So you’ve decided blogging is your dream job? But are you ready to make the plunge to full-time blogger? I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s hard work, it is and you probably already know that. Before I started I had daydreams of typing away in cute coffee shops, relaxed and content. And yes there are very rare days like this but the reality is that like all jobs, blogging has its own challenges. I will stop here to say that most bloggers I know would now be classed as an ‘influencer’. But for those, including me, that the term makes cringe, I will refer to us as bloggers. What I mean by the all incompassing term of influncer, is that to make a steady income you will probably need to be able to create not just written content on your blog but also be able to adapt this for other online platforms. Something I will chat about more.
Being a full-time blogger is incredibly rewarding and liberating. Starting this blog has opened so many doors, like writing my book, Green Christmas and being able to travel and experience new things. But maybe most importantly it has enabled me to make my own schedule. I no longer feel the agonising guilt of being the first person to drop my kids off at breakfast club or the extra early session at day nursery and I don’t very often feel the dread of being late to pick them up. When they are sick I can take care of them and that sometimes means I work late into the night but it’s a job I can fit around our life.
I remember when I first began to realise it was possible to make a living blogging. It seemed like a distant, impossible dream, but with determination, hard work, being open to learning new skills and being adaptable it is possible!
The world of full-time bloggers can often seem mysterious. Everyone’s path is different but from speaking to others who have been blogging for years, there are common topics that come up that we wish we had known before starting.
In the blogging world, you will hear a lot about your niche? Maybe you already know what yours is. But if you don’t you really need to sit down and think about what you love. What do you truly enjoy? What are you passionate about? Why? I hear you ask…
You will eat, sleep, breathe your work as a full-time blogger. It’s going to be pretty miserable if you don’t actually enjoy what you are talking about. But also to get those engaged followers and audience you need that passion to come across in your work.
Blogging is up and down, everyone will tell you this. Every month is different and whilst it keeps your work interesting, it can also be stressful when it comes to money. Thi is why knowing what you need to survive is so important.
The great thing about blogging is that it can be done part-time, and made to fit around your day job. It’s not necessarily EASY to do that, of course, but if you can, I’d recommend keeping your day job for as long as you possible and working on your blog in your spare time, building it up to the point where it’s providing you with enough of an income to make quitting the day job a viable option. Not only will this make the transition from traditional employment to full-time blogging a little easier, it’ll also give you time to make sure that full-time blogging is really for you.
Before you make the leap to full-time self-employed blogger you also need to think about what would happen if you for some reason can’t work. Savings are great but with no sick pay it’s important to look into Income protection, which pays out a percentage of your salary if you’re signed off of work through illness or injury.
Blogging is forever changing. There are always new platforms to get to grips with and new skills to learn. Of course, you can choose to purely focus on your blog, however, this will limit your work. You need to be prepared for the fact that just as you think you have nailed the frustrating algorithm it will change again. You only need to look at Instagram, check out my feed, and how it has moved from being a predominantly photo-sharing platform to now being more about reels and video content.
Which leads me onto….
I am all about investing in things to help you grow. But I wasn’t always like that. I’ve always been budget conscious and I thought it would be silly to invest in my blog. I ended up costing myself so much time and effort trying to do everything on my own. It’s ok to admit that you need help learning a new skill. I have learnt a huge amount of new things that I never even considered before becoming a full-time blogger.
The more skills you have, the more appealing you are for brand collaborations.
I promised to talk about this more so here it is. Most bloggers have many, many different ways they make money. Whether they use display advertising, sponsored posts, affiliate links, courses, selling products, offering services (from the skills they have learned), the list goes on. When you diversify your income you are more likely to keep a steady paycheck.
Most well-paid brand campaigns will want coverage not only on your blog but also, pretty much definitely Instagram and then maybe Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or TickTock, depending on where your strengths are. Being able to offer this is a sure-fire way to encourage those collaborations.