Why Blogging Doesn't Have to Be Your Full Time Job

It's been just under a month since I've begun this 'blogging' thing. I sort of picked it up thinking it would be a sweet side hobby to have to reignite what used to be my passion for writing. I find that my brain is quite good at talking to itself most days, and I wondered what it would be like to read those thoughts aloud to myself sometimes. And in a way, I suppose that's really what blogging is: a bunch of avid writers who have too much to say and instead of keeping it to themselves, they share their opinions (because yes, that's exactly what blog posts are) to the public. And while some people can make a living doing this 'blogging' thing, I think I've decided to keep this as a hobby. Now you might be asking yourself, "Well Delilah, but what if you're really great at this 'blogging' thing and you start to make some real money out of this? What then?" If you're asking if I would quit my job to pursue this full time, my real answer is: I don't know. Maybe if the right moment comes around and it works out that way, sure I could consider trying it. But at the moment, I like looking at blogging as a side hobby because, well, I actually enjoy it right now. What if I make this my job and I suddenly decide that I don't like said 'job'? Here are a few reasons why I think it's OK to enjoy blogging as a hobby and what I've learned so far in my short career as a hobby-blogger.

You'll never worry about an insecure income.

As of this moment, I work a full time job at an office that pays me pretty well. I wake up and go to this job for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and I converse with people, help put together projects that contribute to my city, and come home everyday with a sense of accomplishment because I did something meaningful with my time today. I blog on my downtime and sometimes even when I have some open time at my office, and it keeps my mind free to continue thinking up interesting blog topics to write about. As an individual who is privy to having secure funds in the bank at all times, I feel anxious just thinking about potentially not being able to pay my bills. I also like having a little extra tucked away just for safe keeping, and full-time blogging would most likely eat away at all of that pretty quickly. Maybe it was just how I was raised, but I've never understood how some folks can live from paycheck to paycheck, and in many ways blogging full time follows this way of living. While I applaud every blogger out there who is able to make it big doing this and nothing else, I would probably invest in a business that was less about how much more you can work and more about residual income.

You will continue to connect with real live, living and breathing human beings.

Imagine for a minute that the 9-5 job I describe above was take, out of the equation. Suddenly, the only thing left to fill my day is writing in my blog (and perhaps just, vegging because, well, vegging). I may not be a full-on social butterfly like some, but I don't think I would be able to survive having so much time to sit in my thoughts. Even a desk at home or a local coffee shop would be brutal for those days that you're just sitting in a writer's block funk. I enjoy the little interacts I have scattered throughout my day, from my usual hello at the coffee shop on my way to the office, to the good mornings from staff as they pass me on their own way in each morning. I can work on the start of a blog right at my desk, wander off to do something else pertaining to my job, then come back to it with a clear, positive direction. Long story short: the lonely life is definitely not for me, and if it isn't for you either, then I certainly suggest having something you can distract yourself with every so often when trying to write a blog. I have found that as strange as it sounds, it helps me focus better on what I'm really writing about. Side note: I've already wandered away from writing this piece twice this morning, once to have a conversation with the marketing assistant about the hockey game last night and another to go get a second cup of tea. I'm definitely more focused than I was when I came in this morning!

Your free time is just that: your free time.

Much like any profitable business, the ambition to pursue blogging is similar in the sense that you really have to be 'all in' in order to truly benefit from the cash flow in this sort of career. Travel bloggers consistently work with local hotels and restaurants to exchange business for a blog review, and mom-and-pop blogs are out there hustling with kids' product companies for test swag in exchange for a product review; essentially, there is no real 'stop and relax' in the entrepreneurial world. Your weekends are spent coming up with a new way to channel traffic, instead of planning a wine night with your girls. Your Saturday is spent writing up a blog about your new collaboration with that pet store and how their dog toy you tested is 'just what every dog lover needs', instead of munching on a slice of pizza at your best friend's board game night. And perhaps it's a give-and-take kind of scenario I'm describing here that will force you to choose between one or the other, but that is the reality of truly being able to make a blog work. Much like any full time job, blogging can be that give-and-take sort of lifestyle that you really need to be prepared to take on before going all-in. And if it just so happens that something you did this weekend inspires you to write a blog, then you can do it without the stress of a promotional company behind you breathing down your throat for a good review. You just do it because you truly feel inspired to do it.

The blogging community is extremely supportive, and will push you to your best ability if you're a passionate, honest, down-to-earth kind of writer.

There are a few really great communities that I've discovered on social media that are incredibly supportive. They are actively searching for and sharing posts that they feel passionately about, and my own feeble observations have concluded that it is the blogs that are truly committed to their words that they write that get shared and liked the most. When a writer truly enjoys what they are writing about, their content is always that much more enjoyable to read. Sure, SEO and other strategies to help you bump your blog to the top will always be some form of help, but at the end of the day, if you have nothing real to contribute, then a few good views here and there might just be the only efforts you'll get from a blog post you put your own precious time into. At the end of the day, whether you are a blogger who is doing this thing full-time or just simply a part-time passion blogger like myself: good on you for keeping it going. Blogging requires a real, genuine bout of consistency, and if you're doing this going on years now, then there must be something real that you love about what you're doing. Embrace it, and keep going!