Let me tell you a short story about a couple of good friends . Let’s call them Jiminy Bob and Wackaloe Joe .

Back in the day Bob and Joe grew up on the same street, ate the same ice cream from the same ice cream vendor, went to the same school and got bullied by the same bullies. They even loved the same girl in high school (she rejected them both eventually). They we’re like two drops of water. They even spoke the same way.

There was only one difference between them: Joe never did what he was told to do, while Bob was more of an obedient character. When they graduated high school they found themselves in the middle of a crossroads, not knowing which way to go.

Passionate Aspirations or Rigid Expectations?

Joe, being the free spirit that he was , decided not to go through college but instead went to work as a mechanic for his uncle who had a garage. Joe loved cars. He knew everything there was to know about cars and he enjoyed every aspect of them.

Bob wanted to play guitar but his parents told him to stop with the nonsense and go to a nice business college.

‘That’s where the big bucks are, Bob. You don’t want to live in poverty, do you?’ his dad told him. And Bob listened.

After 5 years Joe works hard at his uncle’s garage and barely makes a living. But he enjoys what he does. It satisfies him.

Bob on the other hand has a good job working behind a desk and makes a decent living. But every morning he needs 30 minutes to get up from bed and go to work.

15 years have passed now and Joe has his own garage that his uncle left him. He has several employees and everyone knows about his shop because he puts his heart into every repair that he makes. He makes a decent , if not above average , living and he does what he loves to do.

Bob now has a wife that he met at the company party. He finds her boring. He also has a secretary and makes enough money to lead an above average life. But he works 9-10 hours a day behind a desk that he hates doing work that he finds extremely boring.

And now I ask you: in the long term, which of them had more to gain? The answer is obvious.

Pursue a Passion or Chase a Disappointing Paycheck

Don’t start a blog just because the market seems profitable or because you want to make money. I know many of you will not agree with what I’m saying but I speak the truth. Hitting the jackpot is something that very few manage to achieve. You need to know that. You need to accept that before you get yourself a blog.

It’s no mystery that about 75% of all bloggers start a blog because they hope to make some money. And that’s why about 75% fail in the first 2-3 months . There is only so many blogs that the internet can support financially.

If anyone would ask me what I think is the most important asset a blogger needs to have, I would answer without a moment’s pause: Passion! And now we finally get to the point of this post. I’m sorry I made you read so much but I’ve noticed that passion is highly underrated in this field and I wanted to make my point very clear.

The Power of a Passionate Blogger

Why is passion essential to a blog? Being passionate about the topic of your blog means:

• That you already have some knowledge of your topic and even if you don’t, you will get some fast. You can’t read a book about birds if you see them as nothing more than egg providers.
• You can maintain relationships with other bloggers in your field. The thing is that these kind of relationships rarely become anything more than just chats on that topic. They’re topic-related-friendships. That’s it. And if you’re not passionate about your subject how do you think you will be able to maintain these relationships? Do you listen to someone talk about stamps if you don’t collect them yourself?
• You become a visitor conversion tool. You convert them from simple jumper visitors to returning visitors. Why? Because you teach them something. You listen to them teaching you something. It becomes what blogging is all about – an interaction.
• You can write good articles, if not great ones, just by having passion. How many of you would prefer listening to an old, bored professor holding a lecture than a young, passionate one giving the same lecture?
• You have a great chance of writing unique content, which is what we are all after. How? If you are passionate about something then that means you give it more than just 30 minutes a day writing a post. You spend time thinking about various techniques and ideas and eventually you will come up with your own theories – unique content .
• And the final, best thing, that passion gives is satisfaction. At the end of the day, even if your blog wasn’t successful, even if after a year you still get just 100 visitors a day, you will have a feeling of satisfaction. You met some people that love the same thing you do. You learned something new. You got involved.

Passion ensures that your blog will be a fulfilling experience even if it wasn’t the paycheck you thought it might be.

This article was written by Nelson, the alter ego of a 22 year old designer wannabe from Life Within a Page.