With the dawn of social media and blogging, it has now become more possible than ever for a teen to become successful at a young age. The requirements of looking for a job or owning your own brick and mortar stores are over. There are millionaires who have no headquarters building other than the home they sleep in. Some of these people are under 30, but teenagers can find themselves in that category as well.
The two main reasons why there are not more teenager entrepreneurs is because teens do not know how to be successful on the web, and they think it is an impossible feat that is exclusively for people out of college. On WordPress.com, creating a blog is free, and it only takes a few seconds to create one.
However, the rewards of starting a blog at a young age are incredible. As a teenager myself, I am amazed with the abilities that blogging has given me. I am also amazed that not every teen has his or her own blog. If you are the parent of a teen, be sure to share this article with them, and if you are a teen, here are five great reasons to start blogging at a young age.
#1: Blogging gives teens something good to do
To many people, the phrase “teen years” typically brings a bad thought. Some parents may see the “teen years” as separation from the child who wants to break free and live without limits. Some teens see the “teen years” as a bundle of joy.
One of the problems with “teen years” is that teens start to go into unchartered waters. There are stories of teens getting drunk or shooting people or doing another morally wrong act. On a less intense level, some teens procrastinate to the point where it is obvious to the people around them. Some teens procrastinate by surfing the web too often while others procrastinate by playing too many video games.
Blogging is an experiment, just like any good or bad thing that teens do. However, blogging is a positive experience that gives teens something good to do. Instead of procrastinating out of pure boredom, teens can now write blog posts about what they are passionate about and share it with the entire world. Putting your content out there for the world to see puts you on a whole new level.
#2: Blogging makes teens feel more significant
Significance is one of the basic human desires. We want other people to see us as significant because it boosts confidence self-esteem. It feels better to be given a compliment than an insult. Would you rather have people say you are good at something or that you are bad at something?
Blogging makes a teen feel more significant because there content is reaching out to people, and if the content is good, some people will leave nice comments. I have had the ability to interact with people within all parts of the world (I’m not so sure about Antarctica and the Arctic region all the way up north, but people from all other parts of the world have interacted with me at some point). Interacting with that many people, and seeing them write good things about your content makes you feel significant.
The problem with feeling insignificant is that some individuals who feel significant perform morally wrong actions just to be what they believe would make them “significant.” Some people go around and shoot people because they become a main news story. Then they become “significant,” but for the wrong reason.
#3: Blogging allows teens to get into the real world sooner
One of the biggest lies of the “real world” is that you get there when you graduate college. This idea of the real world is what allows the status quo to thrive. Although blogging is a great way to bring in a full-time income, it takes a lot of time to bring in that income and build your presence on the web.
Many college graduates become impatient and want to make money immediately (they want to support a family, buy a house, buy a car, and buy other things with their own money). This is when students start to realize from first-hand experience that life is more than taking notes in class and talking with friends. Working at the local store will result in quick money, but it won’t necessarily result in the type of money that the most successful bloggers make (millions of dollars).
#4: You have more flexibility over your schedule
The deeper you go into the school process, the less control you have over your schedule. College is where your schedule starts to become more flexible, but before that, you gradually lose control over your schedule (especially junior year in high school. That one is the worst). The great thing about blogging is that you can do it all year round anywhere you go. On the other hand, you can only do a summer job for three months, and that’s assuming you take no vacations in between.
At this stage of the game, I know there are teens on the fence wondering where they should go. Some teens think they will start in the summer and turn blogging into a type of summer job while other teens may want to start now (even if now means during the school year), but are not fully convinced. My answer is that you should start immediately after reading this blog post.
If you become a successful blogger at a young age, you will practically have full control over your schedule. How many people do you know who go to work from 9 am to 5 pm. Chances are you know a lot of people. All of your teachers, whether they want to or not, have to show up early and leave in the afternoon. Any employee you have seen in a brick-and-mortar store (Target, Mrs. Greens, CVS, WalMart, and all of the other ones as well) has to wake up at a certain time and work for a certain amount of time before going back home.
Starting now and becoming successful before you “have to” get a job and work for someone else (please don’t do that if you don’t want to) will allow you to make money and work on your own schedule. The best part is that when you get really good, you will literally be making money in your sleep!
#5: Blogging is a wonderful, unique experience
I have referenced this throughout my article, but it is worth mentioning again that blogging is what I believe is a life changing experience. If it weren’t for blogging, I would still be playing video games for three hours a day and watching TV when I didn’t feel like playing video games. I still play video games for about three hours every week, but I now spend hours of day enhancing my blog and getting my message out to the world.
Blogging has dramatically improved my time management skills, and it allows me to feel significant. The best part about blogging is that it is fun if you write about anything you want. It is important for teens to avoid viewing blogging as school essays because school essays give you limitations while you can write about anything you want on a blog. I have already written over 1,000 words for this particular blog post, and I have written over 400,000 words for this blog. It does not feel like work. Instead, it is a fun activity because I am able to write about what I am passionate about on a daily basis.
In Conclusion
Although a majority of the established bloggers are adults, more teens are creating their own blogs and writing their own content. Blogging provides teens with a great way to make money from the comfort of their home by doing what they love to do. Many of the top entrepreneurs got to where they are after working for someone else. If you create your blog now and make a full-time income, you won’t have to work for someone else for your entire life.
My only request for the parents reading this blog post is to show it to as many teens about it as possible. My only two requests for the teens reading this blog post are to create their own blogs and let other teens know about this article as well. I want to have a big impact on as many young entrepreneurs as possible.
Part of me agrees, bcuz after much research i hv seen the way to get an income from home on the internet is to start with a blog.
But thn part of me is old school and believes kids need the social adult skills obtained by getting a first job n first paycheck. It lifts their confidence BIG TIME.
The first paycheck is rewarding, but it is more awarding to wake up to $100 without putting in any work. The great thing about an online business is that you can easily make money in your sleep.
I enjoyed reading this post. However, I have to disagree with the “wake up to $100 without putting in any work” part. Blogging requires time and effort especially now when the competition has increased so much in the field. You have to plan your content and make sure you put out only the best for your readers and then you have to promote it like insane on social media. Blogging is a proper job and you have to show up at events and conduct meet and greets. It is not a complete stay at home doing nothing job. If we do that, we won’t be making it very far in the industry.
I completely agree with your point. There’s a lot of work to blogging but once you put in the initial work (years), you can make sales on autopilot and wake up to an email saying someone bought one of your products.