10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Quit Blogging

If you are thinking about quitting, here are 10 questions to ask yourself before you quit blogging.

It may be easy to start a blog, but blogging takes focused hard work and never-ending learning. Because you have to do so much work BEFORE you see any proof you are going to be successful, it’s tempting to want to quit.  

October 2023 Update: I began My Think Big Life about eight years ago. I didn’t make any money for the first several years but I loved writing and I poured my heart into my blog.

At this point, this blog and my cooking blog, Granny’s in the Kitchen provide substantial income as well as being the place where my life coaching clients find me.

Writing and publishing this blog, literally changed my life in all the good ways. I created a life I love and eight years later, I am so grateful to my past self that didn’t give up or quite on myself!

Current speculations on the number of blogs out there number in the millions; I read that there were about 4 MILLION blog posts published a day. However, while many people start blogging, most quit, I would say, within a few months.

If you are thinking about quitting, here are 10 questions to ask yourself before you quit blogging.

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You QUIT Blogging

1. Why did I start my blog in the first place?
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much effort did I put into it?
3. Is there something that I’m stuck on, that I could hire out?
4. Have I sought out blogging support?
5. Am I producing content on a consistent basis?
6. What have I learned from blogging so far?
7. What successes have I had so far?
8. Have I lost my passion for blogging or just for my topic?
9. Were my expectations unrealistic?
10. Do I really want to quit, or do I want different results?

Why Did I Start My Blog in the First Place?

Really, why did you start? Was it

• to make money
• have something to do
• learn to write
• create content to eventually go into a book
• become an authority in something
• because it’s fun
• to connect with other people

There are no wrong reasons to get into blogging and often times, you may change your reasons.

Here are 10 Reasons to Blog Besides Money!

Whatever your reason, just because you haven’t achieved it, doesn’t mean you won’t. Spend some time thinking about why you started a blog and if that isn’t happening, then spend some time thinking about the why.

Sometimes you start a blog for one purpose and you get side-tracked by what other people are doing and then you feel your own reasons aren’t valid. Or you see lots of bells and whistles on other blogs and you start beating yourself up.

Get back to YOUR why and concentrate on that.

Have I Put Enough Effort into It?

Many people begin a blog to make money. In my experience, to get to this level often takes years. While a few people can do it in under a year, it takes a laser focus and time to do it. When I say time, I mean actual hours put into your project.

While someone may blog for two years, they may only be creating a couple of hours a week. Another person may work on it 40 hours a week. Big difference!

Measure time in the effort you put into it, rather than months or years. I’ve seen blogs where people only post every month or two. That effort will not get the effort of posting multiple times a week.

If your time is limited by a job, kids, and other commitments, decide how much time you can put into your blog and schedule that time.

Even five hours a week, will allow you to grow a blog if you use those five hours for creating content such as blog posts, social media posts, and products. If you are using those five hours unproductively or not on specific blogging tasks, then it will be difficult to get some traction.

Is There Something I am Stuck on that I Could Hire Out?

It might seem crazy to hire someone to do something, when you are not making that much money. But sometimes, it is the right thing to do. If you find yourself stuck for a long period of time—consider getting some help.

When I was first setting up my opt-in and newsletter, I just couldn’t get my brain wrapped around it. So, I hired a Virtual Assistant VA to do it. She was reasonably priced and came recommended. It only took her a few hours to set the whole thing up.

After it was set up, I could do the weekly work of writing and sending the newsletters. It took me from thinking about an email list to actually building one.

Right now, I am getting some website help. I’ve taken it as far as I can in terms of design. This has been a huge decision, but I’ve felt stuck about it for over a year!

For some reason, bloggers tend to use the words, I can’t afford it a lot. Or we insist we have to be making money to spend money.

Yet, we all spend money on things in our lives that don’t demand the same angst. We go to movies, we take trips, we go to restaurants.

My blog is a huge source of satisfaction in my life and I consider an investment in it, an investment in myself. I’ve put the work in and I really believe we as bloggers need to put spending money on our blogs as an okay thing to do.

Even if you blog for a hobby, you still want a nice place to do it and have all the functions working that you want. We spend money on other hobbies and crafts. Why not your blog?

Have I Sought Blogging Support?

Facebook is full of blogging groups. I belong to 3 that I really get a lot out of. I even pay to be in one of them! One is my own that I run with my daughter. And the 3^rd one is for “moms” but it has some of the best blogging help out there for ANY kind of blog.

The first blogging group I joined was closed about a year into my joining. It was still a great experience and I met bloggers there, that I am still in contact with. In my own group, I’ve made friends in my own blogging group that have become friends in all ways, except meeting them in person.

Facebook groups are a great way to get support in your blogging journey. You are likely to connect with people at about the same experience as you, as well as getting advice from more experienced bloggers.

I can’t over emphasize the importance of finding other bloggers to connect with and Facebook groups are perfect for this.

Am I Producing Content on a Regular Basis?

It’s easy to want to quit something that you aren’t actually doing. I see bloggers take breaks for months and then sheepishly try to get started again.

Blogging is like exercising—the more you do, and the more regularly, the easier it gets.

