People think of blogging as easy money, but it’s really not a “get rich quick” scheme. So, right off the bat, I’m going to be honest. Unless you have a passion for writing and creating content, blogging is not the avenue for you.

The common misconception is that bloggers do nothing. They go out to brunch with their friends, post cute Instagram pictures, and get paid to do all this fun stuff. So then everybody and their mother wants to blog and get paid for it, and they expect to live this lavish lifestyle and move to LA. The truth is that the majority of bloggers work really hard. Especially before they “take off,” like any other job.

It’s not a quick way to become rich, especially if you want to be making money for the long haul. There is so much work that goes into blogging. Bloggers have to grow their blog from the bottom up. That means trial and error, especially if they’re doing it alone. There’s time for the brunching and pretty pictures, but that’s not what being a blogger is all about.

First of all, the majority of well-known bloggers have been blogging since 2012. They jumped on the wagon early, and if they played their cards right, by now they have loyal readers. This doesn’t mean it’s too late to start blogging, though.

As for the making money part, you have to write many blog posts before you can start thinking about an income. Blogs don’t make money without readers or subscribers. In order to work with brands, you need to have a decent amount of people who enjoy reading your content. Why would a brand pay you to promote their product if you have no audience? That being said, if you’re a passionate and consistent blogger, you can build on your niche and find brands and an audience that support your blog.

People see successful bloggers and assume it’s so simple. But just because someone makes their life look easy doesn’t mean it is. I’m guilty of making assumptions, too; I used to envy bloggers. Their lives look so perfect! But the truth is, we don’t see all the work they’ve done. We don’t see the long nights spent writing and rewriting, or the emails being exchanged between blogger and brands. We tend to forget that everyone starts somewhere. These bloggers didn’t just start their work and have brands reach out to them within the first week. They put in the effort and made a name for themselves before anyone thought of working with them.

There are blogs about everything these days, but that shouldn’t be a deterrent. If you have something you want to write about, starting a blog might be a really good idea. If you like cooking, you could start a blog about that. The key is to add a personal touch that makes your blog your own, not just another cooking profile. When you put effort into something you love doing, you’ll find a way to make it work for you.