10 things to never say to a blogger

1. “You must get a lot of free stuff!”

Right? No.

Free products aren’t truly free. They come with obligations and tax repercussions.

Even the bloggers who receive “free” stuff and don’t pay mind to the legal side of it are risking a lot by accepting product for free.

Over a certain value, “gifts” are costly. They, too, come with obligations.

So…no, as a blogger, we often don’t receive product for free even when it is given freely. Companies expect you to review or at least mention their products on your blog.

If you review their product, they expect a glowing, positive review with nothing negative — and what’s “negative” is up to the reader.

While I prefer companies who wish to mail me items with no strings attached, I prefer most to receive nothing for free because free stuff counts towards my taxable income.

And I’d rather actual money be taxed than “free” product, because money pays the bills.

2. “I can’t imagine putting my whole life on the internet.”

I mean, neither can I?

My blog used to be treated like an online diary — that was years ago. My whole life story isn’t on the internet, though. I still have a lot to tell.

Blog readers often think us bloggers put so much about ourselves on the internet, but I attribute this to the parasocial relationship that’s formed.

Naturally, people are going to add more context based on how they interpret information. I have a lot of information on my blog, but most of my posts are educational. I lean on my personal experience with topics to help people understand those topics better.

This gives the impression that a lot, if not every aspect, of my life is publicized even when there is still a lot to be learned about me.

My blog is not my online diary.

3. “Must be nice to not have to work a real job.”

Not every blogger blogs to make money. Hobby bloggers blog for fun — not everything a person enjoy needs to be turned into a profit.

Those of us who do monetize our blogs may still work a full- or part-time job.

Running a blog isn’t like working at a job. It’s like running a business. There are serious hobby bloggers who run their blogs like solo magazines.

The amount of invisible labor in blogging would knock most traditional employees off their feet. What you see, on the frontend, is the result. We’re great at making the effort we put in look effortless.

4. “You should write about [random thing they care about].”

Blogging isn’t “whatever comes to mind”.

I have topics I write about and a strategy. I don’t dive in to writing and posting about whatever topic I want to talk about immediately. I think about how that topic may enhance my blog, what audience it may bring to my blog and even how I can nurture that audience.

Because if I blog about anything and everything, with no rhyme or rhythm, that’s going to come across negatively with my audience and search engines. My audience trusts and relies on me to put out a certain type and quality of content.

5. “Wait, you make MONEY from that?”

Yes, because my blog is a business. This is what businesses do.

6. “I tried blogging once. It was too hard.”

So you gave up, and now you’re minimizing the hard work of someone who stuck with it?

7. “Blogging is dead, though.”

People said that in 2012, 2015, 2020…

Blogging is still around. Crappy content doesn’t work, though.

8. “If your blog is so good, why haven’t you gone viral?”

LOL, I have — not in the way you perceive virality.

Virality doesn’t equal value. Instead, you’re hit with thousands of pageviews that eventually die down unless you have a system in place to catch some of them. Even then, the viral audience might not be your best audience.

Building something sustainable requires more than shock-factor content.

9. “It must be nice not having a boss.”

Every reader, algorithm, sponsor, affiliate program and platform is “the boss” — and they all want different things at the same time.

Right now, I blog alongside a full-time job. Hopefully not forever, though.

The daydream is schedule freedom and agency over the work I do. It’s an automated flywheel in exchange for manual labor and an hourly wage.

10. “Can you help me set up a blog? I don’t want to pay for anything.”

Translation: “Can you do hours of tech and strategy work for free, even though that’s how you make money?”

No.

I share blogging tips on my blog and email one evergreen blogging tip per week in The Evergreen Edit.