This is a guest post by Taylor Thompson who is a blogger and currently writes at 91 Day Challenge. Read in this post, how blogging about something you’re not passionate about can cause your blog to miserably fail. Also, Learn the benefits of blogging about topics you are passionate about.
If you’re blogging for a living, there may be a good amount of pressure on you to develop a blog that makes enough money to provide a decent income for you and your family.
Maybe you’re looking to make $1,000 a month or maybe you’re looking to make $5,000 a month.
Whatever the case may be, if blogging is stressing you out, then you have already failed.
Why did you start blogging?
- To make money?
- To help others and discuss your passion.
If you’re constantly frustrated with with your job as a Blogger, there’s a good chance that you’re only doing it for the money, right?
On the other hand, if you’re discussing your passion, you should be enjoying your work.

Blogging should be something that you WANT to do!
From the very beginning, all of the Pro Bloggers tell you not to make the number 1 blogging mistake: Blogging for money and money only.
There’s a good chance that you have spent time writing about topics that you know nothing about. You could really careless about these topics, but maybe you noticed that the market for these topics was good.
Instead of writing 1 blog about something you’re passionate about, you decide that if you can make 10 different blogs that each earn $5.00 a day, then you will be making $50.00 a day.
$50.00 a day is great and everything, but the more time you spend discussing topics you don’t enjoy, the more likely you will be to give up.
How do I know all of this?
From 3 years of personal experience.
When I first started blogging, I started for all of the right reasons. Blogging for the right reasons paid me off in a good, passive way.
- My first blog ever (before I knew anything about SEO or anything else) began making $5.00 a day after only 6 months of being live.
- My second blog began making $10 – $20 a day after being live for about a year.
- Both blogs continue to make a decent amount of money, even with no upkeep.
- Since my first 2 blogs, ALL other 20+ blogs that I have created over the past 2 years have failed.
Don’t I know more about blogging now then I ever did when I first began? If so, how come I am not making more money? How come all of my new blogs are failing? Maybe you feel the same way about your blogs?
As soon as I started blogging for the money and covering topics that I could careless about, I was failing.
I have built 20+ different blogs over the past 2 years. All of these blogs were built for the sole purpose of making money. The market was great and the SEO plan was golden, but guess what?
All of these blogs failed.
Out of the 20+ blogs that I have built, the very first 2 blogs that I ever created were the only blogs to succeed.
Why?
You guessed it…
The 2 succeeding blogs covered topics I was passionate about. In fact, with no upkeep, they still generate $200.00 – $300.00 a month.
Why were my first 2 blogs successful? I am passionate about the topics that they covered.
You need to blog about something that you’re passionate about to become successful. I know that you have read this same tip a million times before.
Now you’re reading this tip from someone who wasted 2 years of their life going down the wrong path; Blogging about meaningless topics in an attempt to get rich.
If you’re not blogging about your passion, then you may as well have a regular job.
The whole point of blogging is to make money doing something you love, right? If you’re not covering topics that you love covering, you may as well go out and get a real job that you hate just as much… (At least a real job pays more, right?)
I know you have heard this tip a million times before, but this is coming from someone who has gone down the wrong road. I wasted 2 years. Don’t let this happen to you.
Now that I am blogging about something that I am passionate about, I am seeing a bunch of different benefits that I haven’t seen since creating my first 2 blogs.
- I am passionate about my writing again.
- People are contacting me for advice.
- People are liking me on Facebook.
- People are subscribing to my newsletter.
- … All of this feels like it’s happening automatically.
Every time I wake up in the morning, I am excited to do my job. Knowing that I can make money writing about something that I am passionate about, while also helping others is an amazing feeling.
You’re probably wondering, “Is your new blog making any money?”
Currently, my new blog is only 2 months old, and it is not making money. But guess what? I’m not trying to make any money. My first step is to provide quality content and capture subscribers.
I am focusing on building a list which is something that I have never done in all of my 3 years of blogging. Building a list means less money now, but more money later. This process takes real patience, but is well worth it in the long run.
How do you know if you’re blogging about something your passionate about?
- Do you enjoy writing on your blog?
- Are people contacting you for advice?
- Are people liking or friending you on Facebook?
- Are people subscribing to your newsletter?
- Does blogging feel effortless?
If you answered YES to all of the questions above, then you’re on the right track to making great profit with your blog. If you answered NO to the questions above (especially question #1), then you’re likely spinning your wheels for nothing.
Please take this advice seriously.
Just because you find an open niche, it doesn’t mean that you should pursue that niche.
