I'm going to finish up the starting a bargain blog series by sharing some personal reflections of what have been the pros and cons of running this blog. You can read the previous four posts by heading to the blogging category of my blog. The Pros The Cons
Let's start with the good news first…
2. My Business, My Way. Because this is my business, I can decide how I want to brand my site. I can decide what guidelines I want to follow. I can also choose what type of deals to share, how I want to share them, when I want to share them, and the like. It's really up to me to decide how I want to run my blog, and I like having that ability!
3. Connecting to Others. I truly love hearing from my readers. I've gotten some pretty sweet emails lately – folks saving some serious money, making ends meet, and then some. Knowing that I'm helping to make a difference in people's lives is very fulfilling! It's also been exciting to connect to other bloggers.
4. Learning Opportunities. I've been at this a year, and I'm JUST getting started. The more you know, the more you realize you don't know. There is a lot to navigate, and this can be rather exciting – so for me anyways, that's a "pro!". Blogging is a continually evolving phenomenon and there is never a dull moment!
5. Multiple Income Sources. Just as I never know what coupons will arrive in the mail, I never know what money will arrive in the mail, either. Again, while this is still limited for me, it's nice. A couple days ago, there was a check for $140 and the week before, I had another for $25. Like couponing, it's starting to add up.
2. Light/Sporadic Income. At least at first, plan on working hard for months before seeing money roll in (if at all). I've said it before, but I truly could be making more at any minimum wage job than blogging. If you're looking for a steady paycheck right away, blogging is probably not for you.
3. Competitive Arena. As I've mentioned before, there are hundreds – thousands maybe – of other bargain bloggers out there. So if you're going to choose to do this, give it some serious thought first. I really cannot stress this enough. You've got a lot of readers out there reading a lot of blogs. You're going to have to think about what you can do that's different, and that's you. Think long, think hard. Think about your name, your brand, your topics. I'm not telling you to NOT start a bargain blog, but I AM telling you that you'll need to think about how yours will offer something different.
4. Responsibility. I don't talk about this much (or possibly ever), but I constantly have this awareness of my blog – that readers are viewing it, that I need to have content up every day and keep things going. I'm still working on finding a great balance between life and blogging, but know that this is the reality for me. Every Saturday night, I'm digging through Walgreens and Rite Aid ads – forget about anything else! First thing in the morning, I'm scouring for deals. While there are ways I've taken time off (and you might not have even been the wiser)!, it takes some serious work to make sure that new and fresh content is up every day. You must be self-disciplined and passionate to keep things rolling.
I want to remind you that in spite of the challenges of running this blog, I'm more energized and passionate about it than I was when I started a year ago. The ideas keep coming, I'm learning and growing, and loving every minute of it. Quite simply, it is the most satisfying work I've done in my career to-date, and I see myself doing it for a long, long time to come.
I would love to open this up to fellow bloggers. What do you love about blogging? What have been the challenges you've faced?
And readers: what questions do you have for me? I'll be doing a final "Q & A" post in the next few days.
Photo courtesy stock.xchng
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I am very new to blogging and you’re sooooo correct in saying that it is a huge learning curve! You phrased it exactly right when you said the more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. I do love it so far though and hope that my blog begins to flourish soon!
I really debated even doing this series for that reason – I’m STILL on that learning curve – BIG TIME!!! I still am a dunce when it comes to Twitter, and I’m starting to navigate vlogging. I also don’t do many giveaways/sweepstakes because that’s not something I’ve fully tapped into yet, either. SO much to learn, but you’re right…it’s VERY exciting and interesting and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else!!
I have really appreciated your candidness in writing this series of posts. I myself am just getting my bargain blog up and running – not officially launched yet – and I am very grateful for your insight. I do have a question…. I was curious about highlighting deals found on other bargain blogs, and read your 2 points on that (no copy paste and put a link back) but do I need to go beyond that and ask their permission first? I want to make sure I have good blogger etiquette! Thanks again for all you do!
Good question – no, in *general* I do not ask permission. Especially if another blogger has emailed me the deal – that’s a given they’re giving me the green light. But even if it’s a post I just read on another blog – so long as I phrase the deal entirely in my own words and give them appropriate credit, it’s OK. And again, it’s usually appreciated – it bolsters their SEO rankings and potentially brings them new readers. It’s win-win!
That being said, sometimes there are special circumstances where permission should be sought. For instance, awhile ago Hip2Save had a great vlog about organizing her coupon binders I wanted to share with my readers. I felt it was appropriate to email her first if it was OK to embed that on my site. I know she spent some good time putting that together and I wanted to respect that. Use good judgment, and when in doubt, it’s always OK to ask.