I started blogging for myself regularly around 2006 and around five years later I started blogging for others. Writing for other blogs is something that I had never planned, but I decided to keep doing it as I got many offers of work.
There are many reasons why freelancing for others is beneficial, such as earning money and raising your profile by publishing articles on other websites.
I continue to enjoy writing for other blogs, however, in this article, I would like to talk about why it is better to write for your own blog rather than writing for others.
I am sure those of you who have done a lot of freelance blogging will relate to these points :)
1. You Do Not Have to Follow Someone Else’s Schedule
One of the great things about working online is that you can fit work around your own schedule. This allows me to go to the gym when it’s quiet and lets me catch up with work at nighttime if I have something I need to earlier in the day.
When you are writing for other blogs, you normally have to complete work by a certain date. Most blog owners are quite flexible in this regard and are happy for you to provide the article in a couple of days. The problem is that when you take on a couple of regular writing jobs, you soon find yourself having to work additional hours in order to complete the work on time.
It is obviously important to work hard for your own blog too, however you are not working by someone else’s clock.
If something comes up in my personal life, for example a night out with friends, I can choose to complete the blog post in a couple of days. This means that there is never any pressure for writing for my own blog. I blog because I enjoy it.
2. You Make Your Own Rules
Every blog has rules that bloggers need to follow. When people write for me, I try and keep guidelines and formatting rules to a minimal, though there are things that writers need to do to ensure some sort of consistency on my blog.
For example, images need to be a certain width, H2 tags need to be used for headers, and bloggers should link to any stats or articles they reference.
Many blog owners subscribe to my thinking of keeping guidelines to a minimal and letting the blogger do their own thing. Unfortunately, many blog owners go a little overboard with their rules and guidelines and make their writers jump through all sorts of hoops.
I have rejected offers of work before because the number of rules in place is absurd. I really have no desire to spend thirty minutes writing an article and another thirty minutes ticking off checklists on spreadsheets.
Other blog owners place many hurdles in between you completing an article and the article being published. For example, after submitting the article for review, it can be a few days or even a few weeks before the article is published. This is because the article has to be approved by one or more people.
When you write for your own blog, you make your own rules. You can do whatever you want because you answer to no one.
Not only does this give you more creative control over everything you do, it also saves you a lot of time.
3. You Do Not Need to Worry About Spelling and Grammar…as Much
Grammar and spelling are important. It is something that I put a high priority on when I am looking at writers.
Whenever I write articles for clients, I make sure I proofread the article thoroughly so that I catch any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or sections which could be improved. Most blog owners are appreciative of the fact that I do this.
However, I am only human. From time to time, a little spelling mistake will slip through. It is inevitable that this will happen from time to time because it is hard to see your own mistakes. If you check any major news website or blog, you will find small mistakes like this.
Most blog owners (including myself) accept the fact that the odd spelling mistake will slip through every now and then. Others, however, overreact and make a big deal about it.
When you publish articles on your own blog, you do not have to be quite as obsessive about small mistakes. Sure, you should still ensure high standards are maintained, but any small errors can be corrected at any time.
4. You Are Not Restricted by What You Say
As I mentioned earlier, when you write for someone else, you are playing by their rules. It is not just formatting guidelines you need to adhere to; you also need to write your articles in a specific way.
For example, the blog owner may want you to write the article in a specific tone or not mention the blog’s rivals. There is also a good chance that they will remove a part of your article if you state something that they do not agree with.
No such restrictions apply when you write for your own blog. You can say and do whatever you want.
This gives you complete writing freedom and helps your own unique personality shine through.
5. You Do Not Have to Send Emails
Freelancing for others is not only about writing the article. A lot of time is wasted doing things that are necessary, but nevertheless do not add anything to your bottom line.
You can spend a lot of time emailing clients about the work you are doing for them. This is important to ensure that you complete the article the way they want and need. The more guidance they give you about an article, they more likely it will meet their requirements.
Unfortunately, corresponding with clients can be very time consuming. Whilst you do need to speak about your work and about payments and invoices, there is no doubt that all of this correspondence can drain your time considerably.
I have parted ways with some clients because the work they offered me did not justify the amount of time required to arrange everything. In that respect, I have found that the Pareto principle holds true that 20% of your clients can generate 80% of your problems. Therefore, eliminating clients who email too much can increase your productivity tremendously.
Why do you enjoy writing for your own blog?
Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts :)
Thanks for reading.
Kevin
Featured Image Credit: Steve Bridger
I agree with you Kelvin, I was write a 2k word article for a someone else blog but later I was realized that I should post this to my own blog.
