There are actually times when bloggers should not follow their passion.
Has anyone ever told you that you should follow your passion when you are blogging?
Well I’ve heard it many times.
And I’m sure you have.
In fact, I have always followed my passion in my own blogging business.
So sure, it’s good advice to follow your passion.
Because building an online business or a blog is a lot of work.
It takes time.
Unfortunately, it takes failures.
And most importantly, it takes overcoming those failures.
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You see, if you’re not totally passionate about something, you might just drop off by the wayside and give up when things get a bit tough.
But if you are passionate about your topic… your interest, desire and motivation can push you forward at a time when others might quit.
The Problem with Passion
There is a problem with passion, though.
And this is something that I see very often when I’m consulting one-on-one with clients.
The problem is that people get passionate about something and they work really hard on it.
But it’s not bringing them any profit.
Because the truth is that many things that you could be passionate about simply are not profitable niches or topics.
My Advice to Newbie Bloggers
So before you go head first into an online business or blog…
consider whether or not it is a good niche from the perspective of profitability.
My Advice to Experienced Bloggers
If you’re already involved in blogging or online marketing, I suggest that you might want to take a step back from time to time.
Take a careful look at how things are working out for you.
This is important just to make sure that you’re doing things that have solid profit potential built into them.
I hate when people tell me they’ve been working for three years (or six months, etc) in a certain niche, or on a certain blog, or in a certain business… and they have yet to make any substantial profit.
If that sounds like your story, then you really need to take another look at what you’re doing.
How to Profit from your Blog
Generally speaking, the top profit areas to build your business in are
1-wealth,
2-health, and
3-relationships.
Those are the three things that the vast majority of people are interested in.
And that’s where there are products and services already earning big profits from a well defined audience.
Your job is to find out in what niche within those three broad areas you could build your business on.
So what is your niche?
What is your topic?
What is it that you are trying or hoping to be profitable in with your online business?
Take a moment to think about these two things…
1. what is your niche?
2. is your blog actually profitable in that niche yet?
If you’re not getting that profit from your passion yet… it could be that you’re on the wrong track.
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You’re not alone.
Many bloggers get on the wrong track without even realizing it.
Very often, these are precisely the times when bloggers should not follow their passion.
When Bloggers Should Not Follow Their Passion
It’s really critical to know when you should not follow your passion.
This is a point on which I see both newbie and experienced bloggers get tripped up.
Don’t turn a “blind eye” when it comes to your success.
You can’t just blindly follow your passion and assume that at some point it’s going to make your blog successful.
There’s just too much at stake for your happiness, your future and your financial freedom.
Figure out a profitable path to follow.
This does not mean to simply follow your passion.
It means follow a profitable business model.
Then, keep your “eye on the prize” until you have achieved success.
So what’s your story?
Do you follow your passion on your blog?
Is it bringing you the profit you are looking for?
When do you think that bloggers should not follow their passion?
Drop me a comment below, and then… share this article on your social sites.
-Donna
Twitter: techofweb
November 8, 2018 at 3:58 am #
I doubt if any blogger starts a blog without thinking of anything earning through it.
People make dream of earning millions per month from day 1 when they make their blog live.
sometimes people should follow their passion while at other times, they should not.
and monetization of a blog is must . It will motivate you and will fill your pockets with happiness as money means happiness 🙂
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November 7, 2018 at 3:49 am #
Blogging becomes a global phenomenon where people use to write articles on their blog and share to various social networking and bookmarking sites. Passion is the most critical factor that helps me move forward without thinking about money and another distracting factor. This would be great advice to reach success without moving to shortcuts to achieve success. Blogger requires time it not about only writing articles it about includes the social presence, SEO, driving traffic that require more time and patience. For anyone blogging is the carrier, if they want to succeed then we never need to choose the unethical ways to achieve success. Passion about working hard and smart ethically.
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November 6, 2018 at 10:01 am #
Hi Donna,
I read many blogs where the writer would advice his readers to follow their passion when choosing a niche to concentrate and write about. Yes, following your passion is great because it will help you write with ease, but when your passion is not profitable you certainly would not want to follow it, because you must pay the bill, not passion wouldn’t pay your bills for you.
You’ve got an amazing article here, Donna.
A friend of mine told me that coaches that advise their audience to follow their passion are probably the only people making money from it. I thought about it and it was true because these coaches sold their books and coaching materials to these naive audience.
For me personally, following passion alone is bullshit. It’s risky and unacceptable to me. If I can’t make money off the thing that consumes my time, what’s my gain.
Thanks for sharing.
Emmanuel
Twitter: VineetSaxena4
November 4, 2018 at 9:50 pm #
Hi Donna,
When it comes to making profit out of someone’s blog, it is important not to just follow passion, but also look at the the profits and the income one’s passion is bringing in. But a lot of people don’t write their blogs for money only. They actually want to follow their passion and the income just becomes bonus. Just my opinion.
Thanks
Regards
Vineet Saxena
Twitter: donna_tribe
October 29, 2018 at 12:55 am #
Hi Vineet
Some people only blog as a hobby, or for enjoyment.
Others blog for a “cause” of some sort.
Those things are fine, and are times when you clearly should follow your passion.
But most bloggers… or at least most of my clients and students… are looking to monetize their blogs.
That’s when it’s not always a smart thing to blindly follow your passion until/unless you can clearly see a good way to monetize it.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Top 5 Hacks to Create Smarter Blog Content that Sells in 2019
Twitter: mitch_m
October 28, 2018 at 5:19 pm #
I don’t totally disagree with this, but I think people need to keep the bigger picture in mind. For instance. one of my blogs is for publicizing my business. The business is actually the passion, so the blog gives me support. It might not get a lot of views but it helps establish what I can do online. My other site is really more of the passion, but luckily I’m not relying on it generating income… for the moment… 🙂
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Twitter: donna_tribe
February 19, 2019 at 9:17 am #
Hi Mitch
Yes, the idea is to build that brand… as in publicizing your business.
