The last few years have shown a trend of people moving towards becoming full-time bloggers. If you’re considering becoming a full-time blogger yourself, it’s important to know more about what your “every day” might look like.
A day in the life of a full time blogger is busy but full of creativity. Running a successful blog requires writing, coding, and graphic design skills. Full-time bloggers work wherever and whenever they want. This flexibility of income allows full-time bloggers to live adventurous lifestyles. But there is certainly more to it than that.
Through the information below, you will learn more about starting a blog of your own as well as the daily tasks to make sure it runs successfully.
What are you waiting for?
Let’s get started!
Getting Started: Part-Time Blogging
When a blogger first starts out, they typically don’t know much about running or designing a website. Usually, a blogger starts out as a good writer and goes from there. They might find some freelance writing gigs and learn how to write for the internet.
As a blogger goes deeper into the blogging world, they will learn about SEO and article structure and all kinds of new things.
When starting as a blogger, practice writing and designing a website before you publish your blog. The content on your blog is going to be what draws visitors in. For this reason, it is one of the most important aspects of running a blog. (You’ll learn later that unfortunately, every aspect is important.)
Here are some websites that can help you gain experience writing website content:
If you’re not interested in writing freelance, you can also start a hobby blog! Most websites allow you to create a blog for free (the URL will feature their company name). It’s tempting to just set one of these up and start blogging!
However Is Free Blog Hosting Ever Worth It?
The short answer is no – it’s certainly worth paying $3 for the basic Bluehost package. It enables you to run ads, assign your own domain and most importantly… make money.
Not only will this give you writing experience, but it will also give you a taste of what it is like to be a full-time blogger. If part-time writing isn’t for you, then full-time blogging won’t be either. Use this as an opportunity to test it out!
If part-time writing goes well, start to expand your knowledge of coding and website design. If you’re new to coding, a beginner’s course would be best. You can use a website such as Code Academy to get started! Click the link and take the short quiz to find the perfect course for you.
While coding is a big part of website design, it is also important to know the principles of graphic design. Websites such as SkillShare can help you teach the basics.
Once you’ve developed these skills, you are ready to move into full-time blogging.
Running a Full-Time Blog: What It Is Like and How to Do it
So, you’ve decided full-time blogging is for you. Great!
The first step to running a successful full-time blog is picking the topic. Many bloggers choose a topic that they already have extensive knowledge about. This is called a niche blog. The entire blog will focus on this topic.
For example, the blog Home is Homestead focuses on the skills a family has learned during their homesteading experience. If you have extensive knowledge about a subject, whether it be cars, animals, or finger painting, focus on that!
Other bloggers choose to write about topics that are drumming up a lot of page views.
While this can be profitable, keep in mind that trends in searches are frequently changing. Going this route for your first blog may be difficult.
No matter what, the topic you choose to write your blog about should be something you enjoy. You’re going to be spending almost every day working on this topic.
You don’t want to choose a topic that is going to get boring. If you don’t enjoy the topic of your blog, chances are you won’t put in the time and effort it needs to succeed. And it takes a lot of both!
Once you have your topic, you’re ready to pick a host site! Once again, there are a variety of host sites for you to choose between. The site you choose may come down to the cost, function, and many other factors.
Here are the sites you can choose from:
- Bluehost (recommended)
- Wix
- WordPress
- Square Space
Research your options and make a decision based on what will work best for you.
Once again, you’re going to be working every day on this site, so you should like how it works and know how to use it. Try out the sites by taking advantage of free trials before you make a decision. This allows you to decide if the site is right for you before you spend money.
Once you have your domain name, you can start designing! This is one of the best parts of being a full-time blogger. You get to create everything your own way!
Tips For Successful Full-Time Blogging
While full-time blogging is a creative job, it can also be quite demanding. As mentioned earlier, as a full-time, self-employed blogger, you get to make your own schedule.
Additionally, you get to choose where you work. While this sounds like an excellent way to work, the truth is, it can be extremely difficult!
If you choose to be a full-time blogger, create a dedicated writing space for yourself. Whether this is at the kitchen table, a home office, or at a coffee shop, make sure it is somewhere you can focus on your work away from others
Second, set a schedule for yourself. Oftentimes, self-employed bloggers take “I can do it whenever” too literally, and end up never doing it.
When you work for a company, you have quotas, deadlines, and someone to report to. As you step into this full-time blogging journey, set quotas and deadlines. Be accountable to yourself; otherwise, the blog will not be successful.
But wait—doesn’t this strip all the flexibility from the job? In a way, yes.
Just remember, since you’re only responsible for yourself, you don’t have to ask for time off or get permission to work from a new location. So take that week-long vacation, or work from your relatives’ home while visiting for the holidays! But when you get back, return to the schedule and expectations you had before.
A Day In The Life Of A Full Time Blogger
Ok, we’ve talked about how to get there, but how about what a day in the life of a full time blogger actually looks like.
Well, that’s the beauty of it!
Once you achieve full time blogger status, your day is your own!
That’s not to say that you don’t still need to put the work in. But you’ve built an income generating blog already. How much you want to keep working depends on how much you want to grow.
Satisfied with $5000/month? Great – kick back and enjoy life. Have aspirations to build an empire and generate hundreds of thousands a year? Better keep up the grind!
However to give you a flavor, here’s an average blogging day in the life of yours truly:
- 7:30am (unless I’m too sleepy): Rise And Shine!
- 8am: Grab a coffee and plan the day ahead. What tasks need ticking off? It helps to focus on one thing at a time – Search Engine Optimisation, website maintenance, social media outreach, content creation… Different day, different focus.
- 9am: Exercise, clear the head with a reluctant run.
- 10am: Time to work! Get stuck into the task of the day. Work short, sharp and focused. Don’t fall into the trap of feeling productive purely by spending more hours glued to the screen! Answer emails, comments and enquiries at the end (they’re a bottomless pit!).
- 12am: Sign out for the day – the rest of the day is mine!
- 6pm: Optional – if motivation strikes, write a blog post. Strictly offline, avoiding distractions.
- 10pm: Party time!!! Or maybe a few years ago… nowadays it’s bedtime, zzz.
Please note! Results may vary!
A day in the life of a full time blogger will change vastly depending on where you are in the journey. When I first kickstarted Fire The Boss, there certainly was no free time in the schedule.
I worked long shifts in the hospital, worked on my content on the subway home, then worked all night, sparing just a few hours for sleep. This was killer… but it was vital!
When starting out, the growth of your blog is pretty much proportionate to the amount of work you put in. Whilst a blog can grow into one of the best sources of passive income… it certainly ain’t passive to begin with!
Ready To Take On The Challenge?
If a day in the life of a full time blogger, sounds like the life for you… You’d better get started!
Luckily, we’re here to help:
