WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK?

What’s holding you back? You’ve been wanting to start a food blog for a long time. Somehow you haven’t started yet. Why?

Most of the reasons holding people back fall into three categories: lack of clariety, fear of failure, and fear of judgement. 

Today we’ll look at the most common reasons people don’t launch their food blogs and some simple, realistic solutions to overcome those obstacles.

Reason Number 1. I’m Not Ready

When will you be ready? Is there something you have to do in order to get ready? 

Make a list of the specific skills you think you need to acquire or improve before you’ll be ready to start. 

If you think there are certain conditions that need to be in place before you start. Make a list of those. 

The truth is that you just need some basic skills to start a food blog. 

Take a good look at the specific skills or conditions you think you need before you start. Are they realistic? Or are they aspirational?

Realistically, you’ll need to know something about food. You’ll need to know how to use a computer or smartphone. And you’ll need to have some basic reading and writing skills. 

Things such as knowing how to code and being an excellent graphic designer are aspirational. Those sorts of skills are not actually required to start a food blog. 

You can learn all of the required skills online, usually for free. 

If you think you absolutely need some skills, find some free resources to learn them. Set aside some time to study. Make a timeline with goals for each week and a learning timeline no longer than six weeks. Be sure to include a launch date!

We think it’s very rare that you need to learn the basic skills you’ll need to start. Most of the time, you already have the skills to launch your project. 

You can learn all the aspirational skills as you go along, after you launch your project. 

If you can’t learn the required technical skills, hire someone to perform those skills for you. 

SUGGESTIONS

• Determine if your expectations are realistic. Make a plan to learn the basic skills you need in a timely fashion using free, online resources. Have a firm launch date as a goal. 
• Learn the aspirational skills you need after you launch. 
• Hire someone to perform the tasks you can’t learn. 

Reason Number 2. I’m Not as Good As (fill in the blank).

Chances are there’s a blogger or celebrity chef that you admire. Maybe you aspire to be like them. 

It’s very dangerous to compare yourself to them. They’re already successful and you haven’t started. 

It’s rather like comparing a six-month-old baby to a young adult. Who’s better at walking and talking or reading and writing? 

A fair comparison is to compare a six-month-old baby to another baby the same age. Or one young adult to another. Will the baby never learn to walk, talk, read, or write? Of course, it will. In time, it will learn all those skills. 

The same is true for you. You’ll learn lots of skills as you go along but at the beginning of your blog, you’ll have a smaller skillset. A smaller, but completely appropriate to your level, skillset.

SUGGESTIONS

• Compare yourself to other beginners; aspire to become like the person you admire later on. 
• Change your mindset about the skill level you need to launch a project. 

Reason Number 3. It’s Not the Right Time

There’s a saying, “The best time to launch a blog is yesterday.” 

That’s because whatever project you eventually launch, it will take some time to gain some traction. So, the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see some success. 

If you start now, in a year, you’ll have a year’s worth of growth, progress, and experience behind you. You’ll be a year closer to success. 

If you don’t start at all, in a year you’ll have nothing. No growth, no progress, no experience. And you’ll be no closer to success than you are now. 

During the recent Covid pandemic, thousands of people launched blogs, YouTube channels, and podcasts. A large percentage of people were unemployed and so potential audiences had no disposable income. That would seem to be a bad time to launch a project. 

In fact, it was a great time. The new creators had no day jobs to distract them so they could devote themselves to their projects. 

Audiences also had large amounts of free time and they were spending it online, eager to learn new things, and find new sources of entertainment. 

If online projects can flourish during a pandemic, think about what they’ll do during regular times. 

SUGGESTION

• Understand that the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see success. 

Reason Number 4. I Don’t Know Where to Start

Here’s the secret: Start at the beginning. Establish your platform, create content, and market your content. Create more content, and market that. 

Search online for “How to launch a blog” and you’ll find hundreds of step-by-step guides. Review a few. You’ll notice they have several steps in common. Pick one that seems to make sense to you. And START! 

SUGGESTION

• Find a free online launch guide for your project type. Follow the directions and START! 
• Read our blog post Month One of a Food Blog, which details a to-do list for beginning food bloggers. 

Reason Number 5. I’m Afraid I’ll Fail 

If you launch your food blog, you might, in fact, fail. You also might succeed.  

If you never launch your food blog, you’re guaranteed to fail. You’re guaranteed not to succeed. 

So the only way you might succeed is if you try. 

What’s the worst thing that might happen if you fail? 