There is many benefit of writing post for own blog, Earning is another reason and also If your blog become popular then all credits will be goes to you and you will be boss to decide what you need to do with your blog.
Same type of rule applied on Job, If we open our own company then we will be our own boss. ;)
Blogging for self is too good, that’s actually the whole point of blogging and being your own boss.
I have considered blogging for others for a while, mainly because of the instant $$ you receive, buy the kind of freedom and flexibility you get from working for yourself is something one should not trade for money.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for sharing indepth explanation for my comments. Its really worthful.
Thanks
I agree with all of that Wendy. If a blog owner really restricted what I can say or do, I would lose interest for writing for them. One of the main reasons I have written for others is because I enjoy writing. When the enjoyment is taken away, there is little incentive for me to write for them.
I find that very frustrating. I don’t enjoy writing for anyone that simply removes large parts of my article. It disrupts the flow of an article and makes other parts of the article irrelevant.
I have had my blog http://searchingforthehappiness.com since 2012 and began getting offers a few months later. Blogging for others is great for an income, but extremely restrictive in a creative sense. I love having my own blog, sharing thoughts and information I have learned. Honestly, there’s nothing like having your own blog. It’s an incredible sense of freedom.
Hey Kevin,
Great article.
I agree with all the points you mentioned. N4 is perhaps the one I don’t like the most. The fact that part of your article is easily edited into something else can be very annoying.
Thanks Mat. Glad you enjoyed the article.
Indeed. That’s why unless brands begin to function as a media companies or allow their media/marketing team to function as one, they can’t really catch up to real media companies.
And because that won’t happen most of the time, independent media companies has much more potential then ones owned by brands.
Check out CMI’s take on this
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/08/startups-trump-large-enterprises/
p/s: I’m inspired by how Emily Weiss became a major ecommerce store. All by blogging :)
Kevin,
I have only written for my own blog and then only a few times. However, I have really enjoyed writing for years and was considering writing blogs for others. This article has highlighted issues I should consider. Thanks.
Hi Anant.
Thanks for the comment.
I don’t think it is necessary for experts to contribute to other blogs. Darren Rowse, for example, only blogs on ProBlogger. I do not feel he needs to write articles for anyone else as his readers know they can follow him on his own blog. If I am in a situation where I have to decide to update my own blog or someone else’s, I will choose my own blog every time.
With regards to letting other bloggers write for your blog, I do like the idea of helping other bloggers, but I don’t think that is the best way to do it. For one, when a blog owner stops writing as much and relies too much on articles from others, the blog can lose direction. This happened to my own blog last year when I was paying bloggers to write for me. Even though I was choosing the topics for others to complete, I lose touch with my readers a little.
Also, the reality is that most submissions from guest bloggers are terrible. I would be more welcoming of guest posts if the standard was higher, but 95% of the submissions I receive are terribly written and give bad advice. It becomes counter-productive to try and correct these problems as it would be quicker to just write an article yourself.
If, however, I got guest post requests from established bloggers who already run successful blogs, I would be more welcoming. Sadly, the majority of applications come from people who submit rushed poorly researched articles.
It is an interesting topic and I do appreciate others have a different opinion on guest posting than me.
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I agree with you on every topic but i think it should be for newbie bloggers who have just started blogging. Once you become expert in your niche after that you should contribute to other blogs too and give opprtunity to others bloggers in your blog. It will build relationship with each other readers and it will create win win situation for both
Thanks for cover this topic deeply and please share your thoughts on my view
Yeah it is a little restrictive in one ways. There have certainly been times where I wondered whether I was damaging my own reputation as a writer by not mentioning competitors etc.
Thanks Kevin. Having read Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pulizzi, I found that while brands should write unbiased articles consistently, most don’t want to mention their competitors nor do proper reviews about good, competing products.
As such, a BMW site might appeal to BMW car owners but will never scale the heights and be a top automotive blog. :)
Very good point Brian.
That is something that I have had a problem with in the past. I have always prided myself in being honest in my articles and reported good and bad things about a product or service, however that process comes into question when you are writing for someone else as they may not want you to reference a competitor. I can obviously understand why they don’t want you to link to rival products, though I sometimes feel that I am shortchanging the readers when I write for others.
Without doubt, there is a conflict of interests, as if you do not follow their guidelines, you are unlikely to receive any more work for them.
Great article Kevin! Couldn’t agree more. This is why I really don’t blog anywhere else, even though I get asked to.
#4 Having the ability to call out competition and honestly compare products is very important, something you can’t always do if you are writing for a 3rd party. As you know I am pretty vocal on my site :) If I don’t like a product or have a bad experience I let people know.