by Rena Sherwood

Created on: November 04, 2008

In my two years writing personal and professional blogs, I've ridden the extreme highs and lows of the blog beast. I've been cheated, sworn at, ignored and given some unexpected compliments. Blogging is like diving headfirst into book or magazine publishing, but there's not so much money involved. Still, I blog seven days a week and have no plans to ever stop.

The Lows

The three worst lows of blogging are being cheated, being a victim of trolls and having your blog yanked out from under you. Since being a freelance writer or blogger is such a precarious business, you can never rely on just one client. You need to have a whole stable full of clients so that if one client should fall, you won't go down with him.

It's far too easy to make a professional-looking website. You never know if you are dealing with a proper business or a pair of teenagers in a basement trying to score some beer money. Both groups can make websites that look completely alike. And when they advertise for a blogger, you fall for it.

For example, just last week I had a client, after I'd turned in an order of 23 blog posts, suddenly disappear. There's probably no way I can fight such a theft and it makes you want to bang your head repeatedly against a brick wall. I've also begun work on blogs only to have the blog network claim that they are bankrupt and they, too, virtually skip town. It's no fun working for free.

The other low point in blogs is receiving really nasty comments for your blog. Many sick people get a kick out of writing inflammatory comments to you. Don't take the bait. Hit that delete button and see if you are allowed to moderate the comments on the blog you are paid to write for.

The Highs

But you get far more nice comments and helpful suggestions than you do nasty comments when you blog. My highest point was getting a note from a staffer at Time magazine complimenting me on a post about unicorns. Another high point was getting a job offer based on a post.

But mostly, the high point is once a month when you receive your PayPal statement claiming that you got paid. There are a lot of blog networks that will let you say exactly what you feel like (without getting pornographic) and pay you. It sure beats working at Kmart. You may not get as much money as working a "real" job, but you get a lot less stress and you get to follow your passion. I can't think of a better job.

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