You’ll lose the money you invested in the project. (We’re generally talking about less than $200 to launch a food blog and cover costs for the first year.) Losing money is never fun, but losing this amount of money won’t bankrupt you. You won’t end up homeless. 

Some other things that won’t happen: You won’t be sent to prison. And you won’t be put to death. You won’t be publicly shamed in the town square. You won’t be forced to carry a sign that says, “I failed at food blogging.” And you won’t be banned from ever trying a food blog again.

If you fail, you can try again. Figure out what went wrong with your blog, correct any mistakes, and try again. 

Many people don’t succeed with their first blog. But they learn from the experience and when they try again, they do succeed. 

By the way, the most common reason food blogs fail is that the creator loses interest and stops creating content.

SUGGESTIONS

• Recognize that while it’s true that if you don’t try, you won’t fail, it’s equally true that if you don’t try, you won’t succeed. Give yourself a chance to succeed. 
• Develop a realistic list of the worst things that can happen if your project fails. (Notice that none of them involve prison, homelessness, or death.) Brainstorm some methods of coping with those circumstances if they do occur. 
• Change your mindset about what failing means about you.  (Failure means your blog didn’t work; failure doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.) 
• Resolve to try again if you fail. Evaluate your food blog, figure out what went wrong, and don’t make those same mistakes next time. 

Reason Number 6. I Don’t Have the Technical Skills 

These days being a blogger doesn’t require advanced technical skills. It’s extremely easy to launch a simple website on a variety of platforms. 

Yes, you can opt for complicated technical set-ups if you want to. But easy alternatives are also available. Explore website options and determine the one that’s best for you given your current level of technical skills. 

You can hire someone to handle the technical aspects but honestly, there are easy, non-technical options out there no matter what platform you choose. 

SUGGESTIONS

• Change your mindset about the technical skills necessary to launch a website. Get information about the actual skills you need. 
• Choose a non-technical option for your website. 
• Hire someone to handle the technical aspects of your project. 

Reason Number 7. I’m Afraid I’ll Lose the Stability of a Regular Job 

Having a day job, one where you get paid regularly and maybe get benefits, has its distinct advantages. Most creators have a regular job when they launch their own food blog. You don’t have to quit your job to start your blog. 

There may come a time when your income from your blog replaces the income from your day job. If that happens, you can decide if you want to quit your day job then. Until that happens you can keep both your day job and your blog. Heck, even after that happens, you can keep both your day job and your blog.

SUGGESTIONS

• Resolve to keep both your day job and your own project going at least until the income from your project equals the income from your day job.  

Reason Number 8. I Don’t Have Any Free Time

Create some free time. Take a good look at your schedule and see where you can carve out 30 minutes a day to devote to your project. 

Yes, if you spend eight hours a day on your blog, you’ll grow faster but if you can spend even just half an hour at a time, a few times a week, you’ll be able to grow. 

There are lots of tasks you can complete in 30 minutes. And tasks that take longer, can be broken up into short segments. 

Working in small segments of time, you’ll accomplish less but you will accomplish something. Not starting at all guarantees that you won’t accomplish anything. 

SUGGESTION

• Find short segments of time, say 30 minutes, and devote that to your food blog. Accept that your growth might be slower than if you had large chunks of time to work on your blog but acknowledge that you are accomplishing something.  

Reason Number 9. I Don’t Know What I Want to Do 

This is the hardest obstacle to overcome for most people. With all of the topics, approaches, audiences, and platforms you can choose for your food blog, it’s true that the list of what’s possible can seem endless. 

With so many options, narrowing your choice down to one topic, approach, audience, and platform can be extremely difficult. 

The answer starts with you. What do you really want to do? Not what would you maybe sort of like to do, what would you LOVE to do? What topic would keep your attention for the next five years? What job would you happily do for free? 

Do you still have multiple topics in contention? Okay, then the question becomes what would you like to do first? 

There’s no rule saying you can’t start a cooking blog focusing on Mexican food this month and start a YouTube channel in six months. You can develop several projects over time. The trick is to start. 

Start with the topic that you’re most excited about, the one that you know the most about, or the one that would be easiest for you to launch. Just START! 

SUGGESTIONS

• Decide what platform, topic, and approach you would LOVE to do. 
• Decide which platform, topic, and approach that you would love to do that would be best to do first. 
• Read our blog post Narrow Your Food Writing Niche for help on determining your best topic, approach, audience, and platform.  

PLEASE NOTE: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links meaning that The Food Writing School earns a small commision if you click on the link use the services. There is no additional cost to you. Income from these affiliate links help The Food Writing School to provide readers with quality content at no cost.

