5 Reasons Why People Fail To Make Money With Blogging (And How To Fix It)

Blogging sucks right?

It just takes so much effort, time and patience to be able to make some money at this but somehow; you see everybody else winning at this and you’re still trying to make your first $.

Do not worry, that is where we all start and eventually it always works out.

All it takes is understanding how to make money and why people fail to make money with blogging in the first place (and learning from their mistakes).

Today I am going to be sharing with you 5 reasons why most of the newbie bloggers fail and these are all “mistakes” I’ve committed myself so do not feel discouraged if you find that you’ve been doing it wrong all along.

It’s part of the learning process and it’s something you have to go through. Once you understand these 5 principles though; it’s show time.

why people fail to make money blogging

A Lack Of Traffic

The lack of traffic for the first few months of a blog’s life is one of the most gut-wrenching times for a blogger.

Starting out, you’re excited, happy with your new project, you’re publishing frequently and you’re planning out your new life as a pro blogger.

However, weeks and months go by and nothing happens!

Very few visitors, zero comments, the blog is ranking on page 19 and you only made 3c using AdSense.

This is tough. Even writing this section gave me an uneasy feeling in my stomach as I know that feeling way too well. I’ve been there before many, many times.

Please realize that a blog that generates consistent traffic, rankings, comments and sales is a blog that has been around for a while.

There is no way that you can start blogging today and have a successful blog next week.

There are ways you can improve your chances of getting traffic early on in the beginning stages, but even if you do pull it off: it won’t be enough to claim you have a “successful blog”.

Take the enthusiasm you feel when starting out to write as much content as you can but do not publish them. Believe it or not, whatever happens, you are going to run out of steam soon and seeing as you won’t be getting any quick results, there will be a temptation to quit.

So, whenever you get that mood to write, do that. It will help develop your writing “voice” and style and you will also have articles ready to be auto-published when you are feeling a bit “not so motivated”.

Dealing with traffic is the first hurdle as to why people fail with blogging and hopefully this helped you deal with it if you’re facing such an issue.

Let’s move on:

No Experience With Blogging

This is a tricky one as the only way to get experience is to actually do it, which will be difficult to stick through seeing as there are many instances where you are going to want to pack it in.

Experience is key with blogging and believe me when I say; there is always something new to learn.

Whether you are a newbie or a pro blogger, the blogosphere is changing so rapidly right now with all the tools and social media platforms coming up that it’s impossible to “know it all”.

I have been blogging for years now consistently and I still admit that there is a lot more I can learn how to do and manage better.

So how do you get the experience?

You set out on your journey and move forward without ever looking back.

Remember; failure is also an experience so if you fail with one blog, you will know what not to do the next time around to better your chances.

I have had many blogs fail on me (mainly because I lost interest and gave up on them) and all of them have thought me a lesson for the blogs I am running now (currently 4 + an online store)

So whatever happens and whatever way you try to approach this, remember that every minute you spend trying to figure it out, will all pay off in the future.

There is not “one size fits all cure” for dealing with this except to just keep going.

From experience, I can tell you that the majority of blogger quit just before their blog takes off (around the 4 to 6 month mark). Do not let this happen to you. Do not give up at the time you should be putting more and more focus on it.

But what if I am doing it wrong?

That is why I suggest you get some free training to make sure you are doing the right thing and doing it the proper way.

Do not spend months working on something then learning you were doing it wrong all along as that sucks. Again; I know from experience.

Startup Costs Holding You Back? Really!?

Ok, some of you may not want to start a blog (and build it big enough to make money) because you think that it will involve a lot of money to get it running and profitable.

I am here to tell you that no, it won’t take a lot. The maximum amount you can spend is around $100 a year for everything and that includes your own domain, a WordPress blog and hosting.

Nowadays, it only cost me the $15 to buy a domain name as I get my hosting for free from Wealthy Affiliate (it’s part of the membership plan) so starting a new blog (business) now only takes a few bucks and about 10 minutes of my time.

That is it… that is all you need to invest monetarily to get your blog up and running.

Now, when your blog grows bigger and bigger you will have some expenses. I myself have premium tools that I pay a monthly subscription for and I also hire writers for me to supply me with content but get this…

Running a full-time online business only costs me a whopping $2.47 a day. That’s right; that is all I spend on average a day to run my business with all the costs included in it.

How’s that for a deal?

So if you’re afraid that setting up a website is going to cost you money, do not worry as it won’t. And even if you grow it to be a money maker, you still won’t be spending a lot of money running it.

Gosh, I love online businesses!

You Have A Lack Of Authority Power

Ok so you’re a few months in now, you have some kick ass articles online, and you even have (maybe) a few readers, comments, and subscribers.

Good job; you’re on the right track but that doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to make money.