- Darren Rowse
- Shoe Money
- Copy Blogger
- Patt Flynn
- John Chow
These are all bloggers that blog about Internet Marketing. They all love the internet marketing niche. When you read their web pages, you enjoy what they are talking about because you know that they enjoyed talking about it.
If you have been blogging about topics that you dislike, STOP now. Don’t waste anymore of your time.
Start blogging about something that you are passionate about. If you’re passionate about a topic, there’s a good chance that other people are also passionate about the same topic.
Eventually, people will see you as an authority, and when this happens, you will begin to make good money online.
This post is a part of SmartBloggerz’s guest blogging contest where you can win cash prizes for earning the most points. Help this guest author win this contest by commenting and sharing this post using the buttons below.
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You got me hooked to from the very beginning to the end. Passion has re-surfaced again. All your experience and failures with your blog just because you had the mindset of making money was the same thing I had.
My 3 initial blogs failed woefully. I mean, I didn’t even earn a dime. But today, money have started rolling in in thousands and I’m glad I re-adjusted my thoughts. It’s all about changing the way you think – from within until the picture of your future becomes clear and crisp.
I’m glad you share this. It’s a nice concept and I like your writing style. Keep ’em coming!
same thing happened to me when i first started my new blog i didn’t earned money this thing makes me, so worry about blogging. After one month i started writing unique articles every day with latest trending topics. By doing these procedure i learned new things and earned big amount in a month. 🙂
You definitely have to do something you are passionate about, otherwise it just becomes a job. I think most of us get into this online deal to get away from that dreaded day job, but alot of us do end up back to square one and working on something we are not passionate about. Its something that I too have been learning, and have been getting better at working on topics that I am more passionate about. My personal blog is a perfect example of that, I am eager to work on it and constantly improve it everyday!
-Jean
Great article with a unique perspective. I just wrote a post similar to this as well about why niche blogs fail. One reason is the blog owner is bored of the subject and thought they would just make some money with it and now it is no longer successful. Starting a travel blog is probably something I should have done a long time ago sine that is where my passion is. Now, we’ll see where it goes!!
I fully agree Taylor, I have several blogs that I have completely lost interest in. No one is going to bother reading something from a blogger that’s not even interested in the topic.
I just started (or re-opened) my blog on blogging and that’s the perfect fit for me. I avoided it for a long time because the niche is so saturated but I’ve decided that doesn’t matter. I love blogging so that’s what I should focus on. This particular blog isn’t monetized yet, it’s far too early. Right now I’m just focusing on content and building relationships. The money will wait.
LOL I can totally relate…honestly up until now! All my blogs failed. I ended up abandoning them and jumping on to a different topic. But nothing is working. I’m not passionate about any of those though. And you’re actually right, the only blog that giving me money right now is my personal blog. *sigh* I gotta think of things now to write about and that I’m passionate about at the same time.
Nicely put together. 🙂
Your content describes the exact condition I was at 2 years ago. I was caught up in the hype that blogging is easy money. Nevertheless, did I realized from the hard way that it isn’t as easy as it claims to be.
Money will be easy to come by if you blog with interest and as you said, when the thought of ‘money’ isn’t the big picture to why you blog.
Because of this, I have decided to invest my time to finding out more to how blogging works ( the technical + practical + web designing part of it )
It is time I take action now.
Keep the post coming.
I have enjoy reading it
I don’t know why but it seems that my name was Sailo ( as referred above )
😛 oh my…what could have happened ?
Please use an authentic human name instead of using your site name or any keyword as the ‘name’ before ‘@’.
Please refer to the comment policy to know more: http://www.smartbloggerz.com/comment-policy
I see.It is rather unfortunate that I really do go by the name ‘Seed’.
My blog title is a selection in response of the name that suggest me being a ‘millionaire’.
For the sake of policy, I will remain the name Sailo as given
Sorry and thanks 🙂
At first my main purpose of blogging was to make money online but then everything changed when I started to blog about my personal experiences, travel experiences. People ask advice regarding cheap hotels, and travel plans. I am enjoying also when others are going back and thanking me for the post.
Bloggers shouldn’t only focus on making money. I believe that should be the 2nd priority. First one should be creating quality content for your readers. Because they can help open great opportunities for you.
Taylor,
I blog as a hobby, but I have found that I can make money from it. Does that count?
I actually do have a day job that I love, but blogging is really a lot of fun.
I blog about SEO and I love it too.
I feel caught in the middle.
Mark
Mark its nice that you are able to have a day job and still do the blogging thing. Do you have any plans in the future to break away from your Job or do you intend to stay with the double duty. Great to hear that you are having alot of fun!
-Jean