Reason Number 10. I Don’t Have the Money / Resources to Start

You can start any simple website for less than $75. You need very little equipment and most services and products that you need offer free-forever limited versions or 30-day free trials. 

Don’t have any cash? Cut out a small expense and save up. Try not buying a cup of coffee every morning and spending that money on your website. 

Think the price of a cup of coffee won’t buy you much? Say your coffee costs $3 every morning. That’s $15 a week. Save for four weeks and you’ll have $60. 

Just $36 buys you one year of blog hosting from BlueHost. $6 buys you a month of dedicated email from Google Workspace. 

You can start a YouTube channel with just a smartphone and some effort. $40 buys you a good quality lavalier microphone or light ring. 

A good quality podcasting microphone costs around $50 and a month’s podcasting hosting costs less than $15.

SUGGESTIONS

• Cut a personal expense and save up the money. Use those funds for your project. 
• Make use of free-forever or 30-day free trials for products and services.  

Make it clear to them that their support is important to you and give them a few examples of how they can show their support. If they choose not to support you, accept their decision and move on with your website. 

If they oppose your project, ask them to clarify their opposition. Do they object to you taking time or money away from the family to spend on your website? 

Use your own time and money for your project while you continue to meet your family obligations. 

That might mean getting up early or staying up late to write a blog post or tape a cooking video. Use your lunch hour at work to do some research or watch some videos to improve your skills. 

Many times family members will echo one of the reasons on this list – “I’m afraid you’ll fail,” or “I don’t think you don’t have the skills to succeed.” 

Use the rationale listed in this guide to overcome their objections. 

It’s important not to let other people’s fears or misconceptions stop you from moving forward.  

SUGGESTIONS

• Ask your family for support. If they decline, accept their decision and move on. 
• Ask your family to clarify their objections. Work to find realistic solutions to overcome their opposition, including using the rationales in this guide to change their mindsets.
• Use your own time and money for your project while you continue to meet your family obligations. 

Reason Number 12. I Don’t Know Enough to Teach Others 

We hear lots of reasons as to why people don’t launch their food blogs. 

“I don’t know anything,” is one of the most frequent. In almost every case, it isn’t true. 

If you do an inventory of all the food skills you’ve developed over the years, you’ll probably see that you know quite a bit that you can teach other people about. 

Many enthusiastic home cooks have launched successful food blogs. 

Even if your skills are limited, many blogs are hosted by people who are learning something and taking their audience along as they learn. 

For example, a novice home cook tries lots of beginner recipes and shares her results, what works, and what doesn’t. 

With “Learn with Me” projects, food bloggers don’t need to be an expert on any topic. They just need to know a little more than their audience and be curious to learn more.

SUGGESTIONS

• Change your mindset about the value of the things you do know.
• Learn something and share your learning experience. 

Reason Number 13. Blogging is Dead

There are currently almost 600 million blogs in the world. Some 7.5 million blog posts go live every day. 

The demographics for online learning are growing every day. 

American-based creators on YouTube, for example, were once mostly white, adult males between the age of 25 and 45. That’s changing to include more minorities, more women, and more people over the age of 60 and under the age of 20. And the YouTube audience is expanding in the same way. 

The same is true for blogs and podcasts. Creator and audience demographics are expanding.

None of those platforms are dead. None of them are dying. 

In general, headlines like “Is Blogging Dead?” are simply fear-based clickbait. 

The truth is that each of those platforms is poised for explosive growth as internet access increases around the world. Countries like the US have a high rate of access. Other countries are increasing their access, bringing more and more people online. 

The need for information and entertainment never ends and these platforms answer those needs efficiently. Readers, viewers, and listeners access these platforms, for the most part, for free. Why would audiences move away from these platforms? 

Until new platforms come into being that provides information or entertainment even more efficiently, also for free, blogs, YouTube, and podcasts are safe. 

SUGGESTION

• Reframe your mindset about the reality of these platforms. They are growing exponentially each day. The need for information and entertainment continues and will only grow as access to the internet increases around the world. 

Reason Number 14. The Market is Full / There’s No Room for Another Food Blog

The numbers in reason 13 above would seem to support the idea that the market is, in fact, full. It isn’t. It isn’t even close to full. 

The potential audience for food blogs is growing every day. The population of the world is growing every day. And more people have access to the internet every day. More people and more access mean a bigger audience. 

A wonderful combination of education and entertainment, food blogs are here to stay. Besides, there’s always an audience for a project that offers value. 

