4 Reasons You Need to Start a Blog by the end of this year!

There are so many indicators pointing to this being the year to start a blog.

There are thousands of blogs out there. Many of them started by people just like you – students, parents, young and old, people with full time jobs and part time contracting work, aspiring artists, people into cooking/crafts/business/sports – the list goes on and on!

Everyone has their own reasons for starting a blog. There was some catalyst (usually financial, sometimes creative) that drove them to get into blogging.

Why should you start a blog now?

There has never been a better time to be a blogger. So many blogging friends of mine are supporting their entire families on blogging income alone. Two years ago, it was a pipe dream for me, and just this month I surpassed the $10,000 mark in monthly earnings. It’s amazing what exists in the blogging world, but if you never start, you’ll never know what could have been.

4 Reasons to Start a Blog by the END OF THIS YEAR

To me there are 4 very compelling reasons why NOW is the best time to start a blog (not tomorrow, not next month, not “when you find more time”).

Thing is, you’ll never find more time. I still haven’t!

We all create time for the things we’re passionate about. For me, that’s my faith, my family, and my vision (this blog!).

If creating a job (that earns a full time or part time income) is something you really want, then read on. I think you’ll agree with me that NOW is the best time to act on your dreams.

Here are 4 reasons why TODAY is the best time to start a blog:

1) Head start on your upcoming new year’s resolutions

If you’re like most people, you likely either set new year’s resolutions that revolve around fitness or finances. If you set a financial goal, likely you will need money to achieve that goal (unless you’re trying to earn less or downsize, I suppose).

If you need more money, then blogging is a great way to get some extra cash. BUT a blog takes time to build up. It took me nearly two years to build up my blog from $100 to $9,000+ a month. I have never seen a new blogger do that faster than 18 months. Starting a blog now will give you a jump start on your 2017 goals.

2) It’s really affordable.

If you use Bluehost, the company mentioned in my Blog Startup Guide, you will be able to start a blog for as low as $3.49 per month on the three year hosting plan.

Combine that with an affordable yet professionally designed website template from Restored 316 or StudioPress, and you will have a legit looking blog up and running for less than $200 total (and your web hosting will be prepaid for 3 years)! You CAN NOT start any other business that I know of for that kind of money!

3) When your boss tells you your raise is only 3% (or lower!) next spring…

You’ll be cool with it!

If you start a blog now, by the time your annual review rolls around, you will have the knowledge and capabilities to generate extra income on the side that is completely out of the control of someone with the sole job of suppressing your salary. This is perhaps my favorite thing about blogging – once you nail down the processes and get past the basics, you can really create opportunities to earn additional income whenever you’d like.

There are so many ways to make money blogging – I go over some of them in this post 7 Ways I Make $5,000 per Month Blogging. It covers the major categories of income on my blog, which are:

• advertising income
• sponsored posts (where companies pay you to write about a product)
• affiliate income (where you recommend products for a commission – like through Amazon)
• my own products (I’ve written two ebooks for bloggers)

Some months I don’t focus on one method of revenue generation because I’m working on another, but I always know that when I need money for an upcoming expense that I can simply activate that revenue stream. It’s a liberating feeling to be in control of your finances like that!

If you would like more information on how you can make money blogging, here’s a link to all of my income reports to date in one place.

4) You don’t need it yet. Extra cash would be nice, but it’s not an urgent need.

Odds are you are reading this post because you are just thinking about starting a blog. Maybe someone told you that you’d make a good writer. Or maybe you have long term dreams of being able to quit your job. The best time to start a blog is when you DON’T DESPERATELY NEED THE MONEY.

If you start a blog when you don’t need to, you will have time to build it up slowly and when you DO need it to earn income, you will be in a better position to do so. This is what I did. I started my blog in between having babies 2 and 3 and worked on it off and on for about 3 years. I finally decided to take it seriously after I knew what I was doing on in WordPress and just had more time on my hands because my youngest was 3 years old and in preschool part time. I still didn’t need the money at that point.

Now that my blog is on track to earn over 6 figures a year (2 years later), I am extremely pleased because I feel zero pressure to go back to work when my youngest goes to Kindergarten, unlike almost every single other mom I know. It’s a good place to be.

Why Now is the Best Time to Start a Blog

I could probably go on and on about the reasons why blogging is the best thing since sliced bread.

I probably don’t have to convince you that it’s a good idea to start a blog. You already know that. Everything you’ve ever pinned on Pinterest was written by a blogger – and there’s more opportunity in Pinterest on its own than any of us will ever have time to tackle. Blogging is truly the wild wild west of side jobs! If you’ve read my income reports or my list of over 25 bloggers who make between $1000 and $10,000 a month blogging, then you know it’s a good idea financially.

You just needed to see all the reasons why TODAY is the best time to do it. Hopefully this post helped. Don’t wait until next year to come back and read this post telling you that you should have started a blog a year ago (I have this conversation with people more often than you think!) Blogging is – and always will be – my number one recommendation to anyone who needs a way to earn income on their own terms.

If you’re reading this post AFTER January 1st, don’t worry – I still have the same recommendation…..the best time to start a blog is RIGHT NOW! If you give it a shot, I want to hear from you! Comment below or email me in response to the email I send you if you sign up for my mailing list using the link below. I can’t wait to see what you are able to create! 

How to Get Started

Click here to download the Blog Startup Guide and also to request a copy via email if you’d like to read it later! (This is an especially good option if you’re on mobile right now)

I hope to see you in the blogosphere! 😀

~Lena