Is Blogging Dead In 2021? Definitely NOT!

Is blogging dead? Not in 2021. And it won’t die for the next decade either! And if you’re a seasoned blogger or a neophyte who wants to enter the blogging industry, you’ll need to change your approach to remain successful with blogging.

Although blogging is still alive and kicking, it was a much different place back in the early days. Today, let’s have a look at the differences you can find in this generation of bloggers!

The Evolution of Blogging

When I think of bloggers, my mind goes back to the early days. At first, they were just people with a passion for writing and talking about their lives online who wrote whatever was on their minds at that moment – openly sharing tidbits from home life or work adventures; documenting travels as if Sam Shepard had come along for the ride; telling jokes and stories in 140 characters or less.

The evolution of blogging is much different than it was in the past. Blogging today has transformed from something that an elite group would only do to a universal hobby, popularized through social media and outreach campaigns.

Here are just three of the most essential comparisons of blogging then and now: 

1. A hobby became a career.

If you’re a blogger yourself, you may have started it out as a hobby, as most bloggers do. And we all know that it eventually turns into something more. Some content creators become so caught up in the blogging world that their whole livelihood becomes this one thing. But how does THAT happen?

People started to blog because it was fun. Now brands and companies see the power of bloggers as influencers in the digital world. Bloggers can do reviews, tell stories about products, or release press releases for companies that want them covered. Bloggers also have an audience that is hungry for their content.

Today, blogging is a fantastic way to expand your business and network. Coming from a personal experience, I also earn a significant amount by reviewing the products or services I believe in and making an amount once someone buys or signs up. I also receive sponsored posts revolving around my finance niche from time to time.

2. Use knowledge and expertise to become a niche influencer.

My primary purpose in starting this blog was to spread financial literacy to a broader audience. I’m happy to share the knowledge and experience I have regarding freelancing, investing, and trading. Without knowing, having the finance niche opened many doors for me, and as I’ve said in the previous section, I often receive partnerships from brands within my niche.

Personal finance is a growing industry. Many people, especially millennials, are interested in the stock market, different investing strategies, and online freelancing to set an excellent financial foundation in their early years.

If you’re a blogosphere neophyte, it’s crucial to focus your articles on specific topics that showcase your expertise to gain more the attention of brands and businesses within your scope.

If you’re an aspiring influencer, here’s a piece of good advice on how to become one from Jillian “JJ” Simons, a veteran radio, TV host, and influencer.

3. Bloggers today are more open about their lives.

I think it’s cool how bloggers today are more open about their lives. Even if people don’t really know who you are, they can still get to know your personality through reading your blog posts and comments.

I began writing my blog as an outlet of expression where I could share thoughts on anything from finance to more profound questions in life. I never thought my blog would turn into this.

It was a long time before I realized that the blog posts I wrote in my spare hours were what people wanted to read the most. Even though they’re mostly about how things never seem to work out for me, there’s something cathartic and even inspiring about them too.

Indeed, blogging has changed a lot over the years. It’s now more about storytelling than just writing articles online. 

My Blogging Journey

I started blogging in the year 2017 in a free crypto blogging platform (Steemit). Although I was earning a significant amount that time, I realized that most of my articles were getting buried deep in my feed. But if you’re wondering whether I’m still blogging in Steemit (now Hive), NOPE, I am not. 

Here’s why I gave up blogging on a crypto blogging platform

My account was hacked.

My Pinay Teenvestor FB page with 18k+ followers got hacked last Feb 2019. The cyberattack was so traumatic that it compromised all the auto-filled accounts in the same email I used on my Fb account — that included my Steemit account having 1k+ followers. Right now, I no longer have access to my Steemit account since the hacker was able to change the password after exploiting my earnings. The sad thing is, there’s no way you can recover your crypto blogging account once you lost your password.

I focused on this blog.

In 2018, I took the plunge and started this blog to reach a wider audience while still blogging in Steemit. But after the cyber attack, I was forced to focus on this blog. And I’m just glad I did since it opened me to countless opportunities. One of which is online freelancing.

It’s hard for me to start again.

Yes, I was earning free money in Steemit. And I was earning a good amount back then. In fact, during my first year, I already made six figures. But it took me tons of hard work to build an influence to get to that point. And if you’re a blogger, I’m pretty sure you can relate to how hard it is to earn this amount through ads or affiliates. Imagine how downhearted I was when I lost my account, along with the kind of influence I’ve established in such a platform. It’s tough to start again, and so I chose to focus on this blog instead.

I can’t earn passively in my crypto articles.

Crypto blogging platforms only allow you to earn within the first seven days after you’ve published your article. To give you a little idea of how it works, once your article gained upvotes, especially from “influential” crypto bloggers, that would equate to some of your earnings.

The downside, however, is you’ll only be given seven days to earn upvotes from the article you just published. After that, your earnings will automatically show up in your wallet. And imagine how disappointing it is if you’re pouring all your heart out in one content only to receive nothing. Forever. Unlike having your own blogging website, you’ll still be able to earn passively from the past articles you’ve written through ads or affiliates even years after publishing a certain post.

My freelancing clients trusted me more when they learned I’m running my own blog.

One of the best things that happened to me is when this blog became my ticket to online freelancing. Before, when I applied for content writing gigs, my clients didn’t really take me seriously when I showed them my crypto blogging profile. One of the huge reasons is crypto blogs aren’t optimized for SEO. And that’s one of the requirements of clients — to have a writer that lets their brand show up on Google’s first page.

When I had this blog, I learned about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to rank my articles on Google. And I think I really did well in that part. Even if I don’t have any social media channels to promote my articles, I still get a significant amount of traffic. Almost 100% of my traffic comes from Google. This blog actually serves as my online portfolio. And right now, I don’t even have to look for clients for my copywriting gigs. They’re already the ones who are messaging me to write something for them.

So is Blogging Dead?

Is blogging dead? Definitely not. But blogging has changed over time, though. The most successful bloggers today are no longer posting lists of things to do. They have taken the time to learn how to tell a story and share their expertise in simple terms that anyone can understand.

If you want to be successful in your blog, I have three tips for you: 1) tell YOUR story, 2) share YOUR expertise, 3) keep things simple. These are all key factors that will help make your content not only more engaging but also easier to understand by those who might not know as much about what you’re talking about yet. 

Blogging is not dead, and I’m a living example that it’s not. 

But what about you? Do you think blogging is still relevant, or will it slowly die out over the next few years? Let me hear your thoughts!