So what is wrong if you’re getting readers in but not making any money?

It could be that you do not have enough traffic yet (for that see the paragraph at the top of this post) but also it could mean that you do not have a lot of authority.

Search engines like sites with authority so this is something you will earn over time.

How do you earn authority? Simple; you keep publishing great posts and reviews, keep engaging with readers and keep sharing on social media.

Every one of these things, the more you do it, the more points you earn in the eyes of the search engines.

But… authority is not only for search engines; you might not have enough authority from your readers yet. If your blog is new you also might not have as much authority in the eyes of the few readers you are getting.

If you’re a “new blog”, it’s easy to tell and I personally myself would not take the advice and recommendation of somebody that is just starting out.

If you have a blog about how to lose belly fat and you only have 3 posts up, I might skim through your content and go to an authority site like MensFitness.com for more information.

This is a bit of a frustration I know but there is a fix to it and that fix is the same as the fix for having authority with search engines;

  • Keep publishing content,
  • Keep sharing on social media,
  • Keep networking and
  • Keep engaging.

Comments are often overlooked and undervalued but a blog that has a lot of active, recent comments on it shows the readers (and the SERPs) that this post is ALIVE and it is getting some buzz.

Also, if you jump into the comments (which you should be doing) it will show that you can be reached and you will provide answers if necessary.

All these boost up your authority so just keep following these steps and wait it out. At some point; you’re going to have a lot of comments on your blog that you just have no time to get to.

I currently have this problem with over 50 comments in my queue waiting to get published and replied!

You Have No Products To Sell

Ok, let’s tackle the obvious here and make sure that we are not missing out on money simply because there is nothing to sell.

If you’ve been blogging for awhile now, you have readers coming in yet you do not have money. Let me ask you this:

Have you got a post that promotes a certain type of product? Do you have affiliate links placed in the best position for them to convert?

The popular method of blog monetization is by using Google Adsense but in my last post that I shared about Adsense, I talked about how little to no benefit it has for new bloggers.

If you have Adsense on your site and you’re not making any money (or you’re just making a few cents), please consider trying out affiliate marketing as that is a much better way to make money with a new blog than Adsense.

AdSense works wonderfully for people who have a huge readership and a lot of hits on their post each and every day (I’m talking thousands here).

Sure the Huffington post makes millions a month from Adsense, but they also have millions of reader there.

Unless you’re Arianna Huffington reading this, then I am going to assume that you are a newbie to intermediate blogger who is just frustrated at not being able to make money when so many others seemingly do it with ease.

Do not worry about that and simply try to learn how to do affiliate marketing very well.

Also, try doing some product reviews as they are one of the best ways that you can make get ranked high and quickly, get visitors in and even make money.

I talk about this in my free ebook “How To Win At Affiliate Marketing”. Feel free to give that a look if you’re interested in getting started.

I will also be sending you a free invitation to try out the starter membership of my #1 rated course, Wealthy Affiliate (you can see the review here).

That book and the training inside WA is what you need to finally start making money with a blog and it goes through everything on:

Closing Words

I know getting started with a blog and making a side (or full-time) income from it can be frustrating, and you are right; it is. That is why so many of newbie bloggers make it past the initial learning curve and quit just before something positive happens.

That is why so many of newbie bloggers never make it past the initial learning curve and quit just before something positive happens.

Do not be foolish and do the same. If you’re genuine about wanting to start a blog for the fun of it, then go ahead and get started and never, ever stop.

As we already discussed; it’s super cheap to start and maintain a blog so just keep pushing on through it until you hit your stride.

One day, you will wake up and find you made some money and the world will suddenly become a much happier, cheerful place.

I got that feeling from making my first $0.87c and I kept growing from there piece by piece, month by month, year by year. It takes patience to build up a successful blog as this is a business and it takes time to cultivate and grow.

I hope this post has helped you understand why you were not making money in the past and showed you some ways to hopefully make some money in the future.

As always, feel free to send me a private message or leave me a comment down below if you have any Qs.

My passion is helping people start their blog and seeing them build it out to be a MONSTER! If you’re interested in doing that, let me know!

2 thoughts on “5 Reasons Why People Fail To Make Money With Blogging (And How To Fix It)”

  1. Hi! I am new to blogging and I am seeing mixed messages about free WordPress.com accounts. I own my domain but I only have a free account on WordPress. I would love to start having some affiliate income but I am lost as to what I need to do with my hosting. I have looked into several paid hosting options with no luck finding one what is affordable enough for me to be able to do right away. HELP! I’m lost.

    Reply
    • Hello Tessa. The easiest way I have found to create a website that is free, runs on WordPress and you also get free hosting + training is SiteRubix. I really suggest you take a look at it as it is by far the best I have found.

      Hope this helps.

      Chris Lee

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