The branding is primary.
The conversion of your readers into clients and customers is secondary, and will only be possible once you’ve earned their trust.
That requires you give great, inspired content on your blog… consistently.
-Donna
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Twitter: vishwa328
October 27, 2018 at 9:30 am #
Hello Donna,
Blogging is all about helping others with your knowledge. I highly believe to choose a right niche which you are passionate about and have good knowledge. I think if you are helping at least one people with your content then you are a successful blogger. Identifying your readers need and expectations are very important in blogging. You have shared some great tips here.
Regards,
Vishwajeet
Twitter: donna_tribe
October 29, 2018 at 12:53 am #
Hi Vishwajeet
Yes, it’s so important to blog for the benefit of your one, single, perfect client.
The one who really needs the information you are sharing.
Others will identify with that one, and will join your audience.
If you are blogging on a topic that your prospects are keyed into, you will be well positioned to profit from your blog.
-Donna
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October 27, 2018 at 6:07 am #
Hi Donna,
It is not easy to settle with a niche when starting a blog. Most of the time you hear that you should follow your passion but what if the passion is not profitable.
There is not sense on working on the path which can only bring more sand in sandstorm.
Always use your sense, do research and find the profitable niche which attracts you.
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Twitter: donna_tribe
October 28, 2018 at 11:32 pm #
Hi Gaurav
Some sound advice here, my friend.
Don’t need “more sand in a sandstorm”… no sense in continuing along a path that is not brining your the results you want… namely, profit from your blog.
It’s just as much work to develop a blog in an unprofitable niche as it is to do it in a profitable niche.
So choose very carefully and if you screw it up, back up and start over again… just reboot and move forward into a more profitable niche, and with a better monetization business model.
It’s called professional growth 🙂
-Donna
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October 27, 2018 at 3:03 am #
Hi Donna,
Excellent points here – one can be passionate about it but not making any money and spending ample time. That was me for years. Even now I use it (the blog) to help my local clients and I do generate some international work from it but I could do better with it. I need to create more products to sell with it. Part of my 2019 plan.
Thanks for the inspiring kick in the butt post Donna 🙂 Hope you don’t get much snow up there this weekend, we are headed to Vermont today.
Lisa Sicard recently posted..Social Media Tools Making Us Less Engaged on Social Media
Twitter: donna_tribe
October 28, 2018 at 10:59 pm #
Hi Lisa,
Creating products is a great way to monetize your blog for sure.
But the authority you gain as a blogger is critical to selling those products, courses or even services.
Even if you don’t sell your products ON your blog, you still get the biggest benefit by branding yourself as an authority from your blogging… and that paves the way to your products and services getting traction.
-Donna
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Twitter: imbhawnak
October 26, 2018 at 1:53 am #
Hey Donna,
For me personally, I am a reader and I love writing. Never thought of my blog as a passive income nor I am planning to. I am more concerned about making it into a brand.
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October 28, 2018 at 10:50 pm #
Hi Bhawna,
I really think that branding is the most important function of a blog.
It can be company or corporate branding, or personal branding… but letting people know who you are, what you’re about and what your core message to them is… that’s really the value of blogging.
And that’s huge value because it’s what develops trust from your audience 🙂
-Donna
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October 26, 2018 at 1:52 am #
Hello Donna,
You couldn’t be more correct. Many people get into the business thinking it is all gonna be easy but the ground reality is very different. If you are doing it as a hobby there might be obstacles which can demotivate you.
As always awesome content.
Keep up the good work
Regards
Bikram Kalsi
Bikram Kalsi recently posted..De-stigmatising Psychology in India
Twitter: donna_tribe
October 28, 2018 at 9:43 pm #
Hi Bikram,
Although, if you’re doing it as a hobby you probably don’t care about monetizing your blog.
You’re just doing it because you want to, so in that case, passion is really all you need.
But I know, from all the bloggers I consult with… very, very few really do it as a hobby.
Most have some business goals… profits of branding. And of course, branding is just one step along the path to profits.
-Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..How Do You Start a Blog to Make Money?
Twitter: ryanbiddulph
October 25, 2018 at 3:27 pm #
We need to asses why we do what we do Donna and also, if we are clear on it. Many struggling bloggers do not have true, genuine passion for their niche and a few have niched down so much it becomes impossible to make sweet coin. I saw an eBook from a blogger specializing in cycling through a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. Such a small demand for that. Think broad enough to gain some mass appeal and narrow enough to speak to the perfect person, to stand out from the crowd. Rocking post.
Twitter: donna_tribe
October 27, 2018 at 10:59 pm #
Hi Ryan,
Good points, my friend.
Gotta find that “sweet spot” that can actually convert into a good client/customer base.
Now int’s nice to have real passion for that niche, but it won’t make any difference if your business model is not structured to monetize.
-Donna
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October 24, 2018 at 9:39 pm #
Hi Donna,
Great advice. I sometimes wonder if I’ve fallen into that trap myself but I keep at it. I will admit, it is hard to keep up the consistency and the day to day actions that needs to be done.
Not many people would tell the truth as you do. There are times when it’s just “time” to let it go.
Thanks so much for everything you share.
Twitter: donna_tribe
October 27, 2018 at 10:53 pm #
Hi Monna,
Well, keeping up with the day to day actions is the way to do it.
But you have to be sure that process is able to pull in profits, or you’re just doing a lot of work for “the love of it”… lol
That’s why I say you can’t just follow your passion… you also have to follow a sound business model that will convert into profit.
-Donna
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