“This is a guest post by Jon from The Money Shed. I think it’s inspiration for all us bloggers who are thinking of going full time. There can be a happy medium. Over to you Jon”
For a lot of people who run blogs the ‘dream’ tends to be the ability to work from home full time and give up their day job. Online marketers even know this so well which is why you tend to see a lot of people write about #sacktheboss and #beyourownboss or the blooming after picture showing how you are wasting your life earning money for your boss when you could be doing it for yourself.
For me this was never my aim. My name is Jon and I run a website called The Money Shed which as the UK’s largest community website dedicated to earning money from home takes up a fair amount of my time.
The start of any Blog is what I like to think as the honeymoon period as you tend to work at your own pace with very little pressure on yourself. As the years go on and your popularity goes up so does your drive and it was this that ended up being my downfall to a certain degree.
See alongside running a forum with over 5000 UK members and 120,000+ posts I also run The Money Shed Blog which needed new content to go up each week alongside all the usual endless social media promotion that any good blogger does.
While I was running these sites I was also in a full time 37-hour a week job which meant I was having to come home and write content in the evening and even more so in the weekend. A bigger issue was the fact that I ended up missing out on paid opportunities because companies would want a blog post up by Wednesday and I couldn’t scrap together any spare time to write it until Thursday!
At first I tried to challenge this issue by throwing money at the problem (which is my usual solution to things to be fair!) however I was soon enough pay £200 a month for a social media person to deal with that and was also paying people a fair amount to write content for me so while I was still making a good profit from my Blog each week it wasn’t as much as I should have been and the fact that I had worked hard for the last 15+ years at work to get to where I was made me think giving that up would be foolish.
It actually took a ‘coaching’ course in my full time job to make me realise where my passion and drive lies and it wasn’t in my full time job. I enjoyed fact I could be creative and drive the success of my business myself but I was ending up hating it as I was struggling to fit everything in so a decision had to be made.
Another BIG factor that was swaying in my head was my own mental health. When you are working every hour available you are going to reach burn out one way or another. I was getting exhausted by lunchtime most days and I knew it was because my brain literally wouldn’t stop spinning as I was constantly trying to play catch-up with my online work.
I decided that dropping down to part time hours at work would bring me the best of both worlds. I could continue to be a manager and enjoy that part of my main job and then would have time at home to concentrate on all things Money Shed related.
I made that decision around 10 months ago and while my biggest worry at the time was ‘Will I earn enough to replace the missing hours from my main job?’ I didn’t end up regretting it from the day it started.
It’s meant I’m less tired, I can do more work and in turn can do more paid opportunities than I ever would be able to do without burning the midnight oil!
So if your drive takes your blog to a point where you can afford to drop down to part time hours then GRAB IT. It’s best for your blog and more importantly it’s best for YOU!
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Great Blog Post.
Its not just about giving up salaried work to become a ‘blogger’ – there is no reason to get rid of a source of income just to concentrate on (smaller) source of income.
Thanks,
The Reverend
Totally agree. I love the idea of both!
This is so interesting to read because I love writing and creating content, but equally I found myself getting stressed trying to build my little corner into something I wasn’t even enjoying anymore. So I made the decision to do turn it back into a hobby and in doing so, found myself enjoying my passion of writing again. I’m so glad you found the right balance for you, it is so important for health, wellbeing and overall happiness. Wishing you luck on your venture.
So glad that you found your balance Emma. x
This is certainly something I am considering doing when the children start school! It’s def the best of both worlds plus a guaranteed income 🙂 x
Indeed. Good luck with your journey. x
Having blogged for over five years it sill surprises me quite how much time I spend on it each day – hours and hours! My blog is mainly my hobby, but as I work more on the content I do hope to earn an income from it at some point 🙂
That’s great that you’ve been able to find the balance. I’m hoping in September that I can make my blog my full time job.
I love the balance between the two myself. Good luck with going full-time.x
Blogging really does take up so much time but until you get to a certain point, income can be quite irregular. But like with anything, you get out what you put in which is hard if you’ve got a full time job too. I think a part time solid income and blogging is the perfect mix!
I have to agree. I love the variety of working and blogging too.
Sounds like this really works for him.
Finding a balance is key. I’ve been blogging for 6 years and I still stress and worry that I could be doing more. But at the same time, I have a busy home to run. Once you find the right balance… the fun starts to happen! 🙂 x
Oh I totally agree x
I see where you are coming from. The numbers game and pressure can take the fun out of blogging
Indeed, I like variety too so having a job and blogging is perfect I think anyway.
As someone that runs a blog and works full time I can certainly empathise with the writer.
Work, come home, write and do it all again.
Burning the candle at both ends will only result in burnout. So it’s important to get that balance right.
Yes I think balance is key to this one!
Nice one Jon! Good balance seems to be the key here. I was lucky in the fact that my work allowed me to go to 4 days a week. This gave me 1 day to work with my online business which was more than enough at the time. There are always ways around stuff. I manage both with two kids – bit of a slog but worth it. Great post mate.