Working Full Time as a Writer/Blogger
In spite of all the hype and misinformation out there, it is actually possible to earn a full-time income as a writer/blogger. The little secret is that it’s harder than you think, and that it takes most people at least a year of full-time work before they can kiss the day job goodbye and pay all the bills by working as a blogger. What’s the good news? People who have a knack for writing and who are specialists in a field that interests readers can make a realistic go of it. Yes, if you possess a solid knowledge and love for gardening, true crime stories, a new episode of a TV show, sculpture, coin collecting, astronomy, dog grooming, or any other subjects, you might have what it takes to build your own money-making blog.
Choose Something Your Enjoy and Know About
Choosing your niche sounds like an easy step, but it takes some soul searching to land on the exact, specific flavor of what it is that moves you. For example, try to pick a topic that’s broad enough to allow for lots of interesting content. But don’t make it so broad that you have too much competition. Think ancient coins rather than coins. Or Canadian politics rather than politics. Blogs that are too specific don’t usually last very long, and ones that are too broad usually have a very hard time building enough readers amid intense competition. The secret is to choose a topic you know about and enjoy, but that offers a wide enough range of sub topics to make it interesting to lots of people.
Finance Your Business Venture
The number one reason most new blogs fail is for lack of money. Beginners tend to be very excited as readership builds up, but then when there’s a need for advertising or technical assistance, the blog’s owner is out in the cold. If you want to make this your full-time job, you’ll have to be disciplined enough to save money for several months to finance the venture. Your biggest costs will be advertising and design. Unless you are a technical wizard and can write an ad copy all by yourself, be realistic and sock away some funds to make your blog excellent.
If you refinance your student loans, for example, you can create some ready cash that will improve your chances of success. That’s because when you refinance education debt, you can end up with a lower monthly payment. That means more cash in your pocket to use on those upcoming blog-related expenses. A refi can also mean a lower interest rate and more time to repay the entire loan balance, and both of those things contribute to your business success.
Be Patient
Even if everything goes well, don’t expect to gain millions of readers or subscribers overnight. But if you stick to it and make regular efforts to attract followers, you’ll notice a steady increase in the number of people who visit your pages and read your content. That means advertising revenue flowing into your pocket.