Every year millions of people start new blogs with dreams of making an income to help support their family or to just pursue something they love. But, as we know, a massive portion of those blogs fail in the first year.
So when should we give up on a blog? How do we know that this isn’t as good as it’s going to get in terms of traffic, subscribers and earnings? And when do we throw in the towel and just cut our losses and run?
My thoughts…?
Don’t give up on your blog just yet…
A blogging context to giving up
I love helping people figure out how to start a blog and get set up in a way that maximizes their chances of success.
But I still see a lot of fails.
It’s actually quite heartbreaking as usually someone starts a blog because they are dissatisfied with some aspect of their life, have heard about the opportunities that blogging presents people, and want to try and do something new with their situation.
So it sucks when it doesn’t work out.
But it also sucks when someone pours their heart and soul into a blog, website or online business and doesn’t see any results even after months or years of work.
I’ve been there.
And I’ve also seen a lot of other bloggers and online entrepreneurs who are at the tricky “borderland” between pushing on in the face of all obstacles and just chucking it in.
But you should not give up on your blog just because it is struggling right now, especially if you are in the early stages of development.
What should I try before I give up on my blog?
Sometimes a business needs time – some businesses need a lot more time than others. Many small businesses, for example, take at least two years before they start seeing a profit.
Here are a few things to weigh up (with your lawyer, accountant, partners, priest, family, cat, neighbor, reflection, etc.) before giving up:
- Are you getting any results at all?
There is a big difference between a website that gets no results and a website that gets some results. If you’ve had any wins at all it’s likely you’re doing something right and maybe some small adjustments are all that’s needed. A big part of business is learning to scale small profit margins, so any success you have had should be carefully examined. - Are you trying new things?
If you aren’t trying new things you probably aren’t going to get new results. The internet is littered with stories about blogs and websites that changed tact and found new readerships and results. If you haven’t tried a new angle it might be too soon to quit because you are leaving many unexplored options on the table. - Are you spending money on marketing?
So many people give up on ideas and businesses before they actually promote it. It’s marketing and advertising that grows a business so make sure you’ve really given that a solid crack before you think it’s dead in the water. Especially with today’s social media environment, bloggers don’t actually realize how cheap and powerful running Facebook and Google Ads can be compared to running a physical business. Spending money is now essential and shouldn’t be overlooked. - Have you got expert advice?
I recently did a post on how to get 100,000 visitors a month from Google and a lot of bloggers emailed me saying that they’d given up on SEO altogether because they hadn’t seen results. I wondered how many of them paid an expert for a bit of advice or an SEO audit before quitting. I’ve been blogging for a long time now and still jumped on the phone with Marie Haynes a few weeks ago to get some fresh, expert eyes on some issues that were bugging me. - Do you have an alternative?
There’s no point abandoning one business unless you have some ideas about what you’re doing next. It might be that you want to stop working from home and get a real job, or you might have another project ready to do. Whatever it is, alternatives are important because you don’t want to find yourself without a regular income and be forced to follow a line of work that you really hate or can’t sustain for long. - Are you adapting to the lifestyle factors?
Some people adapt really well to the stress of running their own business. Others not so much. There comes a certain point where I think it’s worth looking at how well you are adapting to all the “learning curves” associated with entrepreneurship and weighing up the impacts on your health and your family life. If you’re growing then take that as a big positive.
Again, all of this needs to be weighed up in conjunction with your own financial situation and that is going to be different for every blog, website, individual and family. Make sure you know what your position is before making any big calls.
When should we give up on a blog?
I can’t believe how horrible it feels to write about giving up.
It uncomfortable because we are all brought up to think that giving up is the worst thing you can do – no matter what happens you just have to keep plodding along and eventually it will work out.
Well, when it comes to business I feel like maybe giving up on one failing project might sometimes be a wise thing because it can free you up to start again on something that might be a success.
And that is a huge part of being an entrepreneur.
I had dozens of blogs and online businesses that weren’t successful, but all of them taught me about how to make my next project better.
That is failing and getting back up again.
We’re not in the business of throwing money and time at something when it makes no profit and has no other obvious rewards either now or in the future.
When you think about it like this, giving up can actually be a deliberate business decision that you make based on data, professional advice and a long conversation with your family and business partners.
Then it becomes something smart.
But what I have come to notice is that a lot of bloggers cut and run way before they should…
I think the real task is to figure out when to make “giving up” part of an overall strategy that propels you forward.
Do you think giving up is ever good?
Have you ever given up on a business and found it to be a good decision to make? Or, alternatively, have you ever stuck at something and seen it bounce back? I’d be really curious to hear your thoughts on this issue.
Oh, and if you need a little support and encouragement regarding your latest project drop a comment below and let’s chat it through and see if we can find solutions!