Think about grocery stores. There are low-priced grocery stores, mid-range stores, high-priced stores, stores that offer natural, organic food, stores that offer generic labels at a deep discount, and stores that offer exclusive products. 

There can be too many grocery stores in any one neighborhood. But with a website, your “neighborhood” is the whole world! 

People have a favorite grocery store, one where they shop regularly. They might have to drive past another grocery store to get to their favorite. But something about their favorite keeps them coming back. 

Maybe it’s the prices, maybe it’s the selection of products. It might be the size, the cleanliness, the friendly staff. 

Like grocery stores, websites and blogs have different approaches, different price points, different styles. Each project is aimed at a different audience. 

There may be hundreds of blogs that focus on your particular topic, but only one has you. Audiences connect to the creator behind the website. You’re unique and what you’ll offer will be unique, too, if you infuse your blog with your own approach, your style, and your personality. 

SUGGESTIONS

• Reframe your mindset about the potential audience for your project (it’s worldwidOffer real value with your blog and you’ll attract an audience. 
• Infuse your blog with your unique personality and style. Like you, your project will be unique in the world. 

Reason Number 15. My Friends / Family / Co-workers Will Laugh at Me 

The truth is that unless you tell them, your friends, family, and co-workers will likely never notice that you started a food blog. Most people are very busy with their own lives. 

It’s a huge world online. The chances that someone in your life accidentally stumbles across your blog are very, very slim. 

The people in your life will have one of three reactions: they’ll be supportive, they’ll be indifferent, or they’ll be negative. Some of the negative people might ridicule you. 

So, you’re not starting your food blog because a tiny number of people might laugh at you. You’re letting a possibility stop you. Does that make sense? 

There are lots of things we can guarantee will happen once you start your food blog – you’ll have to work hard, you’ll have to plan, you’ll have to earn an audience and sponsors, you’ll have to market your content. All of that is hard to do. 

If those guaranteed difficult tasks aren’t holding you back, why is the possibility of a negative reaction from some people preventing you from launching your project? 

SUGGESTIONS

• Change your mindset about the number of people you know who might accidentally find your food blog and have a sufficiently negative reaction to actually go to the trouble of ridiculing you. 
• Change your mindset about the importance of people’s opinions of you. Someone who ridicules you isn’t worth being called a friend. Accept that there are negative, even dreadful people in the world. Resolve to not let what they might think about you limit your actions. 
• Prepare some responses to any negative comments you might get so that you’re not caught by surprise. Example: Someone says, “You’re going to fail.” You respond, “Not trying is a guaranteed way to fail. I’m going to try and give myself the chance to succeed.”  

Reason Number 16. I’m an Introvert and Am Afraid of Social Contact 

The beauty of websites and blogs is that you control exactly how much interaction you have with your audience. 

You can make videos without ever showing your face or using your voice. And you can avoid in-person transactions with your audience (no live workshops, for example). 

Don’t feel you have to use your image or name as part of your brand marketing. Instead of Cooking the Best Italian Recipies with Annie, name your project The Best of Italian Recipes. Use an image of chef’s knives as your logo or favicon instead of your headshot. 

Instead of using a “Posted by Annie Reynolds” byline, try “Posted by The Best of Italian Recipes.” 

Lots of food bloggers do make videos of themselves talking directly to the camera. But lots don’t. 

If your audience needs one-on-one communication, answering emails, for example, you can hire a virtual assistant. 

SUGGESTIONS

• Create content and marketing materials that don’t use your face, voice, or your name.  
• Hire a virtual assistant for any one-on-one communication your audience needs. 

Reason Number 17. I Have to Do (fill in the blank) Before I Start a Blog 

Saying, “I have to do X before I can start a blog,” is an especially effective form of procrastination. In almost all situations, you can do X no matter what the situation with your food blog is. 

You can do X first. Or you can start a food blog first. You do them both at the same time. Or you can do neither one and go on to something else. 

Ask yourself, “Why can’t I do X?” Is there a real obstacle to getting that done? Is it really linked to your blog? 

If you decide that you really, really must do X before you start a food blog, then do it and move forward with your project. 

If you decide that the two tasks aren’t really linked, move forward with your blog. 

The truth is that the only thing you have to do before you start a project is to decide to do it. 

SUGGESTION

• Change your mindset about the two tasks you’ve linked. If they’re really linked, complete X and move forward with your food blog. If they’re not really linked, move forward with your food blog. 

PLEASE NOTE: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links meaning that The Food Writing School earns a small commision if you click on the link use the services. There is no additional cost to you. Income from these affiliate links help The Food Writing School to provide readers with quality content at no cost.