Hobby to Job - How I Turned my Blog into a Job Around the Kids

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When I fell pregnant with my first baby it was very unexpected. I was working full time in the retail sector and despite being exhausted all the time, I worked right up until about one week before my baby boy was finally born. Once he came along there were so many big changes to our lives with one of those being my job. I wasn't sure how I was going to juggle a baby with a return to work and quickly discovered just how difficult that transition is for so many parents. 

I spent so much time stressing about how I would make it work, I had a baby to care for and bills to pay and whilst my husband was working full time, we couldn't just rely on his wages. But as many parents will know child care is very costly and sometimes it can feel like you work just to pay for childcare which is extremely frustrating. I felt stuck in an impossible situation until I realised my hobby could actually help me make money! 

During my time at home with a new baby I decided to start a blog, sharing our journey, pictures and adventures. It was just a hobby, a space for my to use my mind on something other than cleaning or looking after a baby. My blog felt like an online diary and as time went on also a space to share my experience with other young parents too. 

After some time writing on my blog as a hobby I began joining some blogging groups and realised that there are many people who actually made money from their blog. In fact more than money, a proper income! Whilst I was very apprehensive about being able to make it work for me or it completely failing I felt like I had nothing to lose and so I took the leap in turning my blog from hobby to job. So today I wanted to share with you how I did it and some tips on how you could do the same... 

Starting a Blog

Getting started and sticking at it is probably the hardest part because starting a blog just to make money is very hard to do. Starting a blog should be for a reason other than making money, it should be about having your own space, writing about something you love, care about or are passionate about sharing. 

Having a blog that you hope to make money from is hard work, it isn't just throwing a few pictures and words together, it is making your blog stand out, it is about giving people a reason to visit your blog. It is about creating content that people want to see and being consistent in your posting, style and writing. That is why I would always advise you to start a blog because you want to write or because you have something to say before anything else because you have to fall in love with creating content before you can really make regular money. 

Getting Seen 

Getting seen is so important for anyone creating a blog (unless you are just creating for you as a sort of online diary of course). If you are creating great, helpful or funny content but nobody is seeing it, that can be really deflating. This is where social media plays a big part! Once you have your blog name, try to claim the social media handles for the same name, channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and even YouTube. Once you have these you can then share all of your blog posts and blog content and hopefully reach more and more people. 

There are others way you can get seen too which include things like guest posting on other blogs. This involves creating content such as a blog post which will then be shared on another bloggers blog with a link back to you. It can be a great way for readers of other blogs to find similar bloggers and for you to get your style and content out to new readers. Some bloggers also offer something called "blogger in the spotlight" where they focus on one blogger and that blogger answers a set of questions for readers to get to know you a little more. This is another way to find new readers who may be interested in what you are sharing on your blog. 

Making Money 

Making money, the thing that transformed my blog from hobby to job and allowed me to stay home with my kids! Now let me be honest, if you are looking to make lots of money fast, blogging may not be for you. Making money through blogging takes time, dedication and lots of ups and downs. There are so many bloggers out there you really have to stand out and be on the ball when it comes to searching for work. 

There are lot of places you can look for work including certain websites that help connect bloggers with pr's looking for work, social media such as Twitter and Facebook where people and businesses regularly post looking for bloggers to collaborate with. And of course there is good old fashioned reaching out to people you might be interested in working with, don't be afraid to reach out, tell them what you can do and offer.

There are a variety of ways bloggers make money through their blogs and some of these ways include sponsored posts, guest posts, side bar adverts and social media posts to name a few. The key to making money with your blog though is to be able to show potential customers exactly what you can offer and why they should choose you. 

Why I Took the Leap...

Finally I wanted to share with you what made me take the leap of going from hobby to job. I did touch on this a little above but the reality was I was 19, scared, stressed and feeling out of options. My blog had and still continues to be an outlet for me. But when I found out it might be able to help me earn a little money too I felt like I had nothing to lose but to try. Being totally transparent it has taken me several years to get to where I am now (making regular money) but the hard word, dedication and tough times have been worth it. I can now earn money from home, around the kids and still feel like I am contributing to our home. 

If you are sitting on the fence about it my advice would be to go for it but don't expect things to happen overnight and remember it takes  a lot of hard work and dedication to make it work but it does pay off. 

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