The Real Cost of Running a Blog

Running a blog comes at a cost, whether thats financial, physical or mental. There is a cost. It’s alot of work, and I don’t think alot of people realise how hard it can be. When you run a blog alot of things go through your mind. I’m sure many other bloggers can relate to this. I have so many drafted posts that I’ve never published because I think they’re not good enough. I’ve trashed perfectly fine posts too because I felt like my audience won’t enjoy them. Sometimes it’s a battle with self, and nothing more.

It takes alot of courage to start a blog, and there are many people out there who hide this from their friends and families because they worry about their reactions. I thought today we could talk about the real cost of running a blog, and everything that comes with it. The good, the bad and the ugly. In hopes that this will give my readers a-bit of an open door into the reality of blogging.

THE FINANCIAL COST

I thought I’d start off this post talking about the financial cost of running a blog. I am a WordPress user and hosting your blog through WordPress isn’t cheap, especially when you want to get access to all of the functions that help to grow your blog. When I first started blogging I upgraded from a free plan to a premium plan, which cost around £84. After a few months I decided it was time to upgrade my plan from premium to business. Thankfully I was able to use some of funds I spent on my premium plan, towards the business one. And WordPress kindly sent me a discount code. In total my business plan cost me £103, but without a discount it will cost £240. The only other cost for my blog is the font you see on my homepage, I purchased that for £15.

So as you can see, blogging doesn’t come cheap. But with anything, you make an investment and you’ll get money back from your hard work and money spent. Of course you don’t have to upgrade your plans and you don’t have to make these additional purchases, but for me I wanted to make my blog as professional as I could.

THE TIME COST

If you are a blogger you will relate to this. I didn’t know or under estimated the time and effort that I would spend on my blog. I spend hours sometimes in the evening creating posts, interacting with other bloggers, maintaining my Instagram. The list is endless sometimes. Sometimes blogging has taken over days for me, especially during Blogmas preparation. I spent 3 evenings in a row creating content for my blog and Instagram so that I could just get it finished.

It’s even harder to balance both blogging and ‘real’ life when you’re a parent or student, or even if you have a full time job. It can come as a big cost if your blog is your sole income too.

THE MENTAL COST

I know so many bloggers who stress and worry over their blog, whether its stats, follower numbers, other bloggers or just in general. Blogging is fun and it should be light hearted, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t worry about it. I always say, that if you care about something then you’ll worry about it. And the same goes for blogging. You worry because your blog is important to you. One thing that is a worry is being so open on the internet. The internet can be a scary place and negativity usually comes along with it, and thats why I tend to keep my private life private when it comes to my blog.

THE POSITIVE COSTS

There are so many positives that come with blogging and thought I would share some here!

• You make so many connections with people you wouldn’t usually connect with
• You get opportunities to work with brands
• You get to read amazing work by other bloggers
• You get to be apart of other peoples blogging journeys

What sort of costs do you think blogging has had for you? Positive or negative.

I thought this topic would be great to talk about, as it gives an insider perspective of some costs blogging has had on me and my own blogging journey.

Olivia x
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