I feel like most of us feel the want to monetize our blog at some point. It is absolutely fine, but you should not feel like you “have to”. Around 6 months ago, I published that post and you’ve seemed to really like it. I told you that you did not have to monetize your passion and that having a “time-consuming” hobby was just absolutely fine. I wanted to be a little bit more specific today and talk about non-monetary blogging. First, you need to know that I do not monetize my blog but invest around 100 euros a year into it to have a Premium plan. Why if not for profit? Because I love the look of Premium themes and because I think that I may as well spend this money elsewhere so why not spending it for my passion? Now that this is clarified (money should not be a taboo and I do not want it to be one on this blog), let’s dive into the main reasons why I refuse to monetize the blog.
1. With monetization comes stress.
At least, that is true for me. I know that if I started monetizing, I would become mad. I already have a job and grad school to deal with (+ my personal life, obviously) and I just can’t add any more stress to the equation. I truly do think it is important to know what you are getting into when you start monetizing and to make sure this suits your lifestyle and mental health.
2. I do not want to risk loosing my passion.
One more taboo topic we should discuss together: when you earn money from your passion, passion can disappear. Of course, it is not the case for everyone but that can happen, mainly due to routine and stress. Thus, I do not want to take that risk and here is one more reason why I do not monetize.
3. France makes it complicated.
There is one big thing you absolutely need to consider before monetizing: the law. I see too many bloggers and youtubers earning money without even knowing that it may be illegal in their case. First, see with the law in your country as it may be extra complicated to do all the admin work that goes into owning a small business (because yes, a blog is a small business). Moreover, make sure that if you already have a job, your boss is okay with you having another part-time activity. You may indeed have missed a point on your contract stating that you can’t have two jobs. At the time you signed the contrat, you probably did not care because you were not aware that you would be in that situation some day but now that you are, read the contract again and if in doubt, talk to your boss or Human Resources. Do not risk loosing your job because you have not read the contract properly.
I know that these point aren’t points that you want to read but if after reading them you still feel 100% sure that monetization is the right choice for you, then go for it. My goal is absolutely not to make you feel sad or unmotivated, I simply want to help you make the right choices for you. Once more, I do not say that I will never monetize but for now, it is not for me and it is crucial to make sure we are not feeling unworthy as bloggers for it. Let this post be a little reminder that monetization does not dictate the quality of your writing.
The English-speaking Frenchie 