How to Overcome the Biggest Misconceptions About Freelance Blogging

Want to blog for a living but don’t know where to go?

Are you unsure if you could even make enough money through blogging to pay the bills?

Do you want to blog but you aren’t sure if you have what it takes?

I’m sure you’re answering “yes” to at least one of those questions…if not more of them. In fact, those are questions I’ve asked myself six months ago.

As a newbie, I wasn’t sure if I could make a living as a blogger or if I would be successful. I’m sure you are thinking about the same thing.

I’m here now after several months to tell you that you need to put those misconceptions to rest and put yourself out there.

I know you’re thinking that saying that is much easier than actually doing it. Trust me…I know all about that frame of mind.

This post is here to show you that you can beat these misconceptions; they do not need to break you. I have made a list of the top six misconceptions I’ve seen and have dealt with myself.

I wanted to share this information with you so you can be successful (like the people at BAFB). I want you to keep reading so you can learn how to beat these misconceptions where they stand.

“You can’t make good money blogging for businesses.”

This is definitely one of the myths I used to fall for. In fact, I didn’t even realize you could make money blogging until about 6 months ago!

If you want the proof of just how much money you can make blogging for clients, you can look at people like Carol Tice or Jorden Roper. Hell…you can easily take a look at Sophie if you want a great tale of success!

If they can be successful at blogging for a living, then so can we! It may seem like you can’t get much money like they can but let’s put it this way for a moment: you can get up to $200 for each post you write. My proof, you ask? Just take a look at this post to get the picture.

The biggest takeaway here is that the success doesn’t happen overnight. There is some work involved to get the good money you want from doing something you enjoy. Just look at me: I have been working hard at my own business (and guest posting my ass off to boot!) since May of 2016.

“You don’t know enough about the industry to even know where to start.”

I want to smack this thought against a good cement wall or two. This is a huge one that I’ve been dealing with since day freaking one.

The thing about it is…you have to research your ass off if you are starting from scratch. Picking a blogging niche is a great first step if you want to become the blogger that clients want to hire as a freelancer.

Let me put some insight in front of you here for a moment: pick a bloody fucking niche! If you pick a niche, you are more likely to be seen as an expert by business owners who are looking for a freelancer to write their blog posts. (I believe it was Francesca who said it more than once in this blog post alone!)

Picking just one area to write about can prove to people that you know what you’re talking about. The truth is, most business owners are wanting bloggers who write about their industry alone instead of a jack of all trades.

Don’t be afraid to do as much research as you need in order to get an expert understanding of your niche. You want to be the expert that clients want to hire, right? Be like me and have literally 10 pages of notes about your niche. (And no…I’m not fucking with you. I really do have 10 pages of notes!)

If you don’t know a term that is fairly common in your niche, do yourself a favor and look it up. Make Google your bitch…or other blogs might do the trick. I have done this myself after taking quite a few hints from Sophie.

“You won’t be successful as a blogger because you don’t have what it takes.”

Shit…this particular thought process is a mess to even think about. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “practice makes perfect”? This is definitely one of those times since you won’t be perfect when you first try to blog.

There are some times when having the correct frame of mind is the answer to success. To quote Jorden Roper (and Sophie as well) “get your fucking act together.”

That may sound really harsh at first but you have to have a certain way of thinking in order to bring yourself success when it comes to blogging for a living.

It’s perfectly alright to work for 12 hours per day just to get your website running and to pitch guest posts or the like. In fact, I’ve done that myself more than once. There are some things you have to do in order to make yourself successful and those things can take time.

Your success won’t come overnight by any means but there are blog posts from Be a Freelance Blogger (like this one here…hint, hint) that show you that you ARE an expert whether you believe it or not.

Believing in yourself as a blogger can mean the difference between life and death for your career as a freelancer. Please…PLEASE don’t make the mistake that some rookies sometimes make that ends their career.

“Freelance blogging is not legit.”

This particular misconception makes me smile after all the research I’ve done in my free time in months’ past. Let me explain something for a moment here.

Freelance bloggers are defined by the IRS as independent contractors. This means they have what is called an EIN, which stands for “Employer Identification Number.” This number tells people who do not believe you are legit that you are the owner of a one-person business.

This number also gives you the chance to enter it instead of your social security number. I’m sure there are other security nuts out there like me who balk at the thought of giving some clients that information. This number gives you an air of professionalism that your social security number just won’t.

I highly encourage you to fill out the application to get a number for yourself so that you can prove to people that you are legit. You can find the application here if you don’t know where to go. (I remember being clueless before I filled mine out a few months back.)

I’m sure you want people to take you seriously. I know I do, which is why I followed this step early on in the game to make sure all my bases are covered.

“Freelancing hurts local businesses.”

There are people out there who believe that freelance bloggers hurt local businesses by taking away jobs from marketing departments. There are people out there who actually believe each person who works for or with a company needs to be in-house.

What about the people who telecommute? Are those hurting the business as well? I’ve never thought so and neither do the people who actually hire the telecommuters!

Instead of hurting local businesses like some believe, freelance bloggers can actually help them in the end. Have you ever thought about those smaller businesses who don’t have the money to hire a person full-time to write their material?

In fact, that is a situation one of my clients faces every day. Her niche is rather tiny and there isn’t someone out there who knows the niche as well as I do…since I’ve worked for her since I was a teenager.

She doesn’t have the money to pay someone to come in full-time, which is why I’ve learned so much about small engine repair (think chainsaws, blowers, lawn mowers, and the like) over the years.

She can hire someone on a post-by-post basis, however, which is why she hired me to work for her as her social media manager a few years back. She knew from experience that I am an expert in the industry…small as it is.

I’m more of a help to her than someone who is brought in on an “expensive” full-time expense for her. She knows what to expect from me so we work well together because of it.

If I can help a small business as well as I can, then so can you! Don’t let this misconception hold you back from your true potential.

“All freelance bloggers want a regular job.”

Of course, there are the people who use freelance blogging to bring more money to their income but there are also the people who use freelance blogging as their first choice of career. Once they took the plunge, they don’t ever go back.

The career of a freelance blogger appeals more to the millennial generation like me, non-traditional families, and entrepreneurs.

Plus, not every blogger wants a “regular” job after they’ve been blogging as long as some of us have. I am sure there are a lot of us who have full-time jobs while we work on building up our writing business.

I was one of those people and when the chance to leave my customer service job appeared in front of me, I took it and ran without looking back. The truth is, customer service had me burned out and I needed a change of scenery pretty badly.

If you do decide to leave your job to blog for a living, make sure you have a source of income until you have a steady source of clients. Don’t run out of money before you take off.

Not everyone is the same in that once we get the chance to blog for a career, we don’t see ourselves as having any other job.

The most important thing you need to remember

The biggest piece of advice I could ever tell you is this: work hard and the success will come to you (and your clients in the process). It won’t come overnight but as long as you are able to prove these misconceptions wrong, it’s easier to put them out of your mind.

It’s up to you to create your future as a freelance blogger and to put aside those pesky thoughts about not being good enough. Hard work can put you far beyond the goals you set for yourself. I would have cheer leaders on your side to motivate you if that’s what it takes.

Listen to the advice given to you here and from Sophie. If your gut tells you that you should or should not do something, listen to it! Don’t just sit there idly…stand up and take action!

If you have any other misconceptions or myths you’ve seen, don’t be afraid to put them in the comments.