Friday

21/06 - Full Time Blogger?


Isn't that the dream? For anyone who's been blogging for a couple of years it's got to be in the back of your mind that one day this could be a viable income whether it subsidise a job you love or lets you quit one you really don't it's now a legitimate job for a lot of people. I've never been particularly ambitious in the work place, I do my job and I like to know I'm doing it well but I've never had designs to advance to the top of the career ladder. I'm most at home at a computer but I'm a creative soul and unless I started over and retrained to do something like web design I will be stuck behind a desk working for someone else for not great pay for the rest of my life, the reason? I just don't want it enough. For some it is all about the money, they will work 12 hours a day at the worst place ever if it pays well, I'd rather be broke and happy. I don't hate the job I have now, I actually used to quite like it but between the recent changes, increased stress levels and the amazing opportunities that I am being offered via blogging it's making less and less sense to stay. Potentially if I left I could earn more money doing something I truly enjoy from the comfort of my own home while being able to spend more time with my family so when tempers flare and things start to get shouty over at the office I wonder, what am I doing here? At the same time being home all day with the kids can leave you stir crazy.. I know that without my blog I couldn't be SAHM, I'd go mad with no adult interaction all day, at least via the internet I have 'friends' keeping me sane. I go to work for the money just like everyone else but I also go for the social aspect, I would miss the familiar faces, the banter and the company.. it adds structure to my week and without it I might not be the same person. Im might lose my drive and motivation.. I might just become a bore since I have no need to keep my witty conversation sharp if I'm alone all day. These are things I think of when I consider taking the leap in to full time blogging, that and of course the stigma. People seem to turn on bloggers who jack in their day jobs, I have lost count of the amount of comments I've had praising me for being a 'normal person' with a 'real job' - I've always liked that but what if I no longer have a 'real job'? Am I no longer relatable to my readership? Is their a chance that what I've given up that 'real job' for will dwindle and fade away because I actually needed it for my totally unrelated blog? Crazy but possible. As a blogger I look up to my peers who have been lucky enough to go it alone but I can see why there many be animosity from those reading posts on their commute from girls sitting home all day in their pyjamas, I'd be jealous too but I wouldn't begrudge them what they've built for themselves. It's 50% luck when it comes to online publication, obviously you have to have something people like but they have to find you in the first place and there's only so much you can do to help that happen. I've worked damned hard to get to the point I'm at now but now I'm finally here I'm not sure I can do it.. it's scary without the thought of alienating my audience so what that adds is just a lovely bonus. I'm not sure what this post is, just a rambly rant but I'm hoping one way or another over the next week or two I will come to a compromise in my work and home life that will give me a little more balance.

12 comments:

  1. Do what makes you happy. Look out for yourself & if you want to become a full time blogger then so be it, what is it for other people to judge? It's your life choice and yours alone. If your life is going to be better for it and you're going to get more out of life that way, all the luck to you I say!!

    xx

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    1. Thank you! It's one of those things I guess, you can't please everyone so please yourself! x

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  2. I make mine Joseny's words. Everyone who knows you and appreciate your blog/videos will be here to support you all the way! It's your blog, your channel, your life - you can talk about anything you want - it will never be 'empty'. What about those who just post expensive OOTD on their blogs? Usually they 'talk' about 'nothing' other than showing outfits put together and people 'kill' to read them. Its your content, we like it very much, we'll read it! Be happy, no one judging you will be happy for you - if they judge you on the good you do, they are not happy and are mean to others. Your content is healthy - that's the most important thing for me. Sorry for the long comment. :)

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    1. haha yeah I guess your right.. it would nice to be one of 'them' for a day though wouldn't it haha

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  3. Maybe u should become a full time blogger while u decide what u really want to do and if blogging is what u want to do then do it. People only hate on stay at home bloggers if they're rich and start buying tons of high end stuff that no one can afford. So as long as u stick to the budget beauty people will probably be ok with it. If they're not well sod em lol.

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    1. oh gosh I would much rather save up my money and go on trips etc than start splashing out on chanel lol.. that said I would love a chanel bag ONE DAY

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  4. Well, there might be a downside you did not think of yet - what if the full time blogging works fabulously for let's say 8 years and then suddenly your supporters are simply no longer interested. Then you don't have an income and are looking for a job; when the interviewer asks you what you did for the last 8 years you say: "I was a fulltime blogger" - yay, that might give you a small bonus if you are training to become a journalist, but for a "normal" job interview? bust...

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    1. what about all of those full time mums who go back to work? I know it's possible because my Mum did it, I think the fact that you've been self employed bodes well in comparison to 'I've been raising kids for 8 years'

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  5. I had this decision recently too. However I decided that in the spirit of living life while you can, you simply must go ahead. You too, like me, have a good CV of previous good office jobs. If the blogging thing doesn't work out, or as we all face, blogging might phase out, you can and will go back to that life easily. While you have worked so hard in your spare time to make this a successful blog and you out of a million bloggers can give it a go full time, you would be silly not to. I liken it to running a hard, testing race but then turning away at the finish line. This is the goal we all work towards. It may also open better job doors and be a stepping stone for the future in a big way you don't know yet. You have to take a risk, and your life will be far enriched for doing so. Good luck darling. xx

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    1. You're absolutely right and I've tried to explain this to my husband haha.. this is what I've been working towards since I struggled to go back to work last year after having Milo.. I knew it might be possible at some point and had it been earning me then what it is now I would never have gone back but he worries about money etc.. me not so much. I'm much more concerned with my relatability as a 'real person' to my readers rather that 'one of those SAH-Bloggers' I know that if it doesn't work out I can go back to work, no biggie but I worry that I will alienate all those readers who do go out to work every day. I guess it's more the fact that blogging isn't totally accepted as a job yet but it's now earning me twice as much as my 'real' job but at half the pressure and I enjoy it 100% more so.. it's kind of a no brainer. Thanks for your support x

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  6. And in response to the previous comment, absolutely any kind of job would take you on after being a fulltime blogger. It's not just a journalism role, it's building your own business, completely from scratch. Not only does that show you're innovative, competent, business minded and powerful, you're a go-getter, with ambition and drive. That puts you right at the top of any job candidates list. Sorry for double commenting, I feel very strongly about this cos it's my life too. xx

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  7. Forgive me please, I need to ask something here: you wrote "any kind of job would take you on after being a fulltime blogger. It's not just a journalism role, it's building your own business, completely from scratch". So you personally know people who were fulltime bloggers, quit and now have a successful career in, let's say, an advertising company or the like? Or do you even know anybody who built his own business from scratch, had to call it quits after let's say 5 years because he/she did not make enough money for a living any more, then applied for a good office job and got it? One of my best friends is the head of the human resources department in her company, and she is not very happy when somebody applies for a job who was self-employed or a freelance. She says those people are far too independent in their thinking and don't usually make good employees, so she would always prefer other candidates who held a "normal" job. (I am a freelance choir director and singing teacher, and she loves to tell me stories from "normal office life", haha). But I do not doubt that she is right about the customs and practices of her trade.

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