Well yeah, I know a series of thoughts run through your mind when you read the title. The other day I was having a chat with this blogger friend of mine who was strictly against blogging being a form of entrepreneurship, but before we move further I want to clarify that here I am not talking about casual bloggers with blogs as a vent to their daily incidents. I am talking about the people who invest time (and/or money) every day in blogging, cater to a niche (however big or small that might be) and are slowly mastering their niche. Some time ago, a term ‘Blogpreneurship‘ did emerge, but could not get much mileage.
Why Blogging Is Equivalent To Entrepreneurship?
There are others who start casually and end up taking it seriously as a profession. Like I launched Youth Ki Awaaz in 2008 as a blog to vent my thoughts on the political issues in India, and later converted it to a public platform – now a media firm. When we talk about blogging as a future venture, there are a series of things to consider while setting the parameters for judging it as the same.
Considering the internet penetration in India at about 51.7 million users only (source), the target market is reduced, thus limited. But leaving all these factors aside, the following points relate the two and qualify blogging as a form of entrepreneurship:
Investment/Venture Capital
Like in any other business/enterprise, here too, the blogger invests not only money (domain purchase/template,etc.) but invests some good amount of time in producing quality content. The blog here is the product, and the content here is the service offered to the reader — which is the consumer.
Planning
Like in an enterprise the product strategy is devised, similarly, in blogging, the content production strategy is devised. Here the blogger spends time in reading up about his/her niche, the kinds of articles, videos or podcasts one can produce, the exclusive content one can have, the areas not covered before, the type of audience the blog caters to and their respective interests, the frequency of posting and much more.
WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL BLOGGER? THEN THIS IS ESSENTIAL:
Do You Know What Makes A Blogger Perfect? It’s Proper Planning!
Team Building
One of the primary requirements of building an enterprise is to make a dedicated and loyal team. In blogging too, the blogger is always on the lookout for writers/bloggers/niche-experts to be a part of the blog and contribute posts to add to the value of not only the blog but also the consumer, i.e. the reader. The blogger makes extra efforts to make sure that the contributors stick on — by providing them various perks, promotion, links, ad revenue-share and much more. Here, guest posts by niche-experts become a key to the credibility of the blog.
Revenue and Finances
YES! Now in a real enterprise, revenue forms a major reason behind the hard work the employees and the management put in. Revenue is not only important to remunerate the workers in order to motivate them, but is also essential to develop the product further, launch new versions, invest in better programs, generate more leads and much more. In blogging, when the blogger(s) invest some serious time and effort, revenue from ads becomes essential.
Here I want to clarify that blogging only for money is nothing but stupid. From my personal experience in this industry, I can testify to the fact that those who start off only to generate revenue end up shutting down. The zest is lacking. Coming back, ad revenues help the blogger upgrade to a better host, get a much better template design for the blog, apply for trademark and copyright of content/logo/design, remunerate the writers in order to motivate them to work harder, start a new sub-blog. The reasons could be endless.
Risk
Yes, the risk is always there. Like in enterprises there is a risk of loss, competition or even a shut-down, in blogging too, there is a risk of a blog with better content coming up and taking over the niche; there is a risk of the blog not being able to reach out to the masses; the risk of the content not being exclusive and much more.
WANT TO BE A SUCCESSFUL BLOGGER? YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE 3 THINGS:
Do You Know The 3 P’s To Achieve Blogging Success? Want To Know Them?
What do you think? Is Blogging equivalent to Entrepreneurship? Or do you think I am over-estimating blogging?
Blogging builds entrepreneurship skills greatly!
good post…but bloggers have to work on..so much to start revenues..it need lot of time, patience to get traffic and get revenues..
Blog is a big business on the web today only if the particular blogger can manager the blog effectively and turn it into a money making business.
Blogging Is Equivalent To Entrepreneurship is a very inspirational article , I found . Its not only shows that now Blogging needs some dedication , But also shows that that Blogging is not a Kid game . But you have to manage your Blog As Like a Enterprises
Great article, I really feel like an entrepreneur for my business blog but what if I think of a personal blog, is it important to stick with business topics to be an entrepreneur?
Hey VC, it is not at all important to stick to business topics to be an entrepreneur. A blogger who blogs about cooking or motorbikes, or any topic for that matter can be an entrepreneur if the above points are applicable.
Persistance is the important thing and common factor between Blogging and Enterpreneurship, in my view.
i follow Mr. Amit Bhawani for his great work, i think he is my only best inspiration
I agree all the points mentioned here. Based on this post, I am in the entrepreneur list now. 🙂
yea yea satish ur 🙂
Its good to know that i am an Entrepreneur 🙂 nice share .
Interesting concept, and I have to agree. A Blogger is more than just writer alone, especially when one is serious about making the site a brand to be recognized. A lot of changes going on and unlike before, more effort and knowledge is needed to get beyond the ‘blogging’ line. Challenging but electrifying.
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
Its a great post, as a lot of people do not recognize how much work is involved if blogging done professionally, inspirational post 🙂
Blogging is as entrepreneurial as any other business…along the lines of what you mentioned it involves time, money, planning, organizing, strategizing, etc. These are all elements that entrepreneurs partake in!
I agree with you. A medium blogger can be called a starter entrepreneur as thats the time when he invests more & gets more out of his/her blog
So true 🙂
Thanks for the post bro, Now feeling like a Entrepreneur 😀
@Arif: Great to know man 🙂 Thanks for the appreciation 🙂
A blogger calling him/her as an Entrepreneur is not justified in my opinion as you are not generating employment for anyone.
Well, the blogger can provide employment. I have 6 full timers working at mine. Labnol.org has a few, and so does pluggd.in.
But such cases only constitute a minor share. A regular blogger is a one man company.
very true, but those looking at developing a business out of the same might have plans to employ many others.
yes! right 🙂
I would call it mass blogging or blogging burst. lolz
Hey Anshul,
Great post dude. You’ve made some great points.
Thanks for sharing this great Post.
~Dev
Thanks for the appreciation man 🙂
Yes blogging is a business and that's why so many novice bloggers fail because they don't treat their blog as a business.
Thanks iYingHang for agreeing. Another point I missed is that it is not at all necessary for people to treat their blogs as a business. For some it is pure passion where writing is solace. I respect such people 🙂
I can agree with you but not 100%, Blogging is the way to earn the handsome income and make a good money through it…
But Entrepreneurship is the mixture of lot’s of things
jacob
Well, I beg to differ here a bit. Blogging, if treated like a business enterprise can surely give you a 6 figure income. There are tons of case studies on this.
Great post! Yea i agree with you! No doubt 😀 thanks for sharing. Keep the good work up.
Thanks Samuel. 🙂 Cheers! Keep reading HBB 😀