If you quit writing or creating content; it is so hard to get back into it. You won’t feel motivated and you won’t be getting regular bursts of inspiration.

You’ll sit there with nothing to write about!

But if you create content consistently, you’ll find it easier and you’ll get new ideas that will be fun to explore.

As you build your body of work, you’ll feel a sense of pride in you work and you’ll want to keep adding to it. Action begets more action.

Challenge yourself to create at least one new blog post a week, no matter how you feel. If you are already doing that, go for two a week. Put it on your calendar and just get it done. Do your best with them but don’t try for perfect.

I find that writing consistently is the best way to get new ideas. If you get an idea, don’t overthink it, just write it up, create your graphic, publish and move on.

What Have I Learned from Blogging so Far?

It may not always feel like it, but you’ve probably already learned a lot about blogging. It truly can feel overwhelming to contemplate all that we still need to learn. Yet, it’s important to stop and take stock of all we’ve already done.

This is proof that you’ll learn the rest eventually.

Let’s see, you’ve set up a blog. You’ve chosen a theme. You’ve added a few plug-ins. You’ve learned to edit and publish. You are navigating social media in a new way. You are creating graphics and learning a little design. Maybe you’ve made some printables, an opt-in, a newsletter? You know what SEO stands for. Add to this list, all the other things you’ve learned.

This is big stuff!

Give yourself some positive thoughts about how far you’ve already come. You really have.

What successes have I had so far?

I remember the day when I had my first success. I had been blogging for about six months without much happening. I wrote a post that told how I lost weight after 50 and made a graphic for it. One day in May 2016, I was sitting out by the pool with my granddaughter and I was checking my site stats. Suddenly they were going up. That afternoon I had my first 100+ views in a day.

Other successes can be your first ad income. Your first affiliate income. Hitting certain numbers on your social media. The first person that writes you to tell you that something you wrote, helped them. The first comment on a blog post. Your first “viral” pin. The first month, you wrote a blog post every single week. Heck, writing your FIRST blog post is a success.

Have I lost my passion for blogging or just for my topic?

Sometimes we think we’ve lost our passion for blogging, when really, we are tired of a topic. Many of us start blogging with an idea of the things we want to write about. Or we constrain ourselves to a few topics in an effort to stick with our niche.

Blogging is a creative process and I believe there is room for your niche and to sometimes write outside of it. I can honestly say, that my blog posts that bring in the most page views were all written as something new. Something that I hadn’t been planning to write and then there was this idea. And I went with it.

When I started blogging, I was already a grandmother. But I had no intention of writing about that. I geared all my posts to women of any age. Yet, when I finally allowed myself to write about being over 50 and being a grandmother, my blog started growing and still is.

How to Let Blog Posts Choose You

If I hadn’t moved on from topics that weren’t working and tried out new ones, I would never have discovered that I could connect with thousands more women that way.

Were my expectations unrealistic?

I think many bloggers would be happier if they simply gave themselves permission to blog for a year without worrying about making money. It takes 6 months to a year for a blog, and I mean a blog that is being cared for, to get serious traction.

You can’t just write a few blog posts and expect to be earning money.

Blogging is a craft and a job, and it works best to consider it in this serious sense. Every job or craft you learn, takes time to not only learn, but to gain competence. I see so many bloggers just starting out and feeling desperate because they aren’t making any money yet.

Of course, there are exceptions and a few people do this. However, this is not the norm. It just isn’t. Those that do it relatively early (within the first year) are usually fairly driven people.

I am not one of them! But I can spot them and it’s fun to watch them go with it.

How to Get Unstuck in Blogging

Just because you aren’t bringing in serious income right away, doesn’t mean you won’t. Part of it is mindset. Eventually, your mind will decide to start making money and you will figure out the best way.

Of course, it’s great to start with the intention of making money. In fact, it’s probably more effective to start thinking like that as soon as possible. Just give yourself credit for what you are doing when you are building the foundation for your blog.

Do I really want to quit, or do I want different results?

If you really like blogging but there’s an aspect that you don’t like, then you can do one of two things: change the thing or change how you think about it.

Yes, you really can just change how you think about something. I’m hoping this post has helped you think of your blogging differently.

You can even reframe the results you want.

For example, you might not be able to totally control page views or income from the blog.

You totally can control your commitment to writing each and every week and promoting your blog on social media. Make the results you want, something you can control!

As much as I love hitting pageview goals, I can’t always control that. However, I can schedule regular time to produce posts and I can schedule time on social media to promote my work.

How Blogging Changed My Life

That feels awesome too!

And it usually leads to the results that are less out of our control too.

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Quit Blogging

If you’ve made it to the end of this post, I am sure you are seeing your blog and your work in a new way. Heck, I am seeing my blog and work in a new way by writing this today.

Blogging is hard and often lonely work and we need all the support and affirmation we can get from each other.

If you are seriously thinking of quitting, give yourself another month. Write four new posts. Try out at least one topic you’ve never written about yet. Interact in a Facebook blogging group.

Take the time to ask the ten questions to ask yourself before you quit blogging.

I hope you don’t! There are people out there waiting to read what you write or hear what you have to say.