will get rejected at times but don’t let it make you feel any less!

There is a lot you should know about working with brands, including how to pitch. If you are ever wanting that help, Read this. In this post a covered topic is brand collaborations. I share everything that I know and have done to have successful brand collaborations. (side note: I started working with brands at about 1.5k followers on Instagram & if I remember correctly, 3k monthly blog views.) I even include my pitch template (: Don’t be afraid to pitch to brands first! 

Another point I wanted to touch base on is, you don’t necessarily need thousands and thousands of followers on Instagram. Followers are great but engagement matters too!!!! 

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4. In order to blog you need to be self hosted

As you may know, I am a huge lover of self hosting! I used to use free WordPress and I just despised how limited it was… BUT even when I was on WordPress.com I was STILL blogging and growing. You don’t need to start off your blog self hosting!

Of course there are downsides to using free sites like wix,Wordpress .com,squarespace but that’s YOUR CHOICE if you decide to save the money and use a free blog platform. Of course things that are paid for will always have more advantages over something that is free, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t blog if you can’t self host. You can still grow an engaged audience!!! I promise. 

A TIP:  If you ever decide to self host, I advise to be wary about who you choose as your host! I use Siteground and have for a while. They have a fast responding helpful support team, fast server speed, and very secure with free SSL certificates. When I transferred from WordPress.com to self hosting they did it all for me! It was pretty great and I don’t ever regret self hosting! But it’s not the only way to blog!

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Related: Creating a Monthly Vision for your Blog & 100+ Blog Post Ideas

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5. Money happens instantly (aka: “make $100,000 blogging this year!!!”)

Please don’t think this! This is a huge blogging myth that can leave many feeling discouraged. I know there are blogging courses out there that scream “make 6 figures blogging this year!” and in all honesty, this isn’t always true. Can it be true for some? I mean, of course!

But here’s the thing: You get what you give and what works for one person isn’t always going to work for you! It’s a lot of work to turn your blog into a business. It takes a lot of time! (and what I mean by that is it takes A LOT OF YOUR TIME) If anyone says otherwise I feel as if they are lying!

Please don’t get discouraged if you don’t see income rolling in right off the bat. Income will come at different speeds for everyone. Just continue to post content that you love, continue learning and growing! 

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6. You need to have tons of subscribers to be successful

This blogging myth really irks me! Maybe at one point it was all about the e-mail list but I’m here to say, it doesn’t have to be. I am going to throw an opinion out there, please don’t bash my head in for it! *E-mail marketing isn’t what it used to be.* (okay I said it!)

Maybe it’s just my generation, but holy hell do I hate emails! My inbox is filled with emails and I find myself unsubscribing to emails daily! (Don’t get me wrong, you should still try and grow your email list because social media may not be forever!) BUT, I don’t worry that much about how many subscribers I have.

PLUS – When brands want to work with you, they aren’t usually asking how many subscribers you have. They ask, how many followers on Instagram do you have? Or how many pageviews does your blog receive each month?

I will say though, even if you have a small email list, nurture it! Those subscribers are subscribed for a reason! But don’t get offended if you receive unsubscribes when you email your list. It happens.

I know there will be some who disagree with me, but I did a poll and over 70% said that they almost never open emails from those whom they are subscribed to. If someone wants an update or news, they are looking at social media most of the time. 

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7. You should pass down a Collab if you aren’t getting paid

Not necessarily!

Think about it, you are just starting off as a blogger and you want to pitch to a brand. Usually in your pitch you should include previous work for reference… but if you have no work to show, then you can’t prove your true worth. You know you work hard at your content, but how can you get the brand to believe that without previous experience? (some brands won’t care but others will)

I accepted free product in exchange for reviews many times in the beginning. This was to gain experience and prove to other brands in the future that I do my part. I didn’t feel right demanding money from a brand when I didn’t have anything to show for. Just like your audience, you need to build trust with brands too! It can also benefit you later on because then a brand will want to work with you again if they can trust you!

You might need to do a few collabs in the beginning in exchange for free product and that’s okay! It’s experience and it helps you grow your worth and trust as a blogger. There will be a point where you need to not let brands take advantage of you and request that payment. You’ll know when it’s the right time. Be true to you, ALWAYS.

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8. Blogging isn’t a lot of work

I don’t know about you, but I can say that blogging IS a lot of work. The work load for each blogger is different depending… BUT it isn’t always easy. I could go into how much work it is but instead I’ll just let you read this post on what full time blogging is really like!

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9. You should be writing for your audience

Okay, YES AND NO.

It’s great to write for your audience as that will help keep them interested. BUT HERE’S THE THING…

In the beginning you should write for you! If you aren’t enjoying what you are writing about, you won’t feel motivated and excited to do it. When you start writing for you and build an audience around what YOU LIKE, that’s when blogging becomes fun.

Even though you are writing for you, others are going to gravitate towards your content because they enjoy what you like too! & your excitement and energy is going to attract them to your content.

Once you write a lot of content you love, you will see what pieces your audience gravitated towards most, and that can help you create more quality content for YOU AND YOUR AUDIENCE in the future. 

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10. There is only one way to achieve success from blogging

Very false! There are so many different paths you can take on your blogging journey to achieve success! There are also SO MANY WAYS you can earn money from your blog and online in general.

You can work remotely from your computer, but don’t believe there is one specific guide you need to follow step by step!

In fact, I found my way through my journey by going through trial and error. Each day I am learning something new about blogging! There is not one person out there who knows it all because things are constantly changing!!!

If you have been wanting to blog, JUST DO IT! And do it the way YOU want to! That’s the best part, when it comes to your blog you don’t have a boss, YOU ARE YOUR OWN DAMN BOSS. 

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I really hope this post didn’t offend anyone. It’s not my intentions at all! I just wanted to prove to others that when it comes to blogging, there is no set instructions or rules. Yes, there are guides and others out there who want to give the best advice possible. BUT the truth is, everything is CONSTANTLY changing. We are all out here just adapting to the changes and learning as we go! Just be you, take in the advice you read, but at the end of the day, do what YOU WANT to do with your blog. That’s what matters most!